Beach time

I ♥ the beach. I have so many great memories of growing up spending a couple of weeks every summer vacation on Mission Beach with my family and then when we got older we often brought a friend with us. Those were special times. I couldn't wait to take Sakura to the same Mission Beach where we spent so many summers hanging out, so today we headed over to the beach. When we first arrived in San Diego it was quite overcast and a nice brisk 68 degrees. Needless to say I didn't think Sakura would enjoy the cold air coupled with the cold water, so we first headed to a little japanese shopping area that my good friends Kelly Matsumoto and Bee Morishita told us about - Mitsuwa Marketplace.


The exterior of the building at Mitsuwa Marketplace, inside there is a japanese bookstore, a few places to eat and a fairly large market - you can get a variety of japanese items inside. Sakura ended up with LOTS of different rice crackers (she LOVES them!), some boro cookies, a couple of books...hmm that's all I can think of :)

It's quite funny to watch Sakura with her books now - here she is in the store "reading" - which means looking and saying things - don't know what she's saying as she is speaks her own language, but I'm sure it makes sense to her, then she turns the page and "reads" it too. So kawaii!!!

Lunch was OISHI says Sakura - Sakura had some rice with pork and shared our ramen!

Then we headed to the beach, it had warmed up a bit by the time we finished shopping.

(*warning there are a MILLION pics below - scaled down from the 2 million I took!)

Let's Go!

Sakura couldn't wait to get to the water - she LOVES water remember!

Um Mommy I'm not sure I like this water! Needing reassurance!

The CUTEST feet on the beach!

OK Daddy, let's go! I'm going to try this again............

I love water - but this is pretty cold and it splashes Dad!

COME ON - this stuff is COLD and it splashes - pick me up Daddy!!! I don't like waves!

The best view of the beach and water is from right here!

This is sticking to my hands... See....

But I like it - I like sand way better than this water!

OK let's try this one more time.....off to the waves!

Come On.......

Almost running to get to the water!

But not for long - I HATE waves!

Sakura kept saying "no, no, no" when we'd try to get her back down to the water....

definitely NOT a fan of the waves this year - maybe next year?

Happiest on the land in the sand :)

Look!

Yay for the beach - just not the water!

Maybe next time we will try the Mission BAY side where there aren't any waves?

Best spot at the beach is right beside my Daddy!

And playing in the sand

This shot is especially for Heather!

If you look closely you'll see a bit of sand above Sakura's lip, she tried just a small taste from the rake....I don't know if she liked the beach sand taste or not, but she didn't eat much!

Very sandy beach baby toes :)

I wanted a picture of Sakura by the pelican -

Sakura had other ideas she did not want to sit by the pelican as you can see!

Goodbye Mission Beach - we will be back next summer!

Just a typical day

Holy cow would you look at those knots in Sakura's mouth - I can only imagine that these darn teeth will eventually pop through. Sakura now has 4 teeth on the top, plus 2 molars, just the 2 on the bottom that you can see - and it looks like about 4 more just ready to come through at any moment!

Eating lunch making "silly face" which she will hardly do anymore -

usually she says "NO" when we ask!

Watching Inai Inai Baa

Saying HI to all of her family and friends!

4th of July weekend and Happy 17 months to Sakura!

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

We had a fun 4th of July with our family here. We didn't do a whole lot - how much can you do when it's a million degrees outside, right? Just Kidding! My plans were to head to the beach, but that didn't quite work out, so we had a restful weekend at home, but it was still good since we had our family here to celebrate with us. Sakura finally met her cousin Zakkary! Yay. Now she's met all of her first cousins! We are excited that my brother and his family have moved into the same state and we can now share special memories together. By the end of the weekend, Sakura was enjoying Zakk's company especially shoulder rides (as you will see below). Sakura is saying lots more, and still her favorite word is NO which she uses quite regularly :( Sigh.....

Here are some (a small sampling) of the pictures from our weekend!

Sakura and Katie enjoying a few moments in the pool.

HI!

"Cheese" - you'll see this expression lots now, Sakura knows that you're supposed to say "Cheese" when a camera is out!

Hmmm, what are you doing with the camera out again???

I 'made' this little shirt for Sakura so I had to get a picture (or should say TRY) of Sakura wearing it.

"Cheese" - can you tell she's saying it yet?

Sakura's 1st roasted marshmallow!

Hey cousin, are you awake?

Sakura was SO cute when she got up and walked into the living room and saw David sleeping, she just about jumped up in the air, her legs bounced and she giggled and giggled...she loves her cousin David very much!!!

Her shirt says it all - Little Firecracker Sakura - 17 months old today!!!

Peek-A-Boo

Put your hawk in the sky, side-to-side, jump to the left, stick it .... glide.

Sakura is demonstrating the "hawk in the sky" - not bad for 17 months old! If you haven't seen it already, Sakura is doing the Hoedown Throwdown dance to Hannah Montana - her cousins think we need to record it and send it in to America's Funniest Home Videos - it is super cute, I wish I could capture it on video!

"Pop It, Lock It, Polka Dot It"

Blowing on her pinwheel

The older 'kids' spent lots of time playing X-Box, Wii, Texting, and lounging as you can tell!

Sakura getting into the X-Box game that David is playing.

Zakk and David playing Nintendo

Sakura's 1st Lemon Cream Pie - YUMMY!

Katie sleeping

Silly girl - this morning Zakk was sleeping on the air mattress, so Sakura decided to sit on the edge and bounce - it was too funny! Check out that bed head!

Geez, you'd think all Sakura ate was sweets - when in actuality I don't give her much! Grandma had a latte with whipped cream and guess who got some whipped cream?

Breakfast at Mimi's for Grandma's birthday today!

Finally all 4 cousins together! Yay!

Zakk (16), Katie (15), David (8), and Sakura (17 months)

Strike a pose Sakura :) LOL!

It's a great ride up here Zakk - Thanks!

Stella and Dot jewelry

A few weeks ago, I was asked by my friend Iris if I would be interested in doing a mini photo shoot with Sakura modeling some of the jewelry she is selling - Stella and Dot - some super cute jewelry I'm attaching a link incase you might be interested!

http://www.stelladot.com/sites/onehotmessmommy

There were about 4-5 of us Mom and Daughter groups - it was really fun, despite the 105 heat that day, and the challenge of a 16 month old wanting to RUN to the river that she could see!!!

Nonetheless, we couldn't pass up a chance to get some great "Mommy and Me" pictures taken by an amazing local photographer Kim Garcia - we ♥ Kim's work - she can even make me look halfway decent! :)

Anyone local looking for some great pictures, please call Kim - she truly is amazing!

http://www.kimgarciaphotography.com/


Here we are you can't see much of what I was wearing - but the bracelet was really cute and a ring - the necklace is totally hidden by Sakura. Sakura was wearing a cute pearl bracelet and necklace, and the flower in her hair is also part of their line.

Having fun in the sun!

Running for the river - I ♥ this picture of Sakura so carefree....and determined!

Kim definitely had her work cut out for her with Sakura - Sakura was RUNNING to the river, we had to put her far away and Kim had to run alongside her snapping away!

The sidewalk was a deterant - Sakura was 'afraid' to cross the sidewalk for a short amount of time - then she gave in to temptation and crossed over...headed toward the river! Agh!

Notice I switched up Sakura's jewelry - she had the cutest little hot pink silk ribbon with a crown charm - Princess Peyton!

I always call her Sakura, but Daddy calls her Peyton, and a Princess she is!

Daddy thought this necklace was really cute, so we bought it for Sakura.

Now it was Iris' turn for a great workout - trying to get Sakura to look AT Kim for some pictures...my child was determined to get to that river and all she could think about was the water. Iris did a fabulous job jumping up and down, singing the Inai Inai Baa song she didn't know - all to get my sweet little determined girl to look :) Thanks Iris~

Love this one too - Kim did some photoshopping and I love the way it turned out.

Me and my girl.

My friend Heather and her beautiful daughter Sierra had their shoot just after me and Sakura.

I had already removed all of Sakura's jewelry, but Kim snapped these last few pictures of the girls together.

I love Sakura's expression and Sierra's too - looks like they're chatting.

It was a fun hot day - I'm so happy that we were part of this for Iris!

Thank You so much for asking us to participate, and a special thank you goes to Kim Garcia for the amazing pictures!

Hoedown Throwdown

Sakura learned a new dance ;o)

While Samantha and Nicole (my friend Katie's daughters)practiced the Hoedown Throwdown for their school talent show, Sakura studied and figured out some of the steps - here is her rendition of the Hoedown Throwdown (at 16 months old). Katie had sent me a video on my phone but unfortunately the video was automatically deleted :( We borrowed the movie from Heather and Sierra and Sakura showed us her moves! As you can see, we all got a big kick out of watching Sakura - forgive the bad video quality - I had difficulty with the focusing camera in the beginning - Sakura has always loved music, she always dances and moves when she hears any music.