A Series of Sweet Surprises

Summary:

Spring break.

Sweet friends.

Sleepovers.

Starling Diner.

Summery-weather in the springtime.

Sand between my toes.

Sassy, silly little girls.

A series of sweet surprises, indeed. I'm on my final spring break as a student for a while. Although I still have work, i'm doing what I can to make it feel as "spring breaky" as possible. Long Beach is a great place to be for such an occasion.


[An aside: This is my sixth year in Long Beach, and it's a place that has earned a sweet, sweet spot in my heart. I love the character, I love the people, I love the memories that I've made here. Some things have come to an end, and many things have been birthed here. Today was just a reminder of all of those things.Cheers to you, Long Beach. Thank you for being a momentous memory bank for me.]


In the midst of running around, laughing, watching kids lose themselves in their land of play and swim in mud-like sand, I found myself so, so thankful for the sweet life that I'm getting to take a part of right now. 


Here are some pictures of my friend Katy's kiddos. Friends clad in bathing suits and spending time together during the springtime made for a great environment in which to snap some shots of these sweet girls (who are growing up way too fast!). They are such reminders of what it means to be beautiful and free: 

 [The picture below CRACKS me up--I just hear thumpin' runway music playing whenever I look at Soph struttin' her stuff!]

A no-complaints Wednesday. I hope yours was just as great :).

The Adventures of a 4-Year-Old and my Microwave.

What is this, you ask?

This, friends, was the result of some creative exploration.

My friend lovely friend Rosina  and her husband came out to Long Beach today for a sonogram for their third bun in the oven. Since the appointment was near my neck of the woods, she asked if I could hang out with her two kids for a little while. Personally, I think they're some of the cutest kiddos i've ever laid eyes on, so I was more than happy to watch them for a bit. We watched Toy Story 3, they helped me grind and brew some coffee, they colored, and I loved listening to all of their little anecdotes. The highlight, by far, happened while I was drawing with Abby. I heard the microwave go off, and I asked Caleb if his pretend food was done cooking. He looked at me and said, "No, iss my cawh." I don't know if he was in the mood for some hot wheels action, but the terrified look that came across his face when the beeps came was priceless. Bye bye, car. It was melty mayhem. I tried so hard not to die laughing in front of the two kiddos, but man did I have a good laugh with Rosina and Benny when they came to pick them up. Now Caleb knows that a microwave is only for edibles--not for his favorite cars.

Just for fun, I decided to take some pictures of them while they were playing and entertaining each other. Aren't they too cute for words? 

 [ The kiddos helped me make coffee :)They wanted some proof, so they could show off to their mama ]

I know, you're probably ooo-ing and aahhh-ing about how ridiculously good looking these two lil ones are. I had so much fun, and I think it would be safe to say that they did too :). I can only imagine what kind of memories are going to be made once baby #3 comes around.
Rosina and Benny, you are great parents with some equally fantastic children. 

Kiddos Galore

The older I get and the older my friends get, the more we become surrounded with kiddos. At this point in my life, i'm surrounded by theirs, of course :). I'm humbled to know such amazing couples who are also amazing parents. I'm so thankful for how honest these friends are as they are constantly learning to become better and better parents.

The other day, I had the opportunity to hang out with my friend Katy and her two lovelies--Selah and Sophia. It was pretty hilarious; Katy and I were running all over the place just to keep the kids out of the street in order to get some pictures of the kids doing what they do best--be themselves!

Lethally cute: