You gotta turn it around!

Today started off pretty crappy for us. Both kids woke up at 5:45am and after much begging, pleading, diaper changes, bathroom trips, milk, and bribery, I was unsuccessful in getting them to go back to bed. So at 6:30am we were in the living room starting our day. The kids were both SO cranky (well more Ryen than Ella). And I knew I had to do something to turn the day around, or it would be lost completely. It was Daddy's turn to sleep in since he got up at 6 with the girls yesterday for me to do Pat's Run. So I got the girls dressed and off we went to breakfast at The Hangar Cafe at Chandler's small airport around the corner from my house. We sat on the patio so the girls could watch small planes and helicopters drive past us on the tarmac and take off from the runway. Everytime a plane would take off Ryen would put her hands on her head and scream WOW! Here is a photo of her and Ella at our breakfast:

After breakfast we realized we had stumbled upon an airshow at The Chandler Airport this morning. They had B-17 Bombers and a Blackhawk (with a FEMALE pilot- kickass!) some search and rescue copters and some small two seater propeller planes. So much to see and look at. We took a bunch of cute photos and the girls had a blast! At one point my 18 mos old yelled out "AWESOME!" How cool is she? Here are some photos of the airshow:

And a nice man offered to get all three of us in a photo on the way out! ((yeah))

After the Airshow we went to Makenna's Birthday Party today! Here are my beauties having fun at the party:

Ella is seriously growing up so fast right before my eyes!

Ryen had fun chasing bubbles and giggling...

Is there anything better then yummy messy treats at a birthday party?

Captured their excitement perfect. You can almost read their minds,

"please let this last pull open up all the candy!"

After our morning and afternoon adventures their bad moods were a thing of the past. And what better way to keep it that way then a dip in the pool?

Yes folks, it is official. The Carilli pool and spa are officially open for
The Summer Season. Book your trips now, and come visit us! LOL

PS: Looks like we may have another fish on our hands
with Ry Bunny. Now if I could just get her to put down the duck! Stay tuned...

Moral of the post is... any day can become a great day with a little creativity and redirection and some friends to crash in on for a couple hours! ;)

Testing out my new Camera!

It was time for ladies night again this past Thursday. And of course an excuse for Mamarazzi to pull out her new camera for some shots of my gorgeous models. Here they are in all their beauty and glory. Some of my besties...

Michella and Me

Lisa and Sue

Lisa, Sue, Susan, Michella and Me

Danielle, Stephanie, and Trish

Susan and Michella

Carina and Lisa

The next day was our regular Friday playdate and it gave me more time to practice with my camera with Ella and Ryen and their beautiful friends. We had a lot of fun at the park and I captured a lot of great moments. I love these kids as much as I love their Moms and I love taking their pictures! Here were my favorites:





I am sure I will have more Mamarazzi photos to come in the coming weeks as I keep practicing with this thing. Thanks Christa for the term Mamarazzi. It is definitely better then Paparazzi-Mom that I was using!! ;)

Pat Tillman Run

Today I ran in my first Pat's Run. It was the 6th annual Pat's Run in Tempe in honor or ex- Arizona Sun Devil (#42) and ex-Arizona Cardinal (#40) Pat Tillman, who quit the NFL to join the military and serve his Country after 9-11. He was killed by friendly fire in the line of duty. The Pat Tillman Foundation was started in his memory and this event raises HUGE amounts of money for this charity, and celebrates and honors a man who literally gave up everything for his Country. I was honored to be a part of it. The race starts at Sun Devil Stadium parking lot and loops 4.2 miles around the stadium and ends on the 42 yard line of Sun Devil Stadium. All the current ASU Football players were lined up to high five everyone on the way in! I felt like Rudy running onto the field of Notre Dame. ha ha ha...

Here I am before the race:

Here is Lisa before the race:

Who registers last minute for a race like this and gets the BEST number out there? Pat Tillman's #42??? Lisa- that's who!!!

or so we thought till we saw that everybody who registered the morning of got 4242!!!
Ha ha ha! We were thinking she was the luckiest bitch there!

His #40 Cardinals jersey

Us on the field after crossing the finish line!

It was a great race and I cant wait for next year's! Thanks for running with me Lisa!

Tri 2 Love Tri 2 Inspire Tri 2 Support...

...always Tri

This was my T-Shirt I was handed as my souvenir for my 2nd Tri For The Cure this past weekend. I loved the slogan so much I had to use it as my blog title. Not only because I believe it is an amazing slogan, but also because it is was my 2nd Tri (get it... Tri 2?)

The Triathlon was fantastic again this year. I love that it is women only. I love the camaraderie. I love the cause. What is not to love? This year it was a 400 meter swim (quarter mile) an 8 mile bike ride and a 2.5 mile run at the end.

My number was 445 this year. I went in the water at 9am and was finished in 1hr 11 minutes. This was almost 13 minutes better than my time last year! I was very excited and excited to see if I can achieve my new goal for next year of shaving another 11 minutes off to finish in 1 hr our less. It is pretty difficult to shave that much time off in one year (two years in a row no doubt) but I love a challenge. And lastly... I got another medal to add to my collection. Yeah!

My next Triathlon will be next Month at Seville Country Club in Gilbert. This one will be a 300 meter swim, 15.4 mile bike and a 2 mile run. It will be a little more difficult than the last one, but I am looking forward to it! Wish me luck!

Easter Festivities

There were a lot of Easter festivities this week/weekend. We had three egg hunts to attend, plus Ella had another one at school. I have never needed so many Easter eggs before! But there is some magic in those little eggs with their secret treasures. Their ability to make a child's eyes light up and their mouths widen in an innocent smile... that is a sight to behold, and I LOVE every second of it. I want to snap a photo of them picking up every egg and in fact I think looking at my flash card, that must be what I did. Hope you enjoy our assortment of photos, and that your Littles enjoyed their eggs as much as mine did...

On Thursday we met up with our playgroup for our annual Egg hunt playdate. Our friend Lisa hosted. We had a blast (this was the first of 4 egg hunts for the kids).

Here are some group shots of our playgroup kids and Moms (love them):

My kiddos hunting for eggs:


Love these photos of Ella and one of her besties Kendall:

And my favorite photo of the day, Me and my babies:

On Friday we met with our other playgroup friends for our second annual gg Hunt. We missed last year's due to a trip back to Boston so this was our first with them. Again, we had a blast! Love these ladies and kids too!

Here are all the kids lined up and ready to start!


Here are the kids enjoying their treasures after:


Dakota, Ella and Summer (I love their shy smiles)


And my favorite photo of this day too, Me and my babies :)

This was the first year that we had baskets for the girls. My parents had a little basket for Ella last year while we were back in Boston. Ryen was too young. So it was pretty much their first year getting a basket from us. They were excited when they woke up.


Every Easter Morning we meet up with our neighbors for The Connors annual Egg Hunt and Brunch. This year we moved it to the park due to the number of people (over 60+). There were eggs all over the park! It was great. The kids once again had a blast. Here is a group shot of the kids:

Jimmy and I with our beautiful little babies:


Our girls Hunting for Eggs:


My Angels:


And to cap off an already amazing and fun day Ryen went pee pee on the potty today for the first time. And now she wont stop sitting on the potty (in her clothes) and then standing up and saying "I pee-pee" again and again. It is so cute...