Round & Round

The Fair came to Santa Barbara for the weekend so we walked over to take some night shots. You can even see the flowers on the ice plant in the foreground :) I am a much happier camper when I am looking from a distance and not riding those crazy spinning, flipping, twirling machines! haha

Tut Tut, it looks like rain!

Today we got rain again so I used the day to make a gift for Casey's cousin who is having a baby girl next month. I found this fun quote and painted Winnie the Pooh with Christopher Robin. It was my first piece for a baby's nursery and I really enjoyed painting it! I think I will have to do more nursery art :)

Happy Earth Day!

I hope you all had the chance to appreciate the beauty of nature today and were able to see the world with fresh eyes. Take a walk through your neighborhood, plant new plants, sit on a bench in a park and just watch the wildlife. Take it all in and be grateful. And more importantly, make changes in how you live. Be aware of how your actions can help preserve the planet we call home. 

Stop using plastic bags at grocery stores-bring your own reusable bags. Ride a bike instead of taking the car. Recycle EVERYTHING that can be recycled. Take shorter showers. Pick up your trash. Turn off unused lights. Teach by example-others are watching (and judging you) even if you don't know it. If we all take the extra time now to help conserve the planet, it can really make a difference for the future. 

No excuses. Even if it takes extra time. Just do it. 
Mother Earth thanks you.

Toe Shoeing it up!

Yesterday we threw on our toe shoes and headed out for a nature walk! Casey found some neat birds and Tanda and I found lots of lizards. We searched the creek for frogs but we only found tadpoles. Lots of fun!

April Fools!

So my Dad is the kind of person who is always pulling stray hairs off your clothing, vacuuming up dust bunnies, cleaning out hair brushes, etc. He can't really stand hair where it doesn't belong.

So my mom and I came up with a great idea when we were cleaning out the vacuum cleaner-

"Hey let's put this in Dad's truck!" 

"Ya! He would freak out! I will even make eyeballs for it so it's looking at him!"

So I put the giant hairball on a tissue and set it on his driver's seat so he would find it the next morning. And it worked like a charm! He freaked out and said it was a good thing we put it on a tissue or else he would have to sell his truck! haha We better watch our backs!

Love you Dad :)

More Mesa Walk

Today we went to the More Mesa Bluffs with Tanda and Richard to bird watch... but since there were not many birds to be found, we used our gps to find some geocaches! A tandum paragliding team soared right over our heads on the bluffs and there were many lizards scattering about! Tanda and I got so excited when we found bird pellets to dissect and small mammal bones beneath the geocache titled "raptor's roost." We are definitely animal Bio nerds :) 

Double Rainbow!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Casey and I walked down to see the stream of chocolate milk rushing through Steven's Creek today with my mom. 

It definitely was not as full as when we had the big storm in '95:

Me and Robby! Aww!

Amazing Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Makes 2-3 dozen.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

These cookies are fresh and sweet with just the right amount of chewiness. They definitely did not last long!

Happy Easter!

 We spent this gorgeous day visiting my brother! 

We headed to Avila Beach to have a picnic lunch by the pier.

 

I made cheesecake stuffed strawberries for dessert. So good.

The dogs had a blast hunting for eggs in the yard and eating the treats inside :)

The first time painting my nails in months! Loving the beautiful weather!

♥

Love this guy!