a trip down to seal beach, a hike up bronson canyon to explore the caves and see the hollywood sign, jumping in puddles in the rain, the playground and selfies, and a way-overdue temple trip.  life has been good to us lately.

the la brea tar pits

just obsessed with this wall photo.

we had a great time with mimi and grandpa at the la brea tar pits a couple weeks ago!  the girls loved running around and looking at all the "dinosaurs" (according to hazel), although they were really ice-age animals, like the wooley mammoth, saber-tooth tigers, and a giant sloth? (see statue below.)

i live for these days.

a quick winter utah/idaho trip

there's nothing like snowmobiling in idaho in the winter.  or hanging out with family and eating delicious food.  john built a snow cave at the lake house, and hazel is definitely a thrill-seeker.  she begged to go on a snowmobiling ride every day.  cora was surprisingly easy - she is great at keeping herself entertained.  and it is clear that she is partial to grandpa and pop pop neff.  she is talking more and more and it's so sweet!

ski day!

this christmas season felt a little bit different than most others.  in all our 6 years of marriage, i have done a pretty decent job getting john a few good presents.  (like the banjitar two years ago... that was pretty good.)  

but this year... i worked SO HARD to get john and NES classic.  i woke up 6(?)ish times bright and early and went to the stores hoping that the line wouldn't be too long and i could hopefully snag one... but to no avail.  so under the tree was a board game, (which is an awesome board game, albeit creepy, if you're in the market ;) and an envelope that said, "let's go skiing!"  FAIL. i know.  

in my defense, john's birthday is only five days before christmas, and he got band of horses tickets for his birthday.  aka. WIN.

so, despite my lack of being prepared christmas morning and having an awesome gift for john to open, we had an amazing day of skiing.  it has more or less confirmed my suspicions that EVENTS make way better presents than THINGS.  

disneyland with daddy.

there's just something so magical about disneyland around christmastime!  after the fireworks john commented on how amazing and magical the show was.  yes, yes it was.  it was a very late though and after the show hazel said, "mommy, i want my bed, please".  

and look how beautiful that castle is!

mimi and grandpa visit!

there is something so wonderful about having grandparents in town!  i was so glad mimi and grandpa came visiting.  we had so much fun!  hazel has been asking when we can see mimi and grandpa again, ever since they left.

we went to a pumpkin patch, they watched the girls so john and i could go on a real date (hurray!) and then we stayed down in newport for a few days.  we went to an indoor trampoline park and swam and hot tubbed, went to aunt jayme's beach, and went to disneyland.  it felt like a vacation even though we live here! couldn't have asked for a more perfect staycation.

we also tried bill's pancakes in downtown manhattan beach.  and i have to say, it was a relief to take the girls out for breakfast food because they actually ate!  i think i may have solved our restaurant aversion problem....

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.

disneyland!

my family has always been a little obsessed with disney.  my grandma instilled a love for all things disney (especially the parks) in us from a very young age.  i can remember going at least once a year for several years growing up, which may not seem like a lot to some, but when you only take two vacations a year... making 50% of them to disneyland is no joke.  so you can imagine my excitement at moving here to LA and having the chance to get a year passport!  it took us awhile to commit (because i'm afraid of the freeway and traffic...) but i'm so glad that i got brave and took both the girls on friday.  they were in heaven!  (especially hazel!)  and the drive is only about 45 minutes.  not bad!

of course we cruised through fantasy land, small world, and a lot of the kid rides first thing.  cora napped while hazel and i shared a dole whip and met snow white, cinderella, and ariel.  hazel's face in that picture with ariel has to be the best thing ever. and then we enjoyed the jungle cruise, tikki room, and pirates.  cora was really brave on pirates, snow white, and mr. toad's wild ride.  all of which are a little scary for a one and a half year old!  

cora's favorite seemed to be dumbo.  although she's doesn't look happy in the picture we took on it because we had just gone on snow white and it is terrifying.  

hazels favorites:

small world and peter pan.  hands down!

every day since hazel has asked to go back to disneyland, see minnie again, and fly with the stars on peter pan.  i'm hoping we can make it out there on wednesday :)  what a dream you are, CA!

party in NYC

the hursts came to visit!  and having them here was just about the greatest thing.  we gave them space to play in NYC without us most of friday, but then pounced on them for dinner and times square in the evening.  we went to amy ruth's in harlem for ryan's birthday, and it definitely did not disappoint.  it was our first time going stroller-less, and we were also so proud of hazel for walking during our two days in the city.  saturday we spent the whole day in the city and she walked miles without complaint!  {but crashed HARD at dinner, poor thing.}

 it was quite cold and rainy this weekend, so we opted for winter coats.  and hazel wore pinkalicious and, as you can see, was THRILLED about it.  she also did some drumming with some drummer on the street.  and i quickly sanitized her hands afterwards ;)

smelling the "lips" as hazel calls them. \/\/\/

on saturday we went to the WTC memorial, chinatown for the best soup dumplings and mango boba ice drink, macey's wooden escalator, and then we took this selfie while waiting for our levain cookies.  yum!

then we went to artichoke pizza and walked the high line and went home.  but not before getting a salted pimp at big gay ice cream.  

and here's a couple short videos (from my snapchat: pbrunt) if you're interested.  the subway dancing was the coolest!  

NYC part 1 from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

NYC part 2 from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

the zoo!

we have been desperate to get outside lately.  even on those freezing cold days last week, if i brought cora outside for even just a second, she would throw a HUGE fit when i brought her back in.  frankly, no matter how long we spend outside playing, getting dirty, and scraping our knees, it never seems to be quite enough for these two!  well, finally the weather is in that sweet-spot of 50-70 degrees and we are doing our best to take full advantage!

on friday, we went to the zoo, and it was PACKED.  

these cute girls photobombed our train picture...

hazel usually requests that we go see the fishies first thing.  

we sang the byu fight song with the cougars and cora tried (unsuccessfully thanks to my efforts) to feed her fingers to an angry rooster.

"mom, take picture climb elephant!"

have you ever been to pennsylvania?  we just visited for the first time this last weekend {besides a quick drive-by hershey, PA when we moved out here} and let me just say, it was beautiful.  for being the ugly end-part of the winter yuck, pennsylvania was stunning.  i actually enjoyed the road-trip out there, despite getting up-chucked on once and whined at ten million times.

of course we had a pressing desire to see pennyslvania, but the main reason for visiting was NEWBORN BABY SNUGGLES.  our friend jordan {who set john and i up} and his cute family are going to school in happy valley and just had a baby back in december.  and since my baby basically refuses to snuggle with me these days... i stole theirs away at every opportunity!  

we ate at a famous sandwhich/burger/sports bar joint in downtown state college, and then explored the cute children's arboretum.  

we ate creamery ice cream and i cried a little from sheer happiness.

we did a cute easter-egg hunt with the older girls, and got to meet the easter bunny and the nittany lion himself.  

cute rory was the best little playmate for our hazel.  they are so close in age, have the same energy level, and got along great.  too bad we don't live closer!

 we drove through beautiful farm country and went to an amish wedding {which isn't really a wedding, but a delicious buffet - (the potatoes were amazing and so was the stuffing... it had shredded chicken IN IT)} and gorged ourselves silly.

sunday we went to church, drove home, and attempted to recover from such a fun-filled weekend.  don't tell anyone, but i still haven't unpacked.  ;)

thanks for having us crespos!

brooklyn birthdays!

last saturday we went to brooklyn to celebrate our cousin claire and aunt janessa's birthday!  it was so much fun!  we rode jane's carousel, took pictures by the brooklyn bridge, ate at julianna's, ate birthday cake and just hung out.  hazel had the best time.  we feel so so lucky to have family living so close!  thanks for inviting us, brunts!

the best view of any city park, ever?^^^

if cora mae doesn't look happy in a photo, it is most likely a fluke.  she always looks like this^^^

the pizza dreams are made of:

 just a view of downtown on our way to brooklyn.  nbd.
also, we discovered on this day that cora knows how to use a straw.  what!?!

the springfield firehouse

our play group went to the springfield fire station yesterday and took a tour.  after we left, hazel kept talking about how fun it was.  i'm so grateful for people in public service jobs - firemen, policemen, nurses, etc.  they truly make our community a safe and wonderful place to live.

 

look at the joy on hazel's face in the fire engine!
firefighter 7!  be still my heart.

our day at laguna beach.

our day in laguna was amazing, as usual.  i was so busy having fun that i didn't take a lot of pictures, but we saw four whales {you heard me}, about a hundred dolphins, a seal, tons of fish, went kayaking in the ocean, got sprinkles ice cream and pieology, and met up with friends and family.  it was a good day.

catalina!

our day in catalina started with a quick boat ride over to the island.  we did some shopping and lounging on the beach, and i simply can't get over how beautiful and quaint it is there. 

we then rented a golf cart with our friends to tour around the island.  i love going to a new place and instead of going on the tour that everyone signs up for, picking another random excursion that you do on your own.  less educational?  probably.  more adventurous?  definitely.  

after some lounging on the beach, john and i walked through the shops and finally bummed out at around 3pm and went back to the ship to get some lunch.  {we went a couple days without lunch... but made up for it the rest of the time...}

i really loved exploring the city of avalon with my hottie of a husband.  next stop, ensenada!

thanksgiving point animal farm.

we recently went to thanksgiving point with our friends to look at the animals.  hazel is finally getting to an age where she enjoys looking at and petting animals.  she pet the horse and really enjoyed running around playing, picking up rocks, and the "hay" ride.  thanks hayley, for inviting us!  as usual, we had a blast!

also, here's a dorky video i made during our day:

the animal farm from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

and, the outtakes ;)