CA for 24 hours

3 words.

totally worth it

honestly. 

i will never forget this day. 

some may call my mother's actions extreme/outrageous/unnecessary/unrealistic

blah. blah. blah. 

yes, i may have had to wake up at 4:30 two days in a row.

and i may have died from exhaustion the next saturday from lack of sleep...

but the happy heart from this day could not have been replaced.

i can't believe how much can be accomplished in 24 hours.

i got to see my edible niece ellie and remind her of her favorite aunt Dani Bree.

AND give thumbelina a treat and let her suck on my 1/2 thumb.

spend precious time with the girls of my family.

we ate pizza from B.J.'s, laughed too loud, ate pazookie from B.J.s, and enjoyed 

a gorgeous day at the pier.

i was also reminded of how CA looks in the middle of October.

i am reminded yet again as i look at the transparent color of my face compared to

those of my sun soaking kin.

jealous...yes.

i carried ellie on my shoulders.

and i am pretty sure this contributed to my happy heart.

{okay okay. i know it did.}

then we rented this funny bike-canopy thing that i don't know the name of.

people were starring like we were from china. 

we looked like out of towners. 

it was a weird feeling. but i really liked it at the same time.

courtney had to leave to drive her 4 children to a million places.

that was the saddest part of the day. but who can get mad at a super mom.

i couldn't.

we watched people gawk at ellie.

all day. 

on the island, at the mall, eating, wherever we went.

is it weird that i felt so incredibly proud?

we rode around for hours looking at 

adorable houses.

por ejemplo:

adorable house #1

 adorable house #2:

{oh yeah, i can just sit on my idyllic roof while looking out at gorgeous scenery

nah. i'll pass}

adorable house #3:

{this one i want. for real}

and of course a pazookie wasn't enough.

we needed gelato

from gelato paradiso.

which just happens to be right next to 

sprinkles.

hello "dangerous heaven"?

we finished off with unsuccessful shopping, wahoos for dinner, playing with courtney's kids, {i pretended like i could help dawson with his 6th grade homework...WOWZAS! when did i forget 6th grade math?}, discussed the gospel-as always-and played games.

and now. the BEST part of my day.

are you ready for it??

i don't think you are.

can you see it!?

can you see ellie's spit up on my jeans!?

i didn't wash it off all day. it made me so happy.

it made me feel like a mom. 

and i just couldn't get enough of that feeling.

thank you mom.

for always making my wildest dreams possible.