My Haole Boy

Kings of Leon or Bust!!!!!!!

Island Girls

The girls have learned the art of stringing their own leis with the Plumerias that my inlaws grow in their back yard. These pictures were taken on Saturday, a full day after they were made, and they still look as fresh as ever!

The Perfect Sunday

Michael and I found ourselves sans children for what seems like the tenth Sunday in a row so we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and head west toward the beach. We loaded Milo into the car and wound up at Jitters Coffee Pub for a perfectly relaxing stay on the front porch, peppermint tea in hand, Sunday North County Times sprawled out across the table, and the best Chilaquiles in town courtesy my friend, and Jitters owner, Vallie.

Thanks Val for one of the best mornings we've had in a long while. We'll be back soon!!
**If you haven't been to Jitters yet, what the heck are you waiting for!! Go now- you wont want to go back to that evil Starbucks ever again!

Milo was a perfect gentlemen the entire time, even when tempted by the yappy lap dog down a few tables over.

Team Johnson turns 10!

Michael and I celebrated the 10th anniversary of our first date last Friday.
I know, I know, how cheesy right?
But we're all about cheesy so deal with it.

We celebrated with a crab bake at the beach- it was a perfect evening.
Thanks to everyone who came out and shared in the Team Johnson Love!! We are so blessed to have such solid people in our lives!

And hooray to us for surviving our first decade together!

Lani-ism...

Here at Team Johnson's casa we are blessed with a 5 year old with profound thoughts. Not a day goes by that she doesn't say something that stops us all in our tracks and makes us laugh.

Last night, on the drive home from work, Lani says to me.
"Mom- I love you..."

Before I could respond she continues:
"... and did you know that sometimes parents respect their kids enough to let them do whatever they want?"

I choke out a laugh and say:
"Oh Lani- you just crack me up sometimes you know that?"

To which Lani replies:
"But mom, its not even illegal!!!"

I'm sure that's not the last time I'll here THOSE words out of her mouth!

Milo the Magnificent!

When you look this good- you cant be bothered to lay on the cold hard floor. The couch is the only place that will do.

Obviously.

McCabes or bust!

I cant believe I forgot to post these picures! These were the few pictures Alexis, Shelly, and I took on my birthday bike ride at the beach a few Saturdays ago.

Clearly we had enjoyed a few cocktails by this point. There are actually a ton more pictures but none are worth posting, simply because they're too blurry and none of them make any sense what so ever.

In these shots we're at McCabes. Yes- McCabes. I had never really been there before (for obvious reasons) but we made it a point to ride down the coast and stop at every bar we passed. Much to our surprise there was a band playing 90's covers and the drinks were only $5- so strong I could barely muscle down my Sapphire and Tonic, suffice it to say- I could be persueded to go there again.

We soaked in the biker dudes and cougars who pined after them till we decided it was time to ride on. We eventually made our way further down the coast, where Michael and Jared spotted our bikes outfront of yet another dive bar... thankfully for us, they stopped and rescued us. Left to our own devices we had our hearts set on riding all the way to Carlsbad...

Anyway- have a good laugh at our expense:

THANK YOU MARY & MICHAEL!!!

So, even though I had an absolutely wonderful birthday on Thursday at work and then at my moms house with my family, my BFF Mary decided I needed to be treated to even more fun and festivities...

I mean- I already knew I had the best BFF ever, but who was I to deny her the gift of giving me an awesome night out on the town?

I don't have many pictures being that I never had a free hand... my Sapphire and Tonic seemed to be more important but here's what I know:

WE HAD THE BEST NIGHT EVER! Our Driver (yes- I said driver, as in Chauffeur) was absolutely insane. Del Mar has the most cougars and douche bags in polo tee's I have ever seen. And no- telling someone you're 15 million dollars is NOT a good pick up line. San Marcos wont let you in a bar after 1am and Club Fusion is closed after only a 4 week stint. I also learned clove ciggy's are still nasty, and taking a cab from San Marcos to La Costa and then to Oceanside is really really expensive. Oh and I cant remember my cabbie's name for the life of me but I do know his entire life story!

Thanks so much to the McGinnis' for giving me such an awesome birthday. I woke up with quite the pounding head... nothing a Bloody Mary couldn't take care of! Here's the few pics we had...

Eating dinner (always gotta remember the food to alcohol ratio)

Um... this needs no words....Wow... I couldn't even tell you were we are in this shot!

MARY YOU ARE THE BEST! LOVE YOU!!!!

Birthday at the Box!

So in case you didn't know.... last Thursday was my 31st birthday. I know, I know, I don't look a day over 25... but I can assure you, as my mother is my witness, that August 6th was my 31st birthday. And boy howdy, I enjoyed every minute of it!

I love, love, love, birthdays. Especially because I have the best friends any 31 year old (who looks 25) could ever ask for!!!

I was showered with love and attention all day.
My office door was decorated and had a balloon waiting for me when I got in. Kenna, my new International AR Clerk, brought me the most gorgeous flowers. Wenner gave me a gift card to Target (Hello! The new Target off Business Park is so awesome!) and my BFF Mary left flowers, a balloon, and card on my car! And not just any card- a singing Hanna Montana card! hahahahaha!

And as if that wasn't enough, Murphy took me out to lunch (at a salad joint because she was considerate of my dietary needs) AND.... get this.... She even made me a gluten free, sugar free cake! Can you believe it?!! How many of you have friends that would do something that thoughtful for you?! It's those types of gestures that make birthdays so special!

I'm such a lucky girl! Thanks to all my friends for making my birthday a really really special day! You guys rock!

Wow- it's hard to get work done when your office looks like this!

Flowers Galore!

The Gluten free/Sugar free cake...

(how much do you love the Happy Birthday paper clips?!)

Yes- it was THAT good!

Sleepy Head

Isn't being 5 awesome??
No cares in the world... just roll out of bed, throw on your robe and head over to grandma's house for a fun filled day of getting spoiled. Life is good!

her poor little face was peeling in this pic...

Farewell Haley!

Haley had to go back home to Arizona so we spent her last day at the beach... She literally played in the water up until the final hour then had to hop in the car and head all the way to the Ontario Airport... Poor girl. Leave all this amazing sunshine for the Arizona heat?! Not in a million years if you ask me!

Farewell Haley! G'luck in 8th grade!
Love,
Team Johnson

Rockin Baja + Bloody Mary's = Perfection

My hubby took me out for a date recently... We spent the gorgeous Saturday afternoon doing what most happily married couples in need of some alone time do- have cocktails!

We tend to migrate toward any type of bar that has a patio and chips and salsa... ironically we met at Rockin' Baja 10 years ago so this seemed fitting.

If you don't know about Rockin, you better find out, cuz they have really good margaritas and the chips and salsa bar are all you can eat! When Michael and I met it was called Rockin Baja Lobster and there was this amazing honey chili butter to go on tortillas, but now its called Rockin' Baja Coastal Cantina, with no honey chili butter... but the Bloody Marys are still good so I aint complainin'

These faces make me happy!

Wild Animals visit the SD Zoo

So I took my clan of crazed wild animals to the real animals at the San Diego Zoo courtesy Michelle Murphy and her generous donation of free tickets. It was Team Johnson and Team Ringwood in full force. We were prepared to see as many animals possible in our 2 hour time frame (we got there really late in the day unfortunately)

Kenna, Lani, and Haley were in charge of our expedition (note to self: putting 3 girls in charge of the map is not the best idea) so needless to say we walked around in one big circle before the girls decided their feet hurt and they were over it. Luckily the wilderness sells over priced Slurpee's of which are proven to reenergize children under the age of 12...

Anyway- these are a few of the funny pics from the trip.

Post Slurpees... waiting for the car to come get us.

Can you tell which one lives in the wild?
Never to tired to pose for a pretty pic

Team Johnson Love!

McKenna got highlights

So did Lani

Look how excited they are before the miles and miles of walking

Lani thinks she knows the way around the park- even though she's never been.

Lazy girls.

BFF since 1999

Look Mommy! Flowers on my shirt, AND real flowers in the ground!

(no really- she actually said that)

My How Time Fly's!

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything on my blog. Turns out the Queen of juggling a million balls at once is not actually that good at juggling after all! I had so many things on my plate, I had to slow down and weed out everything that wasn't absolutely necessary.

Having taken a couple of months to recharge- I feel ready to jump back on the blogging bandwagon!

I hate to even attempt filling y'all in on the happenings of Team Johnson over the last few months so I'll just start from this past weekend...
I might throw in some pictures of our family Zoo trip a few weeks back but we'll see how I'm feeling.

Happy reading!!

We are Superchicks!

Oh my goodness… I can’t believe I never posted these pix!

A few weeks back, I surprised Kenna B by taking her to her first rock show. Albeit a Christian rock band, but still. It was a rock concert non the less… it was the "Hey Hey Tour" and I tell you what- Superchick rocked it out!

I have loved this band ever since my friend Jessica first gave me their CD years ago when I was newly Christian. I had never had the opportunity to see them live, so when I heard their concert advertised on the radio, I knew I had to go. Better yet- I knew it would be the perfect mom/daughter date. (Especially because it was at a church… I figured it couldn’t be that bad right? No doobie’s being passed around, or groopies on dudes shoulders flashing or people getting stomped on in the mosh pit- like at my first concerts. )

And boy howdy was it!

Let’s be clear. This aint no- “So-good-only-a-mother-could-love” type band. This is a full blown, light show, smoke machine, stage diving band. This is a Grammy winning band. Their current album, Rock What You Got, is ah-ma-zing, and the message they spread is even more powerful. If you don’t know, you best find out! I strongly believe that girls need this type of power influence.

In addition to the show there was an amazing motivational speaker, Rachel Hockett, and opening act that I wasn’t familiar with… It was a sister duo, Tal and Acia. These girls were phenomenal and definitely one to watch, if you don’t know how they are-Get to know them real quick because I'm positive they’re going to make it big. That is, if/when mainstream media accepts faith based artist as opposed to your standard “sex sells” pop icon. (But don’t get me started on that whole topic right now.)

So the night was a total and complete success. McKenna and I danced our tooshies off, were revived with the Word, and bonded like he never bonded before. Now that she’s entered this whole “Tween” category it’s been a definite adjustment for me,. So something like this concert was exactly what we needed to reconnect. And seeing my baby girl so grown up and mature, and so free in her own skin as she learns more about who she wants to be… well that was just a feeling I cant quit put into words.

This is us waiting in the line to enter the church... wrist bands and all.

Hello! Full on rock show or what?!

The "merch" area... OMG- was it overflowing with Tweens... I was actually feeling really old!

They were the most gracious people EVER. They stay until ever single last person was taken care of.

Can you tell they're sister's?

After dancing like crazy people and then waiting in line for an hour to get autographs; Kenna and I did what any other rocked out person would do… we went to In N Out. The night was simply perfection!

(this is me at midnight thinking, OMG- how old am I?? Im frickin' exhausted! And Kenna was clearly full of sassiness!)