Moving Day

Moving day was here and it was hard to watch them empty our house.  I knew it would be crazy with the boys so we finished some last minute errands  and picked up Ashlee for one last party.

One last item on the the to do list was to eat a breakfast burrito from the famous Lucky Boy.  Luckily Ash and I split one, so yummy.

Our move day just happened to fall on the last Friday of the month which means Sample Sale day.  Ash had never been so I showed her the ropes and we cleaned up on kids clothes.  I got a cute diaper bag for $10, tons of Charlie Rocket and Splendid clothes, score.  Our drive back to Pasadena was sad and saying goodbye to Ash was really hard.  I know I'll see her again, but it's not the same.  

We got back around 2 thinking that we would be able to start driving and the poor movers didn't get done until 7:30pm.  The truck wouldn't fit down the alley so they had to walk everything from our house, down the alley, to the truck and there was only 3 or 4 of them.  One of the guys was tracking the miles on his phone and it ended up being over 10 miles, awful.  

Around 5 the kids were done so we went to the mall in their pajamas and then we met up with Amber and her family at Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  We ordered our last mojitos for awhile and said our goodbyes.  

It was really hard driving away from our house and a city we made memories in for 5 years.  I remember telling my mom when I was in highschool that I wanted to live in California.  I'm glad my wish came true and that we were fortunate enough to enjoy so many amazing things while we lived there.  About 30 minutes after we left there was a big earthquake in Brea which was about 30 minutes from Pasadena.  Everyone was updating FB and Instagram saying it was crazy.  I guess that was Californias way of saying goodbye to us and thankfully we didn't feel it in the car.  We stayed in Victorville that night and Cole had major insomnia on the way.  I think he slept about 1 hour in his pac n play and the rest was with us sprawled out on the bed. The joys of traveling with babies.  

Goofy's House

Our last week in Pasadena was kind of surreal. I knew for awhile that we would be moving, but suddenly it was here and I didn't want to go.  Al wanted to say goodbye to some of the ladies that had gotten drs to use a lot of his products.  Our first stop was at Kaiser

and our second was LA Childrens.

Alex wanted to touch the big blocks out front.  I told Al we should redo this picture in 10 years.

The day before we moved we took one last trip to Disneyland.  The weather was perfect and it shows in this picture.  Every morning in Pasadena was like this....cool air, amazing smells from all the flowers, clear skies, and sunshine.  

Our last castle shot.  I had to bribe Alex to take this picture.  He told me over and over that he wanted to go to Goosys house.  I was confused and thought does Goofy really have a house at Disneyland? Well I went through a list and that was finally the thing that got him to stand in a picture with me.

I know it sounds cliche, but it makes me so sad that our Disney days are over.  Sure we will be back for a family vacation, but it won't be the same.  I hope they will somehow remember these special days we got to spend together eating popcorn and strolling leisurely around Disneyland.

I figured Goofys house was in Toon Town and no joke when we walked through Toon Town he walked straight to Goofy's house and guess who just walked up to take pictures, GOOFY!!!  It was a dream come true.  Last time we went to Disneyland we went to Minnie's house and I think he saw Goofy's or told me that he wanted to go in it.  Cole kept yelling Mitey=Mickey and then he fell backwards and Goofy caught him, phew.

The park was packed so we tried something new and went on the ferry that takes you around the lake.  They had popcorn and we decided to take them to the Mickey show afterwards.  That Mickey show got canceled so we went and ate lunch on Main Street and then took them to the next Mickey show.  It was kind of a lame Disney day and I was sad because I didn't want to leave.

Our Disney buddies Ashlee and Saige.  One of my dearest friends I will always be thankful to have in my life.  

Alex and Saige saying goodbye :(  Ashlee and Ryan are going to be in Dallas in August so we are hoping that they bring Saige with them.

We got home pretty early that afternoon so we jumped on the tramp and I picked tons of oranges and lemons to take to Texas (a month later they are still going strong in the fridge).  

My tiny helper.

The movers packed all of our stuff in like 4 or 5 hours, amazing.  I am so glad we had everything done for us.  It made everything so much easier and gave me more time to spend with friends and try more restaurants :)

Alex Turns 3

Alex turned 3 days before our move. I knew it would be too chaotic to have a party at our house so I asked him if he wanted to go to Jump N Jammin, Disneyland or Chucky Cheese and he said Jump n Jammin.  Two of his favorite things are Monsters Inc and Superman and he requested a Monsters cake :)  It was so nice to only have to worry about party favors, a few decorations, a salad, drinks, and cake. Whala here is the party and somehow we even got a room that had coordinating colors.  

Alex was so excited the entire day.  That morning I made him a pancake in the shape of a 3 and sang him Happy Birthday.  We said Happy Birthday to him throughout the day and he would say ohhhh thank you much.  We got there a little bit early to meet Ashlee since she was bringing our cake.  

The kids got to play for 1 hour, eat, and then play until 12:30 when they basically make an announcement for everyone to leave.  There was 16 kids and at least 5 or more babies and I didn't have to clean up after any of them!!

The best party of the entire party was Alex singing Happy Birthday to himself.  Luckily I have that on video, can't believe he is 3.

Another successful birthday party.  Thanks to everyone for coming.

Alex's favorite food is Italian so we took him to one of our favorite restaurants in Pasadena, Gales.  Alex, Al, and Cole love their pasta el forno. I've never seen 2 kids each so much pasta and bread, so funny.  Here he is showing us how old he is.

It's amazing how happy a child will be when you give them something they like to eat.

and more cake and candles to blow out.  Happy Birthday Alex, we love you!!

On our way out I thought it would be fun to stop at the hospital he was born at and take a picture like the one the day we took him home.  I love that he let me hold him like he was a baby.  Lets go back when he's 15 and do it again.

That night I went with Perla and Ashlee to see the Book Of Mormon play.  I've heard so many people talk about it over the years, but never had the desire to go until recently.  It's really funny and very clever.  The songs are catchy and the characters and actors are amazing.  I laughed a lot, but it's extremely vulgar and that's the thing that bothered me.  It's no secret that the show pokes fun at our religion, but honestly it wasn't bad and they didn't say anything about our religion that was offensive.  I probably would never go see it again, but it was fun with these two and we had some good laughs.

Train To Olvera

Amber and I were trying to decide on a fun outing for the kids. We decided to take the train from Pasadena to Olvera Street and eat at the famous Philippe.  Alex thought the train ride was so cool and some sweet older Asian lady wanted to take him home.  She offered us some of her Asian cake she was eating...lol

Cole wanted to stand on the seat the entire time and say "I want dow"=I want down.

We made it in 1 piece with 3 kids in tow.

We walked down Olvera street and looked at all the fun things the vendors were selling.  They charged us $1 to take a picture of Alex in this hat, but look how cute it is.

I've been wanting to try Philippe for a long time so I'm glad we got a chance.  Supposedly a ton of people eat here before they go to the Dodgers game.  We ordered the famous french dip sandwich with swiss cheese and it was so yummy.  

If only we could all have that amazing blonde hair Alex does

I never figured out why they have wood chips all over the floor.

and the best part of the entire trip was churros from Mr Churro.  They had to make them for us so they were hot and fresh. I got mine filled with caramel and I thought I was in heaven, seriously so good.

That night we met Laura and her family for yogurt.  Her husband Eric doesn't like to socialize and I was surprised that she had talked him into going.  Later I found out she didn't tell him she was meeting us there.  It was just a coincidence that we were there at the same time :)

Made In LA

I bought these cute t shirts for Alex and Cole a while ago that said Made In LA.  I had a vision of them standing on a street lined with palm trees holding hands in their matching shirts.  Besides it being foggy and overcast my vision turned out just how I wanted it.

These two are so funny, love them.

 After we took pictures we went and walked the Rose Bowl one last time.  We took a bunch of pictures, but sadly those were deleted from Al's iphone along with everything else.  He let Cole play with his phone and if you enter the wrong password too many times it locks the phone and wipes everything.  Lets just say Al was not very happy.  I tried to lighten the mood by stopping for lunch at this super authentic Italian grocery store/deli that has amazing reviews.  The sandwich was ok, just meat and cheese.  I need lots of veggies for me to give a good review, but authentic it was.  Just looking at this picture makes me feel like I'm in Italy.

That night we had dinner in Sierra Madre at a new gourmet hot dog restaurant and then amazing ice cream across the street with a fresh made waffle cone, yum.  Afterward we walked by the spot where Alex split his head open on the 4th of July.  We were asking him if he remembered.

I was trying to check off restaurants as fast as I could go, but it was always challenging finding a babysitter.  We went to Alma with our friends we met at Mr Chow, Bruce and Marilyn, so random.

Bruce and Marilyn are so interesting.  Bruce is a chef, photographer, and foodie and Marilyn is an amazing ballroom dancer.  Alma is a tiny restaurant nestled between some buildings in LA.  You would never notice it if you weren't looking.  We had the 5 course meal which was actually more like 10 because they split a lot of the courses.  The food was so good, such a fun night.

Al reading Cole his favorite book Pat The Puppy

One of their favorite things to do was pick these bushes in the backyard and then put the leaves in things?  We have bikes, a slide, and trampoline, really?

One of the top 10 things I will miss about Pasadena is having my lunch/food buddy Laura.  This is our last hoorah at Chiquita Bonita.  We ordered way too much food, ate tons of chips, and washed it down with diet coke.  I gave her a sombrero, mexican cookbook, and hot sauce for her birthday, it was perfect.  

TMZ Tour

We got home from Utah around 4am on Monday morning and slept until 7am. Why do kids wake up at the same time everyday even if they get no sleep the night before?  We had plans to go to Valencia that morning to see Ashlee's house and eat at the new Cafe Rio they just opened.  These 3 had fun playing in the backyard together and eating Quesadillas.  Cole spit up on his shirt and it reeked like throw up so Saige let us borrow one of hers.

My friend Amber planned one last girls night before I moved. My request was a TMZ tour and dinner in Hollywood.  Al had to go back to Dallas so I had to find a babysitter.  She tried to cancel on me 20 minutes before she was supposed to be there.  Luckily it worked out and my kids survived so that's all that matters.   The TMZ tour was so much fun.  I haven't laughed that much in a long time.   They drive you around to all the places that stars hang out, eat, get arrested, go to court, get their hair done.  It was hilarious to see everything and even funnier to watch the people stare at you driving down the road.

Not all the girls could make it, but these fabulous 3 made it perfect.  

I won a TMZ t-shirt, hooray!!

We ate at Katana which is on Sunset in Hollywood.  I ate here years ago before I ever lived in California and always wanted to go back.  The food was just as amazing as I remember!!

It was such a great night with these amazing girls. I'm going to miss every one of them so much.