Showing posts with label Instagram. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Instagram. Show all posts
October is one of my all time favorite months. It makes me want to eat all things pumpkin all day long and cozy up to some Netflix. But living in San Diego, just like it was in Hawaii, it's freakin' hot! Definitely not like my Idaho falls growing up and El Nino ain't helpin' us out. So to help feel the holiday spirit I decided in the beginning of October to go to a pumpkin patch at least once a week. Being a nanny definitely makes this an easy task.
Last week my sister Megan and her family were here visiting. Since it was the week of Halloween, we decided to take Van and the kiddos to the pumpkin patch near our apartment. Watching Van get his face painted for the first time was so adorable! He was so uncertain and nervous, but he did it and loved his fishy face. The best part was definitely the face he made when he checked himself out in the tiny mirror. He looked so perplexed.
After the kids got their crazies out in the bounce houses, nothing sounded better than cozying up to some cookies. That night we had our own little Halloween party. We made pizzas that looked like ghosts and lots of delicious sugar cookies to decorate. We listened to Halloween music and watched a spooky kid movie before putting Van and Liv to bed. It was the perfect Halloween day :).
See our Halloween costumes HERE and HERE.
Laguna Beach, CA | July 2014
This summer Chase took me to one of the most beautiful beaches I've been to since moving to California. It's called Table Rock. If you are ever visiting San Diego you definitely gotta go here! There is a beautiful reef that brings a nice swell in that reminded me a lot of Hawaii. Plus there are awesome caves you can explore at low tide. I remember grabbing a fish taco from across the street and sitting in the sand as the waves rushed up my legs thinking, "This is the life." Feeling blessed to live in such a beautiful place by the sea. Definitely counting my blessings.
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exploring tidepools
view from the top
Stonesteps Beach, Encinitas CA | July 2014
Summer this year took a while to warm up and get sunny. The 4th of July wasn't the typical hot summer day, but we still spent all our time at the beach. The boys (Chase and his brothers) snagged the perfect spot at Stonestpes to squeeze space for our family and friends. I caught some waves on my awesome doughnut with my nephew Krew and had a ridiculous amount of fun entertaining myself. In-between ocean dips and beach snacks Chase and I would walk down to Moonlight Beach to watch our friend playing in a volleyball tournament. Independence day at it's finest in Southern California :).
After everyone was tired from the beach, we walked up to my in laws house for a delicious bbq with the best pulled pork we have ever had! Chase was in absolute hog heaven! And of course we ended the day watching fireworks at a local park that actually had a killer finale (see video below). I'm so happy to live in this country with so many freedoms and thankful for all those who fight for our continual rights to this day :).
. . . . .
Life Lately . . .
Find me on instagram: @lisarondo
Spring came and went so quickly this year!
And here we are in the midst of summer now :)
And here we are in the midst of summer now :)
We were able to ski every month,
enjoy fun weekend road trips,
camping adventures
and local beach fun.
I went blonder,
I'm now 27,
and we have some amazing trips planned.
Stoked its summer!!
Life Lately . . .
according to my iPhone :)
Winter has flown by and it's beginning to feel like summer early this year.
So grateful for all the fun road trips and adventures we have taken.
Big Bear, thank you for skiing.
Encinitas, thank you for beautiful beaches.
San Diego, thanks for the city life.
Mt. Baldy, thanks for the hikes and exploring.
Find me on instagram: @lisarondo
the Lester family (chase's mom's side) mixed with a little Rondo
girl cousins
sister in laws
from instagram: Christmas morning
Christmas season is the best ever. Chase and I talk about it months prior and get giddy like two little children. The most exciting part of it Christmas are all the special traditions to boost up the excitement. For me that includes decorating cookies, sipping cocoa on the daily (almost), christmas decor crafts, watching Christmas movies, shopping for others, ice skating, making ornaments, skiing, holiday parties, gift exchanges, ugly sweater parties, Christmas parades, Candy Cane Lane, christmas light drives and tonssss of Christmas music. It is truly the happiest time of the year and I think we can all agree on that.
Growing up in a family of eight, my family spent Christmas Eve at home and had the whole extended family come over for a delicious feast. It always included ham, sweet potatoes, vegetables, mom's homemade rolls, pies and mom's cathedral windows dessert. There was always a shmorgesborg of Christmas treats from neighbors, friends and family which were all homemade and delicious. We would open one gift from Me'Me (our French grandmother) and family would slowly begin to go home. My immediate family would then read/act out the Nativity story of Christ's birth, the true reason for the season. Shortly following we would go to bed and try to refrain from peaking all night. Christmas morning we would wake up to the sound of music, whether by a sibling playing their instrument or the jingles on the radio. We would run to our stockings laid out on the couches and finally find out our reindeer name as it was written on a slip of paper placed right on top of our stocking (mom coded our presents with reindeer names so we wouldn't know what was ours). We opened one gift at a time so we could see what each sibling and our parents received. Gift opening would be followed by mom's chocolate chip pancakes with christmas m&ms, bacon and OJ. Grandparents would stop by and we would visit with family. Most of our day would be spent lounging around the house in our PJS or skiing if the conditions were good. That evening we would eat leftovers for dinner and put on our new Christmas outfits and see a movie while eating all our stocking candy.
Now, to Chase's family tradition which is what we did this year.
We made the drive to Temecula to spend Christmas at his grandparent's house. It's spent with his mom's side of the family where all the aunts, uncles and cousins get together and have a massive sleepover on Christmas Eve. Chase grew up with the tradition and has never once woke up on Christmas day in his own bed! This was mind boggling to me when I joined the Rondo family, but if everything were the same for all families life would be boring, right? So for Christmas Eve dinner Chase's family has tamales and mexican food, something that was totally new to me when I married into this family. We hang out with the cousins and house full of 40 plus people (I'm guessing) and it's just all sorts of crazy haha (in a good way). As the night progresses everyone finds a spot to sleep. Whether on the floor upstairs, downstairs, bedrooms, couches, hallways, doesn't matter we just make it work by some miracle. People kind of wake up on their own and roam the house until we are allowed to go see the Christmas tree. Then BAM explosion of gifts! The tree is huge because the room is so tall and the gifts are everywhere since there are so many families in one spot. The kids are stoked and everyone sorta opens at the same time. It's literally body to body since the family has grown so much. After opening presents we help ourselves to Cinnabon and spend the day in our pajamas and go see a movie at some point. This year we saw Unbroken and it was SO GOOD you must go see it. Anyway, Christmas with the Rondo fam is always a party and I loved every bit of it.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas and are enjoying the new year. Still can't believe how fast time flies. 2015 will be awesome and I'm excited to keep you updated better than I have been as of late (for my friends and family that actually read my blog). 2014 brought Chase and I a lot of change, challenges, joy and tender mercies. I'm grateful for every bit of it and the learning and growth it has allowed us to have. Cheers to 2015!
Life Lately . . .
Find me on instagram: @lisarondo
Some of my favorite moments of the past three months :)
xo,
Lisa
Last weekend we met up with my sis Ky and her husband and went skiing! Chase and I both got new gear this year and needed to feel them out. The great thing about California is you're close to the ocean and the mountains, best of both worlds. We were able to get to Bear Mountain in two in a half hours ish and it was so worth it. To go from seventy degree sunny weather to snow was so perfect. Loved feeling the winter vibes to help us get in the Christmas spirit.
Bear Mountain is pretty rad. At first Ky and I were skeptical since it is mostly park and doesn't really have any steep runs. We basically were worried about getting bored since park isn't exactly our thing these days. But to our surprise we got brave and were trying the little things like boxes and table tops! We even dared each other to board slide a few (that were small and low to the ground). It was such a fun day and beautiful weather. Gosh, skiing is so much fun! I grew up doing it but when we lived in Hawaii only went a few times when I visited home over a 3 in a half year time period. So it definitely feels good to hit the slopes. We will be going again soon and checking out a few other resorts, so lots of fun adventures to come!
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