Labor Day Weekend

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What a great weekend Bobby and I had in Michigan over the holiday. Friday started with a reception at Michigan Stadium for a re-dedication of the new and improved stadium. It is amazing as you can see from the pictures above. They didn't skimp on anything. Our premier club seats are incredible. I hope you all get the chance at some point to go.

After the re-dedication and tour of the new facility, we met up with Glee for dinner at the Chop House on Main Street. The food, wine and company were all fantastic. All those years of waitressing paid off as the restaurant treated us to 1/3 off our entire bill!

We then retired to La Dolce Vita with the intent of having more dessert, but it turned out to just be more wine followed by a trip to Conor O'Neills, which we closed down. We got the opportunity to meet Glee's new beau, who will fit nicely in the group as long as we don't scare him off. ;)

The next morning, Glee treated us to brunch at Cafe Zola before we met up with Brian and Amber at the MI tailgate. The four of us then headed over to the game and marveled at all the activity. 113,000+ people got to watch a great season opener. We were so glad we got to attend and see MI back to the team we once knew.

After the game, we had dinner with my old V-Ball coaches, Bill & Karen Abbott at West Side Grill. It was great seeing them, reminiscing about the old days and catching up on the new. After dinner, we headed to Mark & Sasha's newly redone 5 bedroom in Concord. We arrived so late, that we ended up retiring and regrouping in the morning.

Sunday sped by rather quickly. After hanging with Sasha for a while, including a ride in the Baby Bronco with Mark and Caeden, we headed to pick up Glee, Kevin and Mike (Glee's man) to go to Ted's concert at Pine Knob. Aah, the old days. Made me really feel old. It, was however, nice to see everyone, including Doug and Toby.

We headed back to Ann Arbor just before the concert concluded, which only took us about an hour given Kevin was driving 100 MPH! We stopped into The Black Pearl (one of Kevin's local haunts) for drinks and fish tacos, yum! Then we headed back to Kevin's for more food and wine. Thank God we got to sleep in!

Next morning, which was supposed to be sunny and in the low 80's, ended up being rainy and in the high 60's. But we were able to take cover under umbrellas outdoors while we had brunch once again before catching our flight home.

We were happy to see the kids once again, but definitely enjoyed the weekend away. Can't wait to see the MI crew again in October!

End of the Summer Weekend

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We had a busy fun-filled weekend. Saturday, the 5 Thomason grandkids had a ball at the Loyola Alumni BBQ (see link above to pics) followed by an "end of summer" BBQ at Bill and Mary's. Teri & Brian moved in to their new house and we toasted to celebrate.

After swim lessons on Sunday morning, we headed to the Jonathan Club for a Members-only day. The theme was Monster trucks. They had a remote control race track, Cars-themed inflatable slide, bounce house and Monster Truck that was about 18" tall. Caoilin had a birthday party in the afternoon while Cael took a monster nap. We ended the weekend with takeout from Pitfire since the kids were a mess having played outside all day. Caoilin also had to hit the hay early becuase she started school today. She was so excited. That left time for Bobby and I to actually sit down and watch a movie. I can't remember the last time we did that.

Bobby and I are off to Michigan this weekend for the holiday. Can't wait!

Anniversary Weekend Recap

We kicked off our Anniversary weekend by joining friends at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. For those of you who are not familiar with it, the Magic Castle is a private club & hotel that has been around for more than a half century. It has a restaurant, several bars and various private rooms with entertainment. Other than dinner taking too long, which limited our time to catch the entertainment, we had a great time. The performances we did see were fantastic. I would definitely go back if the opportunity presented itself.

Saturday was our actual anniversary (6th year of marriage). After grabbing coffee at the Venice Grind, I played with the kids while Bobby ran errands. When Cael went down for his nap, Caoilin and I tackled her June Community Service Project. (June was so busy, especially with guests, we had to do 2 in July). This month's project was cleaning up our local Library. The Library happened to be having a book sale that day and one of the volunteers invited Caoilin to pick out a book to thank her for cleaning up the Library. As you can see from the photo below, we picked up a lot of trash & recycling.

Bobby and I had dinner plans to celebrate that night, so we couldn't take Caoilin to the Circus at the Staples Center. However, our friend Heather was taking her 2 kids and offered to take Caoilin with her as well as keep her for a sleepover. So, I took the kids over to her place in the mid-afternoon for a play date. Caoilin stayed and Cael and I headed home in time to get him fed and to bed.

Below are some pictures of Caoilin. Their seats were on the floor! It was almost as if they were in part of the show. They had a fabulous time and it was worth every penny!

Rocco, Sasha's little brother, was our sitter for the evening. Cael was asleep by the time he got there, so it was a pretty easy task. Bobby and I headed off to the Jonathan Club for a nice dinner and bottle of wine. The weather was great for dining al fresco. I was pooped when we got home and wisely headed straight to bed.

Sunday was busy out of the gates. Cael (my built in alarm clock) slept in and I had to race to get the kids to swim class. I first had to drive to the Valley to pick up Caoilin before heading to swim school. After we got home, Bobby took Caoilin and her cousin Drew to LACC to hit some balls at the driving range and putting green. They were treated with milk shakes before heading home. Then we packed up the kids and headed to the beach for a couple of hours. Cael keeps us moving. He is all over the place now that he is walking. I can't count how many times he climbed up the play structure and went down one of the various slides, only to ask for "more"! Needless to say, the kids passed out for their later than usual nap. They both slept 2 1/2 hours! Once they roused, we packed them up once again and headed off to Pitfire Pizza for our Sunday dinner ritual. Due to their late nap, they didn't get to bed until 9, which is really late for Cael. But they slept great and woke up at their normal times this morning. I, however, feel like I've been hit by a Mac truck! I can't stop yawning today, despite what I would expect was a night's sleep.

4 more days and counting until we are back at it again. We have another busy weekend ahead of us complete with dinners, the beach, guests and family time.

Hope you all are having as great of a summer as we are!!

XOXO

Weekend of May 14-16, 2010

This weekend had many unexpected turn of events all starting on Friday. Bobby and I had to drive out to Agora Hills (on the way to Santa Barbara) to have dinner with our main sponsors for LA Country Club (David & Mimi Wood and Denny and MaryAnn Kristen). Uncle Bob and Aunt JoAnn joined us too. While at dinner having a fabulous time, our nanny called to say that Caoilin was throwing up. There goes our Saturday!

Caoilin managed to feel fine the next day and slept well Friday night, but we didn't want to risk getting anyone sick. So we stayed home from French Class and the afternoon birthday pool party and canceled our dinner/play date with the Goods. While sad to miss all the fun activities, we managed to have a pretty nice day despite it all.

In the morning, after walking to the Venice Grind for coffee, we stopped in Earl's Gourmet Grub right next door, which is the new sandwich shop our friends opened up on Mother's Day weekend. I tried their breakfast salad, which was quite tasty. They seem to be getting a steady stream of business, which is great. I think it's a big plus being right next door to the Coffee Shop, which has it's own very loyal following. I then had to run a bunch of errands, including going all the way to the Valley, while Cael napped and Caoilin took it easy. She hadn't quite gotten her energy back.

On the way home, I stopped once again to Earl's Gourmet Grub, but for lunch this time around. We ate lunch as a family, which was a nice change of pace. Then we decided to take the kids on the bikes to the Airport park. We literally got 1 block from the airport when Bobby's back wheel locked up! The bike wouldn't move. What's worse is that we were sitting in the center left turn lane amidst tons of traffic going both ways. We had to get the kids, the trailer and the bikes all off the busy street. What a nightmare! Bobby then took my bike home, picked up the truck and came back to get us. We drove straight to the bike shop (next to the Coffee Shop where Grandpa got Caoilin her helmet) to have them take a look. $300 later, we have a new brake system on order. Ouch! I guess the weight of the kids trailer and the baby seat (with kids and stuff) was too much for the bike's brake system.

While we were waiting for the diagnosis, we popped into Floyd's Barber Shop to get Caoilin an ever so needed trim. We splurged and got her a shampoo to go with the haircut. She had a ball. It was so funny watching her. She had to sit on a booster seat of course and had a hard time keeping her head still. But the lady managed to do a great job and her hair looks great. I'll download the pics from Bobby's iPhone to the web soon.

I love the convenience of our neighborhood, where you can get coffee, breakfast and/or lunch, repair your bike and cut your hair all on the same block! Pretty soon, there will be an organic market added to the mix of the added hardware store, post office and notary public! Our neighborhood is getting better and better.

So, while we didn't make it to the Airport Park, we still had quite an adventure. We were all pretty pooped that night, so I made steaks for dinner and we settled in rather early that night. Good thing because Sunday was really busy!

Sunday, Cael officially started swim classes. He was so cute and seems to be adapting very well. I had to hide while watching him because he would start to get sad if he saw me. But so long as I was out of sight, he was happy as a clam. I hadn't officially changed Caoilin's class time so that they could be back to back, so we hung out in the courtyard after Cael's class until Caoilin's class.

Caoilin actually had the best class I've seen her take so far. She was really improving on her kick and listening to her teacher really well. The sad thing is that with her new class time, she has to have a new teacher. We are going to miss Nathan. He's been so great with her. The nice thing though, is now the kids have back to back classes with the same teacher first thing in the morning. That gives us the rest of our day for whatever.

After swimming and naps, Caoilin and I ran to Home Depot to pick out paint samples for the Condo (our tenants move out at the end of the month and we are readying it for the market). Then we visited a friend who had a baby a while back before zipping home to pack up for our next meeting. We went to Patrick & Dorothy's for more swimming. Above are some picks of Cael in the pool with Bobby.

After swimming, we headed over to Jimmy & Brooke's for a BBQ with the Klein side of the family (it was Bob's sister's birthday). The kids had a ball (pictures to come towards the end of May).

Good thing I was smart enough to pack the kid's pjs because Cael fell asleep in the car on the way home. I managed to get him into bed and back to sleep without a lot of effort and he slept straight through to 7 am! This 1 nap per day seems to be working a bit better for his sleeping habits.

This morning was chaotic. Our new French Nanny, Nadia started today. This afternoon, Bobby and I have our final interview with LACC. Fingers crossed! Hopefully the next time you out-of-towners visit, we'll be able to treat you to some golf!

XOXO

Looking forward to seeing all of you Michiganders next week!

Aubrey

Mickey & the Beanstalk (17 photos), by Aubrey Thomason

Here's a cute little photo shoot I did of Caoilin while she was watching Mickey & the Beanstalk. This is only a handful of the pics. It's so funny to watch her facial expression change from moment to moment. She was hilarious! She also looks so old to me in these pics. I can't believe she's already 4.


I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

4\30 Date Night (16 photos), by Aubrey Thomason

So, on Friday, Bobby and I were supposed to do dinner and a movie. However, I was so exhausted from ViaCommunity Day, that I knew I wouldn't make it that long. I really just wanted to do something relaxing and low-key. Bobby suggested dinner on the beach at the JC. It was a little chilly, but such a beautiful night. Glad I brought my camera. Take a look at the pics...


I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can
order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

ViaCommunity Day 2010 (56 photos), by Aubrey Thomason

Friday was our annual ViaCommunity Day (community service day for my company). This year I participated in a teachers' lounge makeover at Castelar Elementary School in Chinatown. It was a very busy and tiring day, but so worth it. Take a look at the pictures below. I think you'll be amazed by the transformation. This space is mainly for the faculty, but is also used by Kindergarteners and 1st Graders for after school care. So we had to make it multifunctional. I painted the 2 canvases with the sunset and designed the overall layout. I also did the majority of the shopping, including the great chair covers and tablecloths. The photo artwork on the walls are collages of pictures that some of the team members took with my camera that day. They got some really awesome shots of the kids, the school and the surrounding Chinatown landscape. They really were magnificent. I was proud to be a part of it.


I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Beer Pong Anyone?

I would categorize this weekend as one of too much socializing for Bobby and I and not enough sleeping. On Friday, we ventured over the hill to visit Eric and Courtney who were down for the weekend from SLO. Chris and Camilla joined us. We ordered in upscale Chinese and hung out. It was so great having the 6 of us together. Such a rarely since Eric and Courtney made the big move up North. They have decided to stay for good. They listed their Studio City house and will be looking for a new house up there once theirs sells. They are also in the process of selling their Jonathan Club membership (fortunately to our friends Tyson & Yvonne) and joined a country club up there. Booo hooo for us, but we are happy for them.

Which brings me to our next big news. Bobby and I have our final interview with the Membership Committee of LA Country Club on 5/17. Assuming we don't do anything stupid, we should be official once we write that astronomical check! All jokes aside, I am happy for him since this is something he has wanted his whole life. He deserves it.

Back to Friday night, we were so caught up in great conversation, that we lost track of the time. We didn't get home until 1 am. Of course Cael wouldn't cut us a break and woke and the ripe hour of 5:40 am.

Saturday was the typical running Caoilin to French class and doing errands, just at a much slower pace since we were dragging tail. The day flew and before we knew it, we were headed to Brooke & Jimmy's to celebrate Teri & Jimmy's birthdays. The weather was great. The kids had a blast! Bob then kicked everyone out at 8 pm sharp! Somehow during the night, Bobby had decided to invite people over to our house to play beer pong. Say what!?! For those of you not familiar with Beer Pong, it is a drinking game. I somehow got coaxed into playing 1 game while we waited for Chad and Cara to arrive, but on the contingency that I didn't have to drink. Bobby had to drink all of mine for me. And I, being wise, turned in at 11:30.

I was awoken at 2 am to find 3 blind mice (I mean Bobby, Patrick and Chad) searching the house for Cara. Apparently, she had snuck out and disappeared. Fortunately, everyone had cabbed to the house and didn't drive. Danny slept on the couch. I am sure he loved being woken at 6:45 to 2 amped and ready kids! I let Bobby sleep in and nap, because he had to be hurting. He managed to buck up and join us for breakfast before I took Caoilin to swim class.

That evening, we biked to our favorite place, Pitfire Pizza, for dinner with Rodger, Dena & Cael's BFF (for you old folk, that means "best friend forever"), Clay. Dinner went pretty smoothly given the fact that we had 2 ever restless almost one-year-olds and a jabber jaws 4-year-old. Not a lot of meaningful adult conversation transpired there. Fortunately, we are catching a Dodger/Tigers game with them on 5/22 . Of course we will all be routing for the Tigers!

Cael, having skipped his 2nd nap, went to bed a little early and we snuggled in to watch "Princess & the Frog" with Caoilin. A first time for me and Bobby. Cute movie.

Another nice weekend and another sad Monday. Although, next weekend is going to be another exhausting one with Cael's birthday (and 2 other birthday parties in addition). I am trying to figure out how I am going to make it through without gaining 20 lbs from all the eating!

Swimathon Fundraiser Update

Thanks to some last minute donations, Caoilin has now raised over $800!! We're so proud of her and grateful to our friends and family for their contributions. We are planning to do this event every year and hope that the amount she raises increases year over year.

Swim with Mike Fundraiser (26 photos), by Aubrey Thomason

Click here to view photos

What an exhausting but great weekend we had.

We kicked off Friday with dinner at our favorite local haunt, Pitfire Pizza. Chad & Cara (Bobby's sister and husband) joined us. After that we retreated to our place for way too much YouTube videos through Apple TV. At midnight, we realized that Cael would be up in 6 hours, so we hit the sack. To our surprise, he woke up at 4:40 am!! Talk about painful. I took the first shift, then Bobby, then I got up again to get everything ready for Caoilin's swim event. Pics above. I think you all saw my email about this already, but Caoilin swam 7 laps and has now (with some recent contributions that came in after the event) raised over $700!! That's $100 a lap. Kudos to her. After the event, we dropped her off at French Class, which is now 3 hours. She complained about having to leave class early and not staying to have lunch with the kids. Without a hesitation, Bobby and I agreed, that we will support her if she wants to spend more time learning. Works for us!

The kids both took a good afternoon nap, then we headed back to Pitfire again for dinner. This time we met up with Caoilin's best friend, Sadie, and her family. They live in Mar Vista too (fairly close to us) and are fun people. We lucked out because we really them a lot. Good choice Caoilin! I should have known better than to wear white jeans. Just as we were packing up, Cael, that little stinker, spilled melted chocolate ice cream all down the front of me. And we rode our bikes there to top it off! It took me 3 soaks/washes and finally resorting to putting straight bleach on the stain before I got it out. But I managed to salvage them, thank goodness.

We feel asleep rather early on Saturday night, and all woke pretty early as a result. Bobby and Caoilin went to 7:30 Mass while Cael and I took in a 4-mile walk followed by a visit to our neighbor's awesome swing! We go every Sunday. It's in a big tree so the chains are super long. He gets some major air. So cute. Bobby and Caoilin drove by on their way home from church, which was our cue to head back home. I made breakfast and then took Caoilin to swim class.

That afternoon we had a play date/lunch with our architects/friends (their son is at Caoilin's school) who also live in Mar Vista. We ate outdoors and enjoyed some gourmet sandwiches from our friends, Yvonne & Dean's, soon to open Sandwich Shop. I managed to get in 2 more miles of walking doing all the errands/prep for our play date. We will be serving them at Cael's birthday party since they are so yummie and convenient.

We had a play date dinner that night as well at our friends, Yvonne & Tyson. It was a nice time, except that Cael was on his last leg. We raced home to put the overly tired little monkey to bed. Caoilin followed soon thereafter, and I followed immediately thereafter (at 9 pm). I was sooo exhausted! I got a little over 8 hours of sleep, but was still tired the next day. I think I am finally back to normal again. Just in time for another work week followed by a slightly less busy weekend to come.

Love to you all!

Aubrey

Calm before the Storm

This weekend was much more relaxing than last weeks, in part due to the fact that I was recovering from a cold. Stayed home from work on Friday, but rallied to make dinner with Bobby at one of my favorite restaurants part-owned by Mario Batali called "Osteria Mozza". Despite my sinus infection, I was still able to taste my food and wine, thank God! The food and wine were fantastic, as usual. I was asleep by 10 pm that night. Thankfully, since Cael woke at an wonderful 5:45 a.m.!!

Saturday was a little busy with errands and Caoilin's French class, but I managed to get all my stuff done while she was in class and Cael napped. We are gearing up for Cael's 1st birthday which is now 3 weeks away! We met our Westside group of friends at our new favorite restaurant, Pitfire Pizza, for an early dinner with kids. That proved to be a bit more chaotic than expected and our table was even reprimanded for having too rambunctious of kids. Ooops! I guess I thought that going to dinner at 5 pm was the "kids/family" hour and that sort of chaos was expected. Apparently not. Fortunately, the owners didn't hold any hard feelings against the group and will continue to let us come back at the present time. That's good b/c we are going twice this upcoming weekend! I opted to turn in at the early hour of 9pm that night and Bobby went to his sister's beer pong tournament solo, which turned out to be the smartest thing I did this weekend!

Sunday was quiet. The weather was cool and gray. After breakfast at The Curious Palate, I took Caoilin to swim class while Cael napped. Then Caoilin and I cleaned up the trash around the Fire Station while Cael finished his 2 1/2 hour nap! She had to do some extra chores (including cleaning up the litter) to earn that new Sleeping Beauty Baby Doll we got her to go with her new princess baby play set one of her schoolmates got her for her birthday. She had an impromptu play date with her friends down the street, while Bobby and I voted at the Mar Vista elections for our neighborhood representatives. Cael took another great late afternoon nap, which actually permitted Caoilin, Bobby and I to have a relaxing dinner of Filet Mignon with sauteed mushrooms and onions with a side of cheesy zucchini and a nice bottle of wine. We managed to get the kids both to bed by 8pm and settled in to watch a movie. Can't remember the last time that happened.

I woke this morning, still recovering from my cold, but feeling much more well-rested than the week before! Aah. Back to work. :(

Hope you all had as enjoyable a weekend as we did!

Until next weekend!

Easter Weekend

What a blur this weekend was! Thank God I had a 1/2 day on Friday, so I could get everything prepped and ready for Saturday. Fortunately, Bobby and I were still able to squeeze in our date night. We opted for the Chart House in the Marina. While the decor is a bit dated and cheesy (typical for a seafood restaurant), we had a nice table overlooking the Marina and the food was great! We started with raw oysters and crab stuffed mushrooms, followed by salad and fish entrees, of course (Good Friday). My blackened salmon was superb, as was Bobby's spicy tuna. The overpriced Silver Oak was a great accompaniment. We were tempted to stay and have another glass of wine by the fire in the bar area, but our better judgment chimed in with a little "Are you crazy! Don't you know you have 2 parties to hose tomorrow?" I pretty much zonked when my head his the pillow at 10 pm.



We celebrated Caoilin's 4th on Saturday, since her birthday fell on Easter this year. I believe you were all copied on the Snapfish photos I sent out Monday, but below are a couple of my favorites.









The all-girl princess party was a sugar-loaded pinkalicious success! The family dinner that followed was also quite regal! Some of the Thomason's got in the spirit and dressed up in their most royal attire. We even had a dragon (Scott)! Thank God Caoilin opted for pizza, which we ordered, as I was a bit burnt out from the butterfly-shaped PB&J sandwiches, homemade Cinderella cupcakes and sushi/salad/fruit/fat free brownies spread for the moms.



After an early mass Sunday morning (kudos to Bobby for that idea - only took 50 minutes!), we came home for Cael's nap before heading to Bill & Mary's for a fantastic brunch. Mary outdid herself with Tahoe Bake (eggs, potatoes, sausages and cheese), lox, bagels, asparagus & fruit. The kids then were able to engage in their Easter Egg Hunt. Cael and Shay were the fastest to find their special big eggs. Then we headed home for afternoon naps.



When Caoilin woke, Bobby and I gave her our birthday present to her, below. Thanks to her push bike, she hopped right on and started riding without, as she puts it "the little wheels (i.e., training wheels)". She was so proud of herself. She's loving it. She still needs a little push to get started, but she'll have that down soon enough I am sure.





Later that day, we headed over to Bill and Mary's for round 2: deviled eggs (courtesy of Teri), cheese puffs, salad, ham, carrots, cheesy potatoes & buttermilk biscuits. De-lish! Cara & Chad
treated us to a homemade strawberry shortcake, which was fantastic. Yes a LOT of eating this weekend.



We have spent the better part of the work week getting the house back together, taking down the Easter decor, putting together Caoilin's new toys, etc. Brian Owen paid us a visit last night (Tuesday), which we always enjoy, but is off to Vegas today. See ya next time!



I am sooooo looking forward to this weekend! Should be a good one. Will keep you posted (no pun intended)



XOXO



Aubrey

3/20 Weekend Update

Following an inconvenient week of working from home while Caoilin recovered from the "Hand, Foot and Mouth" virus (thus banned from school), we managed to role into another great weekend. We enjoyed the company of my good college friend, Brian Owen, who was out on another work trip (Wednesday evening through Monday morning). He and Cael have become roommates when he is in town and Caoilin just adores him!

On Friday, Bobby and I went to an Opus 1 Wine Dinner at the Jonathan Club with the Watnes, Lords and 2 others. To our surprise, we ran into George and Jennifer Tierney at the event. Not a surprise to anyone, I am sure, but we were the last table to leave. :) But fighting temptation to join others on the roof for more wine, we were responsible and headed home to relieve the babysitter.

Saturday was a beautiful, but very busy day. After dropping Caoilin off at French class and getting Cael down for a nap, I frantically got ready to attend Kristin Keefe's surprise 40th birthday luncheon at LA Country Club. It was so nice seeing all the family members and friends. Kristin was totally surprised! That night the 4 of us and Brian went to our new favorite family haunt, Pitfire Pizza, where not only was Caoilin ecstatic to see one of her classmates, but I discovered one of the most amazing pizzas I've ever had in my life! Burrata with Arugula salad. I couldn't believe how good it was. While we brought our own bottle of wine (no corkage), we instead chose to sample their Sangria, which earned 2 thumbs up from the 3 adults. Cael had a great time, except for when this 1 particular waitress got too near to him and caused him to burst into tears. He'd been staring at her, so she came over to say hello, at which time he totally freaked out. For the rest of the night, we had to keep her out of his eyesight so that he wouldn't cry. So strange! Caoilin was also amused by the older man in fish-shaped flip flops (who had apparently had a bit too much Sangria). After dinner, kids baths and bedtime, I settled down to watch "Inglourious Basterds" while Bobby went to the Keefe's to celebrate Kristin's bday with her and other close friends.

On Sunday, we woke to another beautiful day. After breakfast at The Wood, we quickly rushed home to change for Caoilin's swim class. Brian tagged along, of course. Caoilin seemed a little sluggish this week, probably in part due to the 1.5 mile round trip bike ride for breakfast. Cael After swimming, Caoilin came home, changed again, and then headed off to cousin Scott's birthday party with Bobby while Cael continued took a nap. While Caoilin was at the Party, Brian, Cael and I took in a little swinging at our neighbors awesome tree swing and got to know our neighbor a little better. He has his own art studio in his garage and he and his wife own a pottery studio (she makes it all) on Venice Beach. After Scott's party, and naps for the kids, we headed down to the JC Beach Club with a bottle of wine in tow. The plan was to hang out, have some wine while the kids ate dinner at the beach and then come home for the adult dinner, which inevitable happened, but not before managing to squeeze in significant time on the swings and a little one-on-one volleyball (Brian vs. Aubrey) until the sun set. I've never seen Cael sit in one spot so long and be happy. I have to give Caoilin a lot of credit as she entertained him court side with a bunch of balls and a plastic bin. Toys-shmoys! (BTW - I loved waking up to the sore abs the next day. It's the one set of muscles that I love the feeling of being sore. Weird, I know. It makes me think I'm thinner and in better shape.) ;) Despite Caoilin's tears, we headed home to scrub the salt and sand off our bodies and got Cael to bed while Brian cooked dinner for us! Spaghetti with Pesto and Salad. Yum! We were all exhausted and hit the hay at a reasonable time. All that fresh air does a body good.

Looking forward to next weekend: Friday date night, Loyola Auction on Saturday with Family & Friends, and play date at the Beach Club and girls dinner on Sunday. Counting down the days...

P.S. - March pictures to be circulated this weekend.

Lucky Me

So, I approached this weekend with dismay because it was so jam-packed of to-do's. I was looking forward to all the fun things we had going on, but not the fact that because of all the fun things, my time was squeezed and I had very little time to do errands and all the stuff I have to cram into the weekend because it's virtuously impossible to get anything done during the work week.

The things I was looking forward to were my Friday night date with hubby, which consisted of Happy Feet massages followed by drinks, Saturday night get-together with the Goods and Sunday afternoon at the Jonathan Club beach to meet friends. I will take these events in turn.

Friday: Sadly, Bobby's massage wasn't as good this go around. Note to self: when booking, make sure to request female masseuse for husband. I, on the other hand, had a fantastic massage, mostly due to the fact that I have found a masseuse that I really like. So, I make sure to request him. After the massage, we headed to Bandera's for a bottle of wine. Definitely stayed up too late this night, particularly since I decided to be the one to get up with Cael Saturday a.m., and give Bobby a reprieve. While tired, it wasn't so bad.

Saturday: Caoilin's French class got canceled, so she tagged along on my errands run while Cael napped at home with Bobby. This was actually a blessing in the sense that I didn't feel so regimened by a schedule. We got to go dress shopping for Easter (which is also the same dress she is wearing for her all girls birthday luncheon on the 3rd). I was so happy that we found something that we both agreed upon, which can be tough. Caoilin also got to get her nails painted (as this was on my to-do list while she was in class). So her day was going pretty well, if you ask me. Lastly, we ran to Whole Foods to get some groceries and picked up some sushi for lunch, always a crowd pleaser. Bobby was cleaning up the outdoor living area when we got home (preparing for our get-together with the Goods), with Cael in tow. The weather was beautiful and we were looking forward to appetizers and cocktails al fresco before it got too chilly.

After lunch, the kids both napped and Caoilin slept for almost 3 hours! This break allowed me time to get everything prepped for dinner, including the innevitable kids group bath (for those of you with kids, you can appreciate the madness that these group baths can be). Cameras at the ready, of course (see pics above). The Goods showed up a little before Bobby returned from LA Country Club. We had apps and enjoyed some outdoor play before retiring inside to feed the kids. Cael went to bed fairly early, which was a good thing given we had to spring forward that night.

The kids then got to watch a movie and eat Kettle Corn while the adults ate Paella and salad. Mills brought a naughty cheesecake with raspberry sorbet for dessert. Deeee-lish! Scarlet proceeded to try on or move every pair of Caoilin's shoes before the night was over. Then it was bath time! Kids were treated to a spa bubble bath in the Master Bathroom. Followed by a shower rinse. Once that was complete, it was close to 10 pm. Thank God again for Caoilin's 3-hour nap! The Goods sadly said goodbye after a fun (and chaotic) night and Bobby and I passed out shortly thereafter.

Sunday: So, this was my favorite of all days, and the perfect finale to what turned out to be a great weekend. Both kids (and innevitably us) slept until almost 8am!!!! Aaaaagh... Typically, Cael then goes down for a nap, while I take Caoilin to swim class. But due to the time change, Cael wasn't even close to being tired. So, all 4 of us got to go watch Caoilin's first swim test. This is essentially where they throw her in the pool fully clothed to see if she can get herself to a calm back float position with head out. It's essentially a safety test, which if passed, allows her to move to the next level. She's been an orange cap (2nd level "Floater") since she started in January. Not surprisingly, she passed with flying colors and is now a green cap ("Kicker"). Even Lenny Krayzelburg himself was in attendance. It was such a special treat for all of us to get to be there for her first test. As a Kicker, she will now be working on her kick without a stroke. Arms will either be at her sides or straight out. Next level after this is Streamliners (White Cap) where arms will start to be introduced in a streamlined sort of way. I am so happy we found this school. Caoilin loves it and it's such a valuable skill set to have.

On our way home from swimming, we got a message that our friends had to cancel our play date at the JC. We decided, however, to go anyway. The weather was fantastic (beach pics will be posted towards the end of the month in my March distribution). We walked to the ocean and played around there for a bit and Cael monopolozed the baby swing for close to a 1/2 hour. Then we had lunch and headed home. Cael took a fantastic nap, which got him right on the new schedule. Caoilin took a short nap too. We then had to head to the Valley to inspect the condo, which will be up for lease again at the end of May. We had to take a look at what needs to be done to get it spiffy.

On the way back home, we were all getting hungry. We decided to check out this new pizza joint that opened up about a mile away and simultaneously test out our new bike trailer. So, we all clambered on (Cael in the Baby Seat, Caoilin in the bike trailer and Bobby and I each riding). It took less than 10 minutes to get there. They had a perfect parking place right in front.

We were so impressed with this new place, and it is definitely on the top of our list of family dinner spots. It's indoor/outdoor seating, but all open air with floor to ceiling garage doors. We opted for outdoors since it was still so nice out. You order at the counter and they bring the food out to you. They grow all their own herbs right on the premises. Essentially, the outdoor area is walled in by the planters. Bobby and I had an incredible antipasta salad followed by a nitrate-free pepperoni fire roasted pizza. Caoilin had just cheese followed by a chocolate chip cookie to celebrate her swim class advancement. The beauty of this place is that, even thought they sell beer & wine, they allow you to bring your own wine without corkage. Looking around, we marveled at how young, hip and family oriented (and eco-friendly) our hood is. We LOVE Mar Vista and are continuing to watch it grow into a fantastic place to live.

After a lovely relaxing feast, we biked home, bathed the kids and got them off to bed. Bobby and I relaxed, watched some boob tube and then headed to bed. All that anxioty for nothing. It turned out to be one of the best weekends I can remember. I hope to have more like it soon.

Some of my favorite recent pics from San Luis Obispo

Cael swinging

Bubbless at Talosa winery

Snuggling with Daddy

All smiles at Talosa

Here are some pics I think you have all seen from our trip to San Luis Obispo in January.

Virgin Blogger

So this is a blog…Let’s see how much time I can find between working full time, 2 kids, a husband, a side business and a social life to update this on a regular basis. Is anyone even listening ??? I am pretty much talking to myself at this point, but I hope that changes.

I hope this proves to be a great way to stay connected with all my friends and family oh so far away (or even here in LA County, as I rarely get the opportuntity to see you on a regular basis). Let’s just say I feel I’ve outgrown snapfish (although, I will still probably continue to distribute mass photo collections, as it would be too much for my little blog)!

So in the weeks to come, I hope to start posting some of my favorite photos along with an update on what we're up to.

Talk to you soon.