4 TODAY!

Gisele is officially 4 years old!! On Friday, July 19th we celebrated her 4th birthday. Juan and I took Friday off and started the morning with a little cafe breakfast at Claire de Lune and stroll around North Park. When we sat down for breakfast I asked Gisele how it feels to be four years old. Her response: "Umm I think my voice is different and I am taller!" Too cute! She is definitely getting taller by the minute! Her voice...that is up for debate but still an adorable thought. 

Gisele was already lucky enough to have an awesome bday party with us and with her mama so we tried to keep the presents to a minimum. She's definitely one lucky little girl, who some might argue is a little spoiled. We all just love her so much...we can't help it! Anyways my best friend Stephanie has a little girl who is 6 year old and loves My Little Pony. She sent Gisele an adorable card that she wrote herself and a little figurine of her favorite pony. We decided breakfast was a good time to open her present from her friend Brooke. It was so cute watching her slowly open the card on her own and pretend to read it. 

 

 ^^^Thanks Brookie!

Side note...if you are ever in North Park and feel like a little cafe treat and delicious coffee, I highly recommend Claire de Lune! Two of my favs are the Chai Tea Latte and Mexican Mocha.

 ^^^We love this little Birthday Girl!

Our next stop was Abuelito's house for a birthday hug and a special surprise. A couple month's ago we took Gisele to Skyzone, she LOVED it and whenever we visit the Rowland Ranch we have to drag her off the trampoline. So needless to say when Abuelito gave Gisele a trampoline for her birthday she was ecstatic! Juan posted a little video of her reaction: Trampoline Video (wish we had taken more video). Whenever Gisele is home she wants to spend some time on the trampoline and now instead of occasionally having to drag her off the Rowland Ranch trampoline, we have to regularly pull her off of her own trampoline. Good present...yes! Challenging for Juan and I to battle her when it is time to get off...a little bit.

 

Uncle Milton came over for bday hugs and to help set up the new trampoline :)

Since we only had Gisele for the day, Juan and I wanted to take Gisele to do something extra special, just the three of us. Juan came up with the awesome idea of taking Gisele to ride her favorite horse, Googie. On our way to visit Googie her owner (Juan's friend) called and said she was acting funny due to the stormy weather and wouldn't be in the best of spirits for riding that day. Well that changed things. Of course we totally understood but had to come up with a new plan right there in the car halfway to the horse ranch. We decided to head over to the Eastlake Tavern & Bowl,it ended up being a huge success and left us time to run over to Hans & Harry's so she could pick out a birthday treat and spend the end of the day with Abuelita, Juan and I singing Happy Birthday. 

Cute little birthday note for this year: Gisele loves singing happy birthday. This year she sang along singing all the lyrics including "Happy birthday dear Gisele" haha so precious!

 ^^^Our 2nd time bowling with G and I still can't get over how cute those little bowling shoes are! Halfway through bowling Gisele spent a good amount of time trying to make her fingers go in the holes...it was adorable!

 ^^^She kept saying "I'm going to do it all by myself!" Such a big girl!!

 ^^^Impromptu dance party!!

 ^^^Grubbin' on some bday cookies from NatSweets. I just LOVE these two!

^^^ Driving home with her Hans & Harry's treat :)

^^^Abuelita and Cupcake time!

Gisele's 4th Birthday Party!

If you don't know this about me...I love to plan and throw parties. If I had unlimited funds (and time), I think I would always have a party in the works. With that in mind, last Wednesday Juan and I decided to throw an early b-day party for Gisele so that she could celebrate with her family and friends. A short three days later it was PARTY time! We always love the masterpieces Gisele creates with a little bit of paint and a canvas. We also love playing at the park. Put the two activities together and you have a P.P.P. Picnic Paint Party!

We were all so happy with the way everything turned out (especially Gisele). The weather was perfect, there was a slight breeze coming over the hill, the sun was out, the trees and canopy provided the perfect amount of shade. We totally lucked out! Juan's parents were very helpful in getting the odds and ends we needed. Friends showed up that we weren't even expecting. The kids painted, played red light green light, enjoyed the playground and grubbed on some food...come to think of it the adults did all of that too! LOL

^^^Dylan, Jude, Gisele, Roxanne and Mia painting away

^^^Bday Monkey. Uncle Milton Monkey and Uncle Jose Monkey.

^^^ RED LIGHT / GREEN LIGHT!!

 ^^^Some bday party friends & fam

^^^So precious watching Gisele walk baby Rob around the park!

 ^^^More friends and fam

 ^^^Lucky girl opening all of her wonderful gifts! Thank you again everyone!

^^^giseleybelly

Isn't she the cutest?! Time is flying by...I can't believe how grown up she is! Every day she looks a little bit bigger, more mature, says something to surprise us and learns something new. Juan and I are constantly amazed by little G. She is such a smart little girl with such a happy and loving spirit. Her excitement for the littlest things makes every day an exciting adventure. I thank the Lord above every day for bringing her and Juan into my life. I love them both with all my heart. I can't wait to see what this year brings for us!

Happy 4th Birthday Beautiful Girl! 

Papa and I love you so much!

Scarlett & Sienna

Last weekend Juan and I got to spend some quality time with my little nieces, Scarlett and Sienna. This was our first time meeting Sienna and man was she a cutie! And Scarlett...I can't believe how grown up she is! I loved the way she called us Aunt Raquel and Uncle Juan in her sweet little voice.

Ashley (their mom) and I have been friends since 7th grade. Needless to say I've got a lot of love for her little girls. Ashley's last minute family road trip out to California (from New Mexico) was announced / planned less than a week before they arrived. Obviously we weren't expecting them but it worked out perfectly. Juan and I were still up at the Rowland Ranch so Ashley, her husband Justin and the girls stayed with us in Ramona. Sienna was a little under the weather and not quite old enough to enjoy all of the perks of the ranch but she was still cuddly and sweet as ever. I can't speak for Scarlett but judging by her glowing smile...she had a blast!

We swam, played basketball, jumped on the trampoline, picked oranges, explored Ramona and even fit in some cartoons.

SONY NEX 6 / Sony 50mm F1.8 Lens v.  Canon EOS 7D / Canon 50mm F1.8 Lens

Ashley has been taking photography classes and doing little side photo shoots as a hobby. Juan has been carrying his camera everywhere (seriously he takes it to work) and having a blast taking new pictures, trying new lenses etc. Late Saturday night we decided they should have a lens / camera competition. Ok...well it was more of a comparison. Ashley really liked Juan's camera and started thinking about selling hers. It was a pretty entertaining event right there in the kitchen as the girls slept. I picked out their ever exciting subject....Core Consulting heads :)

P.S. We decided Juan's camera won. They took the photos from the same spot on the tripod with the exact same settings and same size lenses. Go Sony! Really though I LOVE my Sony NEX 5R...they are great cameras!

Their visit according to Instagram:

Oh and a little more photography fun: 

Before taking off for their next adventure, Juan shot a few pics of the Palmer family. It was the first time either one of us had done something like that; man trying to get kids to hold still, smile and look at the camera is difficult! Hats off to those photographers who photograph kids! Here are a couple of my favs:

Happy Birthday America!

I'm so tired! We have been beyond busy lately....it just never stops. I can't complain though; I know that we are so lucky to have so many awesome opportunities to get out and spend time with wonderful people. We have to take advantage of it while we can... right? This 4th we happened to be house sitting for my dad and Allison at the Rowland Ranch. Keeping it low key, we invited Milton & Christina over for some good ol' fashioned 4th of July food. It was really nice having that one on one time with them. I love seeing Juan and his brother together. The "little kid" comes out of Juan and I love it! It is not very often we get to hang out just the four of us...it was great!

Early evening Milton and Christina left, leaving Juan and I alone. We posted up on some pool mats and took a solid nap, recovering from the food, drinks and 4th madness. But wait it doesn't stop there. Ramona puts on quite the 4th of July event so we jumped on our bikes and headed over to the high school. I think I was in high school the last time I attended Ramona's 4th activities. Wow! It was even more impressive than I thought. Huge lawn party, DJ blasting music, tons of stands with yummy treats. Juan and I endulged ourselved and participated in the junk food madness. Cotton Candy, Kettle Corn and soda. YUM! I think I enhaled the cotton candy. 

The fireworks show was awesome and lasted a lot longer than either one of us expected. Ramona provided the perfect end to our forth of July night. 

Oh and word to the wise: Never forget your lights when biking on country roads!

We forgot our lights and when you are out there in the country without lights...lets just say we biked home blind. Definitely not the safest ride. Then (the professional biker that I am) I somehow managed to mess up my gears. Juan stopped to help me (forgetting he was clipped in..newbie at the clipping in thing) and ate it in the middle of a dark country road. So ridiculous! We couldn't stop laughing (even though it hurt him). He is off riding today...hopefully the clipping in goes a little better than last night.

Burn

If you haven't heard Ellie's new single 'Burn'...you must! I remember the days when people said "Ellie Goulding who?" When she played for the smallest group at the Casbah in SD...Luis and I sang and danced right there along with her. Those were the days! Now she is a little too popular for my liking but I still love her music and the fact that she runs. Slightly jealous of her Nike campaign :)

Oh and if you haven't heard her Alt-J, Tessellate cover....you must!

32

Last Tuesday my love turned 32! Juan might not like the fact that I am putting emphasis on his age but it is so crazy to me. We met in 2008, he was 27 and now I am celebrating his 32nd birthday with him and Gisele! Did we really meet each other almost 5 years ago? We haven't been dating for the past 5 years but he has always had a special place in my heart since that 2008 meeting and I just can't believe we are where we are now. 

Anyways, Juan and I decided to take his birthday off and extend our already awesome Carpinteria weekend, making it a four day weekend. We had already had such a busy weekend so we decided to lay low for his birthday. Gisele and I made breakfast...quite possibly the best coffee cake I have ever made (and I've made quite a few). We all ate entirely too much cake for breakfast while listening to beautiful ballet music (at least that is what Gisele called it). She was inspired and decided to put on a show for Papa's birthday.

^^^She even dressed up in all pink, tights and asked for a ballet bun. So adorable! Papa loved her outfit and her little birthday show.

Later in the day we adventured to Mt. Soledad for some beautiful San Diego views and Sunshine.

We started the day with cake, so why not continue the unhealthy pattern and feast on some Mexican food at Jose's in La Jolla...it was Juan's birthday after all. 

^^^These two! One margarita, their silly cross eyed faces and I couldn't stop laughing! Silly G and Silly Papa! And of course we ended the day the way it started...with cake! Gisele cracked the eggs and everything!