happy halloween from estonia! my sweet fairies…

Aren’t they the cutest “Fairy” sisters EVER?! Kira had a costume party at her school today and Ashlee didn’t want to miss out on all the fun. They just love each other so much…most of the time anyway!

the first day of snow in tallinn, estonia

Excuse the crazy morning hairstyles, and look at the smiles on their faces!! You can imaging the excitement when we glanced outside to see SNOW! Since we had just finished breakfast, and mommy needed her coffee before we got bundled up to head downstairs, we cheated and opened the window. It was snowing pretty hard and the snow was actually coming in through the window. Kira loved it. She kept saying, “Look! It is snowing in my room, I can’t believe this!” The were catching the snow in their hands and eating it as fast as they could.

Okay, so mommy had her coffee and it only took us 30 minutes to get dressed for our first snow day. I had to make sure these girls were bundled up! I don’t think Ashlee could move very well, a total “Christmas Story” moment.

Eating the snow! We made sure to find the “clean” snow for them to eat. No dirty snow for these girls…

Look at those rosey red cheekies!

This was her mad face, she did not want to go inside. This is one of my favorite pics for sure.

The view from our living room…

The view from Kira’s room…

cool park near our first flat in tallinn, estonia | mustamae

She’s on top of the world!! What a big girl : )

Such a great park, it is huge! And there are different playgrounds throughout. You just follow the paths around to find the next one. They are different from your typical US playground, very unique “contraptions” to play on.

Kisses for Daddy!

The bird lady!

Daddy taking a break. It totally looks like he’s posing, but I secretly took this picture. I am sure he would be thrilled that I put it on here ; )

Kira is the BEST big sister EVER!!

Aren’t they the sweetest?!

mommy and kira figuring out the timer on the camera, good times…

Daddy was late getting out of practice, Ashlee was passed out in the stroller, and Kira and I were bored. So we had a photo shoot. Kira got tired of posing by herself, so we figured out how to use the timer. Propped the camera up on Ashlee’s stroller and went to town. So silly, but so fun. Kira loved it! I let her pick the poses, and she thought it was sooooooooo funny. It is amazing how much fun a 5 year old can have with a camera!

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We made it to Estonia!!

We arrived in Tallinn, Estonia last week to cold weather, but have enjoyed the sunshine over the last couple days. We haven’t seen much yet, but I thought I’d share the pictures from our day in Old Town Tallinn. With gorgeous weather, and amazing views, we couldn’t have asked for more. The medieval markets, cobblestone streets and adorable cottage-like shops and houses made it seem as though we were walking through the pages of one of Kira’s fairytale books. The girls had a blast!! We walked through Old Town for most of the afternoon and finished off our day at Gabe’s favorite place–the doughnut shop! They have delicious doughnuts, served fresh (they taste a bit like funnel cakes to me–yum!), topped with chocolate, caramel, powdered sugar, or some sort of sweet cheese. They were delicious! And while there is not a Starbucks to be found in all of Tallinn (what?!) I am happy to say that the coffee, lattes, and cappuccinos are incredible. It is probably insulting that I even dare look for a Starbucks when there are such wonderful local alternatives, but I have truly enjoyed stopping at the local cafes to enjoy a latte or coffee. Stay tuned for more on our stay here in Tallinn!!

You can find more information about Old Town [here].

Wordless Wednesday | A Day at the Beach

Can’t beat a day at the beach!

Hello! Magazine

Oh the days. I am browsing through old pictures, trying to get organized, and I stumbled across our Dubai folders. Toni and I met while living in Dubai and just before I left to head back to California, we attended a La Mer cocktail party honoring the release of a new product. Funny thing is that we were both very obviously pregnant (maybe not so obvious in this picture, but you should have seen the bottom half!) at a cocktail party–not the most ideal type of party for the two of us at the time. All we wanted to do was snack, and the small, fishy (yet mighty tasty I am sure) appetizers just weren’t doing the trick. We got lost on the way to the party, found it after an hour, and finally arrived to a small, intimate boat cocktail party. We were a slightly out of place and didn’t know a single soul on that boat. We had been given the invite by my sister-in-law, and we were so grateful and SO excited to have the opportunity to attend–but we definitely looked like pregnant party crashers! The best part of the night? Awesome gift bags–I mean out-of-this-world gift bags. Not to mention the fact that we made it into HELLO! Magazine. Not so shabby for two pregnant girls crashing a boat party, right?

Lakers 2009 Championship Trophy

As my girls and I waited for my hubby after his game last week at the Toyota Center here in El Segundo, I thought it was so strange that the fans were lining up to take a picture with the 2009 Championship Trophy received by the Lakers last year. I guess I was thinking that I would much rather head home than wait in a line for an hour just to get a picture with a trophy. But as I looked around the court (the Lakers practice facility) it started making a little more since. Just looking at the history of Championships and honored jerseys decorating the walls, I started to get it. It is pretty incredible that some BIG names have honed their skills in this gym, and I can’t imagine what those 9 year old little boys were thinking as they waited to pose with the trophy. I mean, what’s that guys name, I think it starts with a K… well you know who I am talking about, he is pretty popular these days, so you know those kids couldn’t wait for show and tell.

Anyway, when my hubby finally made his way out of the locker room we made our way to the door. A pastor at our church, and his wife and beautiful baby girl, happened to be in town to see the game and he is a HUGE Lakers fan. Well sports fan in general, but he obviously loves the Lakers because he was sporting a perma-grin for the majority of the night. I know he was trying to play it cool, but as we approached the room with the trophy he couldn’t help but get a picture. And then there I was–are you kidding me, I got the itch. I couldn’t possibly walk by this trophy without getting a picture of it–and with it. (I had to prove I didn’t steal it off of Google Images) So, pretty much, it was really freakin’ awesome. I don’t think people realize how much hard work, sweat, tears (yes even the big tough guys have tears), broken bones, torn ligaments, jammed fingers, sore knees, and ice baths these guys have to go through to become Champs. It is no joke. And having that trophy at my fingertips represented far more than an NBA Championship, it reminded me that if I want something bad enough, and work hard enough, and surround myself with people who are just as passionate, then anything is possible. Kira on the other hand walked away convinced that she had just taken a picture with the “biggest golden ball in the whole wide world.”

“Man, they must be rich Mommy! They could buy like all the cookies in the world with that ball.”

day at the Manhattan Beach Aquarium

We love to walk along the beach and my daughter always BEGS me to take to her to the end of the pier to go to the aquarium. I give in about once every two weeks and she gets so excited you’d think I just gave her a dozen chocolate cupcakes. It’s not that I don’t like going (I secretly look forward to the days when I know I am going to take her), I just know that it is better to make it a special treat so that she doesn’t get burnt out on the idea. Plus, I try to pick the warmer, less windy days so that we don’t freeze to death on the way out there. Here are the pics from our latest trip to the end of the pier. It is adorable how her face lights up when she see’s Nemo’s friends–it’s like she is seeing them for the first time.

nosy mommy moment | 1

I often see or hear things that make me giggle so I thought I would jot down the best of the week and share them with you all. Now I know many of you will be thinking, “Geez, she is so nosy. She should mind her own business.” All I have to say to that, is that if you don’t want the world to know your business, don’t put it out there! You are at the grocery store, don’t break up with your gf over the phone in the produce section, duh. So, if you catch where I am headed with this, I will be sharing silly/crazy/ridiculous things I overhear in my daily trips to the store, the park, the gym, etc.

Today I rushed to Vons down here in Manhattan Beach right before kickoff (Superbowl!!) and couldn’t help but overhear the convo behind me in check out. Man A was standing behind me in line when man B approached.

Man A: “Hey man, how’s it going? How was your week?”

Man B: “Aw, fine. I had to have “THE TALK” with that girl I’ve been seeing. I just don’t see it working out.

Man A: “Ouch. That’s never fun. How’d she take it?”

Man B: “Not good, I just got her FB update about an hour ago. It said ‘Headed up North for I don’t know how long. Just going to put my faith in JC.’” (Good idea!)

Man A: “Well at least she didn’t bash you man. She could have put your picture up and told everyone you were an A&&-hole.”

Man B: “She won’t need to. I am sure all of her friends already have it covered.”

That’s where I parted ways. But I am telling you, when you are standing in a line (anywhere) and you are talking to someone, the people around you are listening. The people like me who are bored out of their mind and just standing there looking at the lasted celeb gossip splattered all over the covers of the mags, we are hearing your every word. And as for this guy, I was cracking up that he was talking about his breakup being publicized on Facebook. It is so true though, these Facebook updates don’t leave any room for privacy. Pretty telling though that he mentioned her friends already disliked him–that should have been a sign from day one. So, girl who is out there heading North, for who knows how long, stay up there as long as it takes to get this guy off your mind. What kind of guy breaks up with someone right before the Superbowl anyway? Isn’t it supposed to be a man’s day free of drama? I guess only in So-Cal would the men be more interested in drama and breaking hearts than they would in the Superbowl. Go figure.