Fairy Garden

About a month ago, Grandma Margie sent a Fairy Garden book to Lexi.  She told her that she wanted her to help make one while we are visiting.  Today after church, she took us out to see an area that has lots of them.  We wandered around looking at all of the little gardens inside big gardens and flowers.  The kids loved it and can't wait to get started.

At the Zooooooo

We went to the zoo this afternoon.  It is a fun place to go, but mainly we decided to go because that is where Paige hangs out on the weekends.  It has something to do with her boyfriend's band playing there.  We watched one set and then wondered around a section of the zoo.  I'm guessing we'll be here several times this month, which is perfectly fine with us.

Happy 4th of July

We had a fun-filled 4th of July here in California.  The morning started off with a flag raising ceremony and breakfast at Grandma's church.  Of course, it was quite chilly for us.  It was probably the first time I’ve had the Declaration of Independence read to me. 

Mid-morning, we headed to Grandma’s work to watch a little local parade.  The neighbors around the facility dressed up patriotically and paraded through the grounds.  There were adults, kids and dogs all decked out.  Some of the kids were on bikes others were on skateboards and scooters.  When it was over, we went for a walk along the beach.  We happened to walk behind Mitt Romney’s house.  He goes to church with my mom, so we've seen him quite a few times.  Of course, we didn't see him or his family.  He is out campaigning.

That afternoon, we headed out to the desert for a pool party at Aunt Vicky’s house (Papa’s daughter).  It was warmer out there, but still a little nippy for a pleasant swim.  The kids jumped in though.  We also had picnic/bbq food.  The kids and Papa got temporary patriotic tattoos.  That might have been their favorite part of the party.

Later, we headed to the San Diego Zoo to watch Paige’s boyfriend and his band perform.  They have a contract to play every day this summer.  I’m sure we’ll see them quite a few times during this trip.  For today, I’ll just post pictures.  By the way, they are a steam punk band, which is why they are wearing robot costumes.  

Lexi was able to get in on the zoo's hula hoop contest.  It wasn't an easy task for her since her pants kept slipping.  She continually had to slow a little to pull them up without missing a beat.  There were quite a few kids & adults that got cut.  Lexi made it down to the final 2 and was keeping up with the tricks until her hoop dropped.  It was just too difficult to pull her pants up, do the tricks, walk around and hula hoop all at the same time.  She won the same prize as the first placed girl though.  I'm sure Lexi will get more chances to win the zoo hula hoop contest while we're here.  

We ended the night with dinner at the Big Kahunas, which is one of our favorite spots here.  The kids were quite exhausted though.  They had little pizzas.  We headed home and they were asleep before we arrived.  

Temporary Tattoo

San Diego Zoo

Hula Hoop Practice

Hula Hoop Contest

Final 2

Trip to Cali

Today, we hopped on a plane to head to California for the month.  Our ride didn't show up this morning, so I drove us to the airport.  We parked in one of the park & ride lots nearby.  That was the worst part of the day.  Thankfully, everything else went well.  

The kids were good on the airplane and were very excited to see Grandma.  She even shed a tear when she saw us in the distance.  She took us out for breakfast/brunch at one of our favorite spots, The Mission.  We headed home and took Travis to the park.  The kids loved playing with him.  That night, they got to try out Papa & Grandma's new futuristic shower/hot tub/steam room.  They are still remodeling their bathroom, but they are almost done installing this. 

Diving & Sliding

We went to the water park today.  Lexi and Jordan spent the entire time jumping off of the diving boards and going down the slides.  It is a great way to wear them out.  

Water Park Slides with J

We went to the water park today.  Lexi was excited to take Jordan on the slides.  She took his hand and had him stand in line for the big slide first.  I thought that one would be a good place to start since the water flow pushes the swimmers along.  She went down one of the slides with a shorter line so that she could stand by me and watch him go down.  They ended up going over and over again.  It is wonderful when they are having fun and enjoying each other.  

Girly Sleep Over

Last night, there was a fun sleep over at our house.  The three girls (Hailey, Kara & Abby) that Lexi has been going to the movies with these last two weeks came over.  Lexi planned out the menus.  We had cheese ravioli and fruit salad for dinner.  Later, we had milk shakes (aka smoothies - kids seems to like them more when you use an unhealthy name for something that is very healthy).  We watch the Adventures of Tintin.  They were all asleep within about 15 minutes starting at 9:20pm.  They woke up about 7am.  We had more fruit salad and waffles for breakfast.  Then the girls wanted matching hair.  I gave them all french braids.