San Diego Zoo Photo Tour

Ok, not really a tour per se, but I had fun taking pics today, so there'll be a lot of them :) 

After a very chilly, rainy day yesterday, I was very happy to wake up to sunny weather - my mid-week day off with the kids and it was perfect weather to have an adventure! We piled into the car, lunches packed, and headed to the Zoo. It was really a fantastic day, heading in whatever direction the kiddos desired. Did lots of walking, saw plenty of reptiles & amphibians, elephants, apes, monkeys and more :)  Looking forward to many more visits this year!

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Alright, you were warned - here you go!

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Very beautiful, very WINDY day - hair below is proof :)

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They're in front of a large aquarium of swimming turtles and coy fish :)

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M was SO excited for the Aerial Tram Ride, which took us right to the Koalas, Ice Age Theater, and the short track to the elephants :)

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Had to pick up a few new friends....M was excited to take home Buck (from Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs) and Kaylie got to take home a mini polar bear (baby to her larger polar bear at home :)

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Look how GIANT that elephant is! Or how tiny K is, either way :)

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Elephants!

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Her polar bear stayed cozied up to her a large part of the day :)

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Giant elephant collars?

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Makes me laugh :)

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In the rock caves - the second photo is their "dinosaur faces"....#matthewsdeathstare

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Matthew posed/directed me to be a T-Rex in this shot, then took the photo himself!

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Yep, these are my kids :)

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Just aping around :)

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The End :)

Weekend Highlights :)

Saturday was GORGEOUS!! A wonderful summer day in mid-February :) Seriously. So blessed. 

Of course we had to take our first 2013 trip to the beach - swim suits, sand angels, fun in the water and all :)

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Today we got to enjoy church, t-ball & some sibling swing time :)

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Today also marks the day we officially implemented "operation no naps." K loves to stay up until 10:30/11 most nights, and after a long day myself, all I want is some quiet, kid-free time in the evenings. Its been going on for months, I can't remember her going to bed at a decent hour - I know she used to, I just don't remember when that was!! M was still taking naps as well - he could go either way, but really, to make bedtime all around easier, it was just time. There have been many times over the past month I've talked about cutting naps out - but it just terrified me that even if I cut them out, she could still stay up late.....then I'd lose my mid-afternoon break and still not have me time in the evening.....but after a particularly frustrating late night last night, I knew it was time. I explained to them both the rules of quiet time - which they both stuck to for about an hour, maybe even a tad longer - so I still got a break, and they got to play! Win-Win!!!

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When it came time to head to Costco around 5 to pick up a pizza, this happened about 2 min into our drive there...

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And even after taking her out of her car seat, carrying her into Costco (it's so loud in there!), transferring her into the cart, and even moving her several times to get things out of my purse....she didn't bat an eye. She was out. She found a way to take a nap on our first no-nap day. Haha, oh well. Really, it was just a cat nap. . .when all was said and done this evening, she kept to her room and fell asleep about an hour earlier than normal. Not totally at the goal yet, but I'll take it!

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Wish I could sleep like this, whenever, wherever :) Doesn't she look like a little angel?

From our family, to yours :)

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Decided to get a little creative with the kids Valentines this year......and voila, 3-D Valentines!!! 

Pretty simple, great effect, lots of fun :)

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 I had fun decorating the house a bit more this year, getting a little crafty :) I'm in love with the flag/pendant banners - after using the banner in the kids photo shoot, I added it to the mirror above our mantels - and as you can see they're on the kitchen wall, too :) Please forgive the "duck face" - I have never done a duck face photo before, and when I saw myself taking the photo in the mirror I thought - why not?!?!?!?!? Exactly. :-P

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Valentine's morning - I just love Valentine's day :) I wanted to make it special for the kids....they woke up to hearts pasted to the mirrors in their rooms (pink in hers, blue in his) - Then they had a snack waiting for them on the table, complete with heart sprinkles and daisies in a vase, and for breakfast I made heart shaped Egyptian sandwiches, one of our faves :) After that I got to sit in on their Valentine's parties at preschool - what fun! I love seeing them in their environment, and they are always smiles from ear to ear to have me in class :)

 

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What a great Valentine's Day - I sure do love my funny Valentines :)

Best of Today...(well, yesterday, technically) :)

I haven't posted a "best of today" lately.... So the best of today (for yesterday, February 13th) ....

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I'm blessed to have Wednesdays off with the kiddos, so I got to spend the day with them! We started out by parking at the duck pond and walking to Jamba Juice for $1 smoothies with our good friends Jessica, Sammy & Micah :) After walking back to the duck pond we got to go "hiking"/exploring for a little while and feeding the ducks.What a great time :)

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Later in the afternoon, I asked Kaylie if she wanted to dress up - "If you want, you can be a princess, Matthew can be a dragon...." K: "I want to be a dragon!!" And so the dragon and the superhero were born :) I just love her dragon face, and look at my handsome boy, looking all grown up!

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They were (and are) my best of today :)

Prepare yourselves.....

The month of January wasn't too kind to our family - seems to be our annual month of sickness - but even in the midst of all that, there were many things to be thankful for. So here you go, I'm on a roll after nearly a month off the blog...

Pretty, Pretty Ballerina

I love our sweet girl, and I love having reasons to dress her up, too :) For Christmas, Grandma & Grandpa gave K some dance classes - and today was her first Intro to Dance class! She had a blast, and just looked so darn cute! She can wear this every day as far as I'm concerned :) Can't wait to see her prance and plié around the house :)

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Swampy and the Lagoon

It's been TOO long since we've gone on a walk with friends - so Friday we met up with some friends for a walk along some trails by the lagoon. Matthew brought his pal Swampy with him, he goes everywhere with him lately :)

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#motherdaughterday #thehappiestplaceonearth

Since my brother and his wife, Kristen, dated and married while living in Oregon, I've never gotten to spend much quality time with Kristen. This time they came to visit, we made sure to change that - our moms decided to take us to Disneyland for the day, just the four of us adult kids :) It was such a blast spending time with our moms and hanging out, too. My brother sure married up! lol :)

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Just a day at the beach :)

Uncle Greg & Auntie Kristen got to come for a visit just last week! M & K were so excited to see them and just had a blast every time they got to hang out :) Don't you just love this beach pic? I know I sure do!