Author Archives: carrievoris

We are on a 2 day break from vacationing

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We got back from our mini-vacation on Sunday, and we are leaving again for a trip to Michigan on Wednesday. The girls are starting to think their entire lives are just one big vacation!

Our San Diego trip was a little spontaneous but we managed to snag a good “last minute” deal at a pretty nice resort on Coronado, which is also called Coronado Island, but I think is technically an isthmus…it is connected to San Diego by a little bit of land. At any rate, very cool little downtown. Pretty nice resort. This was the view from our window…

…of course just to the left was the parking lot, so it is all about selective viewing, here.

We found a bagel shop and had our Saturday morning bagel ritual and headed out to the San Diego Zoo. Which, if the animals have to be caged up and on display, the SD Zoo does a pretty good job of it.

The zoo had just started a program on Friday where you can pay to feed the giraffes, which happens to be my favorite animal at the zoo. Nice timing on our part, totally not planned, but we did get to feed them, which was really cool. Let me tell you, they are very, very TALL.

J. makes fun of me when I said that, “Um, what a profound statement: giraffes are tall!” But although they are very gentle, it is slightly intimidating to have this animal literally towering over the top of you and reach down to take a “biscuit” out of your hand.

Em did great and really loved it, Ad acted all tough until she looked up and the giraffe started down towards her, then she quickly handed her biscuit to me and said, “Dohwanna, Mama!”

These little guys gave the giraffes a run for their money in my book, though. I could watch the meerkats all day (and yes, I’ve been known to watch Meerkat Manor mesmerized for hours as well).

Addie’s favorite was the flamingos, or “mingos”…

Em’s favorite was the Reptile House. Yes, you read that correctly. She drove us crazy with her “are we going to see the reptiles, yet?” We stupidly made it the last stop. Will not make that mistake again. She kept asking Daddy to take her picture with the snakes. Addie thought we were talking about “snacks” and got antsy, so she and I only made it halfway through before we went out for some snacks.

I think Daddy’s favorite was probably the monkeys. Here are my two monkeys watching the monkeys in the cages…

After the zoo we tried the pool (too cold!), Em got her hair braided (took forever and ‘Nise does a much better job) and tried to rest in the room (most unsuccessfully), but the light through our balcony was very pretty so I got to practice taking photos of the girls.

Then we had ice cream for dinner!

Granted we had a very late lunch, so it wasn’t like we only had ice cream in our bellies when we went to bed. But the ice cream and a romp on the beach, plus all of the ocean-fresh air helped everyone sleep very soundly that night.

Tomorrow, I’ll fill you in on our experience at Legoland…and the second day of our San Diego excursion. In the meantime I have a few more hundred photos to go through…

Following In My Footsteps ~ Best Shot Monday

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We had thunderstorms (THUNDERSTORMS!!) on Thursday and Friday here. Now, I love me a good thunderstorm, but they are a pretty rare occurrence around here, unfortunately.

J. had an extra long weekend so we took off for a little R&R in San Diego. The rain followed us down on Friday, but it cleared up for most of Saturday and Sunday and allowed us to happily trek to the zoo and Legoland (more on those later!). And even though it was pretty cold, (Ok, ok! – So we had to wear sweaters with our flip-flops!) not really beach weather at all, we couldn’t resist the call of the ocean.

The girls are definitely following in my footsteps. The beach is my all-time favorite place to be. When I put Addie to bed tonight I asked her what her favorite part of the weekend was and she looked up sleepily and smiled when she exclaimed, “The Beach! I like the beach. We got all wet, didn’t we, Mama?”

l have hundreds of photos to get through but this is one of my favorites. It was a lovely relaxing, fun and family-filled weekend. Thanks, my sweet family!

Be sure to stop over to Tracey’s and see her beach-y photo and what is making everyone else smile this Memorial Day.

Film Friday

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J. was gifted one of the cute little Flip video recorders and has allowed Em to use it to film her very own “show.”

I think she has potential – maybe she will be the next Scorcese?

It is a little bit reality show (A Day in the Life of Gracie), a little bit comedy, and a little bit Blair Witch Project. (Have to work on the camera control and extreme closeups!)

At any rate…it cracks me up every time I watch it. I had to edit over 50 little videos…so we have more (oh, yes we do!)…stay tuned for the next installment of the Emma Grace Show – coming soon to a theater blog near you.

And I give you, Emma Grace’s first film making attempt…

We are off on a little family get-away to celebrate and spend some time together! Hope you all have a great weekend.

From Indiana Jones…to this.

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Nineteen years ago J. and I went on our first date. We had “hung” around together after school and at each other’s houses for awhile before this, but this was an “honest-to-goodness date-date.”

I remember being nervous, although I can’t imagine why. We had been friends for a few years before we ever started going out. I knew that he was a good “safe” date and we would have fun. I think I was just a little cautious about “the” date because it was that step of moving us to the not-just-friends level.

At any rate, he picked me up. We had Taco Bell for dinner, (it was/has been a staple of our entire life together!) and he suggested we go see the Indiana Jones movie. I had not seen the two previous Indy movies and was not really sure that it was my type of movie, but not wanting to seem stubborn (he would see that lovely side of me for himself soon enough!) and being a little nervous (see above) I agreed, “Yeah! That sounds great!.”

Loved. Loved. Still love the movie. Maybe a tiny bit of it is nostalgic, since it was our first date – but I really do enjoy the movie. It started my fascination with Sean Connery and my admiration for Harrison Ford. And it was also the start of J. getting me to watch and read many things I thought I wouldn’t like.

J. has followed the on-again, off-again rumors of the making of the new Indiana Jones movie for years. We would get our hopes up that they were really going to make another, and then they would be dashed.

But tonight? We are going to see the new Indiana Jones movie. Thanks to Jeff we have tickets for opening night for one of the most anticipated movies of the summer (and our marriage!).

I do hope our date tonight ends up a little bit better than our first one, though.

Let’s just say there was some orange soda, a tumble down a huge hill, and trying to explain grass stains on my t-shirt and shorts to my parents.

So in summary, Carrie is very excited for the movie tonight. She is also stubborn and very, very clumsy.

Sometimes I really do marvel that J. has stuck around for as long as he has.

Crafty Tuesday

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Apparently the only thing I am likely to get “crafted” lately is Birthday cards. Our friends had a combo birthday party over the weekend so I got a card finished for each of them. And that is all again this week! Bah….

Anybody else got some crafty goodness to share and inspire us?

On another note, we are sending out BIG Happy Birthday wishes to our Nena! Today is her birthday and we are hoping you have a great day and a terrific year. We love you and we’ll see you soon!

Sweet shoulder sunlight ~ Best Shot Monday

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Imagine a long weekend filled with “tiny whinys” and constant (I am not exaggerating -from the very early minutes we got up until the moment they fell exhausted into bed) bickering. There was a lot of love lost between the two girls this weekend.

And then they pull a moment like this –

– and I almost forget the arguing. Almost.

But this sweet moment was forgotten just moments later, and the antagonizing continued for the rest of the weekend.

And then, I open this photo.

*sigh*

She is so gorgeous and so sweet. I can’t possibly be upset with her, can I?

I’m getting ready to print some favorite photos out. Do you like this one in color or in black & white? I can’t decide. Possibly I will just print both – I’m sure I can find a spot for both of them!

Make sure to stop by Tracey’s for some other sweetness this Monday morning.

A snuggly bedfellow

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When did my little Emma become an easy-to-put-to-bed, good sleeper?

And why am I questioning it? I mean, I suffered through enough sleepless nights, I should just take it as my reward, no questions, right?

(But, the real question is how do we get Addie to that beautiful point that Em is at right now?)

I have even let Em sleep with me the past few nights while J. is away.

E: “Mama, can I sleep with you tonight?”
M: “Em, we’ll talk about it later.” (As I nod towards Addie…indicating that we don’t want to talk about it in front of Addie because sleeping with Addie…well, it just doesn’t work very well.)
E: “Oh, we will talk about it when A-D-D-I-E is not here.”
M: “Mmmm hmmm.”
E: “Can you just tell me Y-E-S or N-O, M-O-M?”

Yeah, she is into spelling everything out. She thinks that by spelling a few choice words Addie won’t know what she is talking about. Hmmm…wonder where she got that from?

(Note to self: Stop spelling everything N-O-W, or start spelling backwards, until she catches on to that one, too.)

She is a stitch! I cracked up when I put her to bed last night when she told me, “Don’t worry, Mama, I will leave some room for you!”

And when I climbed into bed she was indeed all the way over to one side of the bed. She rolled over and fell off the bed, in fact. I got her back in bed and told her that she could move more to the middle so she wouldn’t fall off.

So she snuggled into me and whispered, “I love you, Mama.”

That, my friends, is payback for all of those midnight drives, walking the neighborhood at 2am, and rocking, rocking, rocking so many nights away when she wouldn’t sleep.

And it was oh, so worth it.

Sunshine ~ Theme Thursday

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Whew, it is back, with a vengeance! The past few years I specifically remember the first few weeks of May…for some weird reason they are always a little chilly with a nice thick marine layer that never quite burns off.

And then…

We get the full on sunshine and 90 degree days that do not stop for months on end. Gotta love living in L.A.

So on Saturday, when I read that this week’s Theme Thursday was sunshine, I was a wee bit worried since we were in the middle of our cold snap. (Hee…our “cold snap” just means we need a sweater, I mean it was only 60 degrees the other day. It is all relative, I guess.)

But then Tuesday, the sun found us again. Addie and I ventured out to examine our garden, do a little watering (She is a tremendous help in the watering department, let me tell you!), and soak up some sunshine.

This is what the sunshine brought us…

Couldn’t resist plucking one a little before its time…

And do a little “taste test” …

Addie has been back out there at least twenty times to check to see if the others are “ready.” I told her that they need some water, sunshine and time to get nice and red and BIG. I told her it may take a few weeks for them to be ready.

About five minutes passed and she hopefully asked me, “Are they ready now, Momma?”

Strawberries clearly do not operate on the toddler timeline.

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Stop over to Stacy’s to see how sunny days have inspired other photographers as well.

Catchin’ Up…

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Yikes, where to begin? Is it really already Wednesday? Have you all given up hope that we would even do a real check-in this week? I haven’t even had a chance to tell you all about our fun weekend and we are almost to the next weekend already.

Things have been a bit hectic, largely in part to my project being due today. I did send it off at 2:30am this morning though, which is contributing to my fog-like state today. Factor in Addie’s untimely freak out between 2 and 3am this morning, and both girls staring me down at 6:30am this morning and it makes for one Mommy in need of some serious coffee. It is around 3pm now and I’ve been trying to get Addie to curl up on the sofa with me for a few zzzz’s – but it ain’t happening. So I may have to resort to that coffee after all.

J. left this morning – well, he is leaving this afternoon right after his interview for B-school! He is going in right now, so let’s all send some good thoughts his way in about 22 minutes. I am convinced that he doesn’t need them – but it can’t hurt, right? And then he is flying to SF for a conference for a few days. He has been traveling a lot and ALL of his girls miss him terribly, but he has definitely spoiled us when he is home.

So last weekend, we did the usual dance class and then we went to an Open House for Ad’s school that she’ll be going to in the fall. Did I ever mention that she got into the little preschool that I had originally tried to get Em into – the one like 2 blocks from our house? Well, yes – she did. So I will be walking both girls to school next year, I’m so very excited about that! In hindsight the school that Em is in now was exactly what she needed, and I think that Ad’s is going to be exactly what she needs. So it all worked out in the end.

The school is the sweetest place you have ever seen. I want to curl up in one of its many nooks and just hang out for the day. Her class is actually in an old Craftsman style house that is split down the middle to accommodate two classes. So it is kind of a long hallway with little not quite “rooms” off of the main pathway. Each little “room” is an amazing little space – a reading corner, a building corner, an art corner, a make-believe corner, a dress-up corner. It is so very cozy and we got to meet her teachers, too. I am certain she is going to love it there.

So we had some excitement on Saturday, and I felt like I was not fully concentrated on the girls last week, so I took them to one of our favorite parks on Saturday afternoon.

The first thing Addie does when she gets to the park? Take off her shoes…my little hillbilly child.

The first thing Em does? Head to the monkey bars…she is going to master it before the summer is over, I think.

Which brings us to Sunday. Glorious Sunday.

I slept in til 8:30am…in the morning! Yes, you heard correctly my friends, I got a sleep-in and pleasantly awoke to breakfast in bed, which was amazing.

Momma didn’t cook, clean, do laundry, unload the dishwasher…she really didn’t do ANYTHING all day long. We shopped a little, had a yummy dinner AND ice cream for dessert and just hung around enjoying the day. It really was lovely. My camera even came out of hiding for the occasion.

A few of the girls while we were playing in the yard…

And to top it off, J. and the girls got me this amazing necklace. When we were in Hawaii I was really tempted to get a silver turtle necklace – they are everywhere and so cool – but I never did. J. found one with not only a turtle, but a Mommy turtle with 2 little tiny baby turtles. How sweet and completely appropriate is that?

So I must say I felt very spoiled and loved, and it was a great way to kick off the week.

I didn’t even need to make a wish in the fountain after dinner, although Addie did….

Not too much to wish for when you have these two little monkeys around.