ごくろうさまでした！

My mom finally retired! She celebrated with Elvis, and a huge computer from her company. Thank you for your many years of hard work!

Anna's 12th Birthday

Anna is already a natural event planner. For her birthday she wanted to go to the Santa Monica Pier with her closest girlfriends and check out the sights and ride on the roller coaster. Then, dinner would be at a nearby Caribbean restaurant that she saw on the Food Network channel. So right after school on Friday, her actual birthday, we drove the girls up to Los Angeles to fulfill her wish. Sabrina and Gabbi stepped out of their comfort zone and went on the roller coaster twice with Madison and Anna (who already like fast rides). Then we all strolled over to Cha Cha Chicken for a tasty dinner. Oh, and did I mention Sam and Steve won this giant eagle, by landing a ring on a bottle in one of those carnival games? It was an excellent birthday.

Top of the World

Earlier this year Steve and I made the hike up to the Top of the World in Laguna Beach but you can easily drive up to this peak, with 360 degree views of the mountains and the ocean. Nearby is a school with a playground with more incredible scenery.

OCMA, Sprinkles, Kula Sushi

It is April and I'm predating this to the day we visited the Orange County Museum of Art. We couldn't resist visiting a giant sculpture of our Michi lookalike. And yes, that is yellow paint sprayed on the wall. Gotta love art. We then enjoyed a snack and lunch on this President's Day weekend. It has been a busy school year, working full-time and teaching two new grade levels, Steve dropping off and picking up the kids most days, Anna's track practice, playdates... I've never fallen behind on my blogging so much, but I'm continually taking photos, usually with my iPhone. Most of the following posts may not be text-heavy but hopefully the pictures speak for themselves.

Happy 3rd Birthday Julia!

Valentine's Day

Lunch with Friends

Hangari in Garden Grove

Baby Paulina's Fans

Spartan Temecula

An 8+ mile muddy hilly obstacle course... climbing, lifting, pulling, balancing, leaping over fire. That's what Steve and I signed up for, and completed, the Spartan Race! It was truly the most challenging "race" I've ever done, and it took 3 hours and 25 minutes to complete. I really held Steve back as he hoisted me over several walls, and I had bruises and scrapes that lasted for more than a week afterwards. Here are some of the obstacles from the race:
- Barbed wire crawl
- Wall climb, 6 ft. and higher
- Carrying sandbags
- Filling and carrying a large bucket (home depot type) of sand
- Slippery wall with rope climb
- Placing a thick band around the ankles and walking through a maze
- Stepping and balancing on poles
- Big rig tire flip
- Cinder block pull
- Mud hills and pits
- Leaping across fire and dodging warriors

Anna and Pets