Friends!

This is one of our hang out places near home. It's conveniently located between Baskin Robbins and Starbucks: something for the kids and the parents! Kendall loves running around the water fountain, and Brandon can usually be found climbing on the top of it!


And Kendall gets to practice her favorite thing: going up and down stairs!


She loves to smell flowers...


Earlier in the day we went to an awesome restaurant with some friends that were in town. Stone Brewery Restaurant is an amazing brewery/restaurant/garden area that just blew my mind. I was amazed that I had never even heard of it, let alone been there before!


Chris' best man, Jeremy, was in town with his girlfriend, Nancy. And that is Jerome sporting the awesome Conan t-shirt. Doesn't Jeremy look so happy in this picture?


We spent quite a bit of time in the garden area, which has beautiful paths and streams. Here's a cool waterfall...


Best place to go with little kids: while you are waiting for your food, or after you eat they can roam around. It really was a fun time. Thanks to Jeremy and Nancy for introducing it to us!

Grandpa!

We don't see Grandpa as often as we would like. Hopefully that will change this year. I vow to make him take us fishing at Lake Cuyamaca routinely- something we enjoyed doing as kids.

Grandpa had a close scare recently. He was riding his motorcycle and went down on some gravel in the road. Now, my dad is a very experienced motorcycle rider- 40+ years or so. So, if it can happen to him it can happen to anyone. Motorcycles are scary!

Anyhow, despite a broken clavicle and scapula (or spatula, as he likes to call it), he will be ok.
Hopefully he will put the motorcycle on the back burner and think more along the lines of taking his kids and grandkids fishing, and stuff.


I mean, isn't this hat perfect for fishing? Or gallivanting in the outback of Australia? ;)

We love you , Dad. Just want to let you know.

Grandpa!

Encinitas Beach

It was the four of us at the beach today: Me, Chris, Kendall, and baby. (Brandon still on vacation). It was overcast as it tends to get right along the coast. But it was still nice and warm and Kendall enjoyed splashing around.

She is getting really good at balancing herself as she goes up and down hills, or trudges through uneven terrain.


Encinitas beach has to be my new favorite. Here's why: clean bathrooms and lots of them, clean playground/grassy area, concession stand, lots of showers, and lots of room to set up with all your friends and family and enjoy the beautiful California sun.



This little girl...still only 14 months and so big! She amazes me every day with her new skills and her silly sense of humor. Love you, Kake!

You belong at the zoo!

Last week Kendall and I went to the zoo with my beautiful sis in law, Shelly, and my enormously cute (pun intended!) nephew, Dean. Fun times were had by all!

One of my favorite animal's are the gorillas. They are so human-like! This one was just hanging out and staring right back at everyone.

Kendall: "It's like looking in a mirror!"

Gotta love the giraffes. Nature is so amazing! To think: we all evolved from the same ancestor billions of years ago. The diversity of life forms is truly amazing.

This would definitely be me if I were at the beach. Same size, same lazy...wanna trade places, girls? I'm pretty sure that nobody would be able to tell the difference between the hippos and me at this point in my pregnancy.

It was a fun day. But there's only so much zoo one can handle at one time. We vowed to come back with brother and daddy next time!

I feel a nap coming on!

I know some people have a problem with zoos. I get where you are coming from. But consider this: would you rather live in the wild? How about we put you in the middle of the wilderness with none of the comforts of civilization. Exposed to the elements and predators-no doctors if you get an illness, a broken leg, or a disease. No grocery store: you must survive solely on what you can gather or hunt.

Now, tell me if the animals in zoos have it so bad. They are protected from predators they would encounter in the wild. They have doctors to care for them if they get hurt. They are assured they will eat each day. They have a safe and comfortable environment regardless of outside environmental fluctuations in the environment.

Just sayin'. :)

Little One...

She's not so little anymore...but I just love this series of photos. They crack me up!



Notice the devil horns? :)

Sweet girl!

Ever seen Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "The Birds?"

You know the part where everywhere you look there were birds.

Too many birds.

Birds glaring at you with their beady little eyes.

Birds pecking your eyeballs out!!!

OK, it wasn't that bad.

But.



It came pretty darn close.



This next photo was shot right before that duck snatched the bread right out of Kendall's hand!

"Like taking candy from a baby! Quack!"



Although it looks as though I kneed her in the face, she was actually starting to get freaked out by all the ducks and was running for cover between my legs. *No babies were harmed in the making of these pictures.*

All in all though, Kendall really loved feeding the ducks. And she realized she loves eating white bread, too!

Family Gone Wild!!

So, Brandon is visiting his dad's family up North. Sad for us but fun for him. I really am glad that he is lucky enough to have so many people that love him and want to spend time with him! Love you, Junior Bacon Cheeseburger!!

So, the rest of us had to find something to do while he is away. I have been wanting to get a pass for the Zoo/Wild Animal Park for a while. Yesterday I managed to convince Chris that we should go! We all ended up having a great time. We cant wait to come back with big bro!

Kendall saw a lot of animals, but by far her favorite's were the little sparrows flying all over the place!


The first animals we saw were the elephants. They had a few babies that were so cute!




In honor of Brandon, we had to stop and see his favorite animal- the Meerkat.

"Over here, Meerkat!"


These birds were pretty cool Talk about a shnoz!



I really wanted Chris to pose in front of the gorilla diagram, but he wouldn't do it. Party Pooper! :)


My wormy alter -ego!



So, we had lots of fun at the Wild Animal Park and can't wait to go back. We ended the night with lots of relaxing and winding down.

Kendall was really into reading her special book. With Daddy. That's right: she would literally tke her book and walk away from me and go over to Dad and make that, "Ugh...UGH!!" sound until he picked her up and read with her. It really melted my heart and I had to get some pictures of it.