Taking my camera for a walk

Early this morning I took my camera for a walk with Phil, Lori and Nette.  We walked to a church in Soquel as the sun was coming up.  We had the pleasure of using his AMAZING lenses. I especially loved his telephoto lens, which weighed close to what Haylee weighs! I could barely hold the thing still, but I fell in love.

Normally I take pictures of my girls. I rarely take pictures of anything else. I see the beauty in a lot around me, but can't take my eyes off the girls long enough to capture much else.  I look forward to our next outing. Here are two pictures I liked out of the batch I took.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Today we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. There was barely anyone there, so we spent hours gazing at the fish, touching starfish and Carlee played in the Splash Zone. We started taking Carlee here when she was 5 months old. We went about once a week. She was in awe of the fish in the enormous tanks. The Aquarium is still one of Carlee's favorite places. 

Daniel and I decided to take Haylee for her first time today. She too was in awe of the fish and otters and jellyfish especially. She kept trying to grab them through the glass. Carlee was educating Haylee on all the sea life. The girls sat next to each other in front of the enormous 50 foot tall tank with hammerhead sharks, tuna, sea turtles, sunfish and many other fish I have no clue what they are! It was so amazing. Haylee was fascinated! Carlee touched stingrays, starfish, abalone, and hermit crabs as well. It was such a great family day. We definitely will be going back soon! Some pictures are a bit fuzzy because I don't use my flash, and in some rooms it was pretty dark. But they are still such great shots!

Roaring Camp

Today we all went to Roaring Camp and walked through the redwoods.  One of our favorite places to walk. Its such a peaceful place and I am always in awe of the enormous redwoods that have been around for centuries. Of course I had to take my camera. The lighting was perfect and it was so green an lush. 

Carlee was enthralled with the moss growing on the trees, rocks and fence.  As well as the huge trees. It was truly beautiful. Haylee kept looking up at the canopy of trees that hung over us, reaching to touch them even thought they were so tall. 

It so nice to have this place to get away from it all. Life has been a bit crazy lately and when we went here, it seemed to center us. We are exactly where we are supposed to be in life and are so open for what's next to come. Instead of resisting it. It's a lot less stressful! 

Anyways, Daniel and I are so thankful that we live in such a beautiful place and are all so close. That we can take our girls (and ourselves) outside and show them all the world has to offer...without money, distractions or stress. To just have time to ourselves and as individuals to just take a breath, run, laugh, and explore.  We all really enjoyed getting away yesterday, and it was only 10 minutes from our home! We are going to do this more often. 

Typical Carlee. This is why I love her!

I actually let Dan have my camera to take a picture of the 3 of us.

Back to our routine

Today Carlee started back at preschool after the holidays. As soon as we got there she said hi to the goats and then proceeded to start an activity. Daniel and I took down the Christmas tree and Haylee played in her new room she shares with Carlee. She really loves it in there!

I can't help but take pictures, of course! I am learning how to use actions on my photos in Photoshop. They are really fun and addicting. I am in awe of Karen Russell (karenrussell.typepad.com/). I would love to shoot like her. I want to save up enough to take a photography class of hers. 

Dan is taking off for his annual snowboarding trip soon, this year to Park City. So, Ill be busy!

The girls are down to bed, and Im going to talk Daniel into letting me take some pictures of him, I don't have any of just him. He's got such amazing eyes, and his adorable butt chin...I can't resist!

Carlee and Kaylee have a sleepover...

Carlee had her best friend, Kaylee spend the night on Friday night. Right away they ran to Carlee's room to play dress-up and put on tons of sparkles. I put on music and they had a dance party and paraded through the house. I made them a candlelight dinner (with an LCD candle, not a real one) and they were "Cheersing" eachother. It was so cute! We made a comfy bed for them and they watched Barbie Diamomd Castle and ate popcorn, Kaylee in her pink wig and Carlee singing the songs at the top of her lungs. It was so fun watching them giggle, whisper, bicker, hug, dance and FINALLY fall asleep at 10:30pm! The next morning the pillows were covered in sparkles and Kaylee still had on her pink wig. They ate french toast (by fake candlelight) and played Honeybee Hop. Around 9:30 Kaylee's mom came to pick her up and it was just in time, we could see the meltdowns coming! Kaylee was a joy to have over, and Carlee cant wait for another sleepover...mommy needs to recuperate a little! It was a blast though.

More pictures of the girls...

Carlee and Haylee are just so beautful. They both are just so fun to watch.  Daniel and I are so blessed to have two little girls that brighten the world around them. 

Bubbles! (LOVE this shot!)

Haylee sucking on her toes, I was told i used to do that when I was a baby and a toddler. Glad to know she got that one from me!

Carlee reading "Little Kitten Finds the Moon".

Haylee moves into her crib!

Haylee has moved into her own crib now! The girls are sharing a room and they both seem to be loving it.  We'll see how bedtime goes! Carlee helped me get the crib linens ready and helped pick out a place in her room for the crib. At first, she didn't want to share her room with Haylee, or her closet! She seems pretty excited about it after I rearranged the room a little and made a special area for her with her vanity and a movie area. And of course her own side of the closet. Haha.