Luau cake

Tonight 2 of our friends got married and we were able to make their cake.  L (the bride) said that I could make what ever I wanted...and since it was a Luau theme...and since Luau's are so much fun...we decided to go with a fun cake (how's that for a never ending sentence? ;).

As usual, MBH had a huge hand in the making in this cake.  Truth be told, if he had time to make a whole cake, it would be far better than anything I've ever made.  He's one talented dude :) and I love it when he helps me with projects.



Congrats R&L!  Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day.

Spring Break

Below are a few pictures from our trip to California.

We spent one day at Sea World. 

This is C and J at the dolphin pool.  J was a little hesitant to touch the dolphin. It has tons of sharp teeth that look a bit frightening to a 5 year old...and his mom ;)

Here are C and J observing the whale pool. 

They were pretty active and were very fun to watch.

J and myself at the whale observation deck.

We love the Bat Rays!  I think it's great to be able to park yourself there as long as you want, can touch them as much as you want (assuming they are coming near enough)...without being charged $6 additional per person. 

Beluga whales are so fun to watch!

Here are the tide pools...which are also fun at no extra charge :)  Notice how wet J and I are in these last two pictures.  We were fortunate enough to be direct recipients of 3 great waves of water from "Shamu".  The first one was, of course, expected.  We were sitting in the splash zone after all.  The whale went to 3 other spots in the zone before getting to us...all of those people got splashed once.  We got splashed once - and were surveying the "damage" done to our little one when we, VERY unexpectedly, received another one....and then another.  We were shocked and SOAKED! 

*Mental Note - Do not remove protective poncho at any point while sitting in the splash zone.  Even if you think the whale is finished with you.  Oh..and keep your mouth closed!*

Today J told me that his favorite part of Sea World was the Churro.  Looking back on it...I'm pretty sure he wasn't kidding.  Nothing else made him smile quite like the Churro!

Our next day was spent at the tide pools in La Jolla.

  J was very cautious at first but once he was convinced we weren't in any danger from tsunamis we had SO much fun!  (mental note...don't talk about current events in front of a worrisome 5 year old)

We found some empty oyster shells that we used as shovels to pick up the little ocean creatures we found.

Hermit crabs are hilarious and quite fascinating! 

I think the tide pools were my favorite part of our trip.  The ocean and shore here were beautiful!

There are some 'beached' seals (or sea lions, I'm not sure which) not too far from the pools.  We were running low on time so we didn't get any closer but I think we will try too next time we get the opportunity.  Doesn't it look like J's going to eat them in this pic?

We also went to Hoover Dam on our way to Vegas.  Holy-moly that thing is huge.  J wanted to look over the edge to see how far down it went which made me SO nervous.  I don't think I've ever held on to him more tightly! LOL :) 

We were able to spend the night at some friends house for the last night of our little vaca. 

What a fun time we had!  It's always great to "get away" but I was glad to get home...and recuperate from our break :)



Catching Leprechauns

This year we decided to celebrate St. Patricks day by catching a leprechaun. 

We found some small empty boxes, got some colored paper, and went to work.  J's box had a hole in the top that he covered with paper.  He then cut the paper over the hole into strips and added some clover stickers to those strips.  Leprechauns love clovers as you know, so when they saw them they would walk over and fall into the box.  He added shredded paper to ensure a soft landing and some lucky charms for them to snack on. 

We were going to be out of town on St. Patricks day so we added some flour to the board the traps sat on so we could see the foot prints they were sure to leave behind.  (It was a bit messy but was all I could come up on short notice ;)

We were so excited to see if some Leprechauns would visit our house on St. Patties day!  J. really hoped that there would be one stuck in his trap so we could keep it as a pet...we took comfort in knowing that if you catch a Leprechaun, it is required (by his magical law) to leave some treasure behind when he gets out. 

So, we got home and found that we had, in fact, caught a leprechaun.  It did get out though so he left us some treasure.  We think there were probably 3 that got into the house...2 were trapped and the third one helped them escape.  They sure are sneaky! ;)

Who knew St. Patricks day could be so fun!  I think we'll try again next year.