Quack !

Today we went to the Temecula Duck Pond to feed the ducks. Check out the girls in action.

The girls could not get the ducks to eat out of their hands, so towards the end the girls started to chase the ducks with an outstretched hand with food yelling, "duck, come here!" Not too long after that they starting throwing the food at the ducks. I'm sure the ducks were happy to see us leave.

Take a night off !!!

As you would probably guess, Nader and I don't get a lot of nights away from the twins. We tow the girls around everywhere we go. Somehow the stars aligned and Nader planed an overnight trip to Temecula wine country. What a wonderful break from the norm.

Here I am feeling foot loose and fancy free. You can't really tell but I'm standing in front of acres of wine fields.

We stayed at the South Coast Winery. A charming place with amazing food and wine. Here's a picture of the entrance.

Here's a picture of the beautiful walkways around the property.

Here's our private villa with a view of the wine fields and mountains in the distance.

We are sitting on our patio which seems engulfed with grape vines.

Here's another shot of the beautiful grounds and landscape.
It's hard to tell how impressive all the rows of grapes vines are but here's a shot of Nader on our way to the main house for breakfast.

I especially like the frosty film on the grapes. It makes them look so beautiful.

To sum it up Nader and I spend our time hanging out, eating good food, drinking good wine and enjoying each others company. We even squeezed in a movie. What a wonder little vacation.

New Pics

We visited a few friends this weekend. Tons of smiles and fun.

We got to meet baby Gannon for the first time. Such a wonderful baby. He is standing with his mom, Kim and who you don't see is his daddy Cody and his brother Gabriel. Maya and Sahara had the best time playing with all of their toys and their dog and cat.

The girls had to try Gannon's swing.

We also went to a picnic at Cynthia and Greg's house. Here's their newest addition, baby Levi. He is 3 months old and already 26 pounds. My girls are 24 months old and are 23 pounds. Wow !!! And he only eats breast milk.

Here's baby Levi's older brother Aaron. Such a cutie.

Here's Sahara getting ready to cook.

I'm not sure why Maya was crying, but she is beautiful even when she is upset. The girls seem very emotional lately. It doesn't take very much to get this reaction.

Daddy Nader has been really into ponds lately. We now have two ponds going. One for Goldfish and the other for Koi fish. Here he is just about ready to release some fish into his pond.

And finally, some fresh veggies from the garden. Yum.

Greetings from Fallbrook

It's been an amazing summer already and we have been filling our days with lots of fun activities.

Daddy showed Maya and Sahara how to fly a kite. Here's Sahara at the helm.

Nader's dad has been working his green thumb in the garden. As it turns out, we have run out of room in the already large garden. We are now eating fresh beets, carrots, corn, squash, cilantro, basil, cucumbers, peppers and eggplant from the garden, and soon we will be enjoying pumpkins, watermelons and tomatoes. I can't tell you how awesome it is to pick your food right before you cook it.

Here I am walking my two dogs. That's right. Bella is the furry one on the left, and Sahara a.k.a. Chiquita, is the one in shorts on the rights. Sahara and Maya love to pretend that they are dogs. So they sometimes insist on being put on a leash and taken for a walk.

Here's Sahara and Maya dressing up in Tata Linda's clothes.

The girls love to paint. Here's some on their artwork drying on the line.

Here's a close up of their master pieces.

After a long day of painting and playing in the pool, the girls like to relax in daddy's hammock. This is usually where Nader retreats to and reads a book. Not today.


The other day after my cousin Merna and her family had visited, I went to the back yard to collect whatever cups and dishes that were left outside. It was night but I didn't bother to turn on the light and as I was reaching for some glasses near the hookah and noticed the hose for the hookah move. This totally caught me off guard so I quickly turned on the light only to find the snake you see above slithering around the hookah. Yipes !!! I took the picture as it was retreating. Thank god I didn't accidentally grab it.

I'm pretty sure Sahara is not going to like the fact that I posted this picture when she gets older, but it was so cute I absolutely could not resist. Sorry Sahara. Here she is sitting on the potty reading a Jack and Jill book. Too cute !!

The girls are in swim classes at Murray Callan Swim School. Here's a picture of the girls entering the pool. The pool temp is always 92 degrees. Nice...

The first couple of classes I would get in the water with the girls just to make them feel comfortable.

Here's Sahara with her teacher Ms. Heather. There are three students per instructor so it's pretty hands on. The girls can already swim a few feet on their own. Pretty cool !!!

Happy 4th of July !!

Today we celebrated the 4th of July at Quail Gardens. They had a parade for toddlers through the gardens. It was so cute.

Here's Maya showing her spirit.

Sahara went fishing for some lobster before the parade started.

Maya caught a lot of fish as you can see.

Here's Maya posing with her daddy.

Here's Sahara playing with dirt right as the parade was starting.

Here we go...

Here we are walking through the gardens.

After the parade we found our own little enchanted garden and had some snacks. Sido could not resist lying down in some cool shade while the girls played around him.

Look at Maya cracking up.

Check out this super cute picture of Maya and her grandfather.

After we went home and had a nap the we all went swimming. I've been having a difficult time getting pictures of the girls swimming because I'm always with the girls in the pool. Maya and Sahara are very close to swimming but not quite there. We just signed the girls up in swim class to ensure they learn that last critical step.

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July !!

Hawaiian Style

The other day a few friends from Hawaii got together for dinner to celebrate old times and our friend, Nos', birthday. We started the evening at Kingman and Mary's house where we got to hang out with Novella.

Here's baby Novella getting ready for bed. She was showing off her new dance moves which was pretty adorable.

Here we are at dinner in Laguna Beach. This is a standard Nos picture.

Here's Kingman and Mary.

Here's Natalia.

Here's a fuzzy shot of Natalia and Nos. I'm not sure what Nos is looking at.

We had a great night hanging out and talking about everything under the sun. It felt like old times. Lots of laughs and aloha.