Do-Over?

I'm always late. I hate it. I really have the best of intentions, but especially since my little one was born, I'm late for just about everything. DKG and I have a joke that whatever it is that needed to be done, we should have started sooner.

Apparently photography contests are no different for me. Last week, the subject of the I ♥ Faces contest was "eyes." I dug through all of my pics and had a hard time finding one of my child that I loved and I was feeling a little too lazy to ask some other mamas if I could use pics of their kiddos. (Sad, I know.) So, I found a picture I liked, but didn't love, just because I wanted to do something.

Today, after church and brunch, my Kumquat wanted to run around for a bit. I happened to have my camera with me and took this shoot.

Could I please have a do-over on that whole contest thing? Not that I would have won (not by a LOOOONG shot), but it would have been nice to enter a photo of her eyes that I really did love. At least now I'm ready the next time that topic comes around!

Giveaway Time!!

Comments are closed. The deadline for this giveaway has passed! Stay tuned for an announcement of the winners!

Do you ever promise yourself some fun treat if you ever complete a seemingly unending project? Me too.

To celebrate finally finishing the posts about this vacation my birthday our fun times on this trip, I'm doing my first giveaway! In deciding what to use for this giveaway, I really wanted to find something that was from the part of California where we stayed.

I kinda feel like I hit the jackpot. I found a fabulous little etsy shop whose owner lives in the Monterey Bay area (where the aquarium is). And it doesn't hurt that I love, love, love her jewelry! It's beautiful, different, colorful and meaningful. I love it!

So, dear readers, TWO of you have the opportunity to win a necklace of your choosing from Secret Message Jewelry! You have 2 ways to win, one is a guessing game and one is just random chance.

Option One: Guess the total!

Can you guess how many pictures we took on this vacation? I posted on FB that after 4 days of vacation, we had taken 736 pictures. We were gone for 15 days total. We're doing this "The Price is Right" style... the person who comes closest to the actual total without going over will win the first prize!

Option Two: Show & share the love! Become a blog follower, become a Facebook fan of Secret Message Jewelry, and/or share this giveaway through Facebook or Twitter… be sure to leave me an additional comment for each! You must leave comments on my BLOG… Facebook comments will not be counted, so come on over. Random.org will be utilized for selection of winner!

The giveaway will close at 11:59 PM CST on Tuesday, September 7th and winners will be announced the following day.

Vacation Wrap-Up

So, we stayed in central CA from Monday-Sunday, enjoying the leisurely California life and the US Open. On Monday, we packed up the family and popped over to Las Vegas. DKG had a conference there and we figured we may as well go with him, since we were right next door anyway, right?

It was so hard to leave! We really fell in love with the central California and made many promises to return as soon as we could.

We knew it would be a bit jarring to go from the super-relaxed, natural, easy lifestyle of CA to the craziness that is Vegas. We flew to Vegas with DKG's family, which was awesome... 5 adults & 1 toddler with her own seat. Such an easy trip!! Since we were traveling with Lola, we got picked up at the airport in a limo. Yup, a limo ride before she was even 2. I didn't ride in one until my wedding day! I know my kid kinda has a ridiculous life. Really, I do. She is WAY fortunate that we've been able to do as much as we have with her.

Anyway...

DKG, K & I stayed at Aria for the first part of the trip, since that was where is conference was being held.

It was nice, new & shiny, but we were rather unimpressed with the service. It also was a hassle to be so far from DKG's family, who were staying on the other end of the Strip. So we moved and rejoined the family at Palazzo. :) And got to hang out at the pool. (A lot. What else are you gonna do with a toddler in Vegas?)

(Although, I did start to wonder if maybe we've taken her to Vegas a few too many times...)

And lived happily ever after.

Well, for the most part. Someone wasn't too happy about vacation being over. Or she was worried we were extending the trip and going somewhere else. Who knows? We did have an amazing time, but we were all glad to get home and get back to "normal" life in the land of Growing Kumquats!

Mama & Kumquat Vacation Date

On Friday, it was my turn to stay with K while everyone else went to the tournament. Our little Kumquat was such a great traveler and did so well hanging out all day at the golf course the day before. I thought she really deserved a super-fun day of activities she would enjoy.

So, we decided to start the day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a fun aquarium with a pretty great Splash Zone for toddlers.

Oh, and just so you know...

We played around in the Splash Zone for a while and then went outside to have a snack.

After we finished at the aquarium, we went for a walk around the Cannery Row area.

I probably should have taken the sweet girl back for a nap at this point. That would have been the responsible thing to do. It was kinda killing me, though, that we were in CA for nearly a week and we'd get to see so little of it. Don't get me wrong; I was so glad we were able to go to the tournament. I just wanted to have my cake & eat it, too. I realized that this day was the one day I had there without anything else I had to do. So, we pressed on.

I knew Big Sur was only about 45 minutes away from Monterey and we were already on Highway 1. I thought maybe the little one would sleep in the car and we'd see what we could see. It really was a gorgeous drive.

I think it would have been a much more enjoyable drive if I didn't have the baby in the car. Have you noticed that things that were totally fine before kids can now be terrifying with one? The drive was gorgeous, but also terrifying. The road is a little crazy. Plus, I do have a fear of driving over bridges. I made it over this one, thanks only to lots of deep breathing.

When we got to the next one, I just couldn't do it again. Boo. :( I kept imagining headlines of a poor Kansas doctor who lost his wife & child in a terrible car accident on this bridge. Dramatic, I know.

So we turned around and headed back towards Carmel. On the way, we stopped at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. It was getting late by the time we got there and I do wish we'd had more time. It was just beautiful.

I loved this little cove.

I've talked before about how much I love large bodies of water. It's awesome to watch the powerful waves surging over rocks and crash into the shore. It was also a nice change of pace to be near water that was so still and peaceful. The way the light glistened off the water was just luscious.

I finally tore myself away and took my little girl back to Carmel. We cooked a yummy California-type dinner for the family to eat when they returned from the tournament. It was really a wonderful California day!

A Dream Come True

**Family name notes: I've blogged about DKG's family before, but just in case you don't know or have forgotten.... We use Filipino family terms for his family. "Lolo" is DKG's father & our Kumquat's grandfather, "Lola" is DKG's mother & K's grandmother, and "Tita" means "Aunt." In this trip, "Tita A" is DKG's youngest sister. Got it? :)

Remember that little vacation thing I was posting about ages ago? Part of the reason of keeping this blog is to be a sort of scrapbook of our memories for little Kumquat to have as she grows. So, even though the vacation is old news now, I do want to get these posts out there.

And, I do have a big plan for the last one. You'll have to stay tuned for that one. My goal is to finish these within the next week. Fingers crossed!

So, anyway, back to the vacation.

The main point of this trip was to attend the US Open at Pebble Beach. It was a dream come true for DKG. Attending a major gold championship at what is hands-down one of the most beautiful courses in the country? Amazing. Plus, it was the week of his birthday AND Father's Day. And we took his father. What more could a guy ask for?

Oh, right. Having his girls come along, too!

I've had a hard time figuring out what to write about the golf aspect of our trip. I have finally decided to just post a ton of pics with minimal commentary, but hopefully enough to give you and idea of what's what. I'm sure DKG would have picked totally different pictures, but I'm the one posting. (Although he's more than welcome to do so whenever he wants... hint hint...) :)

We had amazing tickets that got us into the tournament every day! We had 4 tickets with access to the "Trophy Club," which basically was a huge, amazing "tent" with food, nicer restrooms, TONS of TV screens, etc., etc. It was also heated and we were quite thankful for that!

The Open ran Monday - Sunday, but we just arrived Monday night. So, we had 4 tickets and 5 adults (me, DKG, Lolo, Lola, & Tita A), so we decided Lola (K's grandmother) & I would take turns going to the Open or watching K and the other 3 could go every day.

The first 3 days were practice rounds, so fans were allowed to bring cameras on the course. From Thursday on, though, absolutely no cameras were allowed. We took as many pics during those first two days as we could! Tuesday, DKG & I went, while Tita, Lola & K rested up from a big day of travel. It was great to get a feel for the course and make a plan for the rest of the week. It truly was amazing to be on such a famous, gorgeous course and to have the opportunity to see some of the biggest names in golf up close.

The excited boys on the shuttle to Pebble Beach.

Hanging out at the 1st hole, checking out the players on the practice green. (Don't they look sooo happy?) :)

Father & son at the famous 18th hole.

DKG & I at the 18th hole.

Here are some of my favorite shots of the course itself...

On Tuesday, we also had a chance to scope out the kid situation. Naturally, we wanted the Kumquat to have a chance to experience being at the US Open. On the other hand, bringing a lively, busy, noisy toddler to a major golf championship didn't exactly seem like the greatest idea. After seeing the throngs of small children wandering around the course Tuesday, we decided it should be OK to bring her for one day to a practice round. SO, Wednesday, the entire family headed out to Pebble Beach together & we were able to get an extra ticket at the gate. I was so proud of Little K! She did remarkably well, considering she was cooped up in her stroller for much of the day and that this is the only nap she got...

I think it really made the Father's Day part of the weekend extra-special for DKG & Lolo. They loved sharing the experience with their favorite little Kumquat.

We all had a great time there and really enjoyed being able to share a once-in-a-lifetime experience!