san diego dinner dates.

as soon as we drove into california, we scooped up our nephew jacob (yes! that's jake), my little brother steven and headed straight to Sublime Ale House to decompress and catch up. i love these boys SO much. it's nice to be home. 

he's no longer a boy. he's a little man now, and he's a good kid. and we love him so much. 

(just not the ear stretchers so much - stop it!)

another night, we checked out San Diego's South Park & North Park neighborhoods and met up with a longtime friend of mine, Rico (or Rico & Rachel Castillero, photographer extraordinares). ting is obsessed with South Park.

and even after spending the entire fourth of july together, we didn't quite have our fix of the quinns yet. so we met up for one more night together (and pizza & beer). 

summer sprinklers.

when the temperatures hit hellº there's only a couple things to do: hit the mall or play in water. 

danny and i did a little of both this weekend. 

 miss makaela beat the heat by playing in the sprinklers after a session of finger painting. 

and that mud puddle? nothing better to a toddler.

we ended the visit with uncle d teaching her how to do a peace sign. 

cheers to daddio b-joe.

we celebrated b-joe's father's day dinner a week early, and the timing ended up working out perfectly. 

danny's promotion landed the day before, so we kept the news a secret and surprised his dad and mom with a toast over dinner. it was super fun to celebrate with two very proud parents. 

for dinner, we decided to introduce the parents to Richardsons. we had a hunch they'd like it, and we were right - they loved it. it may have been the night as a whole, but everything was just right. 

an arizona gem. 

delicious, southwestern inspired meals. lots of spicy cuisine. 

a very happy dad. 

a father's day funny. some things will never change.

like any good daughter, last week i shipped a little package off to my dad for father's day. i was rushing to get it ready before my office's mailman arrived, so i guessed on postage - a handful of stamps will do, right? done. mailed. 

during sunday's chat with dad, he informed me that his package had arrived -- with .91 cents postage due. whoops.

we both laughed.

his response? clearly my life lessons were learned well: when possible, always pass the costs along to dad. my response? good to know your little oregon post office does that. collect shipping? cool.

poor dad. he even had to cover his own father's day gift.

she wore an itsy bitsy yellow polka dot... romper.

have you checked out old navy's baby & toddler clothes? oh my goodness some stuff is so cute (& inexpensive)! 

i snagged makaela's romper there along with some other goodness. how sweet is a little girl with pigtails?

...

aunts vs. uncles :: part II

remember this photo series spotlighting mine and danny's polar-opposite interaction with niece makaela? 

here we go again...

just two girls eating raisins, looking at themselves & taking photos in the mirror. 

and then uncle d rolls into the room and plays "boing boing" aka jump on the bed.

short video snippet recorded using VINE via @teribockting / @dancendan 

at 10:30 am today my little brother will be an official college graduate.

he was technically done last winter, but today he walks the walk and turns his cap's tassel. 

my bro's got a business degree and a brand new j-o-b to prove it. 

we're super duper proud of you, steven. 

in the spirt of graduation, i just happened to stumble upon this video of University of Arizona's
recent spring commencement finale slideshow turned electronica dance party complete with lazers.
nice work, wildcats! now that's how one of the nation's top party school does commencement. 

a mother's day movie: a day all about vickdogg.

a mini movie recap of our mother's day celebration in tucson. 

because sometimes videos are more fun than photos.

song credit: "everywhere" by fleetwood mac

snapshots from mother's day.

the four of us spent all of saturday celebrating mother's day in downtown tucson. we were sans itinerary and had a really fun day together.

even since danny and i were just there in february (seen here), there were new bars, restaurants and shops! the growth spurt is remarkable. makes me want to go back again already - we've got a list of places we've still yet to try. 

cruising to t-town. mister h has to be in all the action. 

love & hugs for the dogg.

mister & misses

 

me and the dogg. 

sunset in downtown t-town. 

we ended up at a classic tucson mexican restaurant for dinner, el charro, est. 1922.
equal parts delicious and expected.

a mama's influence.

mother's day used to be pretty straightforward. my mom + her day. and while it'll always be about my mom, each may, the list of wonderful moms in my life grows a little longer.

my wonderful mother-in-law, my sister-in-laws who gave me beautiful nieces and a nephew, and (so many!) of my dear girlfriends who are now on the other side of celebrating the holiday.  

you were all on my mind today. 

lately, i've thought a lot about how much i genuinely love talking to each of you and listening to your stories and points of view about pregnancy, parenting and life with kids. the bits of advice. the candid conversations only daughters, sisters and girlfriends can really have. i reflect and mentally file them all away.

i'm not quite ready to be a "real" mom yet (and that i expect a little special treatment this day for being a mother to huntie drives danny nuts), but i already know that my mom-style will be made up of bits of all of you. for real.

like each of you, i anticipate i'll have my own approach, strengths and challenges, but without a doubt i'm already better off for knowing each of you mamas. from instagram and blogs to happy hours and skype, i feel fortunate to have an inside and inspirational look into motherhood with so many wonderful moms. i imagine my admiration for you will only grown when i have a child of my own. until then, i hope each of you had a perfect mother's day. xo

a mother's day skype session with shmer and her two littles down under - dyllbug & ellie

the focus of the conversation: dyllan's new ballet shoes. too cute.

scrappy, the soccer playing pooch.

when steven and dad came to visit (here), they brought along their two dogs: odie (who got his name from being called "O.D." or "other dog" when they didn't have a name for him yet) and sir scrappy.

for a few weeks leading up to their visit, my dad kept telling us how scrappy was awesome with a soccer ball. yeah, okay dad... whatever. 

then, we saw scrappy in action and couldn't stop smiling. he's a natural with the ball! dribbling, balancing the thing on his head as he runs - he doesn't stop.  

apparently one afternoon a neighbor's soccer ball got thrown over the fence and scrappy just started going crazy and dribbling the ball. take a look at our little soccer mutt. 

quality time with the familia (two of them).

we did a whole lot of what you're supposed to do with family -- kick back, relax, chat, cheers and laugh. danny and i decided that instead of coming up with an out of the ordinary itinerary for dad & steven's visit, we'd just simply do exactly what we'd do anyways and fold them into the mix. it worked out perfectly for everyone! it was fun to have them meet bunches of our friends and get a glimpse into our real life -- not the one that you create for visitors.

chillin' on the back patio enjoying the glorious friday weather

scrappy got to show off his mad soccer playing skills - video coming soon. 

and while scrappy showed off his tricks, hunter did what hunter does - laid around and watched.

"awe, come on dad... you're so funny." 

my flat-brim brother straight from so cal

playing with the ball...

...sleeping on the ball.

al fresco dinner at the Main Ingredient Ale House.

dad checkin' in with mom & filling her in on all the action.

my house full of men! six of them to be exact. 

take us out to the ballgame!

dad and steven came to phoenix for a weekend of sunshine and fun! whoop! dad's always wanted to check out a spring training game, so the four of us scored tickets for saturday's game at talking stick fields. it was a super fun-filled day. we started with a pre-game brunch at tarah's house and spent post-game at the brat haus with alicia, john & erinn drinking pints and playing lifesize jenga.

fourth row seats.

checkin' spring training off the old bucket list. 

green grass & blue skies.

steven took down three bags of peanuts. 

me with my grand canyon girls tarah & heather

the brat haus

beergarten & games

ping pong.

life-size jenga

fact: tether ball is a very awkward sport to play & watch