if not now...when?

hello typepad

how are you this fine day? i'm actually thinking of leaving you. you might think it's because i rarely blog anymore, but really, i have some ideas brewing in my head. i think it might be time to move on. the economy - it sucks, you know. i'm sure that there are others who have moved along their merry way. (shhhh... i even bought a new domain name, and i know i can take it somewhere else for a lot less money every month.) change is hard, but necessary to move forward sometimes. so many ideas... keep an eye out to see where i land.... ;)

in the meantime, look! i actually scrapped! i was waiting ever so patiently since CHA for the girls paperie to arrive in stores. imagine my glee when i walked into scrapbook oasis this weekend and there it was. and voila! i got out my slice and my sewing machine and had some fun.

 

note to self...in the future, sewing in circles on multiple layers of cardstock might not be your wisest move. but i like how it turned out. something different...

so nice to see my boy out having fun with his friends. it felt like summer this past weekend, so it was a great day for a bike ride. the rain that has been drenching us this winter is allegedly on its way back today... i can't wait! i have loved having "weather" this year. the hills are so green and there are wildflowers everywhere. love the poppies and lupine cropping up along the sides of the roads and on the hillsides. oh, and the $1.29 daffodils at trader joe's. now that is true love! xo

 

another sign that spring is here... look what we have right next to our front door.

 
these are not the best pictures but if you look closely, it's a little mommy hummingbird!! little eggs about the size of a jelly belly. she's the cutest thing - brave and protective. i can't wait until these babies hatch - i love that birds flock to our house to nest. every year, we have one or two. i guess they feel safe here. i can just sit on the patio and watch the bird community go about their business. the crazy neighbor has a huge (overgrown) tree that they love. it's like my own little nature sanctuary in the middle of suburbia.

countdown to easter break is on - two more days of school and we are FREEEEEE!!! i love school vacations! and after that, i have a grown-up vacation planned. in two weeks, you can find me here, perhaps sipping on some tea or exploring a garden or two. 

april is going to be a good month! ;) 

italy... in pictures

hello!!! i've been away for a while - too long, actually!

spent some time in italy, enjoying la dolce vita, gelato, and lattes. life is good!

check my flickr to see our photographs. it is taking FOREVER to edit and post those pictures! really crazy.

AND i hope to be scrapping some of them this weekend at reflections in christine middlecamp's  class...

if you stay tuned, so will i. i promise!

picked up the new artful blogging today - talk about inspiration to get blogging again! wowza!

happy last day of april! <3   

i'm back...

our mini-vacation to vegas and zion national park. the weather was lovely for the most part, the kids were good and fairly happy. jack loved the pool at mandalay bay. it is pretty cool - they have a lazy river pool that you ride along in an inner tube (or you can free float), and a wave pool. it is pretty incredible - i can't believe how BIG they make that wave. it's a pretty amazing technology. they really have to create a tremendous amount of energy. i didn't take the camera to the pool, but here are some pics of vegas.

new york, new york hotel

kids outside of excalibur. they liked the play area here, even though i thought it was NASTY, dirty, and old. ugh. but they had a spongebob 4-D movie, so all was right with the world. ;)

darren with the kids inside the luxor. the kids really enjoyed the pyramid structure and the egyptian theme.

we stayed at THEhotel at mandalay bay. i just want to say that i HIGHLY recommend this hotel. we had a great 2 room suite that cost about the same as the discount casino rate that we pay were we normally stay (the mirage). we had to wait like 30 minutes for our room to be ready, so they offered us $100 food credit for the resort. it's a very posh, modern hotel, but since it is part of mandalay bay with its amazing pool, many families stay there. it was just perfect for us. like i said - i definitely recommend it. :)

we were off to utah and zion national park. we stayed in a cabin at this nice little inn. they had the most amazing restaurant - so odd for out in the middle of nowhere...  i had a delicious filet mignon, with a red wine demi glace, apple smoked bacon, bleu cheese, and roasted tomatoes. omg it was good. they also had a creme brulee sampler that was out of this world. actually - i have never had anything like it. it was 4 little mini creme brulees. lemon - sooo good. rootbeer(!!??) - yes - it tasted just like rootbeer! pumpkin - nice and rich and delicious. and (this one seems bizarre) cinnamon and cayenne. let me tell you - it tasted just like a red hot. so unusual - but dang, it was tasty. i really loved this place! :)

it was beautiful up there - i have been once before, but the kids have never been, so we really had a good time. you can't take your car into the main canyon in the park. they have shuttle system to combat traffic, and as much as i hate giving up my car, it was nice to avoid that gridlock. since it has been relatively warm up there, the snow is melting, the river is rushing, and the waterfalls are plentiful. we did a 2 mile walk with the kids. it went back along the river to a spot called the narrows. you have to cross the river to go back any further on the trail. the park service had closed the trail at that point because the water was just too swift (not to mention a chilly 42 degrees).

did i mention that zion is beautiful??

this is the great zion arch. i wish i had something to show the scale of this thing.  it is 600 feet across its base and stands 400 feet high.

 

the virgin river - BRRRRR!

the trees were still really bare from winter. some of them were starting to sprout tiny shoots. i'll bet it will be gorgeous there in a few months - green leaves, wildflowers...

the wildlife!! we saw deer, BISON (ok, maybe they weren't wild), wild turkeys, and lots of squirrels.

 

the deer were everywhere once you got to the eastern side of the park, we didn't see any in the main canyon area.

there is a 1.1 mile tunnel that goes right through the mountain. it was finished in 1930, and it is quite an engineering feat. it has little cut-through areas every several hundred yards or so - you can catch a glimpse of the view, and it lets in a little light to an otherwise completely dark tunnel. way cool.

the entrance

inside the tunnel

one of the openings

and a family picture via my self timer. :) it was really windy up there!

 

if you can, get out there to zion. it's really wonderful - you won't regret it. and if you are in so cal, it is only about an 8 hour drive if you go straight through. only about 2.5 - 3 hours from vegas.