Caroline's Visit, Part I

I have so much to post about!  Lots and lots of pictures from our visit with Caroline. 

Saw Oz the Great and Powerful with her on Tuesday.  It was so good!  Totally exceeded our expectations and I can't wait to see it again.

The highlight of Caroline's visit was an adventure out of town.  We headed to the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA for some serious ghost hunting.

And, serious ghost hunters need serious gear.  Here they are opening it:

Water bottle for hydration, flash light to see, watch for time stamps, and a pad of paper for observations.

Jack takes this all very seriously.

Out for a late dinner the night we arrived.  Pizza!

At some point, someone or something wrote "pizza" on Jack's paper. 

Spooky.

And, upon arriving back to the hotel, we discovered all the pillows were tossed to the floor.

Crazy ghosts!  The littles wanted to call security. 

Time for bed.

Nope, not yet!

Caroline and I settled in for some quiet time sans kids.  One of my favorite parts of her visits.

Disneyland secrets?  It's like they left the magazine just for us!

We ate breakfast at a local diner and then walked a bit before the heat took over.

Visited a local museum.

Nope, those are not prescription glasses.  Just for fun.

This is what my purse looks like an hour into one of our walks.

Caroline's Toms, Lainey's kitties and more.

Our favorite part of the trip.....a visit to the Downtown Bookstore.

The owner showed us pictures from previous paranormal encounters and professional ghost hunting excursions.

And, while chatting with her, a man named Robert Gunter chimed in.

Robert Gunter wrote one of our favorite movies, The Sandlot.  We were star struck!  Chatted with him for a long time.  Super nice guy.

Next stop, Casey's Cupcakes!

Reese's for Carter, peep for Lainey, dark chocolate for Jack, beach ball for me and lemon & coconut for Caroline.

Delish!

This place won Cupcake Wars recently.  Darling little shop with locations in Irvine, Newport Beach and one opening soon in another spot. 

I love this picture.  So many of my favorite people all in one place, having fun.

The hotel was amazing.  Amazing!

And, the pool was inviting since it was 80+ degrees outside.

We even had an in-house barista!

And, some mischief from Jack and Lainey.

I'll stop there.....more to come tomorrow.

Oh, but I do love this picture of Caroline photo-bombing me.  Funny girl.

Lots more to post about.  Soon!

We Aint Afraid of No Ghosts

While normal people gravitate towards painting pottery or playing at the park, Caroline and I like to mix it up with the Starnes kids.

And, a haunted hotel is calling our name!

We are headed HERE this week.  A beautiful old hotel.......a new town to discover and hopefully some ghosts.

Leaving the theatre early to stock up on flash lights, memo pads, thermal detectors and other ghost hunting essentials.

That's normal, right?

Back soon!

Ski Trip 2013

Another awesome vacation has come and gone! 

Went to Big Bear and Snow Summit for a few days.  Lovely fresh snow and a gorgeous town to enjoy.  The cabin was a ton of fun.  What beats hot tubbin in the snow?

The Starnes family loves to ski.  

 

The Starnes kids do not yet understand the meaning of staying dry, however.

Carter loves clam chowder.

This little monkey is a fantastic skier.  This was definitely her year to advance to the next level.  Both littles took a lesson on Saturday.  

Hanging out between runs is just as fun as the skiing sometimes.

Beautiful Big Bear Lake, California.

This is what it looks like when my 12 year old helps me after a wipe out.

Bear Mountain is much hipper than Snow Summit. DJs in the snow, tons of ramps and jumps.  All around snowboarding thug life in full effect.

We pack mostly our own food, but the fresh cooked burgers always get us.

Carter is awesome, of course.

Mama skis and bitty skis.

Girls only ski!

Jack preferred sledding on his board instead of riding. All in good time.

Carter with his new board......and new stickers, of course.  The stickers are really the most important part of snowboarding.

Might be the last year these bitty ski boots are used.  :(  We'll save them for Britney or Brad's crew when they visit.

Awesome trip!  We had a blast.

And, now, we await Caroline arriving this afternoon.  

So excited!  More to come on her visit.

 

Big Bear on Dwellable

Updates

Lots going on in the Starnes house!

 

1.  We have a new niece.  Rylee Cameron arrived last week and she's darling!  Itty bitty and so, so sweet.

 

 

 

2.  Carter lost his game on Wednesday, but won Saturday.  12 wins, 2 losses and 3rd place overall.  Proud of our athlete!

 

 

 

 

3.  Jack might or might not be living in his snowboard boots.  He is SO excited!  We leave Friday for the mountains.

 

 

 

4.  Flowers are planted in the back yard and spring is here.  80 degrees last week!

 

 

 

Hope yall have a good week ahead!  We are non-stop with school, grocery shopping for the cabin, and prep for Caroline's arrival after we return from Big Bear.  Spring is always so busy.  I love it!