Zoo Days

We are STILL on vacation! It has been so awesome.

On Monday, after we picked Julie up from school, we headed down to Santa Barbara and went to the zoo. It is always a favorite for our family. The kids both get to see their favorite animals (giraffe and elephant) and there is a train!!
Julie remembers where most of the animals are, so she is always telling us what way to go and is really good at finding the animals in their habitats.
Julie and John being condors.
Then we continued south for a bit and stayed in a Hotel. Hotels are always super exciting and fun. This one had a heated outdoor pool so after dinner we jumped in. The pool itself was warm, but once we got out.....burrrr!

Another Hotel treat is watching TV and this time we watched Toy Story 3....and I may have cried at the end.

The next morning we got up and went to the La Brea Tar Pits. This stop was definitely more for John and I than the kids. But Julie really liked looking at the bones.

Andy really liked this woolly mammoth. He really wanted to feed it. Too bad it was stuffed.
In my brain, I understood how large these animals were, but this really puts it in perspective. And I was a bit awestruck.
Towards the end, this is how Julie felt about the La Brea Tar Pits....but Daddy and I had a great time and can't wait to go back and read all the displays.
Then it was off to the LA Zoo! Animal filled weekend! LA Zoo is HUGE and so spread out. We saw some awesome animals, like zebras, mountain goats and a hippo!
And just for Pop-pop.....a rhino!!!
We are happy to be home in our own beds and in our routine. Even just two days away and you start to miss the fun day to day things that happen at home. Speaking of which, time for gymnastics!!

Pumpkins!

We have been on vacation the last couple days! YAY! We have greatly needed a little family time. We have been sticking pretty close to home, doing all of our normal routine, but also hanging out with friends and just enjoying each other. And we have been having so much fun!!! (No, this picture is NOT upside down, they were hanging off the bed!!)
We went out yesterday to pick out our pumpkins. It was so awesome because when we pulled up the Cisneros family was there! (they saved our behinds when we found out the pumpkin patch didn't take plastic!!! Thanks guys!!)

Andy was not interested in picking out a round one, or a tall one, or a big one. He just wanted to re-arrange all the pumpkins.
And Julie was more excited about the wheel barrel rides.
And the both loved running up and down the hill.
And climbing on the hay stacks.
And avoiding my camera at all costs! I could not get them to look at me! Normally I get one shot where they humor me. Not today.
But I did get this pretty one of Julie.
And then one a little more "her".
And we actually got some pumpkins too!

Star of the Week: Part II

Today is Julie's last day as "Star of the Week" All week, Julie has been using this status to her advantage. We have been hearing, "No Mommy, I am the Star of the Week, I get to use the potty first!" and "Follow the Star of the Week"

When we asked what Julie wanted to share today, we ran through a list of all her favorite things to play with. And at the top......Brother.

So at 9 am, at the start of circle time, we brought Andy in for Sissy to share.

We got there a little early so he got to play.
Then he stood up front like a Champ while Julie told everyone his name, what they liked to play, how silly he was and that is he likes choo choo trains.

We got the whole thing on video. It was so sweet to watch how excited Julie was to tell everyone about her "Baby Brother"!

Star of the Week

This week Julie is "Star of the Week" in her class! She gets to bring in pictures of her and her family to put up on the board, and she gets to bring in a special thing to share with her friends every day.

And the best part (at least to a 3 year old) is she gets to be LINE LEADER!! Whenever they go anywhere, outside, lunch, other classrooms, wherever, she gets to be line leader. Every time we leave the house now, she sings "I need a straight line, straight line, straight line, I need a straight line...cha cha cha...."

As part of her "Star of the Week" duties, she had to answer these questions. She wrote her own name at the top, but she let mom help out with the rest.

I adore her answer for "My favorite activity with my family is LOVE" Seriously, that melted my heart into mush. She had a quick answer for all these questions, didn't have to think about them at all!

And she has a few of her My Little Ponies to bring in to share with her class tomorrow. She is beside herself excited. I asked her what she was going to tell her friends about them and she told me she couldn't say because I was not at school

Saturday Fun

Today was filled with awesome, family fun! We started out the morning with a local parade. Julie passed the time until the parade started by dancing in the street.
And of course loving on Memere!!!
Andy passed the time by loving on his BFF Everett. Everett is getting more into the attention, which is making it even more fun and awesome to have them around.
After the parade, the kids had to take a ride on the Elks Train. This was Andy's first trip, Julie is an old pro, and what a hit! Can you tell how excited he is!??!
We saw tons of great friends, Colby and Hannah, Anabelle, Dawson, Addy, Kailee and a sleeping Joshua. We saw Mommy's work friends, Daddy's work friends, Memere's work friends. Love the small town! And of course, there was ice cream!
Then it was off to Uncle Justin and Aunt Audrey's house to celebrate Uncle's 30th birthday! That's right, my MUCH older brother is 30!!

Julie didn't hesitate giving him some birthday love!
You tell that bean bag who's boss Andy!
The birthday boy and his beautiful bride.And we all know how much I love some sibling love! So here we are!!
Happy Birthday to my wonderful Big Brother who has always given me someone to look up to, love, respect and strive to be like.

Geez....thank goodness it is time for bed!

Love the Love