San Diego Zoo, Day 2

 Just getting to the zoo, so excited! I grew up going to the San Diego zoo, so I knew what to expect, but my kids had no idea how cool this was going to be! And so much different than our zoo at home.

 We first took the double decker bus tour. We sat on the top and had such a wonderful view of all the animals. The narrator stopped when the animals where out and we got to hear all about them and watch them in their environment. It was soooo cool!

And so HOT! Something like 95 degrees. Needless to say, I was in heaven!

 True chillin' on the bus.

 Shilo was thrilled with being able to actually SEE all the animals.

 Shilos favorite animal. Glad she got to see this one up close.

 Funniest thing we saw all day! This poor brown bear was trying to stay cool pressing himself against a boulder:)

 Baby giraffes! Why is everything baby so cute? I learned that they fall from their mommies tummies to the ground during birth to cut the umbilical cord. Yikes!

 This ape was going crazy with excitement for all the people!

 He and True had a good talk...

 Monkeys are so funny! So fun to watch.

 My happy girl

 The animals are so active at this zoo. We hardly missed anything due to not being able to see.

 Camels. Camels people. At the Zoo!! So cool, but so smelly..

 I love this capture

 They have these big sculptures all over the park~ unfortunately, when it's 90+ outside, the sculptures are HOT!

 This zoo is really in to conservation, which I love!

 When I was a kid, you could ride an Elephant! Was kinda hoping you could still do so.

They have some of the coolest birds ever!

 My cute boys

 Chillin' some feet need a rest

The zoo is HUGE! So big you can take a bus from one part to another, they actually have bus stops and everything! 

 The kids favorite treat!

My poor kids are probably tired of me & my camera in their face documenting every moment:)

{you can tell from Chastins fake smile}

 The zebras are white with black stripes, the zoo keeper said their skin is actually white. See, you learn something new every day.

 My favorite part! The flamingos.

 I love the color of flamingos.

 They just bring me peace looking at them.

I have vivid and wonderful memories of standing quietly watching the flamingos with my mom when I was Shilos age. I have pictures of my mom and I standing in front of the flamingos trying to see how long we can balance on one leg. This moment in time meant more than words can explain. I was fulfilling a dream of mine at this very moment.  To share something so close to my heart with my children, was so special to me.

All the hard work, the saving, the waiting, was all worth it.

I'm glad they had as much fun as I remember having here.

Newport beach, day 1

 There was this crazy turquoise eyed cat on the beach- looked like a little tiger

 The kids begging to get all wet

 When we get to the beach, the shirt comes off and the pants get rolled

{i have something on the sensor of my point & shoot so some pictures have spots on them}

 Didn't take long before the kids were soaked!

 True is in love!!! {counting the days till I get out of Seattle & back to where I love}

 The water was warm and True was fearless, so all the way in they went!

My g-ma took Shilo and I for pedicures, Shilo got a flower~ lucky girl

Family Vacation

Off to California!

We decided that it would be to go on a vacation to California this year. It's where I'm from so it's usually the first place I think of going. It's no secret that I love it there. 

John and I have decided since we went to the Bahamas for our 5 year anniversary that we really don't need a lot of stuff on vacation. The airline lost our luggage and we thought "if we just packed lighter...we wouldn't have had luggage to lose" so from then on, we just pack a back pack per person and travel light. {and really,  when going somewhere warm, how many clothes do you really need?}

 Boarding the plane was so neat for the kids because it's an outdoor terminal.

True and Jordan had never done that before. So that was fun!

True has never been to the airport so he was pretty excited. It was so fun to see. He pointed out every plane, and was so excited to see them take off. People around him were smiling at his excitement!

He was gasping" Ahh! An airplane!"

 Boarding the plane, knowing you get to leave it all behind is such a fun feeling.

 As always~ In'N Out first thing after picking up our Suburban.

 These two are best of friends

 The beach is the next place on the agenda. Every time. Same beach.

True has never felt such soft warm sand. He just took off running! {right after he  plopped down in the sand and pulled his shoes off}

Edmonds beach

 Last month for our date night, John and I headed down to Edmond to soak up some fun.

We went to Anthonys beach cafe for a light dinner then walked the beach at sunset, which was a favorite past time of ours when we were dating, so it holds a special place in my heart. After the sun went down we headed up from the beach to the Edmonds theater. It's a local little place that I had never been to! Movies are something like $5 and the popcorn is a few bucks a bag, so you can actually see a first run film for under $20! Can't believe it took me so long to scope this place out. The movie was so good & it made my tear up at the end! {not to hard to do these days, guess the emotional thing comes with age}

The evening was wonderful.

I'm so glad that we are able to still enjoy the same things we did 14 years ago:)
Simple things like a beautiful sunset and a cheap movie.

A date with my girl

 We saw Mirror Mirror at the Crest, which was so funny, love Julia Roberts in this. We laughed, held hands and ate popcorn. Chatted like two old friends, squeezed each others hands at the 'scary' parts..and of course, made a great memory. Just me and my girl.

Then we headed down to Swirl, a new frozen yogurt spot in LFP.

{not my favorite, but it's close to home)

I had a wonderful time with my beautiful, fun, spunky daughter!

So much so, that we have another date planned for this Friday!

I love this girl!

First moms Monday of summer 2012

 We went hiking in St. Edwards state park. We found trails we never knew existed! We had so much fun finding all the long, slippery black slugs. Shilo was blazing the trail ahead of us and would announce every single slug:) 

We hiked all the way to Lake Washington, found a little beach we would like to explore on a sunnier day.

 True was a real trooper, he would hike a few miles then needed "bacon" as he likes to refer to Chastin as, to carry him for a few steps. He would hitch a ride on big brothers back for only a few seconds before Shilo would announce "Banana slug!" and he would quickly hop down to check it out!

 The trees were AMAZING and the views and sounds were peaceful. We heard all sorts of birds and saw baby squirrels.

I am soooo lucky to get to be able to take Mondays off to spend with these wonderful kids! I just find them to be so much fun! And it's nice to get to hear all they have to talk about and really get to listen to what's important to them.

They too look forward to our Mondays together, they ask what the plan is and usually have an agenda filled with great ideas of things to do together.