Ocean to Orchard 10k Run

Corktree Cadets...

What a weekend! Great Fun, Great Friends and a Great Run...

Friday, Mary, Kristie and I drove up to Carpinteria to rendezvous with the girls at Corktree Cellars (my friend Jessica's restaurant/wine bar). It was a blast as old meets new and everyone had a great time.

Erica, Jessica and I...

So with my bummed ankle, I was forced to take up the tail end of the run but lucky for me Jenny kept me company. This is us on our journey...Thanks Fen!

My mom and I after the race. She raced the 5k with her brother and sister...a family affair, no doubt!

Kristie, Mary and I at my old elementary school. Mary was our trainer these past 2 months. She so rocked it. Go Main Street Dolphins!

The Corktree Cadets~Go Girls. What a blast and this is now an annual thing! See ya next year.

TWO, TWO, TWO Cute!

Happy 2nd Birthday to our little Grace Olivia!

Grace and Bailey got a new playhouse for their birthdays that took Troy 4 hours to put together. Dad is such a champ!

They loved it. Can you tell?

Sunday, March 15th...what better to start a birthday with than church!

Gracie loved her new birthday dress from the Hansen's.

It was off to the zoo for the day with the entire VanVelson family... and it was fun!

Grace was exhausted before we even left the park.

Look at that face! Can you believe my baby is two already? Not quite terrible, yet.

Is It That Time Already?

For the last couple of weeks, my little Gracie is defying naps. Each day she sits in her room talking and when I finally come in to get her this is what I see. Her bed everywhere,

her diaper gone and a big devilish grin on her face. I have quickly come to realize what I will find waiting for me to clean up each time. So my question is this...Is it time to Potty Train? You all know our track record with that!

Sugar Bugs.

FINALLY! I'm back with a post. I must get to this much more often as the days are passing so quickly.

Bailey had her FIRST dentist appointment (minus the time when she went for a front tooth extraction). Needless to say, we were very scared at what kind of reaction we were going to get and for days leading up to the appointment she was very on edge. This photo captures it so well.The dentist confirmed it...NO Cavities! Yeah.

The new saying at our house is "let's brush those sugar bugs away". Do we sound like a Pediatric Dentist or what?

Gym Time...

Tomorrow is the 2nd birthday of our good friend, Ella Joy. We celebrated with a birthday party at Little Gym. It was the first time for the girls and they had so much fun with all of the gym equipment. I highly recommend this place! I'm thinking Grace may be a contender for the Olympics...what do you think?Bailey loved the rings...
and the bubbles!

Here is Ella with her daddy, Brandon! He comes to all of the kids birthdays (even those that aren't his...I think it's pretty cool!)

The girls with their little buddy, Ella. Bailey loves to hug...Grace, does not!

Happy Birthday to you Ella Joy...here's to many more!

Happy Love Day...

Troy and the girls woke up to treat bags and even Lucy got a Valentine's Day Cupcake.Of course, no Valentine's Day is complete without cupcakes...and an I Love You!


So, on this day of Love, we say "We Love and Miss you all!"

Party of Five

Today was an awesome day in the VanVelson house! We finally picked up our newest family member...Lucy, our Australian Labradoodle. She is absolutely adorable and the girls can't get enough of her. It has been a long day for her but she is adjusting well so far! When Bailey walked in the door from school she said, "oh my goodness, she is so beautiful."She is in love with Troy...hmmph!

She is so tired from a long day...Goodnight!

(Can you believe I let her on the furniture...you know I'm in love)
Gail, THANK YOU for sending us this precious girl! She misses you already.