Kevin's 51st Birthday

The best gift that Kevin received by far was getting to spend his birthday with his girl Kate! However, he didn't mind a few presents too...Kate and Travis out did themselves with this wonderful gift they brought for Kevin. We decided to give Kevin his gifts a day early on the 5th so we could "enjoy" the gifts for the remainder of the visit.

It was so big and heavy Kevin could barely hold it!

Kevin was beyond thrilled to find they had given him a fire pit for our back yard! 

 

 

 I coordinated with Kate and Travis and bought Kevin 5 chairs to go around the fire pit AND a bag full of S'more fixins!

 

 

 

...and here is Kate, Kyle, Kevin and Lily enjoying the fire! We have the perfect place in our yard for this fire pit and chairs.(nice face Kyle!)

Kevin and Lily enjoy the warmth of the fire.

 On his actual birthday on the 6th we spent the entire day at the beach and the weather was sunny and beautiful! That evening we went out to dinner to celebrate Kevin's birthday. Here is Kate and Kevin all dressed and ready to go.

 Kate and I

 Kevin and I.

 Kate and Travis

 It's hard to believe that Kev is 51. I wish him at least 51 more.

Fourth of July 2012

I can honestly say that Fourth of July 2012 is one of the BEST 4ths our family has had.  We were blessed to have Kate and her boyfriend Travis come down for 4 days to celebrate the 4th and Kevin's birthday on the 6th. They arrived around midnight on the 3rd and we ended up sitting up and talking until almost 3 am, so we ended up sleeping through the Main St. parade...(all but Kevin who got up and rode his bike down town to see the parade...he said it was fabulous and we definitely missed out!...oh well next year!) but made it down to the beach a little after 1 pm where we spent the entire afternoon and evening until after the fireworks.

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us and it was overcast all day. Luckily however it wasn't cold until it got dark so we still were able to be in bathing suits and shorts very comfortably. Since moving to this wonderful So Cal beach community in May we have only had 3 overcast days and it was too bad that one of them had to be on the fourth. Kate and Travis had their hearts set on working on their tans at the beach!!

The one bonus for me was the opportunity to take some GREAT pictures. Since Kevin, Kate, Kyle and Travis all have light blue eyes....they are all very sensitive to the bright sun and I typically get a lot of squinting and shut eyes when I try to take pics of any of them out in the bright sun. However with the overcast day...there was no squinting and I was able to get some fabulous pictures. 

For example I LOVE LOVE LOVE these pictures of my two beautiful children Kate and Kyle. It has truly been a joy to see their relationship blossom into what it is today. They truly enjoy each other and it is wonderful!

 

Here they are looking out at a trio of dolphins that were jumping and swimming just off the coast! Unfortunately I was unable to catch a shot of the dolphins though.

 

Kate and Travis have now been together for a year and it has been so fantastic watching these two. They are so wonderful together and it Kevin and I both agree after spending more time with Travis again this weekend...he is a WONDERFUL young man and we are pleased with this relationship.

 

 

Kevin and Kyle enjoying a sweet father/son moment.

 

 Another shot of Kate and Travis

Kevin and I

Kevin lights the fire in our little Weber. 

 

 

Kyle enjoys an afternoon snack and a whole lot of being silly....

 

 Kyle and I

 The kids just "chillin"

 Kate just "chillin"

 Kevin just "chillin"

 Since moving here Kyle has become a total fish in the ocean! He LOVES to boogie board. He has taken a few surf lessons but enjoys boogie boarding more. I found this wet suit for him at a garage sale for only $40. It's a nearly new O Neil wetsuit and a thermal undershirt that sells for nearly $300 new! Although the water has warmed up a lot due to the currents coming up from Mexico, Kyle still prefers to be in a wet suit.

Sunset over the pier..even on an overcast day it was still beautiful.

 Right before it got dark, Kate decided she wanted to go boogie boarding with Kyle without wet suits. They had a blast!

 Here they are after a fun time riding waves. I love the sunset in the background.

 Promptly at nine pm the firework show started! They shot them right off the pier and the pictures don't even begin to do justice to the incredible firework show we enjoyed.

 Kate and Travis enjoying the fireworks.

 The show went on for about 30 minutes and then it was time for Kevin to ride his bike over 2 miles to go get the car! There was approximately 300,000 people on the beach for the 4th of July and Kevin dropped us and our stuff off in the afternoon, went and parked the car and rode his bike back to the beach. When the show was over he rode his bike back, got the car and came to pick us up. Next year we have already decided that we are getting to the beach at 7 am and getting set up so we can get a spot to park in the lot near the beach. 

I hope you and yours had a wonderful 4th of July!!! We sure did.

Fourth of July Decor

I love decorating for all holidays and 4th of July is no exception. I started my decorating at the front of our house by putting out a little decorative flag in the landscape and hanging a floral arrangement on the front gate that enters our courtyard.

I've had this wrought iron hanging basket for many years and have changed the floral arrangement in it many times. 

I bought the red white and blue silk flowers at Michaels and arranged them in green floral foam that I pressed down into the basket. Then I filled up the basket and covered the floral foam using floral moss. I finished up the arrangement by adding 2 American Flags and some french wired  ribbon to hang the floral basket. 

One of the things I love about our house is the all white galley kitchen. Because it is separated from the rest of the house I can decorate it in any color scheme I want and not have to worry about it not coordinating with the family room decor. I put away all the orange and yellow decor and put out all of my red white and blue decor for the 4th. I'll leave it all out for the entire month of July and then change it back to the orange and yellow decor for August. 

These little boxes were hand painted by my Mom. The little American man with the flag is from Michaels.

I bought this star at Home Goods a few years back.

Using the same ribbon I used in the floral basket arrangement I hung this cookie mold from Pampered Chef. I've had this for many years.

I found this darling tin pitcher with the No. 4 on it at Michael's this year. Using more floral foam in the bottom of the pitcher I arranged red white and blue flowers and tucked in a flag.

 

Here is another little box hand painted by my Mom, a little fabric flag that belonged to my Mom and my Susan Branch Summer book. Cook Books make great decor items in your kitchen. Notice that I always cluster decor items in groups of 3. It is most pleasing to the eye to group your decor items in odd numbers and a cluster of 3 is THE most pleasing to the eye.

Here is another little American man that is attached to a round box (from Michael's) and 2 more of the little hand painted boxes my Mom made many years ago.

Here I took a small mason jar and arranged several American flags in it. The little tin standing "America" is from Home Goods last year and the hanging American themed star  is also from Michael's a few years back.

I LOVE this wrought iron corner shelf unit. There is the perfect little "nook" in our kitchen where it fits like it was made to go there! I purchased it about 15 years ago at Ross Dress for Less in their home section. In fact, almost all of my decor comes from discount stores like Marshall's, Home Goods, TJ Max etc. These stores get deliveries twice a week and there  are so many treasures to be found at such reasonable prices. In fact recently I saw a vase at Home Goods that was $14. Then I saw the SAME vase at an upscale home boutique in Chino Hills for $49.99!!  There is just simply no reason to pay those kind of prices. To be honest the owner of the boutique probably bought the vase at Home Goods and marked it up to sale at her/his store!

 

Lastly, here is my little wooden country flag. I've hung it inside and out, but this year it looks great int the kitchen.

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of my red, white and blue kitchen!