"Trick or treat!!!
                 Smell my feet
      Or give me something to eat!"

Our little pumpkin experienced her first Halloween yesterday.  Even though she's too young to understand trick or treat, we're sure she enjoyed it...because she cried when we decided to go home. 

Jude and I both grew up in the Philippines where going trick or treating is not really a tradition.  It's a day for planning how you're going to maneuver your way around the cemetery when you visit deceased loved ones the following the day.  And since it's also our first time to go house to house in search for candies...we're more excited than Shandi!

Maybe you're wondering what happened to the candies she got?  Take a guess....

*burp*

Happy 4th of July to Americans!

My daughter's godmother gave her the cute red, white & blue dress for today.  Shandi loves it!!  When she wore it this morning, she was screaming with excitement.  To bad we don't have anything exciting planned out...Well, it's never really a holiday to celebrate for us...Filipinos celebrate independence day on June 12.  Yup, that's our excuse! (Not the fact that we're trying to save on gas...LOL.)

Since 4th of July is equal to fireworks, we went to Hollywood hoping we can watch the display.  Unfortunately, the view was blocked by a tall Renaissance Hotel!!  We were waiting on a certain spot with a lot of people and no one from the surrounding establishments ever told us that we're waiting for nothing!  Boooo!  Good thing we decided to walk around..we saw some fireworks from a different spot. 

I don't think Shandi cares about the fireworks...she's scared of the loud explosions.  She's mesmerized with all the lights along Hollywood Blvd though.  She can't take her eyes off all the glitz and costumed people surrounding her.

Time really flies when you're having fun...I think even Shandi forgot that she's supposed to be sleepy already (or maybe hungry...hehe.).  Time to go home...

Fireworks or no fireworks...we had a blast!!

Since summer officially started last Tuesday (June 21st), we decided to celebrate by going to the beach!  It was also Andi's first summer so we're excited about the idea that she'll be wearing her first swimsuit.

We figured we'll go to Huntington Beach which is about 40 minutes drive from home.  The weather was partly cloudy when we left (around 8 am) but the temperature was great and there's some sunshine.  When we got to the beach, it was sooo gloomy!! The wind was blowing, the temperature was in the mid-60's and we can barely see the water because of the fog!!  So much for our summer kick off!

It was a bit disappointing...there we were..me in my tank top, hubby in his surf shorts and our daughter in her summer dress.  I had to put on my jacket and make our daughter wear her hoodie & pants so we can at least take a quick stroll on the sand. 

Kinda amazing how many surfers there are.  The waves are great but I can't imagine how cold the water is!  Not letting the weather dampen our spirits, we rolled out our beach towel and sat for a while...letting our daughter explore the feeling of sand between her toes...After a couple of minutes, we decided to go someplace to eat and pray that the sun would show up eventually...

We went and ate breakfast and decided to go back to the beach after half an hour...we now went to the main area of the beach and noticed the parking area filling up..Since we have a baby with us, we need to park near the beach to have easy access to the car.  They charge too much for parking!!!  No wonder Huntington Beach is a nice place...they earn so much revenue from parking fees! $15 regardless of the time you'll stay?!  Anyway, we have no choice...unless we want to park on the side street and walk a looong way...

Finally, the sun was peeking through the clouds...our daughter is enjoying the cool breeze and immediately fell asleep.  It was so nice to relax and feel the peace and tranquility the beach offers...

When she woke  up, we decided to  take her to the shore.   She was holding on to me the whole time...We let her stand on the sand and then she cried when the water touched her feet.  Maybe she's a little scared of the waves, the sound, the vastness of the sea...but we were there to hold her, to comfort her...and we know, next time she'll be okay.

Guess, we experience the same thing sometimes...we're all scared of the unknown...of the future...But as long as we have our family beside us, as long as we have our God with us, then it's not as scary...they'll hold us, comfort us...and the next thing you know, we're alright..

The weather was not what we hoped for...and Andi was not able to wear her first swimsuit, but overall, I can say that our summer kick off was a success! 

Lots of summer fun to come!!