Beach Weather Already?

Paulo (wearing the Le Top "Under the Sea" pull over hoodie shirt with a red crab appliqué) and Miranda playing on the beach.

It’s only March here in the Bay Area but the weather has been so warm and sunny (with a few rainy days in between) that we’ve actually been hitting the beach since January! Last week we went to Pacific Grove. My husband was at a 3-day seminar and since he was staying at a swanky hotel, we decided to “join” him and enjoy the amenities that fancy lodging offers, such as a salt water pool and hot tub, breakfast buffets, and free freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Mmmmm!

While Daddy was sitting in an uncomfortable chair in a dimly-lit conference room, we were outdoors absorbing sun rays along the coast at the Asilomar State Beach. It was sunny but a little chilly and I wasn’t sure how long we would last at the beach. But as soon as we laid our blanket on the sand and the kids dumped out all their sand toys, the chill in the air seemed to dissipate. My kids were ready to go jump in the ocean! (But we didn’t. That water is FREEZING!)

After a couple hours, we packed it up and drove back to the hotel where we spent the afternoon swimming in the pool, then in the hot tub, then in the pool, then the hot tub (you get the picture), until Daddy came to retrieve us for dinner. What a fun day! Daddy should go to more conferences at ritzy hotels.

Paulo is wearing the Le Top "Under the Sea" lined swim trunks.

CHECK OUT MORE OF THE LE TOP SPRING COLLECTION AT
www.letop-usa.com

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Swim Team Tryouts

Miranda is wearing a bathing suit from Le Top's 2011 Spring/Summer "School of Fun" collection.

This is a FIRST for Miranda—and for ME! After spending a lot of hours AND a lot of money on swim lessons, I figured we should put the swim lessons to the test. So I signed her up to be on the local swim team. I thought if you signed up, then you were automatically in. Well… I was wrong. They required a tryout to see if the child can swim across one lap. The pool where Miranda had lessons was half the length. And as far as I knew, the times we swam at friends’ pools or hotel pools, she could swim across, but I didn’t know if they were the same distance as one lap. Plus, it has been almost a year since Miranda had a swim lesson. Yikes! Talk about NERVE-WRACKING!

The reason for swim tryouts wasn’t to see how fast a child can swim or what strokes he/she can do in the water. The tryout was mainly for safety reasons. Children must be able to swim across the pool by themselves without help. So before Miranda’s turn in the water, I asked her how she felt. She was a little nervous but wasn’t afraid. She didn’t feel intimidated at all. “Are you sure? Was the pool in Hawaii this long? What stroke are you going to do? If you get tired half-way, stop and rest. Don’t feel bad.” Then she just looked at me with exasperation as if she just wanted to say, “Cool it, Mom!”

The coach called her name and, naturally, I was more nervous than her. She got in the water, kicked her skinny, long legs all the way across to the other end of the pool doing the freestyle. Then the guide in the water asked her if she wanted to hang on to the life preserver so she can get a “ride” back. She declined and said, “I’ll do the backstroke.” And she did, with perfect arms!

What a proud moment for me! She made the swim team and was so happy to back in the water after such a long, cold winter. Can’t wait for swim practices and swim meets. An exciting and fun summer awaits.

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San Francisco Christmas Traditions

Magical Snow at the Hyatt on the Embarcadero

Sweetie and I decided to have breakfast out this morning and took a wintery cold (by SF standards) and sunny walk over to the Hyatt. They have an immense lobby which they totally do up for the holidays. It’s pretty magical looking up the entire height of the building from inside and seeing what looks like snow falling, but snow that is made up entirely of lights. There were many, many(!) children there having breakfast, and they were all chattering away about their elevator rides (“open” elevators overlook the entire scene), about seeing Santa (who was quite jolly walking about the restaurant, trying to sit on parents’ laps, to the squealing delight and utter, wide-eyed amazement of their children!), and about ice-skating afterwards. All in all, it’s a major “Oooh-Aaah” place even for adults, but the wonder and joy in children’s faces and voices definitely add to the magic. More photos follow (taken by sweetie who really is a great sport about being my personal photographer).

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Snowy Vermont!

Proof for Mr. Tech Wiz

Sweetie decided we must see SNOW this holiday season, so we’re in SNOWY Vermont! Before I left, I was able to easily send myself a text message of Yellow Turtle‘s contact information right from le•top’s store locator so that I had it on my mobile phone…Coolio! (Mr. Tech Wiz will be so proud of me! See? We actually can easily embrace new technologies here at le•top!). I wanted Yellow Turtle’s info, because they’re in Stowe (where we are going next), visiting the SNOW. I can’t wait to leave this wonderfully warm sofa seat, in front of this wonderfully warm fireplace, to go visit the SNOW, and see the sights of Stowe! (If anyone from Vermont is reading this, I could sure use some help figuring out the best store to buy a pair of warm snow boots for myself. I have a feeling these sneakers aren’t going to cut it out there).

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’tis the season…in Hong Kong!

Hong Kong skyline laser light show (photo credit: Hong Kong Tourism Board)

My husband Paul and I are in Hong Kong; working very hard on next year’s le•top collection (we are going to have really cute clothes!). We did take a fun break the other evening, because neither one of us wanted to cook dinner after a long day at the factories! We went to the Intercontinental Hotel and had dinner in the coffee shop/lounge area. Believe me, a burger here is special – because there are huge wrap around windows with a view of Hong Kong harbor.

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