The Cruise! Villefranche sur Mer

Each year, State Farm has a travel incentive trip for all their agents and sales managers and in 2012, Derek achieved the trip. In July of 2013, we went on a Mediterranean Cruise. Our first stop was Villefranche sur-Mer.

 At this port, we took a train with our friends (and State Farm agent) Kelli Davis and her husband Nash to Monaco where we walked to Monte Carlo, the famous casino. The money/wealth in this particular area was just phenomenal! We saw many Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces, Bentleys and even a few concept cars. We walked around part of the Formula One race car track and even took pictures of the well-known hair pin turn and tunnel.

Behind us is the botanical garden and casino Monte Carlo.

Behind Casino Monte Carlo

Derek at the Formula One tunnel in Monaco

Kelli and I at the famous hair pin turn on the Formula One track in Monaco

 While we were there, we had a yummy lunch at a café overlooking the casino and the botanical gardens. I had the BEST ham and cheese sandwich and some baguettes along with a latte. After having lattes and cappuccinos in France, Italy and Spain, it is sure hard to come back and drink the coffee in America. Starbucks has nothing on these cafes!

 After we were done in Monaco, we took the train to Nice, France which wasn't as nice as we were expecting. The area we walked through to get to old town Nice seemed very similar to the dirty city streets you would find in big cities in the US. Lots of chain clothing stores and restaurants. The old part of Nice was pretty and we got to walk down the narrow cobblestone streets. We stopped for gelato at a café and accessed their wifi so we could Skype with the girls and Duckie.

 From Nice, we took a wild cab ride back to Villefranche sur-Mer where we stopped for a drink and crepe at a café on the beachfront. The scenery was lovely and included a marina, a view of the harbor/inlet and even Speedos and some topless women! We had a little time before we had to be on the boat so Derek and I walked around the castle that was established in 1513. It was awesome to see the castle and how the defense was set up to guard the town. Currently the castle is used as free art museums so while we toured the castle, we got to see some displays of local art.

All the sculptures in the castle were a local artists' work - one of the four free museums in the fort.

This was the lookout that housed the main cannon - the cannon could be positioned to shoot anywhere in the port.

Seeing the castle was the highlight of my day. Of course, Derek really liked seeing the race track in Monaco.

Cora and her pretty friend

Check out this video of Cora and her "friend" in the mirror :) http://youtu.be/6oaz-qedqlw

Big Sister, Little Sister

These two are the very best of friends! While we were visiting our friends in Salt Lake City, my friend Heather Henderson took these pictures of the girls.

Viva Las Vegas

Well, we made it to Vegas!! Johanna, Julia and I had a wonderful time in Las Vegas. We all agree that an annual girls' trip should be put on the calendar every year!

Well, we made it to Vegas!! Johanna, Julia and I had a wonderful time in Las Vegas. We all agree that an annual girls' trip should be put on the calendar every year!

Happy Birthday Della!

Happy 3rd birthday Della!! We love having you in our lives and are constantly amazed at how wonderful you are! We love you so much!!

Here are the girls in their Easter outfits. Della loves to be a match with Cora.

We have a local zoo here in Bakersfield called the California Area Living Museum. My friends and I took our girls there one morning. This is a picture of Della and her friend Audrey by the bear exhibit.

Here's the girls playing on the play mat/tent. They love to play together.

Della was asked to be a flower girl in our friends' Jesse and Mallory Russo's wedding. She did such a great job. Beppe did her hair - Della looked so beautiful!

Our neighbor's had a mustache bash for their son's first birthday. We "mustache" you a question - do you like our picture??

Della loves to dress up!

These last pictures are from Della's third birthday party we had for her on Sunday. We had about 20 adults and 16 kids that came and it was a lot of fun. Derek had set up two kiddie pools in the backyard so the kids played while the parents watched and then some of the bigger kids swam in the big pool. Della made out like a bandit! When we asked what she wanted for her birthday she would either say "flower cake" or "little cupcakes" so I found this idea on Pinterest and it turned out great.

Speed racer!

Cora turned 6 months old on Thursday - I can hardly believe it as it feels like just a few days ago we brought her home from the hospital. Her growth is undeniable as she is now so alert and busy. Some of her current favorite things are having staring contests with Daddy, playing in her bouncer and playing with Della. Della will sit in front of Cora while Cora is in the bouncer and Cora will "do" Della's hair. She loves to grab onto hair and Della will sit there while Cora tugs and let her play. It's very sweet and at the same time a little amazing as if I comb Della's hair with any tangles at all, she cries and cries. We've been adding solids to Cora's diet and she has been loving everything so far. She gets a little upset when the food is gone and she'll look around with her mouth wide open just in case we have any extra hiding. Cora is a very loving and sweet baby. She loves to cuddle and play. She has been exercising her vocal capabilities and will squeal in delight when she finds something she really likes such as Della, her teething toys, or food on the table. She is pretty sure she is ready to eat what we eat as she always opens her mouth to be fed when we eat in front of her. Della has been loving being a big sister and tells Cora regularly that she loves her and gives her lots of hugs and kisses. She moves our two playmats together so they can do tummy time or sit up and play side by side. Recently, she has started putting blankets over the top to make a tent. The other day, Derek had a mustang for his business rental and Della was very excited. The rental place dropped it off before Derek was home and Della asked if she could go for a ride in it. I told her she would have to ask Daddy. She then proceeded to have an out loud conversation with Derek and concluded that He said yes :) her imagination has been greatly blossoming and she loves to play pretend. Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Sunny Days

We have been loving the weather here in Bakersfield. Highs have been in the 70s (even some days in the 80s) and the nights have been cooling off so no heat or A/C!! The warmer weather has also meant that all of the cute summer dresses in size 3-6 and 6-9 months that Della only got to wear a couple times are like brand new for Cora! The girls have been playing outside and we have been spending a little more time at the parks too. We have been getting to know our neighbors who also have kids so in the evenings, Della has been riding her bike in the cul-de-sac checking up on our neighbors :) Bakersfield has really been suiting us well lately. Cora is going to be 6 months in just over a week. It is so hard to believe how fast time flies! We have been trying to treasure every moment though. She has been siting up pretty steadily on her own for a couple weeks now. She can even reach for stuff on the ground and then sit back up. We are very impressed :) Rolling over though, is another story. She is just pretty content to stay on her back or tummy and has little interest flipping to the other side. Just yesterday, she did roll from her tummy to her back but we have yet to see a repeat. She is such a happy baby and it truly is a joy spending time with her. When she wakes up, she squeals and talks in her crib and greets us with a gummy grin when we go to pick her up. Big sister Della has been a super help as always. Her vocabulary and understanding have exploded lately!! This morning she explained to Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse (her girls) that her Mommy was the one in the "yellow shirt with the black and white polka dots and blue jeans" which was exactly what I was wearing. She is definitely a little stubborn too. She saw a chihuahua dog in a yard a few days ago and said "look mommy! a dog!!" to which I said, Yes, Della, that is called a Chihuahua dog". Then she looked again and adamantly said, "No, it's a mouse" and continued on with her playing. Facts are facts you know! Della has been asked to be in our friends wedding on April 27 in Grass Valley so there are a couple pictures of her modeling potential flower girl dresses. Derek has been busy studying for his 4th exam (out of 8) on his way to earn his CLU designation (Certified Life Underwriter). He has been in his new job for about a month now and is quickly learning the ropes. He has also been playing on a church softball team so our Wednesday nights are busy ones. I have been working a little bit more during tax season. I am in the office 3 days a week and then the 2 work days I am home with the girls, I squeeze in a couple hours of tax preparation during naps. It has been the lowest stress tax season I have ever had. Tomorrow afternoon we are planning to dye some Easter eggs and on Easter Sunday, we are hosting an Easter brunch after church. I am so excited for the girls to wear matching dresses :) Happy Easter everyone!!