Summer baby...

Hannah loves to be outside, especially if water is involved. I think she looks so cute in her swimsuit, hat and glasses.

My little climber...

Hannah decided to climb between my legs today while I was washing my face. She got right up on Richard's stool, no problems. She was fascinated by the running water, and by being up so high, high for her. :)

Playin' at the park...

I went to see my Mom earlier this week. We got Subway sandwiches and ate them at the park. Here are some great photos of the kids.

Richard loves to climb UP the slides. Thanks in part to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, they have an upslide.

He made friends with a darling girl, Astrea. She helped him get a drink.

Hannah loved to watch the other kids, and she enjoyed playing in the bark.

Richard: reaching for Astrea to come down the slide.

The pickle...

I thought this was so cute. Hannah was chillin' at her new picnic table a few days ago and was eating a pickle. I couldn't resist.

"Hannah, show me your pickle."

So intense. This girl doesn't mess around when it comes to food.

Many years back I had the nickname Pickle. I enjoy a good pickle now and then. I had gone to a movie with some friends. It was right after work and I hadn't eaten for a while. Instead of ordering nachos or buttery popcorn, I ordered a giant pickle. My friends thought is was the funniest thing they had ever seen. I still don't see why it was so funny. I guess they didn't catch on that the theatre sold pickles because people ordered them, not just me. Anyway, I was teased about it for months. And for Christmas they gave me a Christmas Pickle ornament. Some of you may know of the German tradition. So it has become a tradition for me to hide the pickle on my Christmas tree.

slip-n-slide

Slip-n-slide...

It isn't blistering hot today, but I pulled out this slip-n-slide we bought for the kids this weekend. They had a lot of fun and I had a good time watching them.

Hannah the clothes horse...

Richard was uncharacteristically taking a nap Sunday. Hannah got really quiet so I realized she was in her room. I went to check on her and she was at Richard's bed trying to wake him up. I took her out and a few minutes later, realized the same quietness filled the house. I went to check again and saw that Hannah had been into Richard's clothes and had them all over the floor. When Chris came in to see this, she would hold up a piece of clothing for him to see then she would throw that, too, on the floor. Funny girl.

Life is a Highway

This is Richard's favorite song from his favorite movie, Cars. He always makes me laugh.

In uploading and viewing this, Richard watched himself and kissed back to the computer and said, "I love you too, other monkey."

Richard and Hannah bought this sandbox and toys with some of the money they have been saving in their piggy banks. Even though it was only 55 degrees yesterday Richard couldn't wait to set it all up and play. On the way home from the store he kept say, "Oh, I'm so excited!" And first thing this morning he said, "Mom I want to go play in my blue sandbox." That's my boy! When it warms up I'll let Hannah go play with him.

American Idol Finale...

Although I'm totally bummed Archuleta didn't win, he did a wonderful job on American Idol. I do like Cook, I think I knew deep down that he would win. This takes me back to Season 2 when Clay Aiken lost to Ruben Studdard; however, I like David Cook a whole lot better than Ruben. But it is still disappointing to have the one you are rooting for not win. Cook grew on me as the season went on. He is very talented and it was time for a good rocker to win.

Peanutbutter baby...

My little Hannah is a good eater, and she loves peanutbutter sandwiches. Chris took these photos of her eating and making a giant mess. What a piggy girl. I love her so much!!!

My little Richard...

Richard put his shorts on by himself, backward. Sorry the photos are a bit blurry, my battery was almost dead.

This huge slide is at the stake park. Richard didn't hesitate to climb the ladder all by himself, but once he got to the top he thought twice about going down, so he climbed back down the ladder. Eventually he did go down the slide and had a lot of fun.

Here he is with the YM, climbing up the hill and rolling back down it. Although, the older guys were jumping down and crashing. Richard had a lot of fun with them.

Combined YM/YW activity...

We had a fun activity last night with the YM, we played water kickball. Everyone had a great time and they all want to do this activity again. People were sliding into the pools. Monica had to refill them every few minutes. It was funny. And we started the activity by cleaning up the stake park. It was good to do a little service before our rowdy fun.

San Diego, California...

Chris called me from work Wednesday and asked if I wanted to go to the beach. I love the beach so I said yes and we began our planning. I called to make arrangements for the kiddies and Chris got our plane tickets, the hotel booked and a rental car arranged.

The travel

We flew into L.A., then to San Diego on this 30 seater. It's the smallest plane I have ever been on.

As you can see, it was a tight fit for the two of us. The flight was only about 35-40 minutes, though. And we were glad to be starting our vacation.

 

This was our beautiful rental car. It was great cruising around in a convertible, totally worth the extra $$$!



(Chris likes taking pictures of me.)

Day 1

Our hotel, Extended Stay America. It's cheaper, but there is no pool, hot tub, fitness room, or maid service. I think next time we will pay a bit more for those things.

Our first lunch was in Ocean Beach at a great Mexican spot: Bravo's. Yummy food, neat atmosphere, and only a few minutes walking distance from the beach. There are also some great shops in the area.

 (Chris doesn't like his picture taken, and he thinks I'm a crazy blogger.)

 After lunch, we headed for the beach, I'm sparing everyone photos of us in our swimsuits. :)

 

Oh crap! Chris got me in mine! Luckily I had my cover-up on, sort of. I'm such a dork!

 We found these great cliffs in Ocean Beach called Sunset Cliffs. It was beautiful and part of it let us walk right down to the water. Next time I want to go watch the sunset from here!

View from the cliffs.

We decided to pick up some produce and drinks and found this great market, Vons. Chris, being a Chef, was very impressed with the organization and presentation of the market so I took a few photos for him to show his students.



Later that night we drove around town and I took photos here and there.

That night we ordered in Chinese from City Wok. It was alright, I've had much better.

This stadium is where the Padres (baseball) play.

Interesting art off the side of the road.

Day 2

First thing in the morning we went to the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. They have a sort of mini safari you go on to see the animals in their natural habitat. There are also petting zoos, and all types of animal shows. It was pretty neat, but they are trying to conserve the animals. They have 1 of the only 8 white rhinos in the world.

I thought Richard would like this of his Daddy with Sponge Bob.

Cheetah in the grass.

Eating time. there was a gorilla named Dari, but I couldn't get a photo of her from the front, so I got the daddy.

 

I guess this is the rock that the father lion, king of the jungle, will come and roar on each evening. During the day, the lion cub likes to sit there. Too cute!NBC has a studio in San Diego, I never knew that.



We drove past this beautiful vineyard on the way to the Wild Animal Park.

Driving North on I-5 we suddenly came across the San Diego Temple. It looks like a castle, it is so beautiful!

That day for lunch we went to Del Mar to find the Fish Market. It has won many awards and accolades. Chris loves seafood, but I do not. I am a good sport, and since most fish eateries have steak or chicken I told him we should go. I had a great herb chicken, tasty steamed veggies, and a wonderful serving of Au gratin potatoes-the best I have ever had! Chris had sword fish and said it was one of the best he has ever had, he even complimented the server. I believe there are 4 Fish Market locations, we were just closest to this one.

 

Then we headed to the beach, less than 5 minutes from the Fish Market. We caught a few waves and saw some dolphins about 50-80 yards from us. It was so exciting!

 

Lots of dogs at this beach!


Then we headed over to Balboa Park, the zoo and a ton of museums are over there. They were all closed but it was neat to see the area.

This amazing tree was just in front of the Museum of Natural History. Absolutely incredible!

Downtown, while waiting for dinner, a ton of emergency vehicles showed up for a fire at the mall. We never did see it, but could smell the smoke. It was prom or something, so a ton of people were out there watching with us.

Then we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. We got the kids bears, I got a shirt, and Chris got a hat. We also bought his Dad a military bear pin for his birthday. Happy Birthday Bryce!

Day 3

We went on a Harbor Dining Cruise for brunch. It was a 2 hour tour, not 3 like Gilligan's Island cast. :) They had a buffet of breakfast food, seafood, salads, omelets, Mexican food, and desserts. Including a chocolate fountain with pineapple and strawberries!!! Yum. I ate soooo much, but I had to get my $50 worth, ya know? It was nice, and a beautiful day. It was neat to see the city from a different perspective.

 

California Spirit. They served champagne and mamosa's to everyone, over 21 to get on the ship. Chris and I, of course, declined the alcohol, but I was carded. It felt pretty good to be 30 and be carded. It made my day that the server thought I was younger. :)

Chris chillin' on the back of the ship.

Afterward, we were just exhausted and hot. We had to be at the airport in a few hours and had checked-out from our hotel, so we found shade at the edge of Balboa Park and rested up for a bit. Then we ran to Wal-mart, we needed another bag for souveniers, and headed to the airport.


While we were resting, the airplanes were coming in almost over us. It was fun to watch.

In the LAX, we ate at the L.A. Roadhouse. It was alright.


All-in-all, I had a wonderful time and would go again in a heartbeat! I love San Diego!!! Thanks, babe, for the great weekend. And thank you Bonnie& family and Bryce & Donnell for watching our kids! They had a lot of fun, too.