our first day at disney CA adventure!

we've driven to anaheim several times since we got our disney passes, but this week was the first time that we went to california adventure.  each year it keeps getting better and better.  it doesn't have the same nostalgia for me that disneyland does, but i realized something while we were there.  in twenty or so years when hazel brings her daughter to disney ca adventure, it will have that same special nostalgia for her!

disney CA adventure from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

beach respite

despite a lot of feelings of inadequacy day in and day out, i am doing my best to be a good mom to my girls.  but some days... the house is a mess... and it's hot... and i just feel like the most impatient mother.  that was the case tuesday afternoon.  and typically when that happens, getting out of the house usually is what we need (both me and the girls!).  

so we went to the beach.  i snapchatted and we played.  we chased seagulls.  it was beautiful and a little cloudy and the sun was beginning to set and everything was perfect.  daddy met us for dinner, and we ate delicious tacos.  {john and i did, our stubborn girls refused to eat, and we ended up buying our starving children 20 chicken nuggets on the way home}.  so, you know, not quite perfect.  but still a much-needed beach day.  

chasing seagulls at hermosa beach from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

throwin it back to the fattest baby

giggles from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

our favorite book to read together.

mooo baaa la la la from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

disneyland, again.

i may be crazy but thursday after hazel finished school we took off to disneyland!  it takes a little bit longer to get there in 2pm traffic but it's disneyland so... worth it.

we saw both parades and stayed for fireworks {which were unfortunately canceled.} and had an amazing time!  i could get used to this.

during the parade, hazel kept waving to all the characters and saying hi.  "hi, mickey!" "hi rapunzel!" "hi olaf!" it was the best.  cora enjoyed it, but was comfortable keeping her distance ;)

waiting for the parade... and cora's dumbo face.

here's my snapchat story from the day we went to disney.  there's a little bit of cora and me goofing off on snap before disney starts, so if you want to go straight to the parade, start at .39.  xo!

snapchat + disney from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

supermoms.

Lately I've been trying to strike a balance between giving my girls activities to encourage their development; and letting/making them play with their toys and outside without structure. I have been try to give them opportunities to imagine and play without micromanaging every single second of their day. There is so much pressure to give our kids hours and hours of structured developmental activities throughout the day. A simple Pinterest search yields thousands of hits when you search for activities to keep your kids occupied. They advertise these activities as "boredom busters", or "development activities", but as parents, is that really our job? Must I really buy 10 bags of rice, color them with food coloring, and then let my girls "play" (EI. throw rice all over my house)? 

There's a sweet mom I follow on Instagram who basically runs a preschool for her four children. Each day is themed. With themed art projects, themed snacks, themed books, themed games. I honestly wonder how she has time to think up, buy stuff for, coordinate, supervise, organize, and clean up these extravagant activities, let alone cook dinner and clean the house. And frankly, my hat is off to her and other "supermoms", because she's obviously figured out some secret that the rest of us are missing. And it's making us look bad. And what's worse, it leads to guilt, and a lot of comparing ourselves to others.

Today, my girls didn't get a grand lesson about volcanoes, complete with volcano snacks, a volcano book, and a volcano science project.  They got dragged to costco to pick up a pizza, they were fed, they were read to.  They watched a short movie while I folded and put away a mountain of laundry.  They napped.  And i'm chosing not to feel guilty about it.  

labor day shenanigans.

we had a fun labor day disc golfing with the girls.  while our frisbee golf outings have changed a lot since our dating days, john and i wouldn't have it any other way!  john and i let the girls walk around and play with dirt and sticks, and then switched off holding cora and throwing.  a lot more labor-intensive but definitely still lots of fun ;) after disc golf we went to cielito lindo on olvera street and got beef taquitos.  we were all the way up there, the traffic was surprisingly non-existent and we just couldn't pass up the chance to get the best avocado sauce in the entire world.