San Diego Zoo

Today we found ourselves at the San Diego Zoo. We got there right when it opened, which was nice since the crowds didn't start coming until later on in the day, not to mention the temperature was perfect. In the several hours we were at the zoo we didn't even see all the exhibits. The place is huge. No wonder the animals on Madagascar thought they were at the San Diego Zoo when they landed on the island.

Bear loved seeing all the animals and would say, "let's go see what else we can find" once he had enough of an exhibit. Jaxson and Olivia had been collecting the pressed pennies from all the different places they had been on their vacation, which also meant that Bear came home with his own collection of pressed pennies.

Poor Moose was stuck in his stroller for the 3rd straight day. He did really well, especially when he was being fed soft frozen lemonade.

After the seal show around 2 in the afternoon we asked the kids what else they wanted to see. They said they just wanted to go back to the apartment and swim. So we drove back to Rancho exhausted from a week and half of going non-stop.

Because of the good deal for So. California residents we got season passes to the zoo. If anyones ever up for going, let us know, we'd love to go see more of the zoo.

Wild Animal Park

We spent the day a the wild animal park in Escondido. 

One of the trams on the Journey into Africa tour broke down, so what was supposed to be a 25 minute tram ride turned into a 1 hour 15 minute tram ride. My boys were so done by the time we finished.

We were able to see the butterfly jungle exhibit, which was pretty cool. I never knew there were so many crazy looking butterflies. 

Bear wanted to ride the animals, and was disappointed when he had to settle for just sitting on the metal rhino.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

We made it back to California. Barely.

I packed the suitcases the night before. Double checked everything.

Except for the diaper bag.

When we were about five minutes away from the airport (and already running late) I realized my wallet was no where to be found. Mom called the neighbor who went over and checked. Sure enough my wallet was there. He was nice enough to drive it out to the airport so we didn't have to turn around and drive back out. 

Since it was the start of spring break the line for security was so stinkin' long.

And of course, being on a Delta connection flight our terminal was as far away from security as it possibly could have been.

We made it just in time to go to have one last potty break and board our flight. 

I don't know if the California sun has ever felt so good. 

Except at Christmas.

I don't think I was meant to live in a state where snows in April.

California is so nice in the spring.

The end.

April Fools

Meanest April Fools joke ever. 

Brought to you by Mother Nature.

Eric Comes Home!

The Preparation.

The Airport.

Home.

It was so fun being in Utah to see Eric come home from Greece. 

My favorite moment was watching him chase the little kids around and then just scoop them up into a giant hug. 

It's good to have my little buddy home.

Now I just need to convince him to come to California.

Utah

The boys and I flew to Utah on the 27th in anticipation of Uncle Eric's arrival home from his mission in Greece.

To prepare for the trip Bear drank his body weight in cran-apple juice that morning.

My friend April loaned me her stroller for the excursion. I could not have made it through the airports without her it!

Nana picked us up from the airport and took us to my parents house. We arrived to a house full of family and some KFC. After everyone left mom and I took the boys to do some grocery shopping and last minute errands.  We didn't make it home from the store until after 10:30 that night! Moose was worn out, but Bear was just getting started for the night and ate a bowl of cereal, a bagel and a banana. He was still going strong at midnight!

Sunday after church we were going to have an Easter egg hung and decorate posters for the big day, but poor Kaylie was sick. Melanie and Jordan still came up to the house and Melanie made the big banner for the garage door while I entertained my kids and tried keeping them out of trouble.

That night we were able to go to FHE at my grandparents and see the extended family. We also stopped by Nana and Grandpas to visit with them and see Jaxson and Olivia.

Saying Goodbye

It was bittersweet saying goodbye to our family before we left Utah. While we miss them, we certainly don't miss the cold weather!

We had a fun trip with some not so fun things thrown into the mix. Some things we'll always remember

*Sign on the freeway saying "Heavy Holiday Traffic, Use Caution" and being the only car on the road

*$20 Hotel Room in St. George

*Sick little boys

*Meeting Lydia for the first time

*Talking to Eric in Greece

*Spending time with our family

*Christmas Eve Bowling

*Moose throwing up on Christmas Eve

*Aaron food poisoning

*Bear's food allergies (more throw-up)

*Robintinos, Tony Burgers, Cafe Rio

*Visiting old friends

*a late night putting together a puzzle with Jackie

*card games

*taking Moose to the dr. on Christmas day

*Super Target (oh how I miss you)

*no crowds at the stores

*Olivia's baptism

*cousins, cousins and more cousins

{Bear getting a last minute story and play time in before we hit the road}

New Years Day

New Years Day I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast then headed out for a morning sans kids to meet my friend Brooke's newest addition. It was so fun to hold a snuggly newborn and catch up with Brooke. She's moving to Texas in a month and while I'm so excited for her new adventure, I'm a little sad that she won't be there when we visit Utah.

Once I got back we had Aunt Lauren bring my two nephews over to sled and snowboard in the backyard. It was fun to see the boys again and I can't believe how much they've changed since August. They seemed to have adapted to Utah pretty well, especially Kaleb who said he was born to live in the snow (if only I felt the same way about the snow….)

Aaron had been brining a turkey for a couple days and cooked us up a delicious turkey dinner that night. It was so nice to see Andrea and her family one more time before we headed home. Bear absolutely loved being with all of his cousins for a week straight.

All in all it was a perfect way to start off the new year!

Party like it's two thousand and nine

New Years Eve we were able to spend in Salt Lake with my siblings. Ryan and his family had been out of town over Christmas so we had our Christmas with them that night. Annette cooked a yummy dinner, we opened presents, talked, did some little poppers and called it an early night.

This year my siblings did handmade gifts which turned out so fun. Annette made Mel and I cute signs to hang in our houses, along with the cutest memory game with Temples for Bear and Moose. Bear loves to "play the Temple!" every day. Mel and Jordan tied fleece blankets for all the kids. They are so soft and cute. Bear got a Bear one (of course) and loves to count how many Bears there are on it. Moose's is a cute striped one and he just likes to eat it.

When we got back to Nana & Grandpa's we let Bear bang some pots and pans with Jax & Liv then it was off to bed by 10 pm (for him). I ended up making cinnamon rolls, so despite my plans for an early bedtime Aaron, Moose and I stayed up waaaay to late. We did get to ring in the new year with the neighbors and their illegal fireworks along with more loud pots & pans courtesy of Jax & Liv once more.

We had such a great New Years Eve with our family-it was the perfect way to ring in the new year!

*as I was looking through the pictures I couldn't believe I don't have one picture of cute Lydia the newest niece in our family. This trip was our first time meeting her and I fell in love instantly. She is absolutely adorable. I guess I was too busy stuffing my face with yummy food while she was awake.*

Kangaroo Zoo

New Years Eve day I decided I wanted to take Bear to Kangaroo Zoo. We went out to lunch at Paradise Bakery with Nana, Jaxson, Olivia and Andrea's family then headed over to run, jump and bounce to our hearts content.

Aaron and Eli chased the kids all over and had just as much (if not more fun than the little kids). Moose slept by Nana and Andrea the whole time while I tried to take a few pictures and go down a slide or two.

I did have to laugh as I was coming out of the toddler inflatable I totally ate it and ended up on my back at some lady's feet. It was awesome.

Battle Zone

New Years Eve morning I found Aaron upstairs playing with the Lincoln logs, baby blocks and army men. I'm pretty sure he didn't know what else to do with himself since he left all his schoolwork home.

And, after a few days on the meds our Moose was back to being our happy little guy. Don't you just want to kiss those chubby cheeks?

Sledding

With the good snowstorm the night before and the continuous snowfall throughout the morning we decided we needed to take advantage of the fresh powder and go sledding. When I was packing for the trip I had talked to Nana and she said they had snowgear at the house for the boys so we didn't need to worry about getting them anything.....

Well, when we decided to go sledding Nana was gone and we couldn't find the stuff for the boys. Bear ended up wearing his jacket and a raincoat, and Moose just had about 50 layers, 1 pair of socks and no gloves on. Ya, we're awesome parents.

Olivia's Baptism

Aaron had the opportunity to baptize and confirm Olivia a Member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints while we were in Utah. Heather had the family over for a dinner before the baptism then we all trekked up to the Stake Center. I didn't know if our car was going to make it up the hill the roads were so icy and the plows hadn't been out yet.

Luckily we made it to and from the Stake Center without plowing into anyone's house. Aaron did a nice job (from what I heard while battling a very tired two year old).

After her baptism we played trump and thirty one with John, Ali and Ru until 12:30 in the morning, which meant that our very tired two year old was running around wild at 12:30 in the morning.

Christmas Eve Day

We left for Utah on Wednesday night and drove to St. George. Thanks to my brother-in-law who works for the Marriott we get an awesome rate and were grateful to be able to get a good nights sleep before driving the rest of the way to Salt Lake.

We drove straight to Robintino's to meet Aaron's family for pizza (and the best ranch to dip your pizza in) and then headed to the bowling alley for the annual bowling party. We were short in numbers this year, but still had a great time with all our family that was there.

After telling Bear several times that he couldn't be on the floor when anyone was bowling, he decided that he could be the only one when it was his turn too, so our helping him bowl came to an abrupt halt. He's such an independent little kid and sometimes it cracks me up how he wants to do everything by himself.

I was all set to bowl and after doing one round and having my score being a whopping 1 I decided to let our nephew Sorun take over for. I guess the wii really doesn't count as practice when it come to bowling in real life....

Thanks for the yummy pizza and an afternoon of bowling Nana & Grandpa!

Lobster Fishing

My cousin Amy and her husband Jared had some lobster traps with them while we were in Newport so we invited ourselves to go watch them try their hand at lobster fishing.

In the end we ended up catching about 5 crabs and no lobster. It was still really fun (and cold). A few of the highlights were trying to figure out how the traps actually worked, Aaron not having a jacket and needing to borrow one of mine, Bear demanding Nicole's complete attention, and Moose's mega blowout which resulted in a makeshift outfit with things we had in the car.

Aaron wants to pick up a few of his own lobster traps, so if anyone ever comes and visit us we'll take you down to the pier and see what we get. We'll also remember to bring our own hot chocolate, it gets kinda cold, and we're too cheap to pay the $3.00 for one from Rubys!

After we finished up we headed back to the condo for some delicious pizza and to say our goodbye's to everyone. We didn't realize we'd be back so late and missed saying goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma before they had to head to the airport.

I had to get a picture of Bear with Uncle David. He loved playing with Uncle David and it was fun for me to see his admiration for him. David reminds me so much of my dad and it was really neat to see Bear and David bond and imagine what it would be like if my dad were still around to play with my boys....Just so you know I do consider Ron an awesome Grandpa to my boys and we're grateful we have him in our lives.

On the way back to our hotel I snapped this picture of the lights on the trees. It's definitely different here seeing palm trees as opposed to pine trees with the lights on them.

This is the picture of Moose's makeshift outfit. He kept his socks and bib, but was wearing Bear's rash guard and swimsuit. According to Aaron it was a level 5 blowout-there's baby poop all over the car to prove it.

Whale Watching

Friday morning we were invited to go Whale watching with the family. We weren't going to go, but the boys were free and the adults were two for one, which made it an offer we couldn't pass up.

Bear was pretty unsure about being on the big boat.

Zach sporting Grandpa's sweater-ya it was freezing on the boat and our little family plus Zach didn't bring jackets. Not the brightest of the bunch.

Amy & Moose-the family was awesome and took care of my boys the whole time. It was like I was on a mini vacation without kids...

Maryelen & Jared on the lookout for whales

David & Maryelen

The Grandparents, Zach & Nicole (Bear's idol)

We pulled up next to these sea lions-wow they stink.

The newlyweds...sort of. These 2 only live a few hours north of us. I think we'll be taking them up on their offer to come visit and check out the city by the bay.

Bear and Grandma at the end. We were so glad we grabbed an extra blanket for Moose and could wrap Bear in it. Note to self, when going out on a boat in the ocean WEAR A JACKET!

We didn't see any whales, but we saw lots of dolphins which made it fun. After the boat ride everyone else went back to the condo, we decided to make a picnic lunch on the beach. Nothing like a sandy pb&j right?

I took Bear down to "look" at the water-of course he ended up soaking wet almost to his waist.

It was such an exhausting morning that both boys crashed in the car on the way back to the hotel.

*thanks to Amy for taking the pictures while on the boat-of course I was lame and forgot my camera!