July 9th we went to the annual Camarillo Fiesta Days.. it's a street fair in old town with booths, rides, and games. This year Maddie braved the rides by herself! Oh my Cheeky is getting so big! We had so much fun.. I can't wait for the Ventura County Fair in just a few weeks!

The Start of the Day!

Of course the first stop was the PONIES!

Maddie's First "Big Girl Ride" The Swings! I think Daddy was more nervous than Maddie was.

First time around, we weren't sure how she was doing but the second time around says it all!

This ride was SUPER fast. Oh and love the oh so inappropriate club (carnie) music they had blasted throughout the little kids section. lol

Maddie picked the turtles, just like last year and got an XL prize (the carnie looked a little shocked)

Maddie LOVED the Curious George and didn't let it go the rest of the day.

We even gave the goldfish game a try.

Close but no fishes joined the Diminio family that day.

The giant slide was the best.. great workout getting to the top. I think I did this 4 or 5 times, F-U-N!
TOP

MIDDLE

BOTTOM! Hooray!

Lovin' the Kettle Corn!

See you next year, Kettle Corn! We'll be back to conquer the Fiesta!

Scissors

Maddie cut with scissors for the first time today! We were at the First Five program and the teacher Ms. Sheila showed her how to make it "quack,quack" and "open,close"... my little cheeky monkey will be crafting soon enough.. oh.. or couponing! :) Yay Maddie!

Fourth of July Weekend- Summer's Here!

This past weekend the weather was absolutely beautiful and dare I say hot! Yep, summer is officially here. We broke out the backyard pool and had a great time with friends and family.

Saturday we went to Lake Casitas for the day to visit friends that were camping there. It was about 20 degrees hotter there than at our house. Maddie cooled off at their campsite pool and enjoyed lots of fruit and cupcakes!

Dinner with black olives!

Ventura Push & Pull Parade and Street Fair

Best part of any parade: CANDY!

Can't forget the pony rides!

YeeHaw

They even had elephant rides (just kidding)

We've had some weird sleeping habits lately.. either she's sleeping 12 hours a night plus 3 hour naps (yes!) or waking up at 5:00am to play. (ugh) Her newest thing is sleeping on the floor... last night we found her in the hall. Looks comfy, huh?













Even though we didn't see any fireworks this year, we had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend and even enjoyed kicking butt at poker with the Aunties. Next year we'll take the monkey to see the lights in the sky. I'm looking forward to the oohs and aaahs!

Palm Desert, hot, hot hot!

Oh but the resort we stayed at was cool, cool, cool!

A few weeks ago Sarah (Isabella's mommy) and I talked about possibly going on a joint family vacation. We went to Palm Springs a few years ago and thought with the girls being older it might be fun to have a short getaway where the girls could swim all day.

Sarah did a great job researching places to stay and I must say she found the PERFECT place. We shared a two bedroom Villa at the Marriott's Shadow Ridge II - the Enclaves. The place was ginormous and a great size for two families to stay. We both had our own bedroom and bathroom. It had a beautiful full kitchen, dining area, and living room. To save money we both brought enough food to live on for a month. Matt made his famous fajitas one night for dinner and they cooked us a great steak dinner (yum!).

Each day we hung out in the pool for a few hours in the morning and then again in the late afternoon after attempts at naps. They had beautiful pools with a shallow areas. One had a sandy area on one side and both had water play areas. No swim up bar (ah, Cabo) but we brought plenty of cold drinks in our cooler. The girls had so much fun splashing around and we all had fun going down the water slide! woohoo!

I would certainly recommend this particular Marriott, at least if you're going as a family. Mostly everyone was saw had kids with them. The resort had lots of fun stuff for the kids to do (maybe a little older).. they had movies playing, family bingo, and a crafts area. The weather in the middle of June was perfect.. 90's every day and the pool was perfect to cool off in. It was very windy in the evenings and mornings but we were usually in the room at that point.

One of the highlights of our stay was a trip to the Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert. This place was awesome for kids and us adults. The girls went grocery shopping, practiced being vets, learned how magnets worked, rode a motorcycle, dressed up like firemen, and made pizza from start to finish.. and that was only in the first hour! :)

The trip was great and I hope we do it again!

Catch it!

Fun in the pool!

The Abrams

We were asked a few times if they were twins (matching suits)

Best Friends!

Two peas in a pod!

No sunburn yeh! (no tan either)

Fun dressing up like firemen!

Stocking up on crackers and snacks

Don't worry mom, I brought my coupons!

Isabella figures out the change.

What toppings would you like?

Put the pizza in the oven to bake

Someone order a pizza?

Digging for dinosaur bones

Fun with balls and tubes

Maddie the vet, taking care of kitties.

We Came, We Got Wet, We Swam... kinda

Maddie just finished taking her first two weeks of swimming lessons. She didn't like blowing bubbles "I don't want to do that." or letting go of the sinking fish to reach down and grab him "fishy would like to stay with me" but she did like showing off her ice cream scoops (arms) and kicks. She also liked climbing out and jumping back in. Her favorite thing to say in the pool "Look at me! Look at me!". Although we aren't really close to swimming yet, we did have lots of fun and now I know how she feels about being in the water.. she likes it!

Best part of swimming lessons.. after each class, she was pooped! She typically took a 2.5 hour nap on lesson days... too bad they're over!

Showing her moves on deck!

Very excited to get into the water!

Maddie and her friend Peighton after class

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the very best Daddy ever! I knew when I picked you as a boyfriend and then husband, that would make a wonderful dad but as time has gone on, you've surprised me at how much you love your role. Being Maddie's daddy makes you complete as a person and gives you such purpose. I can't imagine you as a better person. She adores you and so do I.

Happy Father's Day Lovie!

You can't love a better morning than "Happy Father's Day daddy, I love you, can I watch a movie?!"

P.S. These glasses are very becoming of the both of you!

Park Talk Printables: Get Despicable Me on DVD for just $10+tax

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