Summer Fun

Wow, it's been weeks since I last posted anything here which is a testament to how little time I have for fun things like this.  Our summer is flying by, but we've had no shortage of fun, or sun for that matter!  It's been HOT here.  Not muggy and buggy like the Midwest, but uncharacteristically warm, making every weekend a perfect beach weekend.  We have yet to eat dinner inside - I love that.

A couple of weekends ago was the biggest party weekend in town -Fiesta!  It's a week long celebration officially called "Old Spanish Days" which celebrates the Spanish heritage and founders of this land.  The whole town fills with the buzz of music and food and dance, and even the girls' preschool got them into the spirit.  They came home every day chanting "Viva La Fiesta!"  The celebration kicked off with a night on the lawn at Santa Barbara Mission itself - you bring a blanket, food, drinks, etc., let the kids run around and then the show begins. The girls loved watching the flamenco dancers in their festive costumes and especially loved cracking the confetti-filled eggs over each other's heads!  Addison was interested in the fact that Uncle Grant and Aunt Stacy got married there and that she was there, but doesn't remember.  The rest of the weekend was filled with parades, carnivals and shows. Gramma Pam even babysat one night on the fly so DJ and I could go to the beautiful sunken gardens at the SB courthouse and take in a night of flamenco dancing... Just like Grant and I did as kids!

This past weekend was our big housewarming party - what fun! I have to say it was a big success with good friends and family from the past as well as new co-workers and neighbors.  DJ met a guy a while back while playing gold who owns the sushi area at one of the local markets here.  In addition to that he does catering on the side, so we booked him for our little soiree.  I was a little skeptical at first, not really sure about all that was entailed.  I'm happy to say that it turned out 110% better than I ever imagined.  A huge hit! Not only was it delicious, it was super interesting and unique and had people buzzing, even days after.  The spread included everything from lots of different types of sashimi, rolls, tempura, edamame, squid and seaweed salad...and on and on.  I know I've never been to a sushi party before and many others hadn't either.  We will do that again and again. The wine, beer and lemonade was flowing and the sun was scorching.  My best friend from childhood, Kaili, came down from the Bay Area for the week, so after all the guests finally cleared out, we stayed up chatting on the patio until well into the night.  What a great evening.  DJ wants to do an annual bash, but we'll see how that goes!  Unfortunately I was too busy to remember to take photos and I'm super bummed!  I guess we will have to do it again next year.  :)  I did, however, capture some kind of crappy photos of the house.  We're finally feeling pretty settled in, and aside from organizing the garage (which will be done after a September garage sale), we are somewhat done!  My phone is the only camera I have these days so bear with me through the not-so-great quality here.

Also, since I am terribly lacking in blogging skills, the following menagerie of videos is WAY out of order.  I still can't figure out what I'm doing wrong here.  Oh well!

Norah Jones

Pelican in pool

Naked beach dancers

More at the Mission

Confetti!  Viva La Fiesta!

On a carnival ride - it was right in our neighborhood so we walked there one night, ate from the taco stand and laughed as the girls were excited and freaked out about the rides at the same time

Sunken Gardens at the Courthouse

We spent an afternoon at the Bacara with my boss, his wife, their 30 year old son and his 5 year old daughter.  Beautiful place, odd situation :/  I don't particularly enjoy being in a bikini with my boss drinking cocktails by the pool! Without him, absolutely.  But this was just weird.  Nevertheless it was a good day followed by a delicious dinner at his house.  Wife's a chef, so can't complain.  I even picked up a few tips and tricks from her.

Pelican in the pool!

Addison and Kaitlyn lounging

Isla bear beach baby

Uncle Grant buried the girls in sand and made them "baby mermaid" tails - they loved it

Spontaneous dinner at Cielito and Norah Jones show after

Love their patio

And their ceviche bar!

The trek up to the SB Bowl - gorgeous venue

You can't tell, but that's Norah :)

Isla and Kaili

 And now for some house shots!

Living room

Backyard

Gramma Pam is the garden fairy.  She said she wanted to drop off a couple of potted plants while we were gone.  we woke up in the morning to find a whole new garden, complete with bench and vegetable garden, back there!  So lucky.

Dining room/living room

Girls' room

Guest room

Hallway

Master bedroom

Diva!