figh-yur

we finally made it to the Hall of Flame.
it's the largest fire fighting museum in the world.
i wonder where the 2nd largest is?
it was pretty cool except for one thing- it wasn't cool. meaning, the swamp coolers were billowing out a humid 95 degree fog. my goodness. these antiques must like the museum to feel like you're walking around in some one's mouth.
anyways, we really liked it.
my grandpa was a fire fighter for the long beach fire department. i've always been so proud of that. wait until brooks realizes he's one eighth fireman!

this little model was set up to remind us not to smoke in bed.
and also not to fall into the kitchen below when jumping out of bed.

only you can prevent forest fires

and only you can prevent man sized bear gunthers.

time for some treats from mill avenue.
a tapioca-less honeydew flavored boba for brooks
and
turquoise leather flavored sandals for mom

here is an unedited picture for my father.

-ahhhmazing

she wanted baby pictures. but she wanted to "try" something different.
i made the dress on the spot with 6 yards of 99 cent fabric, 4 safety pins and
an ess load of glue dots. not every gal can pull off a DIY dress in 109 degree weather.
priscilla did.
did she ever.
click here to see more pictures

-why not?

she never had bridals taken.

6 years of marriage and 2 boys later, she's now here, in the field.
she carries herself with so much elegance, kindness and polish.
i feel the heart and mettle that comes with this stage of life are even more beautiful
than the blushing new bride.
click here for more

-let's get to know each other

hey look! here's a picture of me without a bra on.

is this enough?

now will you kindly sign in?

guest book to the right.

-cmop is gr8

audrey told me it was great. and she was right. i love it when people don't get all overly dramatic about things they like. i need to work on that.

children's museum of phoenix is great.

it's clean.
it's indoors.
it's full of smart looking parents.
it makes me feel less guilty about letting brooks watch "a bug's life" on repeat for 2 days straight.
we went all in and got the season pass.
next time i'm going to wear my intelligent looking glasses. when in rome.

this is my FAVORITE part.

this little house has been painted a different color everyday for exactly one year now.

the crusty curled layers are so cool.

they save the chunks that fall off so you can see it all up close.
pretty great. right?

and one other thing.

we've got this tradition.

we found that nothing goes better with a morning full of creative learning and imaginary play than a garbage flavored happy meal and some momma juice.

click here for more info

-the worst book ever written

the worst because there has never been a story full of more despair and absolute horror ever created in the universe. i picked it up yesterday at 10am. around midnight- i skipped the last 40 pages and read the last 4. i could not handle the freaking nightmare any longer.

i cried and felt like throwing up the entire day.

cormac mccarthy is one of the most amazing writers of our time.

hopefully, he's not also a Nostradamus.

-spoiled

sundays are super.
we eat with friends. watch the babies play together.

and creatively think of things to talk about that don't involve

too much stressful grown up stuff.

this is what we came up with this week:

1. moving to nicaragua

2. photography

3. making friday night pizza night

4. purple teeth &

5. wedding dresses

and sometimes-

when everyone is too busy trying not to be grown ups-

you've gotta take matters into your own hands and

give yourself a nap

-em eye see kay eee why

we're home!

and not a moment of last week's disneyland

extravaganza was wasted.

not even a second.

-the boys loooved the week of dancing characters and unlimited nap-less grandma time.
-as the so-cal native, grandma was the best disney tour guide. i couldn't get enough of her nostalgic stories.
-brandon kept busy fighting the mickey money drain. he may have bugged the living hell out of me with all his acts in the name of frugality but we did save $5000 a day eating homemade sandwiches and avoiding most toy stores.
-and i came to the conclusion that there's no greater place on earth to watch people, of every nationality, publicly and unabashedly fight with their family members in front of an audience of over 50,000 people.

seriously- people have noooo problem screaming at their spouse, nose to nose, in every imaginable language, about "fixing your attitude" or "knocking it off" or my favorite "tampoco! tampoco!" i must be seriously twisted because i couldn't get enough of the domestic disputes.

so if there's something to learn from the sociology pitre of a dish disneyland it is that everyone in this world has 2 things in common:

1. husbands and wives drive each other nuts on vacations

and

2. everyone loves a churro

and now for some pictures:

my mother really is the best grandma/mother/mother-in-law

that hat. the best $20 we've ever spent.

our happy ade.

brooks finally met stitch. it was a VERY big deal for us. i actually cried.

ade and lilo.

ok. so i had to throw in this picture.
this is how we felt after 5 mornings of breakfast buffets.
big, sweaty and british.

-my definition

father. [fa-th er]
-noun
1. a male parent
2. a joke teller
3. enthusiastic supporter of children
4. one to have fun around
5. the planner
6. a restaurant owner
7. a man that loves loud movies and music
8. a passionate adam lambert fan
9. one who is happy on vacation
10. the person to talk to when i want to feel like a million bucks

love you dad.

thanks for being the singing cook at girls camp,

statistician at all my basketball games and

equal fan of my babies.

you're the best.

-finally!