Easter in the Mountains

This Easter, we had the wonderful chance to go to Ruidoso, NM, to celebrate with DKG's family. We rented an amazing house with gorgeous views of the mountains AND could fit the entire family under one roof. No small feat, since there were 12 1/2 people and one dog.

We had such a great time catching up with the family. It was especially precious to watch the sweet cousins loving each other. Seriously, is there anything cuter than two little cousin twins cuddled up under a Tinkerbell blanket??

Well, I guess maybe three little look-alikes together in a tub... :)

We spent some fun time hanging around outside The Inn of the Mountain Gods. It was just beautiful by the lake. It was so nice to see some... umm... what are those lumpy things called again? Oh, right. Hills. And mountains.

Mostly, though, we watched the little ones run around in the sunshine. It was glorious.

The girls were totally content to chase Tito around in circles forever, just like a dog chasing its tail.

P had more serious business to attend to...

1) Check on Momma

2) Check on the lake

3) Dig in some dirt (such a boy!)

And just when I thought they couldn't get any sweeter, here were a couple cousin-friends ready to go to Mass on Easter Sunday.

It truly was a blessed Easter!!

Toddler Tirade

I'm a big fan of fonts. My kid also has strong opinions on the subject. She told me recently that she does not appreciate sans serif fonts where "I" looks like an "l" and finds the similarity exasperating. How's a little girl to know what letter it is when they look the same? Or at least that's what I took the following conversation to mean...

K: Mommy, that's a letter "L."

MKG: No, baby. It's actually an uppercase "I." I know it's confusing when they look the same.

K: DA DA DAY DOIN UPPERCASE LETTER "I" AN DOE NEE DAT NOY LOWERCASE LETTER "L" DEE NA!!!!

I kinda think she has a point.

Cousin Lovin'

Last week, we were so blessed to have some

royalty visit our little Kumquat Garden.

Namely, K's cousins, Her Royal Highness Princess E...

and Her Royal Highness Princess H spent the week with us.

It has always been so fun to have 3 girls so close in age in our family. My sweet K is sandwiched between the princesses, who are separately only by 16 months. (Princess H is a mere 10 weeks younger than K, so they have a very special bond.) Now that the girls are a bit older and are starting to do more interactive play, it was so. much. fun. to watch the 3 of them together! Among other fun things we did during the week, we spent a blustery afternoon at our favorite park. We attempted to have a picnic, but ended up having to eat in our cars because of the immense Kansas wind. Once we ate, though, they had a magical afternoon playing together.

While their mommy, HRM Auntie M, and I delighted in our girls and dreamed of their future exploits together, our precious girls ran, jumped, hugged, dug in the dirt, and did all the things three little BFFs who love each other so would do on a gorgeous day. Love those girls!

PSA: Tom's Shoes

Note: I was not compensated in any way by Toms Shoes for writing this review.

I've been thinking of getting a pair of Toms for ages. Who wouldn't love the idea of One for One, where for each pair of shoes sold, the company donates a pair to a child in need? But I've had iffy experiences with canvas shoes in the past and was a little hesitant about buying a pair. Then, I saw my lovely friend sporting a pair recently and asked her what she thought of them. It was all love!

It seems I was not alone. I bought 2 pairs less than a week ago and have had so many people (friends and strangers) ask what I thought of them. Almost every single person said they've been thinking of getting a pair but have wanted to make sure they'd be comfortable. Sounds familiar. So, here is my (pretty steam-of-consciousness style) PSA to all those considering purchasing a pair. You're welcome.

I decided to get a pair of Classic Toms in Ash and a pair of Black Canvas Wedges.

Here are my thoughts of the classics...

• LOVE them. :)
• Way cuter on than I thought they'd be. Let's be honest... they're not exactly sexy shoes. But I think they are cute on.
• They've been a nice alternative to flip flops & real athletic shoes. In the spring & summer, I really kinda hate tying shoes. Lazy, I know. I love to be able just to slip on a pair and go. So, that makes me want to wear flip flops when it's still too cold for them and then I get sad because my feet are frozen. Warm toes + slip on shoes + not having to find clean, matching socks = AWESOME in my book. :)
• They're super comfy. I've had zero blisters from them and they have pretty decent support. I've worn them all day at parks, zoos, playgrounds, and the mall. Big yay for not getting playground rocks in my sandals. My feet have been tired and a bit sore after the longer days of walking. I'd say better than flip flops and worse than athletic shoes. I've wondered if you could use insoles with these shoes. I think if you wanted to wear them to Disney or something epic like that, it might be helpful. Not sure about how it would work with the fit, though.
• Probably not terribly important to anyone else, but I'm excited about having summer shoes that will keep grass off my feet. I'm crazy allergic to it and I worry that it makes me avoid taking Izzie out to play in it as much as I should.
• I'm in love with the Ash color. It's great as a neutral, but softer than black, which is important when your skin is as pasty as mine. I was going to get the canvas color, but figured they'd look kinda nasty after a trip or two to the playground. I'm really glad I got these. I totally love the color!

And for the wedges...

• I had a hard time deciding between black & Ash for these. Once I decided to get Ash for the others, it was easy to pick black. I'm glad I did. They've worked well both for dressy-ish (like church today) and more casual-but-nice.
• Really thinking I might need to get another pair at some point. Maybe these? (Don't worry, DKG. It won't be any time soon. Promise!)
• They're pretty steep, but I feel quite stable in them, even though I almost never wear heels anymore (sniff). They're also really quite comfortable for what they are.
• Today I started to get a bit of a blister from them. Bummer. :(
• I do love them and they make me feel way more fabulous and fashionable than I normally do. What more could a girl want?

So those are my opinions. Verdict? Love. And I do really love that two precious little ones will now have shoes on their feet while I love the shoes on my feet. I know I could get decent shoes a little cheaper, but I feel like it's well worth paying a bit more to get shoes that don't just make me feel great.

Oh - and speaking of shoes I love - Acorn is on Zulily today!! Acorn makes my favorite slippers on earth!!

And the other half...

So, that last post updated you on the first 3 months of my blogging hiatus. Here's what we have from the second 3 months (Dec-Feb)...

DECEMBER

We enjoyed a couple randomly warmish days and played outside.

And before we knew it, it was time for Christmas!

Lolo, Lola & the most of the rest of DKG's family joined us for Christmas this year. We missed his brother and his precious family, but we were so thankful everyone else was able to join us!

Izzie loved having everyone here and, especially, being able to take two of her favorite people to one of her favorite places in the world!

JANUARY...

was pretty uneventful but we did get to enjoy another random warm day by having a picnic and playing in the park with some good friends!

FEBRUARY

The Kumquat and I had the great chance to tag along with DKG as he took a little trip to CA for business. We decided to stay the weekend and check out San Francisco, since we've never been. Unfortunately, our first day there was way wet, cold, and even a little snowy. We were happy to hang out indoors at the Exploratorium.

They had a little wind tunnel where the "kids" could assemble different things from toilet paper rolls with tape and see if they could make them fly. Little K ♥ ♥ LOVED ♥ ♥ it. I think DKG did, too. :)

Sunday was a clear & beautiful day, so we were able to swing by and hit one major sight on our way to the airport...

And, since it only took me about 6 weeks to do this post, I'm officially only 6 weeks behind! Way better than 6 months!