obsessed

i am officially obsessed. i have always loved outdoor playhouses and wish i could have one for my kids, but they are so pricey. i just stumbled upon this new one over on apartment therapy and i am officially obsessed. like i need $6,000 pronto! actually, i need at least $12,000. cause i want the playhouse for dylan and either the bungalow or modern studio as a little guest studio. or art/craft/sewing studio for me :) they are amazing!!! my birthday is may 18, so if anyone is looking for a great gift for me, you can't go wrong here :)

the playhouse:

the bungalow:

the modern:

all images via www.kangaroomsystems.com

summer snapshot

summer 2010 was a big one for Dylan. she got to travel all over the world! Dylan visited New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Austria and Italy. Here's a quick look at a few of the place she went...

Ocean Grove, New Jersey:

swimming in the Jersey shore:
Brooklyn to visit Abby and Alysson:
Central Park, New York City (on the spot where daddy proposed to mommy):
taking in the lights in Times Square:
Spittal, Austria:
enjoying gelato in Venice, Italy:
i have literally hundreds of photos from our trips, so there will be more to come.

beach day

yesterday reminded me of this day. we've been having one of those hot january weeks, you know, while the rest of the country is snowed in. it makes sense. anyway, Dylan and i met Josie and Franki down at the beach. the weather was great! Dylan loves the water and even though it was freezing cold, she did not care. she could have played in it the whole time we were there. we also got a surprise visit from my friend Jenny and then another visit by uncle J. of course, as soon as Dylan saw Justin she said, "where's Ojaio?". it's too bad she wasn't with him. maybe next time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

skate camp...

ok, blogger's mad at me or something. i've been trying to upload photos for this post for a couple weeks off and on and can't for some reason. so this is as far as i've gotten. these are pictures from element's skate camp up on sequoia lake. we went with chad for a couple days this summer. it is gorgeous up there. dylan enjoyed the outdoors and playing on the ramps. more to come...hopefully...

san diego zoo...

mother's day

so it's no surprise to any of my readers (all 3 of you) that i'm a little late when it comes to the blog posts. so this one's about mother's day which was 2 months ago! the day before mother's day, i got to have my own special day with just Dylan and Chad, which included me getting a manicure/pedicure (first one in a looooooong time). it was a great day. we then spent the actual holiday with our mothers. the day started at my parents' house where the men, Chad, Josh and Pops shopped, purchased and prepared lunch for all of us. it was a great lunch! they made chicken, shrimp and veggie kabobs, succotash, and mudd pie, well they didn't make the mudd pie, they bought it, but that didn't matter, it was delish! oh and we even had some wonderful appetizers!

Josh and Chad in the kitchen!

Joshie getting his kabob on

we then followed the day up at the mother-in-law's place. Tico, Kelly, Trey, Em and Grandma were there. we had a great time hanging, playing games, looking at old pictures and telling great stories.

aww, sibling love

the cutest cousins

about sums it up!

there we go, that's better

Grandma with her kiddos

me and my girl

we finished the day by taking Chad's mom to dinner at the Yard House and Ray got to serve us. it was a wonderful ending to a great day.

adios casa de los campos

every year for easter, we join Chad's family in fallbrook for an all-out easter celebration! Uncle Phil and Aunt Debbie live in a beautiful home on a hill with an avocado orchard. the easter celebration includes family, friends and an extravagant egg hunt for all ages. the egg hunt is famous for it's "golden egg". the finder of the golden egg gets the pot of money everyone contributes to. however, because the stakes are so high, Uncle Phil gets way too crafty and it's sooo hard to find!! either way, we always have a wonderful time there. unfortunately this was the last easter at casa de los campos. the house has officially sold so we must find a new place to celebrate and egg hunt :( so long casa de los campos, you hold great memories for all of us, especially the manuell family.

the grounds

Pops doing a little bird-watching

Chad enjoying the view

uppy daddy?

the newest egg-hunter, precious Ella Lee English

disneyland

Dylan recently experienced disneyland for the first time! it's a bit early for her to really grasp the concept, especially considering she doesn't watch tv or movies and

therefore doesn't recognize any characters. nonetheless, it was a fun time. our cousins Andy and Whitney came out to california to visit from texas. whitney had never been and so we decided to make a day of it. thank you Andy and Whitney for a great and memorable time!

the ever-so-necessary family photo at the entrance

(complete with asian tourists in the background)

Dylan on main st, usa

this was on the wall at mr. toad's wild ride, i'm not sure what the guy was whispering to the horse's ass. i guess we'll never know!

this was the expression on Dylan's face the entire time we were on any ride. this was the first shot on her first ride ever, mr. toad's wild ride.

can't remember what they call this now, but it used to me the swiss family robinson's treehouse

Dylan LOVED Whitney! it was the first time i've seen her take to someone new so quickly. and, of course, Whitney was so great with her. she practically took care of her the whole time they were here. it was like a mini break for me!

after our long day we met up with Nanny and Pops for a late dinner at ruby's