#13. again.

two words. 
uh-mazing.
must try.
big fan.
so that's a bunch of two word statements. technically uh-mazing isn't even two words. but my drift is implied. pinned this smoothie. made this smoothie. loved this smoothie. my love for lauren conrad had nothing to do with the loving part by the way. it was wonderful all by its little self.

image via pinterest

#1 & #22 & #24 bundled into one.

this past weekend marked the first albonetti family road trip. i was a bundle of all types of nerves/excitement/stress pretty much through the whole vacay. things can go left pretty quickly, and i so didn't want that to happen. this trip was the cliché 'i need a vacation from the vacation' type of trips. seriously exhausting, but seriously fun. 


it was captain's first extended time in a car seat and both of their first times  staying in a hotel. to be quite honest, my fears became reality within the first hours of our trip...uncontrollable crying in the car & a shaky hotel room sleeping arrangement...but things definitely turned around the second day (well, that is after an extremely unpleasant experience at the grove thanks to my sweet, chocolate covered ella!). 


family fun activity #1 was the ocean, which ella adored. while i internally freaked out because i am deathly afraid of that vast body of water, she gallivanted around the sand, splashed in the waves, collected sea shells and had a mighty fine time exploring. family fun activity #2 was the zoo which was equally thrilling for her as well. she got to see her fav, the chimpanzees, tigers, and bears oh my! well actually, no bear...it was m.i.a which was disappointing to all.


poor captain was a trooper being drug here, there, and everywhere. he finally figured out that it was better to succumb to sleep rather than to fight it and did his fair share of sleeping in his car seat :)


highlights from the trip included: going to sprinkles and scoring with a short line (i'm talking like 5 people long short, unheard of!)...holler! that was definitely something i've wanted to do for a looong time. shopping the 3rd street promenade in santa monica & the grove in hollywood. getting ella's hair cut & colored at snip its. most swoon worthy hair boutique for littles. the merry go round on the santa monica pier. splashing in the ocean on manhattan beach. and watching the ginormous airplanes from our hotel room window. lots of memories to cherish forever.

#3.

cows? check. merry-go-round? check. fellow maniac to have an extreme amount of fun with? check. i think ella's exact words were 'i had a really good time at the fair.' totally unprompted, out of the blue. those words brought a smile to my face and i asked her to repeat them just so i could hear them in all their goodness one more time. i was glad i sucked it up and carried captain around for two hours in the heat. sweat does the body good right? we saw pigs, goats galore, cows, and thanks to emma's daddy, got to pet a calf. who consequently pooped right as the petting occurred, but that didn't deter any of the fun. both littles did amazingly well. i couldn't believe how well-behaved ella & emma were holding hands everywhere. so much nicer than last year's hellish trip with ella's alter-ego hella ella. we got our fix of dirt, corn dogs, and farm life and had a mighty fine time i must say. summer bucket list #3, check!

insta-love lately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



lots of ice tea on the deck with the pooches. trips to the farmers market. first time fishing trips. frozen yummy-ness and getting wet. party prep. a barnes and noble run (goodnight goodnight construction site & little blue truck, must haves!). and plenty of smiles, snuggles, and hugs. 

#15, #7, and #8 all rolled into one.

the day started as a trip to color me mine. ella was going to help aunt e paint a skull piggy bank. of course there was no skull piggy bank....so the ultimate choice was a  football helmet. ella didn't want to paint a football helmet. there was a lot of angry arm crossing, mad face making, and possibly some yelling of 'no.' ella couldn't hold out forever, and she eventually succumbed to the constant encouraging words of aunt e and i. mission accomplished. 
after dropping the little off, we headed downtown to picasso's. yum to the yum. i highly recommend the blackbird with the green salad with their homemade honey dijon vinegarette. i am literally salivating as i type. 
with soul beads around the corner, we scarfed our food and ventured out. we parked in one hour parking and getting a ticket isn't our idea of fun.
i have to confess that i have always been a bead lover. the shiny fun-ness of the colors. the endless creative possibilities. wondrous. my sister and i had discussed taking a bead class and that got me tickled pink, but taking a class wasn't even necessary. you can pick your beads and get creative right then and there! no reservations. no classes. just pick and go. the owner is ridiculously nice. there is a rad hippie vibe. incense? duh. you just place your magnificent bead finds on a board and string. love beyond love. i am itching to get back in there and bring to life all of the super, over-priced bracelets i have been snapping pictures of in stores. gotta love the iPhone.
after this next week, we will be over half way through with our summer bucket list! with the way this summer is flying by, this is probably a good thing. slow down summer, slow down.

baby shower.

a few weeks ago, we threw an ice cream sundae bar baby shower for one of our very good friends, kayla. i got the idea from this pin, and ran with it. the party was super simple. quick set up, even quicker clean up. it was a relaxing, no stress type of shin-dig. two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

a whole hand

of months that is. captain turned 5 months on the 4th of july, which also means that ella is officially two months away from turning 4 years old. i know i say this every month, but i seriously cannot fathom how fast time flies by. 
captain is:
....eating his big toe like a maniac
....eating big people food, spinach and apples
....trying to roll from his back to his stomach constantly, dang that stupid arm
....grabbing everything in site, from hair, to the birds on his toy mobile
....on a schedule, he eats at 6:30am, 10, 1, 4:30ish, and 8pm-ish
....growing like a weed, he wears 6-12 month tops, but 3-6 month shorts, he's a skinny one
....laughing and talking, to himself mostly, but he's so loud everyone can hear
....constantly getting covered in kisses or being poked, can you tell who does what between ella and i?
ella is:
....reading books to herself constantly, that reading isn't literal, although she does have several books memorized...that girl and her memory
....cracking us up with the words that fly out of her mouth, 'you want a knuckle sandwich fly?!'
....begging me to read her books, that is, if she isn't reading them to herself
....running around the house in her birthday suit or a princess dress, she varies
....overcoming her fear of fireworks, darn those illegal ones!
....reminding me that i need to buy her stompeez and the pirate ship playground
....very left-handed while writing, but ambidextrous with everything else
....working on following directions, i am starting to notice a change in her terrible three attitude...is there really light at the end of that tunnel?
....loving to play in the sprinkler, in the pool, anything with water
....constantly sticking her tongue out, it's the newest coolest thing to her...see evidence in last picture