NAVY

Since today is Veteran's Day, I thought I would post some pictures from when Chiki was in the Navy. Some of them are of him while he was on the cruise ships, while others are of him and some of his co workers and buddies. ENJOY

WORK

Chiki worked on the F14's

Not sure which cruise he was on, but these people were in his shop

People who worked on the deck with Chiki

Some of Chiki's friends

Flight Deck

Cool Pic of F14

A LITTLE BIT OF PLAY

Jewel concert on the boat

A little momentum from the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders

Yes, we already know :)

The Truman. One of the boats Chiki lived on

YUCK ... enough said

I think this was in the United Emirates

Happy Veteran's Day Boy's!

All Dressed Up

Halloween

Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays, especially with little kids. They all look to cute in their costumes!

Here is what we dressed up as this year:

Miss Olivia as Micky Mouse

Miss Hannah as Cinderella

Me as a Munchkin from the Wizard Of Oz

Chiki sporting his witch costume

One more pic of Chiki as a witch. He was a trooper for letting me "try" do to his make up

To our surprise Olivia kept her costume on most of the night, Hannah was in absolute heaven being dressed as a princess and wearing make up (not a shocker), Chiki's wig and hat only last about an hour, and many people thought I was a Trick or Treater in my teens ... I may be short people but that doesn't mean that I am 12.

We had a good time sporting our costumes, and also seeing what everyone else was dressed up as.

To those people who stole our pumpkin candles ... at least save us the hassle of having to make the walk with the heavy pumpkins to the dumpster, and just take it all!

San Fransisco

San Fransisco

Last week me & the great Jessie Provenza, headed to San Fransisco for a few days and we had an absolute blast!

Two EXTREMLY hot chicks

Since neither of us had been, we couldn't help but go do all of the tourist stuff. We also did a lot of wondering and found some pretty neat things on our own.

Creepy Alcatraz

The infamous Alcatraz escape

Solitary Confinement - step in ... it will freak you out too

The famous super curvy Lombard Street

The Redwoods

Isn't China Town pretty?

No matter the location, China Town is always chaos

The Cable Cars

Scenic Sausalito

The National Landmark ... The Golden Gate Bridge

I never thought that I would come home from a vacation weighing less then I did before leaving, but hey what can you say when all you did was continuously walk up and down hills :) Jessie should hands down win some sort of award for always wearing her various cute, ever so high stiletto boots. Sorry ladies, I don't have any pics of her cute shoes ... but trust me ... you would have been highly impressed!

The steepness of some of the hills, can't be captioned in pictures. You have to see for yourself

Jessie & I couldn't wait to venture out into the Mission District, to check out Dolores Park. It was totally worth the weird bus ride.

WOW - can you believe that this is what most people climb to get in and out of their residence

Up, Up and Away

Besides the cornball in the corner ... isn't it beautiful!

We had so much fun whether it was laughing at the hotel guests who used their balcony as a clothes line, the old man standing in plain site in his tighty whites each morning, the MANY candy trips, my farting bed, Subway boy - wink wink Jess, the Italian paparazzi - another wink, wink Jess, sitting around the fire pit, sore hamstrings, etc. We had an absolutely fabulous time, and I can't wait to plan our next trip!!

Feliz cumpleaños Bananers

Hannah's Birthday Weekend

Hannah Bananers turned the Big 5 October 5th, and boy did we celebrate her birthday in style!

Chiki & I decided to wait til the ladies each turned 5 years old, to have their first friend party. Hannah had been counting down the days until her big bash for awhile, and wanted to invite anyone and everything.

We decided to celebrate with some roller skating - princess themed of course. Most of the party goers were skating for their first time, but boy did they all do a great job. Even Miss Olivia, who kept insisting on skating without assistance.

Pardon the dark pictures. Apparently, I am no photographer.

Hannah got some GREAT gifts... thanks friends!

Chiki trying to maintain some of the ladies

Miss Olivia doing her thing

Hannah and some of the party goers

Next, on the agenda ... piercing Hannah's ears. We have been telling her for years that she had to wait until her 5th birthday to get her ears pierced. Chiki and I actually had been trying to convince her to get them done for a few months now, but she kept telling us that she won't be ready until her birthday. So to our surprise, she told us that she would be ready right after her birthday party. And that is where we headed after the bash.

Hannah wondering what she is getting herself into??

This is what Hannah looked like, until she realized that there was nothing to cry over

Finally, the big day rolled around. Hannah chose to party it up with Miss Livi for lunch, at the great McDonald's. This girl loves chicken nuggets and french fries, and would eat them for every meal if I would let her.

Later that evening we dove into Hannah's barbie cake. This baby was such a pain in the butt to make, but was worth every moment of stress because Hannah absolutely loved it

The ladies

The infamous cake

Our little Hannah, is no longer so little. She is growing more and more everyday, and I mean that literally. She only wears a few shoe sizes below me.

Hannah is definitely maturing into a fine young lady, and I wish her daddy much needed luck when we reach the high school days!!

Hope you had a GREAT birthday weekend baby girl

Growing Up

I am feeling a little emotional today and here is why : usually when I drop Hannah off at preschool, she runs in way ahead of me. Not even acknowledging me as I leave the building. Today, to my surprise ... she came running over to me to tell me that she loves me and that she wanted to give me a "BIG HUG."

I am sure her teacher thought that I am some sort of blubbering idiot because while Hannah was giving me my hug, I couldn't help but get a bit teary eyed. Now a big part of my emotional outburst may have been brought on by the fact that she will be turning 5 years old in a week and a half, and that her public showing of affection for her mom has already started to change over this past year. For example, whenever we are around her friends ... she doesn't like me to tag along behind them.

My hug today, made me realize that my "public" hugs will be getting fewer and fewer with time ... but I sure will enjoy all of the ones that she still wants to throw my way!

(These are just a few of my favorite pics of when Hannah was my little cuddle bug)

Well Worth The Wait

Finally, my Disneyland post. We took so many cute pictures and have so many fun things to talk about, that I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed while putting together this post because I don't want to leave anything out.



Chiki & I had never been to Disneyland, and have been talking about taking our kids one day when they get old enough. Well all I can say, is that it was definitely well worth the wait. Not only were Chiki & I going to Disneyland for the first time, but we were going to get to experience it through the eyes of a 4 year old. It was so much fun to see our little princess, get all googly eyed over the "real" princesses!

We had only two days to get in both California Adventure and Disneyland, so we did lots of running around. The first day we decided to take the ladies to the princess lunch. Not only were we able to see ALL of the princesses in one location, but the look on Hannah's face was priceless! She was so excited that she hardly ate any of her food. Olivia made up for that loving every last crumb (ha ha - I think Olivia is still a little too young to realize what DL is all about).

To my surprise, we were able to go on alot of the rides together including The Haunted Mansion & Pirates Of The Caribbean, we watched many parades, saw lots of fireworks, ate lots yummy food, and had many laughs together!

Minnie's house. Toon Town was one of our favorite spots

Who doesn't love Tinkerbell! She was Olivia's favorite!!

California Adventure was also lots of fun, but nothing like Disneyland. Since it is just across the way you just have to check it out. Plus, that is where all of the Pixar stuff is at. Monsters Inc. has always been a hit in our family, and although the girls got a little scared ... Chiki & I really liked the 3D Bug movie in the Bugs Life area.

The Pixar parade was great! Here are a few pictures from that:

Over here Mr. Potato Head. We LOVE you!!

Can't forget the Incredible's

Whoot Whoot Monster's Inc. ... let's see you move

Vrooom Vrooom ... go Cars

Hannah was so excited because while we were watching the "Street Party" in Disneyland, Winnie the Pooh picked her out of the crowd to dance with him.

Thanks for the memories!

WE LOVE YOU DISNEYLAND