There's No Place Like Home

I finally found the time today to finish a recap of block leave. (Click pictures to enlarge) The Hubby and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary by watching the new Narnia movie and then eating dinner at The Summit House in Fullerton. We had a spectacular steak meal with magnificent creamed corn on the side. I cursed my lactose intolerance once again for restricting me from gobbling down spoonfuls of this marvelous side dish.

We also went ice skating in Santa Monica one evening where I displayed a fantastic improvement from the last time we skated. I only fell down once and was able to go around at least ten times before I retired to the sidelines. 

We had a baking extravaganza where I made the shortbread toffee cookies and brownies while The Hubby helped make the Oreo truffles. They were a huge hit with our family and friends, but I suppose anything with that much butter or chocolate tastes good. Bella spied on us from afar and would not keep her eyes off of me in the kitchen. (Packaging details here. Recipes here)

My sister and I attempted to make a gingerbread village and it was a difficult task, to say the least. Details of our shenanigans can be found on her blog here.

Believe it or not, it is actually incredibly difficult to create a dog fort, especially when you have an uncooperative canine. You can find the actual dog fort comic here on my sister's blog.

Sorry for the profanity, but man does this make me laugh!

                                                                                               Source: weheartit.com

Our absolute favorite part of the vacation, however, was dog beach. The weather was absolutely perfect that day, unlike the rest of the duration of our visit back home. The three of us just took our sweet time enjoying the sights and sounds of this doggy heaven. Bella, being the "special" girl that she is, wanted to hide behind us rather than play with the others.

Bella never wants to go into the ocean, but she prefers to sit next to us on our blanket and bask in the wondrous California sun. And in those short moments watching the sunset together, we were in bliss.

*Paper elements from Pugly Pixel