Wow, what a wonderful week it has been, I didn't want it to end. Layla and I had such a good time in San Diego with friends and family. My mom had been planning a trip for us (her, my brother, his kids, Layla and I) for a few months now for the 22-25th so when Jessica called me and told me she wanted to go to the beach for her birthday (HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY, JESSICA) on the 21st, I was all for it. Hey, the more time at the beach the better. Jessica and I decided we would go up with the kids on the 21st and she would drop me off with my mom on the 22nd. It worked out PERFECT! I couldn't have asked for a better vacation (well, minus the sunburn on the first day. And minus breaking my Nikon D60! Don't even get me started on that one, it still hurts too much to talk about). Jessica, Ana, and Sarah came and got Layla and I around 8am on Monday so we could start our beach journey. The girls just love each other and were so happy to be able to sit next to each other on the car ride there. Layla read Ana books, they would throw a blanket over their heads and just laugh and laugh under it, they shared food and drinks, and just had a good time in the car. After a couple stops for food and potty breaks, we got to Ocean Beach at around 11am. It was freezing cold (well, I thought so anyway, I guess I have acclimated back to the desert heat) but the kids and Jessica ran to the water and jumped right in. I was back on the towel taking it all in and basking in the sun, hoping to warm up. We spent about 4 hours at the beach and had a great time. Ana even knocked out and took a good nap while we were there. It was such a blast! 
It was then time to check into our hotel so we headed up that way so we could take showers and get ready for a night on the town (okay, not really, we were all ready for bed by 8. But, we did have to get ready for a nice dinner). After we were sand free and starving, we headed over to Old Town to go to the best Mexican restaurant ever! They even make tortillas fresh right in the front window so while you're waiting you can watch, the girls thought it was pretty neat. And of course Jessica and I found something to entertain ourselves with... MUSTACHES! 
The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed to Coronado, I don't think it gets much better than this! 
They have this great park right next to the water where the kids got to play at and then we had a nice walk and found bicycles! Okay, these things are so much fun and totally one of my favorite things to do. Not only do I get a work out (trust me, you get a GOOD workout), but the kids have a blast! We rode the bike over to the water when it was low tide and explored. Jessica and I were turning over all the big rocks so the girls could see all the little crabs everywhere. Layla, of course, wanted to hold (and then keep) all of the crabs that we found. After we turned the bicycles back in, it was pizza time and then we had to get in a little more beach time before Jessica had to leave us. 
It was time for our vacation with the girls to end and time for our family vacation to start! Jessica dropped Layla and I (and alllll of our luggage because hello, I stayed there for a week, you better believe I over packed) off at Del Coronado where we met my mom, my brother, Chloe, and Jaydan! We were sad that Jessica had to leave but happy we got a few more days at the beach.
To be continued...
Happy Father's Day to one of the best daddy's around! Layla is such a lucky girl, Ed is such an amazing father and so hands on with her. I love watching them together, all they do is smile and laugh the entire time. We really wish we could be with Ed on Father's Day, we miss him so much and I know Layla really needs her Daddy. We sent Ed a package about a week or so ago with his Father's Day present in it. I took some pictures of Layla holding a D and an A and then got a 3 slot frame and used the pictures to spell out DAD. It turned out so cute, but it does help having an adorable little model! :) We also threw in cards, more pictures of the two of us, and loooots of Hot Cheetos. So HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to an amazing Daddy! Layla is so lucky to have you, babe, we cannot wait to hug you again! xoxo 
P.S. I also put this message in the Stars and Stripes (our military Newspaper) European edition! :)
http://messages.stripes.osd.mil/2010/fathersday/edward-loredo
Today my niece Chloe turned 6 years old and we had a mini party at the house for her. I know I say this over and over again but I really cannot believe how fast the time goes when you have kids you're watching grow up. I can remember the day that Chloe was born. I was waiting in the hospital all morning to see her but she took too long to make her appearance and I had to leave and go to work (I was working at Windsor at the time). As soon as I got in my car and headed toward work, I got the phone call that she was born and to hurry up and come back to see her. I was the first one (other than her Mommy and Daddy) that got to see her, it made me feel so special and I was so excited that I was going to have a little niece to spoil rotten. Now, 6 years later and I still do my best to spoil that little girl.
This morning we started off with swimming. Chloe and Layla have been doing so, so good with their swimming that we want them to get as much practice as possible so they don't forget what they're doing. The water was a little chilly this morning thanks to the wind that decided to show up last night but the kids didn't seem to mind. They jumped right in and swam all morning. 
My mom got Chloe her favorite food, McDonald's, for lunch and after that it was time to open presents. She definitely got spoiled and got lots of nice stuff. I think her favorite present was her Twinkle Toes though! 
Last but not least, cake time. I made her a simple chocolate cake (her favorite) this morning and Layla, of course, added the sprinkles to it. It was really yummy, I love me some chocolate cake! :) 
Happy 6th birthday, Chloe! 
We all scream for ICE CREAM!
Today was officially our first day of summer vacation since Layla would normally be in school on a Monday so I had some fun stuff planed for us to do. Everything was ice cream themed and we had a lot of fun. Such a good start to the day doing fun activities with Layla, definitely turned my frown upside down (I was having a bad morning). We started out the day with a little nature walk with our colored ice cream cones. I had painted the bottom of each ice cream cone with a different color and as we walked around outside we found different things that matched the color of the cone. 
Our little ice cream cone garden. 
After that it was time for some sight word building, ice cream style. I had gotten a piece of paper, glued on an ice cream cone, added a sight word at the top and had ice cream "scoop" stickers with letters on them. Layla and I would sound out the word together and then she would build the ice cream cone, matching the sight word at the top of the page. 
I like ice cream. Yes I do!
One scoop for me?
No! Make it two!
Hmmm two scoops of ice cream,
I want more
How about three?
No, make that four!
1, 2, 3, 4,
Splat! "oh no! It's on the floor!"
Next up was our craft for the day, making banana splits! I had pre cut out bananas, strawberry ice cream scoops, orange sherbert scoops, chocolate scoops, used cotton balls as whipped cream, sequins for cherries, and beads for sprinkles. Then Layla was free to make whatever kind of banana split she wanted. She ended up making 3 different ones, I'm sure we'll be handing them out to family members. LOL 
And lastly was our ice cream number building. Same concept as the sight word building but this time Layla had to build the ice cream cone up in numerical order. 
You can't have an ice cream themed day and not get an ice cream cone. Layla happily munched on her favorite, Rocky Road ice cream as she relaxed and watched some TV. So funny how one little ice cream cone can make such a huge mess! 
Later that night, around 830, after it got dark outside, we headed to the hotel pool where they played Monsters Inc. Not only could you take a nice swim but you could watch a movie at the same time. Unfortunately it was freezing so we stayed on the pool chairs and bundled up with towels to watch the movie. But it was a lot of fun and our $40 hot chocolate was amazing! LOL 
The next morning we woke up to perfect weather! Even the kids enjoyed their morning newspaper out on the balcony. 
The next couple of days were filled with the same thing... more and more beach time (and swimming in the late afternoon). 
On Thursday night we even got to make Smores on the beach, right next to the water. Layla has never made Smores before so she thought it was the coolest thing although she didn't even take a bite of hers. She was so full from dinner and so exhausted from the beach, as soon as we went back up to the room she was out. 
We had such a great time in Coronado, thanks Mom for making it so special. It'll probably be awhile before we make it back to the beach since we'll be moving to Colorado in September. I'm so glad we were able to have a nice family trip before we move, it was so much fun and a time that I'll never forget. 
