Why I Love My Dad's Retirement

Because he gets to do things like this with Raif

Sarah's Birthday Cruise

Our Crew consisted of the Irelands, Wards, Foxes, Jacobs and Durnins
Colby and Me

Aaron and Sarah

Nickie and Sarah

Aaron and SarahSarah and Me

Colby and Me

Sarah getting her delicious dinner from Open Sesame

Sarah and Shanna

Nickie and Me

The delicious and beautiful "Princess Cake"

Aaron planned a great early surprise birthday party for Sarah. Those of you who know Sarah, know this was not an easy task to achieve. Aaron told Sarah that the two of them were going to join us on the boat for drinks, followed by dinner at Mahi's. When they arrived to the boat, Colby and I greeted them in the cock pit. As we walked into the salon, and were pouring a glass of wine, 6 of some of her closest friends came out from the stateroom to surprise her. We then left for a cruise to Thumbs Island and had our dinner and dessert there. Shanna got tons more pictures, so check out her blog for more of the fun! It was a fabulous evening for a fabulous friend.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Kelly's Graduation Party

I have yet to master the art of throwing a party and taking everyone's pictures. Here are the few I got from Kelly's graduation party.

Kelly and Jaymee
Kelly's neighbors Ron and Pam

Two of our Sarah's

Aunt Beth, Lucas, Carmen and Sarah in the background

The kiddos

Sarah and Aunt Beth-We are so excited that Sarah was able to make it to the party, and finally out of the hospital. She continues her recovery from her surgery, but we are so happy that she is finally home.

Aunt Shelley and Jake

Mom-call me next time so we're not so matchy-matchy!

Josh with Uncle Mark and Aunt Nancy

Kelly opening up her presents

We celebrated Kelly's graduation this Saturday (she actually graduated in December, and walks on Wednesday). Family and friends gathered together to have one great party. We dined on delicious tacos made at the house by Paulina's catering with margaritas and beer to drink. I didn't get everyone's picture, like I said before I'm still trying to master hosting the party, watching the kids, and taking pictures. Regardless, it was a great time and I will take a plethora of pictures at the graduation ceremony (Kelly, you have been warned!)

Elmo Concert

Our group, Bailey's friend Taylor got to join us since my dad could not attend
Bailey and me by the fountain after the concert

My mom and Raif

Raif is very excited

Bailey, Regan and Taylor

Bailey and Reagan during the intermission

Bailey and Taylor by the fountain

A little glimpse of the concert

So colorful!

Cute video of the kids dancing at the concert.

I love living in Long Beach. There is so much to offer here and all so close. The Long Beach Terrace Theater brought Sesame Street's production of Elmo here this weekend. Today's event was $20 for any seat in the house, and we sat in the 11th row. The Ireland Clan along with the Durnin Clan took up quite a bit of Row 11 at tonight's performance. Raif sat mesmerized the entire performance and Bailey was up and dancing the night away. My dad could not make it so we brought along Bailey's friend Taylor from her preschool. All the kids had such a fun time, and the performance was very cute!

Beach Day

Yesterday was a beautiful day, so we told Bailey that today we would go to the beach. Sure enough, today was completely overcast and looked downright yucky outside. But, you say something to a 4 year old, you keep your promise. Luckily, even a yucky day in So. California, in May, is still a fun day at the beach. We packed up the bikes, and headed over to the bay. I was dressed in a sweatsuit and sweatshirt, but kids seem to be able to go to the beach in the coldest weather, and not seem to mind. We had a fun morning and are looking forward to the weather getting a bit warmer out!

Colby and Raif getting some digging time in

What should I do with the sand?
Dump it, of course!

Where does she get these poses from?

It's a bit chilly. She is starting to look so grown-up!

Raif decided that running in-and-out of the water is tons of fun. Here are some fun videos of his adventures. Not great quality video, but still fun to watch.

One more video, just because!

Supporting My Local Vet

Veterinarian That Is!!!

Poor Boomer, has to wear a t-shirt until his drains come out.
This is how much Boomer shed in the 3 seconds it took us to put on his t-shirt!!!


As most of you know from facebook, Lily just had to go to the vet and hundreds of dollars later, she is fine. Now, Boomer decided to grow some tumors on his side. Rest assured, they were just fatty tumors, but still had to be removed. Now, hundreds of more dollars later, Boomer is going to be fine. He gets his drains removed tomorrow, and his t-shirt.


To add a little humor to your day:


Here's just a little recap of picking up Boomer after his surgery.

Boomer had to be picked up by 6:00, and Colby would not be home until after that. So, I packed up the kids and headed to the vet. Both were very excited to get their dog, so I thought, "hey, no problem!" We get there, and Boomer is of course not ready. They have to get his pills ready, get the bill ready, etc. So, Raif decides to play in my cosmetic bag. No problem, until they tell me the dog is ready. So, I put the bag away, and Raif has a full on melt down in the middle of the office. I leave him, go to the counter, and fill out the paper work. Calmly, after that I pick him up, and he's over it.


Then, Boomer comes out. Ordinarily, this would be no problem, but the dog is wearing a cone. Raif does not like this. I have to put Raif down to get Boomer on the leash. Raif begins his second melt down of the event SCREAMING, "BOOM, BOOM!" Boomer, in the mean time, is trying to get the heck out of dodge, and tries to bolt to the front door, meanwhile Raif is still screaming. I pull Boomer over to Raif, scoop him up, and we safely make it to the door.


All parties involved are now safely inside of the car. Raif, now thinks Boomer's cone is funny and is all smiles! Boomer, can't get comfortable in my car (he's in the front seat) and tries to go around in circles, knocking my rear view mirror to a slanting position with each circle. We are now happily cruising home, for the 5 minute drive. Boomer, thinks it might be best to try and lay down in the car. As he does this, he knocks the car into neutral, and the car starts revving as I am still on the accelerator. More smiles from the gallery in the back. I'm calmly trying to get Boomer to sit up, as I put the car back into drive. We safely make it home. Colby brought home dinner that night, with margarita mix and all!


Sometimes, you just have to smile about things.

No Wrapping Paper=No Problem

We were heading off to our friend Kate's 5th Birthday and had no wrapping paper.

We did have a large paper sack...
And, Bailey loves to color!

Finished product!

One lovely birthday present, so carefully colored and wrapped. Perfect for any occasion. And, it matched the birthday theme, Rainbows!

Doll Party

Bailey organized her dolls in the dollhouse so they could sit down and have dinner. I love how they are all sitting around so they can chat and have a great time!

A Trip to Tanaka Farm

Beautiful landscaping
The girls on the way into the farm

Tanaka Farms sign

Raif telling us who he's sitting next to

Virtually impossible to get all 4 of them to look at the camera at the same time

Bailey and Reagan on the tractor ride

Raif actually picking the strawberries, instead of throwing them

Bailey picking her strawberries

Raif wanted to be carried, or maybe I wanted to carry him so he'd stop throwing the strawberries!

Peek-a-boo Raif!

We went to watch Regan and Paige's swim lessons and got a surprise invite to Tanaka Farms in Irvine to go strawberry picking. The kids had such a wonderful time on the tractor ride, and trying all of the fresh vegetables along the ride. The loved throwing out the uneaten vegetables onto the dirt path that would be used as mulch. Check out Shirley and Sarah's blog for more fun pictures. Thanks Shirley and Sarah for the invite and for all of the wonderful photos and memories.