An Adventure to Joshua Tree

 Last week Victor was still gone on a work trip, and so was my friend Katelyn's husband, so we took our boys and went on our own little adventure out to the desert! We met up in Palm Desert for an afternoon of swimming and a night at a hotel which my kids LOVE, and the next day we drove up to Joshua Tree National Park and explored there.

When all is said and done, it was a success and we had a great time. But getting four little boys together was NUTS at times. They love to wrestle and fight which usually always goes too far and ends with tears, and they love to be noisy and run off in all directions! So it was chaotic at times, but I was still grateful to spend time with Katelyn and admire the beauty of the desert with her!

I really thought it was a beautiful national park. But if you're expecting beauty like Yosemite or Zion with grand vistas, you will be disappointed. You are out in the desert. So it's a different kind of beauty. The beauty of all the Joshua trees with their crazy outstretched arms, and the beauty of these awesome rock formations. It was an ideal place for kids to run around, play in dirt, and climb the rocks.

^^I spy some little explorers^^

^^the Joshua trees are so cool!^^

^^Elephant rock--so cute!^^

^^Skull Rock--looks like Voldemort haha^^

The one actual "hike" we did was up to a place called Arch Rock. The boys did really well on it--I think having a cool little destination goal helps them. When we took them places to just hang out is when they were craziest! They were proud of themselves that they made it to the arch. 

^^All of us finally in a picture together!^^

We also stopped at this cool little spot in the town of Joshua Tree after lunch.

I hope to go back again and explore some more. Fun story--my aunt and my mom were telling me that my grandma used to take them out there for their Easter Egg hunts for Easter. How cool is that?? I could totally see a "cool mom" doing that these days and sharing the idea on instagram haha. My grandma would have been one cool instagram mom, and I may just steal her idea for next year ;) Stay tuned!

A Spontaneous Weekend at The Del

In the week leading up to Labor Day, San Diego had a heat wave. It got progressively hotter with each day. And yes, I have lived places where it definitely gets hotter, but in those places we have air conditioning. A lot of people don't have ac here, so that's why a heat wave is a hardship ha. By Saturday, it was unbearable, and it didn't cool down at all at night. I did not sleep well at all.

I was still sweaty trying to get ready for church and I said to Victor, "we can't come back here after church. Where can we go spend the afternoon with ac?!?" I wasn't implying we should go to a hotel, but that's what Victor proposed, and not just any hotel, but the Hotel Del Coronado! I loooooove that place. Victor called and got it all figured out, and we headed out after church. Down to cooler temps, and that iconic hotel. 

(Side note: we got the room because The Del was recently acquired by Hilton. Our credit card gives us one free night at any Hilton a year, so our room was freeeeeeee!)

Our friends The Yanes' also have the same credit card with a free night, so we convinced them to come down too! Love that they are willing to be so spontaneous with us.

 ^^cute little friends ha^^

 ^^I love this shop and always want everything they have^^

 ^^Love this pic of my boys!^^

 Ended our Labor Day afternoon getting ice cream. And then we headed home to cooler temps thank goodness. But at least the heat wave happened with the three day weekend so we could have this mini vakay. We love these little trips with the boys because they love it too. They love staying in hotels. J woke up when we arrived back at the house and he was upset because he still wanted to be at the hotel haha. I feel your pain, J. I wish I could stay at the Del forever too.

Happy Belated Labor Day!

Rewind: Christmas Eve

Before we took off on Christmas we got to have a wonderful Christmas Eve on Okinawa. What's so wonderful about this place is you are in the same boat for being so far away from family so you come together for family traditions with each other. Oki family is a term everyone uses here because it's true. I'm so so so grateful for the friends we have made here. There are many more that are not in these photos. 

We all met at Mickelle's house and gathered around the cozy fire. 

 We had a wonderful dinner of different soups and breads that we all made. We then had a mini concert displaying our talents. Turns out this is a tradition for Anna and Mickelle's family too, so that was fun!

Stella did a little dance to Jingle Bell Rock

 Victor played the clarinet, and not pictured was me playing the violin which Winston the bulldog mostly barked through--I guess the violin is scary!

 Duke and Mickelle both played the piano and Austin and Sherry sang such a beautiful duet of O Holy Night (while Austin held my sleeping baby ha).

 ^^the one pic where everyone looks good is when J doesn't. taking one for the team!^^

 ^^cute Lucy resting her head on J's shoulder!^^

 ^^all the babies, one a little bigger than the rest. Connor, J, Lucy, and Ian.

^^wonderful women^^

We ended the night reading Luke 2 and then doing a little gift exchange. It was such a nice evening. Love these special Christmas Eve traditions. Hope you all had a great holiday as well!

Entertaining with the Hundred Yen Store

A few months ago, I hosted a baby shower for my friend Mickelle and her sweet baby girl. Since I moved to Japan and began to experience the joys of the hundred yen Stores (dollar stores) it really makes me want entertain. So for this baby shower, I went to the hundred yen stores first for decor and glassware before I went anywhere else. It was so much fun. 

The main decor were these paper lanterns above the food table. It was what you saw first when you walked in. 

Glass pitchers and cute jars for drinks:

Jars for the flowers, ribbon, and spice jars to go with the theme of the shower. The chalkboards aren't from the hundred yen stores, but the chalk was. I had bouquets of fresh orchids everywhere from the farmers market that only cost like $15. 

 Candy jars and bags for the favors:

 It was such a fun afternoon celebrating Mickelle. I started planning this right after J was born, and the key to being able to pull it off was planning early doing little bits at a time. I did the decorating days before so it wouldn't all come down to the last minute trying to do it with a newborn.

 Such a fun day! And now Mickelle's baby is almost two months old. And look how little J was! (He's on the far left being held by one of my friends). Crazy. Can't wait to do some more entertaining!!