Family Time at the Zoo

Kevin and I decided to get out of the house and do something fun with the kids.  Since we have a zoo pass, that seemed like a fun and free option.  The kids were in heaven going to one of their favorite places with one of their favorite people (their daddy). 
It's surprising how every other person in the entire city of San Diego had the same idea.  CLAUSTROPHOBIA!

Of course we went to the flamingos first, since that is definitely a favorite among our kids.  We even saw a gray flamingo on her nest. 

...and here is what happens when you try to take a self portrait after the zoo but forget to undo the zoom function after taking a pic of the gray flamingo...

We didn't feel like staying too long at the zoo since it was hot and crowded, so we made a point to see the kids' favorites and Kevin's favorites.  I didn't really care if we saw mine.  I get lots of opportunities. 

So, of course our next stop was the otters.  They are always so fun to watch when they swim and do flips in the water.  I think they were hot and tired though...like the rest of us...so we didn't get to see them swimming.  Kevin did show Caiti where the otters were resting though.

The next stop was Kevin's favorite display at the zoo, the hyenas.  They have both spotted and striped hyenas there.  I don't know if it was the weather or what, but the striped hyena was resting just like the otters did.

At least we got a pic of the double decker bus though...

Jason must have thought that since the otters and the hyena were resting, he should too.

Garrett did a good job walking throughout the zoo and not trying to run away this time, but he got tired.  Must have been in the air...so daddy ended up having to carry him.  I was pushing the double stroller with Caiti and Jason up all those fun zoo hills; so...we both got a great workout while we were there.

Still, it was really fun to be brave and take all of our kids on an outing.

Visit From the McCreas - Goodbye :(

 Their last morning here, Gavin and Jason did a really good time keeping each other company and sharing some good stories.

 Joscelyn showed me her neat postcard she got from her grammy and watched some fun movies like "The Toothfairy" and "Coraline" (which I thought was too weird and agree with Kayli on her thought, "What was the creator on when he came up with this story?")

I had a great time visiting with Ant and Kayli while they packed up all their stuff...(I'm sure they love this pic).  I was SOOOOO sad when they left.  They feel like home and make me happy.  Here's to another trip here sometime in the future!

Visit From the McCreas - Sea World

Kayli's family, Garrett and I decided to go to Sea World on their last full day here.  That was such a fun time.  We have a tradition of taking Garrett for his birthday, and Joscelyn's birthday is just a couple of weeks after his, so it was kind of their unofficial birthday party.

Joscelyn really helped a lot with Garrett and was a good buddy for him while we were there.  We all loved looking at the Seals, the sharks and seeing them training some small-ish whales.

Garrett and I went ahead to Sesame Place, while Kayli and her kids caught some of the shows.  We got a head start on a bunch of the rides and the bouncy tent.  It was fun to spend that time with my cute little boy.

I would give him choices at what rides to go on next, and he would always tell me, so he basically got to choose what we did. 

Once Joscelyn, Gavin and Kayli joined us, we had the fortune of meeting some pretty cool visitors! 

The kids spent a bunch of time in the bouncy tent and then we rode each of the rides one more time and headed on home.

I had a great time with my cute cousin Kayli and my little buddies.

Visit From the McCreas - Sunday

Sunday we decided to go to the mall because I wanted to show them how fun it is to go to a mall in California.  The hallways are just outdoors, so you don't have a roof over your head unless you go into a store.  It's fun to walk around by palm trees, etc.  Plus we wanted to show all the fancy stores they have here in San Diego at the mall.  We went into Michael Kor's shop.  Ant tried on a much too expensive coat, just to try on a Michael Kors coat.  It looked really good on her actually.  We all spent a bunch of time in the makeup store.  Ant gave me fancy eye makeup.   Joscelyn did her own.  I thought she did a great job.

That afternoon Steve and Lorraine Collard stopped by to visit with Ant Larraine.  It was nice to see them.  Steve and Ant Larraine are doubly related because his mom and my grandpa are siblings and his dad and my grandma are cousins.  :)

Visit From the McCreas - New Years Day

We weren't able to join in on the Lego Land trip or the trip to the beach, so it was fun on New Year's Day to spend the day with the McCrea's at the zoo.  Besides the scary first part where Garrett got away from us...sigh... it was absolutely wonderful.  Garrett loves to run down the hills in the zoo, and by the time we found him, he was pretty far from where we had been at the flamingos waiting for Michelle and Ant.  This pic was taken right before he dissapeared.

 Because of that, we decided it would be smart to rent a wheelchair so that he couldn't pull that fun trick again.

 Jason and Caiti had fun in the stroller.   Aunt Michelle was so nice to help push them.

 It was so fun to see the animals with all the little kids and with Ant (on her polar expedition).  :)

Joscelyn was a good friend to Garrett while they were looking at the animals. 

 I hadn't seen the hippos out of the water before.  It was really fun to see them so close.

 Of course the gorilla display was awesome, as always.  That is one of my very favorites.

We had a nice lunch together up by the polar bear display.

 Then, after 3 hours of hiking around the zoo, we decided it was time to go home.  Since we had special needs kids, we got the VIP treatment of riding to the entrance in one of the zoo shuttles and getting a nice tour.  :O)

I had a great time the rest of the afternoon having a nice visit with my favorite Ant.  Kayli and her kids were very brave and super strong and saw the entire zoo, by foot, in one day.  I've never done that before. 
That evening we all had a great time with Michelle's new video camera.  Joscelyn made a bunch of silly movies, and we LOVED the movie she made her grandpa where she sang such a pretty little song.

Bathtime without water...in clothes...

I came upon this sight by chance... Jason got fun bathtime crayons from Aunt Michelle.  Who says you need to actually be bathing to use them, right?

Visit From the McCreas - Day 2

The 29th was still pretty dull and dreary.  I forgot to mention earlier that Garrett totally had the stomach flu when they got here, which is why there aren't many pics of him.  He was busy watching his new movie from the McCrea's "How to Train Your Dragon," and lying in my room in misery.  Poor little buddy.
I had a great time coloring with Joscelyn.  We made this masterpiece together.  We were quite proud of ourselves.

The highlight of the 29th was when Kevin got home early from work, and I was able to take the McCreas on a drive to La Jolla.  I think La Jolla is absolutely beautiful.  We were able to stop at the temple, and right next to the temple is a shopping center that has Trader Joe's so we were able to stop there and get some gluten-free foods for Ant and my kids. 

The rest of the day we watched "good cable" (Ant's name for non-basic cable).  It was fun to catch up on totally shallow, fun shows like "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and "Millionaire Matchmaker."

Gavin was super cute and happy just chillin' with the rest of us. 

This was, of course, quite the funny sight.  Garrett always goes after everyone's Cokes.  :)

And, of course, Ant got some good snuggle time in with her little buddies.

Visit From the McCreas

 We were very excited to find out earlier in the year that Ant Larraine, Kayli and her two kids Joscelyn and Gavin, were coming to San Diego for their vacation.  They got here late on the 27th, and they sure were a sight for sore eyes.  The first couple days they were here were kind of overcast and rainy, so we just chilled at home and played and our kids got to know this other part of their family a little better. 

Gavin and Jason played very well together.  It was nice to see Jason playing with another little kid since Garrett and Caiti don't give him the time of day.

 Caiti loved Ant Larraine.  Ant just had the magic touch and made Caiti feel happy.

 Gavin and Joscelyn looked super cute trying on Caiti's hats.  I loved having a flower pot and a princess in my living room.

On the 28th, I was lucky enough to get a VERY needed haircut from my favorite hairstylist, Kayli.  I felt pretty lucky.  She did such a good job.