{ turtle reef photoshoot }

ricky and hayden were asked to model for the new "turtle reef" exhibit at seaworld and what a real treat that was! hayden had a pretend sister for the shoot which he wasn't too fond of because he didn't quite understand it, but other than that it was totally great. it reminded us of our time snorkeling in hawaii and seeing the majestic "honu" in the ocean and made us really want to go back!

the photographer giving directions

turtle feeding about to begin...

here they all come!

hayden loves sea turtles! he didn't want to leave.

holland is so great at crawling and standing up.

she enjoyed watching the fascinating creatures swimming by her!

these are the professional pictures seaworld took-

this one made it onto their facebook page on the grand opening day!

after the morning shoot, we enjoyed the afternoon at the park.

i love this picture of holland and daddy!

holland meeting shamu for the first time!

at the dolphin show! love it!

the kids love seaworld and we hope by taking them there, we can teach them the importance of conservation, protecting our oceans and the animals that call it home.

{ free! }

the time came to release our "pet" ladybugs and butterflies. we thought hayden was going to have a hard time, but he did better than we thought! we made sure it was at a special place and it was a beautiful day for both releases.

my family came up to visit me at work for lunch and hayden brought his butterflies to share with his classmates at school. afterwards, we released them in the beautiful rose garden next store where i'm sure they will be very happy!

"bye-bye butterflies!"

we ended up with 3 gorgeous orange butterflies

they even hung around long enough for us to snap some great shots as if to say thank you

so pretty!

holland chilling out looking at the beautiful garden

grammy and grandpa

we released the ladybugs at my parents home a few weeks ago

and boy did we had a lot!

"yeah for ladybugs!"

grandpa helping hayden

"bye-bye ladybugs!"

what a wonderful learning experience it was for all of us and we would love to do it all over again in the near future.

[ preschool }

we cannot believe how big our little boy is getting! school pictures?! geez! and they turned out so darn cute! hayden goes to preschool just one day a week at my work which is very convenient for the both of us. i like to walkover and visit him on my lunch break and it's just comforting to know he is right there. he really enjoys it too!

i edited the school name out for all of the kid's safety, but how cute is everyone! hayden had something nice to say about each of his friends and he also likes his teacher.

he'll be graduating high school before we know it...

{ welcome caterpillars & ladybugs }

for easter, grammy and grandpa bought hayden and holland this butterfly and ladybug kit from insect lore. the caterpillars and ladybugs arrived in the mail last week and hayden is having so much fun keeping a close eye on the bugs!

we check on them throughout the day because they are constantly changing. our 4 caterpillars eat, spin silk and grow like crazy. they are currently entering the chrysalids stage and will soon be butterflies!

holland with her ladybugs!

the ladybugs have 4 stages of life (had no idea) and they arrived really tiny and one morning were really big! we can't wait until they become red ladybugs and release them into our

garden.

hayden and his very own cocoon- mom and dad's pillow!

it's been a totally great experience and recommend it. you can re-order more bugs and do it all again! we have been reading "the very hungry caterpillar" by eric carle and will keep you posted on our metamorphasis...

{ bring it on }

some of you might know i was in the cheerleader movie, "bring it on!" what an amazing 5 month experience that was! getting your hair and makeup done daily, being on a movie set and being able to be part of the hollywood magic was fascinating to me. spending 1 month and teaching the actors and actresses "cheerleading bootcamp" is something i will never forget and meeting kerstin dunst for the first time and creating a friendship with her was very special. anyway, the movie was originally going to be called "cheer fever" and at last minute, the producers decided to change it cause they thought the word "cheer" in the title would lose audiences. they were even asking us if we could think of any creative movie titles! anyway, we had no idea that it would be one of the most popular re-run movies on tv! all of my pictures were on film (remember that?) and still have not been scanned, so here are a few i found off the internet-

that's me to the right of kerstin. we taped this at east lake high school from 12am-6am.
that's me again in the front.

we had to do that routine so many times in the middle of summer. it was so dang hot!

oceanside bandshell

i just met a friend who auditioned for, wait for it, "bring it on" the musical that will be touring this fall! so exciting! if i was in any shape, you better believe i would have auditioned too! :)

can't wait to see it!

{ santa ysabel }

we headed up to our local mountains and who knew they could be so beautiful! i wanted to get some pictures of holland outdoors in her darling blessing dress and bonnet and we thought a drive through santa ysabel and up to julian would be the perfect place.

julian, ca

tickling holland after some yummy fresh apple pie from "mom's"

love that smile

our little tulip!

we couldn't believe our eyes when we saw this gorgeous field of dandelions! it was the perfect backdrop for our family afternoon getaway

ricky had the brilliant idea of setting the timer on the camera. it was cute because hayden thought he was actually taking the pictures.

hayden then learned how to set the timer and we took, i sware, about 20 of these family pics because he had so much fun running back and forth setting the camera and getting into position! he made it everytime, just in time!

hayden picking a flower for his little sister

he also gave one to me which melted my heart.

{ some bunnies are wishing you a... }

{ happy easter }

love,

hayden and holland