MOTHER'S DAY

I spent Mother's Day just the way I wanted too........

My morning was filled with

flowers, chocolates and books

from my beloved Todd and Finn. 

After my relaxing morning, we headed South to the Chula Vista Harbor to have lunch with my mother, grandmother, sisters and our spouses (who did have a little part in the process of making us all mothers).

Pato & Devon

All of us trying to figure out what to have.....

Surf & Turf

Fish & Chips

Mahi Mahi Tacos

My Grandmother and I

She continues to amaze me with her style and grace, will I be so lucky to age as she has?  I better ramp up my night moisturizer treatments.  I already have crows feet where she has none!  Could be the margarita's, I just can't say NO!

Food arrived, as you can see we tried it all, that way we can share and nibble off our neighbor's plate to see what we are missing!

Finn's Parents

Chloe sipping her Mother's Day Sprite

Kara always does such a lovely job with her hair!

The Children's section of the table, I'm not sure if they really understood the concept of Mother's Day but they sure acted as if they did.  All three behaved beautifully, our dining experience hit the two hour mark which is usually not possible with young children present.  I thank all three of them for this unexpected gift.

Mother's in all shapes and sizes were seen at the Chula Vista Harbor.....we saw this mother duck and her 5 chicks as we were leaving the parking lot. 

After lunch we headed to Grandma Edna's for dessert.   My parents had a different idea of dessert, nice to see they still have it for each other!  Wait....did I just say that?!?!?!?!  YUCK!!!  Get a room!

Alas, I regress...it's time to move on to

Part 2 of Mother's Day.

(Todd - Gus - Finn)

We met up with Violet & Gus at our home beach.  This is what Violet wanted to do and guess what, it's Mother's Day...she deserves to do what she wants!  To the Beach we went....rain or shine!  We arrived about 5:30pm to stormy skies, the sun kept breaking through.....I love days like this.....the beaches are deserted...you get them all to yourself.  We found them huddled against the Sea Wall, King and Queen of the beach.

Looking at this photo, would you guess we were in Southern California or Nova Scotia?  I would bet on Nova Scotia if I didn't know better!  

Under normal circumstances, feeding the birds at the beach makes you very unpopular with the other beach goers!  But not on this day, another benefit of stormy weather....you get to feed the birds!!

Finn could have fed the birds all day!

We had a lovely evening at the beach.  Kirra, Kayla, Angie and her sister Cathy also made appearances but at the time I was too busy keeping sand out of my drink to pick up my camera!  

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

FRIDAY NIGHT HAIRCUT

Nepotism at it's finest......

Todd's hair stylist makes house calls, Friday at 6pm Devon arrived at the door with scissors in hand.....and tequila!  Not sure if the tequila makes for a better haircut or not, you decide.....

Let the magic begin

I am so proud of Devon, I have seen a huge improvement in her self worth, her goals and her professionalism....she has a purpose and can see her bright future ahead.  Amazing what this can do for a person.  This is Todd's second hair cut with Devon and you could see the improvement in just a six week period of time!

Ta Da....the finished results!  She did an amazing job, even with Todd exclaiming throughout the haircut "Ow".   The first time he did it I thought he was serious, that Devon had cut him with the scissors!  He is such a tease and a little bit stupid...who would joke with someone who has scissors and electric clippers hovering over your head?!??!?!?  Not wise.

Who would of thought that she could make my husband any more handsome than he already was, true sign that Devon has found her calling.   

While I was in the kitchen watching over the hair cutting process and making sure Todd didn't lose an ear the boys were in the living room playing Tony Hawk Skate Boarding, oblivious to us.  Not only did Devon save us $15.00 but we had a fun family interlude while she performed hair art on Todd.  Merci Devon!

CATCH & RELEASE

Todd wanted to try out the new Fish & tackle kit Finn and I bought him for his birthday.  It's really cool, it attaches to your belt and is made of a light/durable nylon fabric, the perfect addition to the larger tackle box so you don't have to lug all of your fishing gear all of the time! 

Todd is so hard to buy for so I was beyond excited that he wanted to go and use one of his gifts immediately.......We met up with Pato, Tiago and Grandpa Robert who were already down at lifeguard tower 30.

You won't believe it.....he caught a Surf Perch!  The boys ran over to inspect the fish, it was all quite exciting.  The boys also learned an important fishing lesson.....catch & release for the small baby ones!

I'm sure my little brother will comment on his fish being bigger than Todd's fish.  Why are men so competitive?  Buy hey, if times get rough I know without a doubt that my studly, macho man can walk down to the ocean and catch us dinner.  Is there nothing more romantic than a man who can provide for his family with his bare hands?!?!?!?

Tiago was hands on with the Surf Perch

While I read pages from my new beach read (Mothers Day Gift), Pato ran up and down the beach pulling "both" boys through the surf on the boogie board.  Poor guy, here I was relaxed and content in my beach chair while he huffed and puffed with the boys in tow!  They loved it and now Pato doesn't have to go to the gym for a week.  In my book, that is what you call a Win Win situation.

It was a lovely evening at the beach, can't wait to head back down tomorrow.  During the past few weeks we have spent more time on the beach that we have at home.  I have sand everywhere...car, purse, cell phone, home, washing machine, bathtub.......but it's worth it.   

EASTER - Yours..Mine....Ours

Todd and I are fortunate,  both sides of our families live close.  On any given day my father might drop in to visit me at work or Todd's mother may swing by to show us her latest find.  Finn's paternal grandparents watch him on Monday and Friday's and his cousins visit weekly, all blessings of having family close by.

The only time this becomes a problem,  on holidays!!!  We run from party to party!  Our holidays are divided into three parts: 

OURS (Home)

MINE (Richardson's)

YOURS (Gustafson's)

Finn waiting, basket in hand to see what the Easter Bunny left him in our front yard.

Look what the Easter Bunny left us

aka: Violet & Gus

Adirondack Chairs

Beach Towels

Solar Garden Lights

Filling the Basket

Where oh where is an egg?

Taking stock of the Easter loot....

looks like the Easter bunny was generous this year!

Off to Part Two:

Great Grandma Edna's

Sisters in Easter dresses

Three Generations of Women

Easter Table

(Flowers by Grandma Violet)

Finn and Tiago ready to hunt for eggs.

Grandma Cher made the Black Crow Bags!

Chloe couldn't wait...had to have her Peep.

This is classic, men relaxing, sipping coffee in the living room. Woman behind them in the kitchen, busily putting together the Easter dinner.

Oh look, junior men in training.  Finn even has his legs crossed like his father.

Chloe & Auntie Tiff

FINAL CHAPTER

Part Three

Third Egg hunt of the day,
Finn switched it up by trading baskets.

Girls on the frantic search to find the most eggs!

Is that an egg or a lizard?  

Looks like Kayla's basket is full!

In all seriousness, we had an amazing day filled with family, friends and lots and lots of chocolate.  What more can you ask for?  My bed...when we walked through the door Easter evening I collapsed and didn't move until morning!  

DUDLEY'S

Last year....I STRAYED

This year....back to Dudleys!!

Finn loved writing on the eggs, especially now that he can spell his name and key words...like Mom & Dad. 

Even Todd got in on the writing....

The cat  wanted to see what was going on....this was as close as she came.

Wonder who decorated this egg?

Success!