Tropical Acai Bowls {Is it Summer?}

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It's been hot here lately!  I think Mother Nature has confused Spring and Summer.

We had a super lazy weekend in the heat and I knew I didn't want to spend loads of time in the kitchen.  Hubby and I love acai bowls, and so does Ayden.  He is so excited to share Daddy's bowl and says "Mmmmmmm!" when he gets his bites!  

There's a great place here in town to get Acai bowls, but at around $9 per bowl it's not exactly economical to do on the regular.  Plus, the bowls are so easy to make at home and I don't even have to change out of my pjs.  Winning!

Acai is easily found in the frozen section in many markets.  We get ours at Costco because it comes in super convenient smoothie packs that are the perfect portion.  Usually I would make my own granola, but haven't had the time do lately.  We love Nature's Path granola and always have some on hand.  You can switch up the ingredients in this recipe so easily to use what you have in the house.  Fruit will of course be best when it is in season, so peruse your farmer's market for the best selection.

Tropical Acai Bowls

| Prep: 5 mins | Serves: 1 large or 2 small bowls |

1 smoothie pack frozen acai

1/3 c (ish) frozen pineapple

3-4 strawberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 coconut milk (sub OJ, pineapple juice, coconut water, water)

Toppings:

Granola

fresh fruit

honey

shredded/flaked coconut

Place acai, frozen pineapple, berries and liquid into a blender and pulse until smooth.  Pour into bowls and top with the granola, coconut, fruit, etc. and enjoy!

Equally delicious: chunky baby thighs.

...and cheeks.

Weekend Recap {Earth Day}

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Swoon + swoon again! <3

Is it just me or are the weeks zooming by??  Time really does fly when you have kids ;)

We had a fun and busy weekend.  Saturday we stopped by a friend's barbeque get together and Ayden got to hang out with his girlfriend Olivia :)  After that we made a Target & Babies R Us run.  We are on the hunt for a straw cup for Ayden that doesn't leak.  We bought a few, brought them home, and the dang things leak so bad.  All of them somehow form a suction on their own and bring liquid up through the straw and before I knew it there was milk everywhere.  What the heck!?  Soooooooooooooo annoyed.  Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Ayden and I went to music class on Sunday morning.  Peanut, a local maternity + kids' store downtown, has weekend music classes for the littles and this was our first time attending.  Class starts right at nap time, so it was a bit difficult to get there in one piece.  Ayden thought the whole thing was a bit sketchy at first but once the guy brought out puppets for the kids to play with he was won over.

(excuse the crummy quality phone pics)

This weekend was also Earth Day which means Alameda Park was completely decked out with booths/tents, music, beer gardens, food trucks and even a rock climbing wall and obstacle/circuit course for the kids!  Hubby does circuit training three times each week so it was super cute seeing Ayden "circuit train" with the same type of stuff (geared for fun, of course).  He thought the ropes were just the raddest things ever and even went back to them for a second round after playing with the other stuff.

Across the street at Alice Keck Park there's a large pond with turtles, ducks and Koi fish.  Ayden made a beeline straight for the water's edge and wanted in. It wasn't enough to stand at the very edge and admire the ducks, he was wrestling us to dive in.  He made friends with the most adorable little boy, Tashi, who let him play ball with him.  Ayden loved the ball and was shrieking "BWAAAAH!!" every time Tashi kicked it.  So cute!  Future soccer star!  Watch out, Beckham ;)

After Earth Day we went up to the Rose Gardens and Ayden got to meet a couple super friendly dogs and then crashed a picnic where he stole a tangerine.  HA!  Luckily we ended up knowing one of the picnic-ers and she didn't mind sharing.

Picnic crasher!

Hope you all have a fantastic week!  XO

Weekendin'

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We had a very relaxing weekend after an eventful Easter weekend/week with our besties.  I took a vacation day on Thursday, their last day in town, and it was so great to get to spend time with them.  We ate lunch at one of our favorite sushi restaurants and Ayden tried teriyaki chicken for the first time.  We may have created a monster there ;)  After lunch we went into Lululemon and I fell in love with some camo print capri yoga pants and a fabulous yoga jacket, to the tune of a cool $216 for the pair.  Why do I do this to myself?

After shopping, Marianne and I got to sneak away for some girl time and got mani-pedis at Aqua.  It has been sooooo long since I actually got a mani-pedi and I felt like a new woman afterward!!  I've totally been pulling the "I can't cuz I'll wreck my mani" card, too, because I want my beautiful nails to last as long as possible.  :D  We regrouped after our spa treat and had a fun dinner at Petrini's where Noah and Piper took selfies with Ayden and played peek-a-boo in the booths while the grown-ups ate.

On Saturday Ayden spent some time at Hubby's parents' house and we got to go on a kid-free ice cream and shopping date.  I love getting to spend quality time with my man and actually hold his hand when we're walking around :)  Ayden had fun playing with Lita and his Abuelito took him to meet the horses near the house.  He must've had a lot of fun because he was sure tired when we got him home!

Sunday we went to the zoo - and boy was it!  It was Kid's Day and it was complete chaos.  The crowds were unbelievable!  Ayden and Daddy slid down the hill while Mommy recorded.... and all was fun and games until Ayden got to the bottom of the hill and his box tipped over.  Face plant!  He bit his lip and was so sad.  Momma still feels horrible ='(  He didn't want to go back down the hill after that (who can blame him) so we moved on and went to go see the giraffes.  There's a brand new baby giraffe that we got to see for the first time and she is SO cute!!!  She was the "tiny" one of the bunch - standing at 6 feet 4 inches tall - and was staying close to her momma.  Such a cutie!  Next time we are there I promise I'll get some photos of her.

Okay, last Momma brag moment before I go...  Ayden learned how to sign "more" this weekend!  Now whenever he has gobbled up all this food he puts his hands together to sign "more" and is so proud of himself!  This morning he was doing it when he wanted bagel instead of the eggs he had on his tray ;) Stinker!
Hopefully this video will work:

Hope you have a great week!
XO

Easter Weekend!

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What a lovely weekend.  We spent all weekend outside, and I have a rosy shoulders to prove it! (oops)  Warning: many many photos in this post. :D

Saturday we went on a family ice cream date when daddy got home from work and then walked down to Granada Books to check out their Going-Out-Of-Business sale.  I'm of the old school and I need to hold a book in my hand and flip the pages, so it makes me sad to see bookstores close.  We did get some cute books for Ayden for a good price, though.

After the bookstore we drove up to the Santa Barbara Mission rose gardens to see the beautiful rose bushes in bloom and catch some sun and fresh air.  Incidentally, my Love proposed to me in those very gardens.  It's a special place for us. =)  Ayden crawled around like a prisoner freed. ha!  He got some puppy kisses from a friendly poodle and found a stick that he thought was delicious.  We were cracking up because he looked like he was smoking a pipe as he chewed on the crooked stick!  One of his new things is "sharing" with us.  I just love it.  He investigates something and then looks up at us with his huge brown eyes and offers it to us.  Melts my heart.

Ayden loves to "walk" while we hold his fingers and did lots of that at the park.  He kept making a beeline for the thorns on the rosebushes, though!

Happiest in Daddy's arms :) Can't say I blame him.

Easter Sunday was a busy, fun day.  Some great friends hosted an Easter party with amazing barbeque and Easter egg hunts for the littles AND the grown ups, complete with confetti eggs and a rousing game of Battle of the Sexes (ladies won!).  Ayden even had his very own Easter basket and got to "find" some eggs.  He doesn't quite understand the concept of "his" eggs and everyone else's ;)  Our besties are in town this week and Ayden got to snuggle with his auntie Marianne for the first time.  He was loving every minute!

Egg thief!

The kiddies ran around like crazy and were exhausted at the end of the day.  Such a great Easter =)

Happy week to you all!  XO