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Joie De Viv

finding the joy in every day

Fit FOUR A Princess!

December 15, 2017 ·

Each year, until this current one, I’ve done a photo session for Kaitlyn’s birthday.  We managed to finally get in right at her “Half Birthday” and I’m thrilled with the results.  FOUR is such a transitional year!  Once Kaitlyn turned 4, she proclaimed she was a big girl, quit sucking her thumb on her own (hallelujah!), and started having just much more mature thoughts and conversations.  Still… she’s little.  Little enough to believe in magic and fairy godmothers.  Little enough that she delights in wearing princess gowns.  Little enough to sing at the top of her lungs and skips to the beat of her own drum without any hesitation.  I love this age.  I want to soak in every minute of it and remember it all so vividly.



Thank you Alicia P. Photography for capturing my little princess in her true spirit!

 

 

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Filed Under: Baby/Kids, Disney, Uncategorized Tagged: candid childhood, carousel photo, castle, childhood, disney, Disney castle, Disney life, Disney mom, Disney world, disneyland, family photography, four year old, magic, Mary Poppins, photography, princess, tutu dress, ware doll

Disney On Ice: Follow Your Heart!

November 20, 2017 ·

The holiday season tradition of Disney on Ice is upon us again in the Greater Los Angeles area!  Last year was the first time we went to a Disney on Ice production, and my what a favorite memory it is!  This season brings new adventures with Disney Pixar characters from Finding Dory and Inside Out.

Of course, no winter-season fun would be complete without everyone’s favorite sister duo, Elsa and Anna, and their magical snowman friend, Olaf!  Princesses Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Tiana make their dreams come true through their virtues of bravery, kindness and perseverance. And the Toy Story gang with Buzz Lightyear and Woody help celebrate the meaning of true friendship! Every Disney fan will be sure to be pleased!

Disney On Ice: Follow Your Dreams – Coming to the Southland December 14, 2017 through January 7, 2018

L O S   A N G E L E S

WHEN: Thursday, December 14 – Sunday, December 17

    • Thursday, December 14   7:30 PM
    • Friday, December 15 7:30 PM
    • Saturday, December 16 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM
    • Sunday, December 17 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM

WHERE: STAPLES Center – 1111 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015

A N A H E I M

WHEN: Wednesday, December 20 – Sunday, December 24

    • Wednesday, December 20   7:00 PM
    • Thursday, December 21 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM
    • Friday, December 22 11:00 AM & 7:00 PM
    • Saturday, December 23 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM
    • Sunday, December 24 11:00 AM & 3:00 PM

WHERE: Honda Center – 2695 E. Katella Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92806

 

L O N G   B E A C H

WHEN: Wednesday, December 27 – Monday, January 1

    • Wednesday, December 27 7:00 PM
    • Thursday, December 28 7:00 PM
    • Friday, December 29 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM
    • Saturday, December 30 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM
    • Sunday, December 31 11:00 AM & 3:00 PM
    • Monday, January 1 1:00 PM & 5:00 PM

WHERE: Long Beach Arena – 300 E. Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90802

 

O N T A R I O

WHEN: Wednesday, January 3 – Sunday, January 7

    • Wednesday, January 3 7:00 PM
    • Thursday, January 4 7:00 PM
    • Friday, January 5 7:00 PM
    • Saturday, January 6 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM
    • Sunday, January 7 11:30 AM & 3:30 PM

 

WHERE: Citizens Business Bank Arena – 4000 Ontario Center Parkway, Ontario, CA 91764

TICKETS: Ticket prices start at $25!

Discount Opening Night tickets available for as low as $15 each on select seating (not valid for premium VIP/Front Row seating)  Tickets available for purchase online at Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at 800-745-3000   or in-person at the venue Box Office.             *prices subject to change; additional venue/ticketing fees may apply

 

COUPON ALERT!

Use code: MOM20 to save 20% off on select show dates!

I know I’m so excited about seeing the show with Kaitlyn!  Are you planning to go?!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: disney, disney on ice, ice skating, things to do with kids

Family Photo Season!

October 30, 2017 ·

Tis the season…. that everyone is scrambling to get those precious family photos that will be cherished for years to come!  We all know that we “should” take more pics with our families, especially for the moms to be in front of the camera.  Over the years, we’ve seen holiday cards moving more and more into the photo cards, and I LOVE IT!  I save all our photo cards and file them away.  I even try to group them together by the same families, so we can flip through them once in awhile and see how our loved ones have grown and changed.  Especially in this digital, social-media age, some people never get around to even printing a picture besides a photo card.  So I say, bring it on!  Keep the holiday photos coming!

We just did our own holiday family photo session over the weekend, and I am already on pins and needles, so excited to see how they turned out.  In the meantime, I figured a trip down memory lane would hold me over during my anticipation.  Honestly, I’m always scared each year that I won’t love the photos as much as the year before, and last year’s was just my fave!

2016

Do you take annual holiday photos?  What’s your favorite card-printer service?  I’d love to know!

 

Photos by Alicia P. Photography

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: beach, beach photography laguna beach, california, California beach, castle, family photography, family photos, formal, holiday, holiday photos, Orange County, photography, Southern California, ware doll

Italy: Venice +

October 15, 2017 ·

Probably the most memorable trip (especially to other young parents), was our first trip as a family of 3.  We took a 3.5 month old Kaitlyn to Italy for a week, followed by a 1 week Mediterranean cruise.  The trip was spearheaded by my mother, who thought nothing of traveling with an infant.  Of course, as first-time parents, we had ALL the concerns in the world.  Turns out, it was a really awesome trip to look back upon.

Travel:  From California, we ended up with a 1-stop flight with a lay-over in Chicago.  Door-to-door travel time was almost 17 hrs.  I won’t even sugarcoat it in the least.  The trip going there was really difficult on me.  Mainly because Kaitlyn had never been a good napper as a baby.  She would sleep in increments of less than 20 minutes at a time, and always wanted to be bounced.  It could have been her acid reflux, but I had to baby wear her almost the entire time, and spent as much time as allowed on the plane walking and bouncing up and down the aisle.  Luckily, she was a bit of a flirt and loved to interact with the flight attendants.  We did not purchase her a seat, but we did bring her car seat with us and gate checked it along with the stroller. I felt much safer having the car seat on the taxi van ride to our hotel as well.

My how photo qualities look so bad so fast.  4 years ago and the pics look so old. haha. She slept a total of 1 hour on the 9hr leg of our flight.

On the taxi van & after finally arriving at the hotel, seemingly stuck in the baby carrier position.

Gear:  Speaking of car seats and strollers, I researched what combo to bring for our trip endlessly.  Venice is a city of canals, with tiny pathways and endless bridges. Many sites and people giving advice will have you think it’s easier to just baby wear the whole trip and skip a stroller. phish!  I am SOOO glad we had a stroller.  The baby was completely flipped upside down with the time change, and almost entirely SLEPT all day during our first week abroad.  It was hot and humid enough without having a 10lb furnace attached to me all day.  It was so good to have our trusty infant car seat with stroller, to have her sleep in while we were sightseeing.  The stroller itself is important though.  We had the UppaBaby Vista, which was wonderful to steer and use, but too heavy for all the ups and downs of the canal bridges.  I bought a Snap ‘N Go stroller that was compatible specifically for the trip.  It was super light weight, had a large storage basket, and cup holders.  It worked perfectly for our needs.  If baby/toddler is out of the infant car seat stage, I would opt for a lightweight travel/umbrella stroller with the ability to recline.

Up the Rialto Bridge

Down the Rialto Bridge

The Rialto Bridge

Also as a FTM (first time mom), I had a lot of worries about the baby’s crib.  We owned a travel crib and after reading many scary posts about terrible hotel cribs, we hauled our own.  At our particular hotel in Venice, they already set up a super clean and nice pack and play, and with the cramped space of Venice hotels, we never even used our travel crib.  It did get used on the second part of our trip though.

TIP:  If you are concerned about hotel cribs, you can contact the hotel and ask them to email you a picture of their cribs.  We have done trips with and without bringing our own crib, and I will say, I have been worried enough to purchase a pack-n-play when the hotel crib did not live up to my standards.  Later on, I learned to just check with the hotel on their specific cribs to save time and money.

Of course I already mentioned the baby carrier and despite my complaints about the heat, we really couldn’t have done the trip without my baby carriers.  At the time of having Kaitlyn, we were using the Baby K’tan and Ergo with an infant insert.  By my second baby, I had fallen in love with the Solly Baby and still loving our Ergo (and added a new style as well).

In the Ergo w/infant insert (newer style models do not require inserts, I believe)

Baby K’tan soft wrap carrier

Venice:  When people said the Italians LOVE babies, they were not kidding!  Everywhere we went in Venice, Kaitlyn became a little star. Men, women, other children.  The culture just embraces and adores children and babies.  I felt very welcomed and safe.  Especially as a FTM, I was a bit nervous about breastfeeding before our trip.  I quickly became so comfortable finding a stone step, doorway, or bench to nurse.

A whole week in Venice, you ask?  My family (whom we were cruising with), all parted ways to traipse through multiple cities in Europe, while we hunkered down in Venice.  They were all as free as birds in my mind.  Typically, J and I would have filled up our itinerary with days of seeing and doing as much as we could, but parenthood changes things, especially in matters of travel. I worried we’d be bored, but actually, the slow pace of the tiny city matched our pace very well.  Kaitlyn’s schedule was so opposite of our time zone.  While she would happily sleep all day, she was up ALL.NIGHT.  And this is where I will state my advice on traveling with little ones (and will repeat over and over): have very low expectations.  Traveling with littles ones is training and learning for both parents and kiddos.  It WILL get better. It WILL get easier. But man oh man, the first 5 days of our trip were a blur and torture every night for me.  J got to sleep at night.  I got to stay up and entertain our bouncy, trounce, flouncy, pouncy, Tigger of a babe.  I don’t think this is entirely normal though, as I had mentioned, Kaitlyn would only nap in minutes at a time.  So I would spend 3 hours trying to get her to nap for 8-12 minutes.

Luckily, by the time we’d usually be up and ready to go out for “the day”, it would be late afternoon after the local’s siestas and great sunset viewing time.  We could enjoy wonderful Italian dinners and walks at night, when the heat had simmered down.

Side Note:  Sadly, we never did a gondola ride because I was concerned how many mosquitoes there were.  If we go back now that the kids are older, I would for sure make that a must-do!

We also managed to do some day trips while in Italy.

  1. Isolas di Murano and Burano
  2. Verona

Kaitlyn’s first train ride!

 

Overall, Venice was a wonderful first trip as a family.  We set our own pace, gave ourselves time to get accustomed to traveling with a baby and really enjoyed the culture!  I can’t wait to go back with both kids one day!

Filed Under: travel, Uncategorized

KIDSPACE!

August 31, 2017 ·

Kidspace Museum in Pasadena (CA), has been on my must visit list for well over a year.  We finally had the right window period to squeeze it in today, despite the 100 degree heat wave!  It was well worth the wait for us because Kingston was able to fully enjoy it just as much as Kaitlyn!

Kidspace is a children’s museum specifically designed for younger children (ideally 10 y/o and younger) and their caregivers.  CAREGIVERS.  I kid you not, this is exactly how it is worded at the museum and on their website.  The live up to that claim.  Shade. Air conditioning. Comfortable seating. They really took into account the giants that accompany the littlest visitor.

My little monkeys could spend hours climbing the various climbing structures at Kidspace.  Was I surprised my kids had zero apprehension about the heights and racing up and down alone?  Not one bit.

The outdoor space is what I had seen tidbits of and the bait for my visit and it lived up to its promises.

Reminder, this museum is designed for younger children.  I could see older children steamroll through all the little wonders Kidspace offers in a flash, but for the toddlers, oh my.  This was heaven!  Play structures, tricyle paths, watering cans and garden planters, a treehouse, musical instruments under the trees, a greenhouse, fishing, and THE RIVER.  I mentioned in my IG Stories how I wish I could have been a toddler at that moment.  I was serious.  Who wouldn’t love to just splash, climb, and roll around in this adorable water feature? Too bad it would have looked foolish for a 30-something y/o woman to do that. lol

The kids and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would have stayed longer had we had the time!  Kaitlyn was begging to come back before we even walked back through the mosaic hall!

Info:  The museum is located in Arroyo Seco valley, right next to the Rose Bowl stadium.  Brookside Park is also next to the museum with a great play structure, and parking is free!  The museum is shut down on certain dates related to Rose Bowl events, so be sure to check before you go.  Admission for adults and children 12 months and older is $13/pp. I couldn’t find any coupons on our date, but I noticed there have been Groupons in the past, and locals might love the family annual pass package!

Tips:  You can bring in your own food and beverages.  I suggest bring an insulated cup with lots of ice! Waterproof shoes for the kids (and advisable for yourself to fish out wet kids), swimming clothes, change of clothes, and a towel.  Hats, sunscreen, coins for the spinning donation thing (Kingston was enthralled), and of course, a camera! 🙂

Let me know if you decide to check it out, or if you’re a fan!

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Filed Under: Baby/Kids, mom life, So Cal Kids Activities, things to do with kids, Uncategorized Tagged: california, childrens museum, kids, local, Los Angeles, mom life, museum, Pasadena, things to do with kids

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Hi! I'm Vivian, and this is my creative space to share snippets from our life in Orange County, CA and some of my favorite things!
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