Well, today the kids have Mass and a closing ceremony at school and then they are officially done for the school year. I am already in vacation mode as I sit here in my pajamas typing on the computer, waiting for the what seems like the 100th load of laundry to finish. It has been a jam packed week with birthdays, end of school year parties, preschool graduations and other end of the year festivities. I feel like I’ve hardly been home all week, except to prep food and take it to a party.  As such, the blog has also been neglected but I just figure you guys are as busy as I am at this time of year so I don’t sweat it. 😉 But just to keep you in the loop as to why I haven’t blogged, here’s what we’ve been doing this week.

I am linking up with Kathryn for Jen’s for 7 Quick Takes, Cari for (gasp!) Theme Thursday: Old Fashioned (see Take #3) and the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real}.

~ 1 ~

On Sunday, Andrew celebrated his 7th birthday. He wanted an ocean party complete with a trip to his favorite spot – the Monterey Aquarium. After days of grey fog the sun finally came out to make a beautiful day.

The view from one of the observation decks.

The birthday boy.

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{pretty}

I had a ton of photos I took at the Aquarium but to spare you the photo dump I added my faves to this collage.

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{happy} / Theme Thursday: Old Fashioned

There were three end of the year school parties and our favorite was the old fashioned beach bonfire.

 Although it was roughly 59 degrees and the water was COLD, Bella, Matthew and Andrew couldn’t resist playing in the waves.  (A beanie and bare feet – Cali attire.)

Meanwhile, John Paul takes after his daddy. Neither of them like to take off their shoes and most definitely don’t want to feel the sand between their toes. (That baffles me!) At one point they both were just staring off into the sunset contemplating. It was so sweet.

I was just happy to stand there and let the waves wash over my feet. (And even more happy that I didn’t drop my camera or anything.) 😉

The sun is setting behind the fog.

We ended the day with old fashioned smores. Can you spot the stick with the flaming marshmallow??

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{funny}

I think it’s funny that we are supposed to celebrate pre-school graduations. I don’t really get it…

…but I play along anyway. Besides, John-Paul is so cute in his little cap. So congrats to my little grad.

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{real}

All these outings are a lot of fun but with all the potlucks we joined, out kitchen looked like this pretty much all week. (And this is only a small portion of the mess.) Don’t even get me started on the laundry. Yesterday I was trying to convince a size 7 boy that he could borrow a clean pair of underwear from his size 4 brother. No bueno. Yeah, so today I don’t plan on leaving the house until all the laundry and dishes are done. (Check back with me in a few days.)

~ 6 ~

Happy Father’s Day!

Happy early Father’s Day to all you papas out there, especially my own sweet Daddy, my father-in-law Opa and finally my hubby – father to my children, my sweetheart and my super hero Brian. We’ll be celebrating the day with fresh homemade ice cream with our new Cuisinart ice cream maker as soon as Amazon Prime delivers it today. (I heart Amazon!!)

Later I’ll post how it worked out for us.

~ 7 ~

Masterpiece Mystery

source

After we put the kids to bed on Father’s Day, Brian and I will meet on the couch to enjoy the return of Masterpiece Mystery, which I love even more than the beginning of Downton Abbey season. First on the roster is Dave Tennant with The Escape Artist.

The rest of the season includes:

• ENDEAVOUR: Season 2 (June 29-July 20, 2014) – Smart and well done.
  

• HERCULE POIROT: Season 12  ( July 27 to August 3, 2014) – HP is an oldie but a goodie.
  

• BREATHLESS (August 24 to September 7, 2014) – Not sure about this one. Looks like a Mad Men type show, which I wouldn’t mind if the characters can manage to keep their pants on.
  

• MISS MARPLE (September 21 and 28, 2014) – I still miss the old Miss Marple character but enjoy the show none the less.
  

• INSPECTOR LEWIS: Season 7 (October 5-19, 2014) – I’m glad the boys are back! (And not just because I have a little crush on Hathaway, who reminds me of Brian.)
  

• DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY (October 26-November 2, 2014) – I’ve got this book in my reading queue so I can read it before I watch the show. 🙂

Get more details at PBS: Masterpiece Mystery.  (Now I’m just waiting for more Sherlock, Broadchurch, Whitechapel and Wallander.) 😉

That’s it for now. Have a great weekend!

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