Jelly Beans, San Francisco & School...Oh My!

Wow, I have had such a busy week! We went to San Francisco with the kids for Labor Day weekend. We love San Francisco! We spent a week there in December and have been dying to go back ever since. The drive there was a little long, I think I over stimulated the kids with stuff to do, but once we got there it was so nice. We stayed in Union Square this time, in a tiny hotel, but it was close to the public transportation which we love to take advantage of.

We stopped at all of our normal kid friendly spots. Chinatown, Fisherman's Warf, Ghiradelli Square, we even took a side trip to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield.

The tour was a little long, especially for the kids. The flavor that was cooking up that day was bubble gum, and boy was the smell strong!



Chinatown is always a favorite with the kids. They both love looking in the tiny shops for their souvenirs. Emma's main purchases from our Chinatown visit was a pair of pink slippers, a Chinese umbrella, and a kite from Chinatown Kite Company. There were hundreds of kites to choose from, so cool and different, but she opted for a Barbie kite. Owen got some wooden animals to add to his collection, a crocodile, sea monster, and cobra.

Emma loves her little slippers



Right outside the hotel they had this silly bench from an antique store. The kids loved the monkeys on it, but every time we passed it to take a picture there was always a car parked in front of it! It was so annoying.



To Owen, no trip to San Francisco is complete without a visit to the Aquarium of the Bay



Sorry about your eye there buddy




I was browsing around a store on Fisherman's Warf when I stumbled on these guys down an aisle





We didn't have time to catch our breath after returning from our trip. Two days later Owen had one of his many milestones, the first day of kindergarten. I was a little nervous for the day, but he surprisingly took it like a pro. No tears were shed I am happy to report, but that didn't make it any easier on me. I can't believe my little Bubba is in school.



The following day he decided he wanted to take the bus to school, so like a big boy he waited at the bus stop. Since he goes to PM kindergarten we didn't think the bus would be too full, little did we know he would be the only person on the pick up!



After all that excitement he has now decided he would rather be dropped off than take the bus. So that was his first and last bus ride to school.

Ronni & Matt

I was able to spend an awesome Saturday evening with Ronni and Matt, exploring the alley ways of downtown Huntington Beach. These two were one of the best couples I have shot, up for anything and so comfortable in front of the camera.

I've known Ronni for a little over 6 years now. She is the silliest, goofiest (in a good way),soft hearted person I have ever met. She is so much fun to be around, and her giggle is the best.

Ronni and Matt met and started dating 6 years ago. I was one of the lucky people who accompanied her on her first official date with Matt. A few of us met at a nearby taco place for Ronni's birthday. Matt also came with a group of his friends...safety in numbers is what I always say! From there the group moved on to a dive bar where there was plenty of dancing and drinking. I still have the pictures to prove it, but I'll spare the happy couple ;)

They will be getting married in Mexico in November of 2009. Such a perfect location for a perfectly laid back couple.

Best wishes to both of them and their cute little family, including Roy the beagle and Ramses the cat.


Click here to view the slideshow.

She's a girl and she's your friend, so that makes her your girlfriend...

On Sunday Owen had his first playdate with a girl. We met Jen and his little friend Mia at Central Park and had a great afternoon.

Owen & Mia have been in the same Pre-K class all year. In the past few months I have noticed that Owen has been speaking very highly of Mia. I'll ask him how his day at school was and he'll say..."Me and Mia did this, we went on the slide, we dug in the dirt, we sat next to each other at lunch", but he made it very clear that she was NOT his girlfriend. I explained to him that she's a girl, and she's his friend, therefore she is his girlfriend, but he wasn't having anything to do with that.

A couple weeks ago out of nowhere he told me he loved Mia. What?! My 5 year old in love?

When I told him he had a playdate with Mia he was smitten. They had a blast. Mia is the cutest little girl, with such a contagious laugh, so if Owen is "In Love" I'm glad it's with Mia. The two get along so well. Mia is such a rough and tumble little girl that loves to dress up in play clothes. She also loves to chase Owen around and give him wet willies.

During one of their tag sessions, they found a wishing pom (that's Owen calls the dandelion poms), Mia wished she was Hannah Montana, Owen wished he was a dinosaur. How cute are they?

Thanks to Mia and her mommy Jen. Owen and I had so much fun.

Stay tuned for the slideshow.













I could not get these two to stay still for a picture.
Mia had just given Owen a wet willie






The best way to end a day at the park!

Such a Natural......

Ren carried herself through her first photo shoot with such grace and poise. She always had a smile, or the perfect pose on cue ready to go. She was such a natural, it's hard to believe she's only five months old! I can honestly say the Ren is the most content,happiest baby I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. She's full of things to say and very curious. She's definitely not shy, and her big beautiful eyes are so inviting. Heidi and Craig are very lucky parents, but in return Ren is such a lucky little girl for having such loving parents. She has recently mastered the art of rolling over and I'm sure will be crawling in no time...Heidi and Craig beware!

Click here for the slideshow.

Candis & Goblin

We recently visited Candis and her baby Goblin at the stables here in Huntington Beach. The kids were beside themselves, and Candis let them feed Goblin some carrots, which both the kids and Goblin loved.

As gentle as Goblin is, he's huge and very intimidating. There's no way I would have to courage to jump on a horse and ride off into the sunset. Candis is a pro though. Goblin is a huge ham and did plenty of posing for the camera.


Click here for the slideshow.

The Many Adventures of Dino Wrangler Emma & Farmer Owen

The past couple of weekends the kids have had lots to do. Over Memorial Weekend, we drove to Cabazon to visit Claude Bell's famous Dinosaurs. I have memories of being a kid and stopping to see these guys on my way to Palm Springs. They are still considered the worlds largest concrete dinosaurs. Owen is a huge dinosaur fanatic, pronouncing dino names I couldn't wrap my head around, so he was thrilled to see them. The belly of the Apatosaurus houses a gift shop filled with everything dinosaur. Owen ended up buying a dino tee, a fossil dig kit, and a poster. Emma bought, of all things, a toy cowboy gun with a pink belt holster and stir ups. Nothing says dinosaur souvenir like a toy cowboy gun.

Don't mess with Dino Wrangler Emma!




Stay back Dimetrodon!


Otherwise you'll have to deal with Emma........


and this might happen.








I wasn't aware these guys lived in the Jurassic Period ;)






Just this past weekend we went to Tanaka Farms to do some strawberry picking. We usually go there in October to visit the U Pick Pumpkin Patch, but have never been for the strawberry picking. The weather was great and the kids had tons of fun. We rode on a tractor wagon which took us around the farm. Along the way to the strawberry fields we got to sample some of the veggies the farm has to offer like carrots, onions and broccoli. My kids love veggies, so they enjoyed the samples. I would definitely put this on the top of any family's to do list. We'll be going back in the summer for the U Pick Watermelon patch.

They had these cute "farmer" hats to buy. My son's head is very large, and the hat is very small. Don't laugh.






Owen loves broccoli.

All you need is love.......

I had the pleasure to meet up with Stacie and Paul one day and do a mini photo shoot for their wedding invites. Stacie I've known since 9th grade. From Jr. High we moved on to the same High School together, a high school that was out of district, so she was the only friend I had going into the new school. It made the transition of moving to a new school that much easier and throughout our high school years we were best friends. Stacie is an awesome person with a bubbly, caring personality and a contagious smile. Little did we know, at that same high school she would meet the love of her life, her future husband.

Since it has been a little over a decade, I fail to remember the details, but I think Stacie and Paul started to date our senior year. Sorry if I'm wrong Stace. All I know is that they were inseparable.....and they still are. Stacie and I recently had a long overdue reunion, and I was thrilled to hear that her and Paul were getting married. They also share a very handsome little man named Noah, who was too busy playing with my kids the participate in the photo shoot. I managed to get a few pictures of him, but then it was right back to playing. The big day is coming up! Stacie and Paul will be married at Hearts Home Farm in Hemet on June 28th and I wish them nothing but the best!

Peaches Love's Pears!!! (It's an inside joke :)

Click here for the slideshow.

In Memory......


The past couple of months I think have been the hardest of my life. I lost the one person who has been there for me from day one, who put me on a pedestal, who worked day and night, just to provide for me. The person who made me their first priority, and above all, the person that loved me unconditionally.


My mother Sandra Martinez lost her battle with cancer at 12:30AM on April 1, 2008. She passed away peacefully with her loved ones surrounding her. She battled cancer for seventeen years, starting with her diagnosis of breast cancer in 1991. From that day on she accepted the fact that the cancer was so bad, she would be on and off chemo treatment for the rest of her life. At times she was down and depressed, but always had such an optimistic outlook on life. I have never encountered such a strong, courageous person as her, and I am convinced I never will. She had such a strong will to live, that she beat the cancer in a sense. Yes, she had to live with the disease, but she never let that get in the way of her life.


My mother was an inspiration, making me strive to become the strong, courageous women she was. I am left with so many beautiful memories of her and I, and she has filled my heart with love. I am so thankful that she was in my life and her spirit will live with me forever.

Back it Up!

Wow, I've been out of the posting scene for a while. My laptop took a poop about a month ago. Although I backed up all of my work files like weddings and family shoots, I failed to do the same with my personal items. I know, you should always back things up, that way if your hard drive fries, your OK. But not me. I had about 2000+ pictures in IPhoto. From the time Emma was born until today. That's the problem with everything being digital. I just get so lazy. I had everything to back up all my personal pictures, disks, cases, you name it. I just never took the time to do it. Now I'm kicking myself in the butt! I felt ill when I found out it was the hard drive. I didn't have much hope in retreiving info, but tried it. We ran a recovery system, and a month later it's still retreiving files. So far it has recovered 61GB of my 93GB hard drive, please cross your fingers that the majority of that is my Iphoto!

Lesson learned! In this digital age it's easy to get careless. Once those items are gone, you may not get them back....so Back Them Up!