A couple pics

This is a picture I took of my pretty little Caiti. She loves being outside and playing in the leaves, water, whatever. If I let her, she would be outside all day. I just thought I would post this picture of Jason to show that his eyes are changing. I'm going to have another brown-eyed boy!

Christmas was...Different.

This year, Kevin had to work on Christmas, so we decided to go ahead and pretend the 23rd was Christmas Eve and the 24th was Christmas...after all Christ really wasn't born on the 25th...right? So what does it matter what day we celebrate his birth. We had a pretty nice dinner. We ended up having ham, stuffing and green bean casserole...in a Christine sort of way...If you know me and my cooking, that should explain itself. We then watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional which was very nice and brought in the spirit of Christmas. We opened the presents from "Santa on Christmas Eve." That was pretty fun. Santa gave me some fuzzy pajamas and super comfy dearform slippers. I thought I didn't like slippers, but I thought wrong. The kids got jammies as well. After the kids went to bed, Kevin and I had a nice time just getting everything ready for Christmas morning.

Of course, Jason and I were the first ones up and we waited in anticipation for Kevin and Garrett and Caiti to get up. We opened up all the presents under the tree. The kids got some great toys, dvd's, clothes, etc. I was very happy with all of the presents they received and want to thank everyone who sent such great gifts. Kevin got me my favorite present ever, a GPS. I am so relieved to have that. I have spent the majority of my driving in San Diego being lost. Now, I can have the comfort of hearing the words, "You have arrived," or "in 200 yards, turn right." What a good friend that GPS voice is going to be. Kevin got an mp3 player to take with him on the ship. (He leaves on January 9th). I also made him a scrapbook with lots of pics of the kids.

I made my first turkey ever. I ended up borrowing the neighbor's roasting pan. I don't know why I thought it was so complicated. My mom finally just told me, "Christine, you put in the pan and put it in the oven." She's so smart.

The rest of the day was just the typical Christmas Day. I had a great time spending time with my honey and the kids. It was actually my favorite Christmas of my marriage...even though I really did miss the extended family.

The bad part of the day happened at about 8:30 p.m. We heard this "splat." Garrett had fallen out of his swing onto the hard kitchen floor...chin first. He was bleeding everywhere. My friends let me follow them to the hospital because I had no clue where it was. They stayed until we got all checked in, etc. Garrett ended up being strapped down and getting 8 stitches in his chin. They said the cut was to the bone. Poor baby. He did really good, only screaming when he was restrained. When they were done, he was back to his cute self, playing with the hand balloon and looking at a magazine while saying, "AT&T. Your world delivered."

Merry Christmas everyone!

Help Me Know How to Reach You

My little baby. Beautiful Baby Caiti.

You brought me healing and sweetness and calm.

You were for my heart a miracle balm.

I remember how you would snuggle me close, let me hold you.

With your a smile in your eyes, so beautiful and blue.

Your head on my chest and your curls framing your face.

You would always send me to a happy place.

Caiti it's been sad for me as you have grown older.

Yes, you still put your head on my shoulder.

Yes you still have that smile in your eyes

But it's different now, because you also cry.

You get so upset, I don't know what to do.

Caiti I wish I knew how to help you.

I want to be the mommy you need me to be.

I wish you had the language to communicate to me.

I wish I could get into your head,

and I could hear your thoughts as you place toys on your bed.

I could understand why they're all lined in a row

The thoughts in your head would be so great to know.

I think you know I love you, I adore my little girl.

I cherish your giggle as you run and you twirl.

Caiti, as your mommy, I want to know how

To love you the way that you need me to now.

I need to know just the way that I can reach you.

I need to know just the way that I can teach you.

Because Caiti I love you, I love you! I do!

Early Christmas Presents

So, my kids are not happy with my working when they want me to be paying attention to them. So, when Kevin and I went Christmas shopping for the kids, we got Jason an early Christmas present to keep him occupied while I work. He only sat in it for a few minutes at first, but he is getting used to it now, and will give mommy a much needed break. This is also helpful when doing dishes, etc. Yay! Hooray for baby toys.

Ever since I heard about therapy swings, I have really wanted to get one for Caiti. She is so happy and gives great eye contact when she is in motion and her first appropriate word was "Whee" for when she goes on the swing. We were so thankful to Nanna and Papaw Roach because this year for Christmas they paid for a therapy swing for our kids. We love it because it has a support bar that hangs in the door, so we don't have to drill holes in the walls/ceiling. I was amazed because Caiti was in the swing for 2 hours, happy as can be, and after Garrett got home from preschool, he was in the swing for another 2 hours. Now, our only problem is keeping them from wanting to be in the swing at the same time. I'm loving it.

Jason's Eyes Remind Me Of...

Caiti's Individualized Education Plan

Yesterday I drove to the Whittier Center for Caiti's IEP (individualized education plan). I met with the same people that evaluated her last week. Last week they had told me that she definitely qualifies for special education services (is anyone surprised). So we went over what they had concluded from her evaluation, as well as what their plans were for her education here in San Diego. I was very excited to hear that they are going to start her out right there at the Whittier Center. It is very difficult to qualify for that, so I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing :) j/k. They said that they really want to work one-on-one with her. So she is going to be with a teacher who they said is excellent in getting through to autistic children. I think the main purpose of her being with him is to get her more ready for actual preschool. She will be bused there every day and will have school from 9 to 12:20. So, I will have some time in there with just Jason at home. That will be different. (Garrett goes to preschool at Kumeeyah Elementary). She will be going to Whittier for her first 45 days of school, then we will meet again and decide what to do next. They said she will probably be in a similar situation to Garrett (a classroom of 4 with a teacher and 2 aids). I'm very happy about this. I also found out that ABA (applied behavioral analysis) therapy is a part of the curriculum for children with autism in San Diego, so that makes me very happy too. My babies are getting so big!

Three Sights That Have Made Me Happy Today

Garrett sitting on the counter reading the phonebook.
Caiti making faces at herself in the Christmas ornaments
Jason smiling happily with grown up food all over his face.

Pictures from Sunday morning

Here are some pictures from this morning. Please excuse how we look. We all just woke up. (Caiti was still up when we fell asleep last night. I found the dolls like that this morning when I went in her room. Ha ha.)

Impromptu Thanksgiving

This was our first Thanksgiving in San Diego. This really great organization called Homefront San Diego had brought by a bunch of Thanksgiving food for my family that we were planning on using for part of our meal with our San Diego family, the Collards (my dad's cousin's family). I was very excited to have somewhere to go, especially since I was so homesick. My brother was going to introduce the family in Indiana to his fiance, Lynley, at Thanksgiving, and it turned out that I was the only member of my family that would not be there. Boohoo. So, as I was saying, I was very grateful that my uncle Steve's family invited us on over.

Well, on Thanksgiving morning, Garrett woke up with heavy breathing and a nasty cough. :( So, we ended up staying home so no one else would get sick. Kevin was on duty the night before, so before he headed home, I hurried to have a nice Thanksgiving meal ready. Luckily, we had all that food from Homefront San Diego, so I was able to make fruit salad, stuffing, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans and some chicken that I already had.

We decided to watch a fun movie together as a family, so we rented Fred Claus. I decided that is my favorite holiday movie. It just fits my sense of humor. Kevin really liked it too. If you ever see it, my favorite part is the part with the little brother support group.

We got a couple of nice visits on Thanksgiving. The missionaries stopped by with a message about how it is hard to focus on the negative when you are counting your blessings. I thought that was a good message.

We were also happy to get a visit from Uncle Steve. He brought us some of their Thanksgiving ham and pumpkin pie and ice cream. Let's just say that we were like turkeys and gobbled that right up. Yummy.

All in all, we had a pretty nice day. When we were thinking about what we are thankful for, Kevin is thankful for his family. I am thankful for my family and this opportunity we have to be here and have Kevin in the Navy. Garrett is thankful for his family and apples. Caiti is thankful for her family and sippy cups. Jason is thankful for his family and baby food, and the rest of us are thankful for his passy because it helps him be happy.

We have made it 6 years!

Kevin and I celebrated our sixth anniversary last Sunday (the 23rd) on my 29th birthday. For a change, we actually did something for our anniversary. A friend of mine helped me plan it all and came over and watched the kids while we were on our date. She even left us with a sparkling clean house. That was such a great birthday present.

So, we ended up going on a dinner cruise/harbour tour. We both had our slacks and collared shirts on for the occasion. Kevin looked handsome, of course. We had a 3-course dinner and it was d-jayed by a guy with long white hair. (For future reference, if you have white hair, the long thing doesn't really work). Anyway, it was so nice to have some alone time for a change. We were able to visit, and Kevin showed me places in the harbor that his ship has been in. We were able to see all the beautiful city lights, the coronado bridge and just enjoy the atmosphere. City lights at night always remind me of Christmas lights. I love it. For the first time since our wedding, we even danced a couple slow songs. I didn't even have anyone come put a Book of Mormon between us and tell us we were dancing too close. :)

I sure love my Kevi. I'm happy that we have been married for these 6 years and look forward to spending eternity with my best friend.

http://www.hornblower.com/pdf/San-DiegoIDC2008.pdf

Images from a lazy Saturday afternoon

What the Kids are Doing These Days

So no pictures on this blog, but I just wanted to live up to the name "bragspot"and talk about my 3 little babies.

I was very excited today because Garrett sang the Alphabet Song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in unison with me. That was the first time EVER that he has sung in unison on any song. Usually, he sings a line, and if I start singing, he stops until I stop and then he takes up where I left off, etc. I had a huge smile on my face hearing my son with the perfect pitch singing songs with his mommy. Garrett is loving going to school every day. He gets to do lots of fun things. They eat lunch first, then play outside, then have several different stations where they work on developing skills in their individualized education plan. Garrett is also sitting on the potty by himself. Yes, I am sure you all want to hear about that. He hasn't actually done anything in the potty yet, but baby steps are the way to go. Garrett's new favorite phrase is, "Better ingredients, better pizza, Papa John's."

Caiti is my sweetie. She has been adorable lately with very good eye contact. She will come up to me and just gaze in my eyes, grab my face and smile. She melts my heart. She has realized that mommy can be fun to play with, so if she's bored with my working or doing blogs, etc., she has figured out that if she comes up and messes up my typing by playing with the mouse or hitting keys on the keyboard I will give up and play with her. She loves having Garrett go to school because Jason takes a nap at the same time so she gets some alone time with mommy. We love to eat lunch together, play with her babies, read stories and have "nap time." The other night I was on the computer and when I got up, I noticed that Caiti had made a huge mess with the salt. She had grabbed a whole container of salt, poured it on the floor and was playing in it like it was a sandbox or something. I couldn't get mad 'cause that is just Caiti for you. She is in an oober destructive mode right now. She likes to pull out all the books from the bookcase, grab anything off the kitchen counter and pour/spill/throw it on the floor, bring in leaves from outside and put them on the carpet, run off with the trash bag from the kitchen trash can...so I really am working on having a cleaner house...you just can't tell.

Jason is super happy and cute, unless I am trying to work. He has a radar that tells him, "Mommy's working, I think I will start fussing right now." Then the moment I pick him up, his crying magically stops, and he has a big grin on his face. He has his mommy wrapped around his little finger. Jason is such a big boy. He is eating rice cereal and baby foods now. He can sit on his own, roll from front to back, and he does that whole get on your hands and knees and rock back and forth movement that shows that he wants to crawl. He loves the Johnny Jumper that the Durtschis lent us and I forgot to give back. Sorry... He sits in that and keeps me company when I do the dishes.

My kids make me happy.

Garrett's preschool

Garrett started preschool on Monday. I tried to take the typical first day of school shot, but Garrett's definitely not typical. I had told him we were going to go to school, and he was so excited that he wouldn't stay still for the picture. He was galloping and using his tummy as a drum, etc. So this is the best picture I could get.

Today, Garrett's teacher did a home visit. She talked to me about what they will be working on in school. I am very excited for the great services they have here. They want to get him in another class that has 4 students, a teacher, and 2 teacher's aids which basically means a whole lot of one-on-one time. They are going to give him 30 minutes of occupational therapy a week and 60 minutes of speech therapy a week at school. They are going to focus a lot on his toileting skills and eating skills which is great because I'm trying to work on those at home as well, so we can reinforce each other.

Just one more month until Caiti can start going to preschool. I am glad we moved here. I think it will be great for my kids.

Fun at the Park

Our favorite thing to do on boring days is to head across the street to the neighborhood park. As you can tell in the background of this first picture, Caiti and Jason love going to the park so I can take them on a fun walk in the stroller. That is actually how I get my exercise here in San Diego. We walk laps around the park while Garrett goes up and down the slide...over and over... and over again. That is his FAVORITE thing to do, as you can tell from his happy smile

Caiti's favorite thing to do at the park is to play in the sand. If you haven't gathered from early posts (i.e., birthday breakfast), she is definitely a sensory learner and loves feeling different textures. Sand totally makes her happy. I have to admit I'm the same way. I will just sit with her with Jason on my lap and play in the sand too. We like to make mountains and than smash them down. So fun! That is how I am trying to teach her the words, "up" and "down." We say, "Up, up, up!" as we build the mountain, and then "Down, down, down" as we destroy it. This thingy right here, is a favorite of both Garrett's and Caiti's. I can't decide what it is though? Any guesses. I think it's a frog... Anyway, we sure are glad to have this fun place to go to when we are stuck at home without a car.

I've been tagged

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. I was at Snow College, studying to be a middle school English teacher.
2. I had a major crush on this guy who later dated my roommate.
3. I worked as a tutor in the writing lab.
4. It was my first year living far from home (my parents moved to Indiana), so I became closer to my brother, my grandparents and Ant Larraine.
5. I figured out that if you eat in the cafeteria the odds are 4 boys to every girl. Yes, I was smart.

5 Things on my "To Do" list today:
1. Get Garrett registered for school and drop him off for his first day in preschool.
2. Fill out Caiti's forms for her school evaluation.
3. Convince Michelle to move here. :)
4. Clean my house (still not done).
5. Play with my kids.

5 Snacks i love
1. Apples and peanut butter
2. Chips
3. Green olives
4. Vienna sausages (yes, I know they're gross).
5. Oranges

5 Things i would do if I were a millionaire
1. Pay all my debt.
2. Help family in need.
3. Donate to church and autism programs.
4. Save for retirement.
5. Buy a great minivan.

5 Places i've lived
1. Taylorsville, UT
2. SLC, UT
3. Ephraim, UT
4. Indianapolis, IN
5. San Diego, CA

5 Jobs i've had
1. All A Dollar
2. Grocery store bagger/cashier
3. Writing lab tutor
4. Insurance claims processor
5. Medical Transcriptionist.

5 People I tag: Sarah, Jennifer, Laura, Amanda and Brooke

Silly Kids

Here are some recent pictures of my silly kids. Thank you Michelle for emailing me back my camera phone pictures so I can share them. Jason thinks he can read.
Such a happy baby!

Garrett got a haircut...to fix the other haircut I tried to give him when blatantly ignoring Sarah's orders to never cut anyone's hair again when I botched Caiti's hair.

Such a girl! Caiti loves the purse that she got from Ant Larraine.

Happy Birthday Caiti!

My sweet little Caiti was born 3 years ago, on October 29, 2005. We had to celebrate her birthday on Saturday since Kevin left for a short deployment this week. Kevin gave her a blue My Little Pony which was perfect since she already had a pink one. So, now she can walk around with one in each hand. I gave her a Tinker Bell Doll. She actually sort of picked it out herself while we were in the store. She got all bright eyed and smiley when she saw it and had to hold it the rest of our shopping trip. Garrett gave her yet another baby doll which she also loves, and Jason gave her a baby stroller which I am hoping she will discover later because right now she could care less. Of course, that is okay because Garrett has decided it is his wheelchair and sits in it and wheels himself across the kitchen. Such fun!

We didn't do anything too exciting for her actual birthday. I did make her eggs for breakfast. They didn't exactly end up in her mouth...as you can tell. But hey, it was her birthday, so I was lenient and let her have an exciting sensory experience. She felt like she was in heaven. I also gave her her favorites for lunch, grapes and hotdogs. Unfortunately, the hotdogs ended up kind of looking like her eggs, by the time lunch was over.

Caiti absolutely loved it when I sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She would get big eyes and a huge smile and flap her arms and squeal in delight. Later on in the day, she was chasing Garrett around as he ran his laps in the kitchen. While she was running, she was chanting some sing-song thing, and I realized that she was saying "Birthday, happy, happy birthday." So cute.

She loved that we only watched movies she wanted today, Elmo in Grouchland and Pooh's Heffalump Movie. She had a great day. She was so happy and sweet and cute all day.

I am so greatful for this sweet little girl. She changed my life. She is such a blessing to my family.

Why I Have No Social Life aka The Attempt to go to the Ward Halloween Party

Saturday afternoon was our ward Halloween party. Kevin had to work, so my friendly missionary couple agreed to take the kids and me to the party. I was very excited. After all, there would be trunk-or-treating for the kids, they would get a chance to show off their costumes (Superman, Princess and basketball player), and I would get the chance to meet some new friends and actually get out of the house.

So we all piled into Sister Gilchrist's car and headed to the church. When we got there, I had Jason in the sling, Garrett in one hand, and Caiti with her wrist harness (aka a leash). Yes, the first thing anyone said to me was, "Nice leash." Then, when we entered the gymnasium I discovered that trunk or treat was last... :( There were numerous stations with very fun activities, like a cake walk...which Garrett discovered and took no time whatsoever stealing someone's super messy chocolate cupcake. He then proceeded to lie down on the floor to eat it and wouldn't budge. When he was done, he looked like a bearded superman with chocolate smears all down the front of his costume and crumbs surrounding his little body. A very nice lady got me some paper towels. When I finally caught up to Garrett (0ne of the many times he slipped through my grasp and ran off to some new and exciting adventure), I was able to sort of clean him up. Meanwhile, we discovered they were serving hot dogs in the cultural area, so we all trudged on over there. As I was asking if I could just get a couple of plain hot dogs without buns, Garrett beat me to the punch and just grabbed one out of the bun in front of him, to which the guy serving the hot dogs said, "No need to disassemble the hot dogs. Here are some piping hot ones right here." I quietly murmured..."Too late," grabbed the hot dogs and the kids and scurried off to the foyer to hide out while I fed them their hot dogs. When they were done with their hot dogs, I decided to find a bathroom, which I never did find by the way. As we were walking, Garrett found the perfect opportunity to run ahead and disappear. So, finally we went back into the gymnasium, where Sister Gilchrist was trying to introduce me to a very nice lady who said we could sit by her at church. I was very grateful for that...while trying not to look too worried and distracted that I couldn't find Garrett. I should have known better. I found him at the cake walk again. Luckily, he hadn't swiped anyone else's food.





As I was chasing him down, I handed Caiti, leash and all, over to Sister Gilchrist so I could run faster. Garrett was super thirsty and kept trying to drink out of some random person's water bottle that they left sitting on the table. Finally, another nice lady from my ward, who I guess moved here the same week as me, got him a paper cup with water in it. So, we went and sat down so he could drink it, and he happened to spill it all over himself, me and a sleeping Jason, who coincidentally woke up and started crying. At the same time, I was watching Sister Gilchrist being dragged by Caiti throughout the room as Caiti picked food off of various people's plates. When she tried to get Caiti to eat what she was holding and to just hold still, Caiti started her big, screaming tantrum. That is when I decided that we had tried hard enough, and now was the time to make like a tree and leaf..after I gave Anakin back his litesaber that Superman had decided was his. So much for trunk-or-treating.

Shaving Kevin's Head

So, last night Kevin and I decided to take my mom's advice and forego the cost of a haircut and just shave his head. Yeah...a haircut costs $7 plus tip at the NEX (the Navy Department Store), but when your hair grows super fast like Kevin's, it adds up. So Kevin did the front of his head. That was when I wished I had a digital camera to capture the beauty of Kevin's half shaved head. He looked like one of those Harri-Krishna guys. It made me truly happy. I got the back. It seriously took me an hour to shave the back of his head because his hair is so thick. It was barely a centimeter long, but still... Anyway, so, in total, it took 2 hours to shave his head, 5 razors (no joke) and bunches of shaving cream. Surprisingly, Kevin was very patient and pleasant the whole time we were attacking his head with a razor, so at least that part was nice. We decided that with the cost of razors and the lost time, a $7 haircut every once in a while isn't too big of a deal. Of course, if we invested in some clippers, that might be even a smarter move. Yes sirree.

To Baby Jason:

You're my hidden treasure,

Bringing me such happy pleasure.

I'm so glad we got the surprise

Of the happy little boy with the expressive eyes.

You are a joy to all that you meet

With your pudgy hands and cute little feet.

I love how excited you seem every day.

You look like you want to just get up and play.

But there's no hurry, no hurry at all.

Let mommy enjoy this time when you're small.

8 Reasons We Love Our New House

1. This house is a rental (paid by the military as one of Kevin's great benefits), so a house payment doesn't have to be my biggest stressor. Hip, hip, hooray!

2. The kitchen is big and beautiful (like me...ha ha. j/k). It has all kinds of storage room with numerous drawers and cupboards. I also love that when I do the dishes in this house, I don't have a shower at the same time while the faucet sprays in all directions.

3. The kitchen/dining room/living room are all a big open space, so we can actually get the kids to eat at the table because they can still see the TV. (Now we just have to work on Kevin). Also note the easy-to-clean linoleum, and the brown, stain-hiding carpet. Hooray for good, child-friendly flooring!

4. We have a great, fenced-in backyard, so Garrett and Caiti can go outside anytime they want which helps them not get run-away fever as much. It also is the place our foster doggy comes to see us. Speaking of playing outside, directly across the street from our house is a fenced-in play area with a playground, beach volleyball court, tennis courts, etc. So nice to be able to walk a few steps out my front door and be somewhere fun.

5. Jason has his own room here, so I don't have to have a nightlight in my bedroom anymore, and he can have undisturbed naps.

6. The kids have a nice, big room that fits all of their toys, has a fun bathroom to have bubble baths in, and a huge mirror all across one wall. This room was supposed to be the master suite, but when we saw the big mirror, we knew it was fate that Garrett and Caiti get this room. They actually play in their room now, admire themselves all day in the mirror and sleep mostly in their room...they just really like their room. And I do too!

7. There is a spare room that Kevin is going to use as a den (or in other words a "get away and have some space" room.) I am excited for when we finally get a futon and extra TV in there, so he can watch football or Cops, and I won't have to.

8. We have a bedroom that hasn't been taken over by Garrett and Caiti, where we can sleep without kids...(sometimes)...

Needless to say, we feel very blessed and happy with this house. I'm so glad that we have been given this oppurtunity.

Our First Visitors

Last Sunday, we were lucky enough to have our first visitors to our new home, here in San Diego. My sister Jennifer, and her family were here for a work convention for her husband Will. They came bearing a digital camera, so in my next post, I will put up pictures of my house. This post just shows some more recent pictures of my family. I had a great time with them. After spending time with them, it was the first time I have felt homesick since moving here.

This is our foster doggy. He comes and visits every day.Here I am looking super happy because I love having the Bryan family over.

Zac, Natalie, Will and Ashley watching a boring football game...
with Uncle Kevin...
These are adorable pictures Jennifer got of my cutie pie Jason.
And of course, here are Garrett and Caiti. Garrett was sleepy, and Caiti was in a BAD mood, so this is the only picture I have of them.
We had such a nice day, watching football, eating pizza and Popeye's chicken, playing at the park across the street and just visiting. I loved hanging out with the kids and watching Spiderwick Chronicles and playing board games. Kevin loved playing computer games with Natalie. Caiti loved tackling Elise...J/K. Garrett just loved having everyone here. He ran many miles in a circular, happy pattern while they were here. So, thank you for coming guys. That was definitely one of my favorite days since moving here.

San Diego Zoo

Last weekend, I was feeling a bit stir crazy, and I think Kevin and the kids were feeling the same way. We found out that the zoo was free this month for kids. Kevin is free too, since he is active duty military, so we only ended up having to buy my ticket. We had such a great time at the zoo. I have to say both Garrett and Caiti's favorite part of the entire zoo was the flamingos.

They are super funny birds. I forgot that they stand on one foot. It was also crazy to see how flexible their necks are. I didn't realize they could totally turn their heads around and groom their backs or their tummies. There were also a bunch of ducks in with the flamingos. I was a spaz and was actually thinking, "I wonder why they have ducks at the zoo." Then I realized that the flamingo exhibit is in an open area, and the ducks are probably wild and just like the flamingo pond.

Kevin's and my favorite part of the zoo was the squirrel monkeys. The reason we liked them the best is because they were very funny to watch. They were chasing each other all around the cage. While we were watching them, this actual squirrel happened to be in the tree above us eating the pods growing on the tree. It was so funny because all the squirrel monkeys were hanging onto the fence, watching the squirrels every move. Lucky for the squirrel, the fence was there to protect him.

We definitely got our exercise. That zoo is humongous. If you wanted to see the polar bear you had to walk up a very steep, 500-yard hill (mind you we were both pushing strollers). I am not in the best shape in my life. Let's just say that I inherited sweating from my dad and turning bright red from my mom...so I must have looked pretty silly. The entire last half of our visit to the park was an uphill walk to the exit. Pant...pant...Next time, we will definitely be smart and use their bus tour.