San Diego Zoo - Aug 2008

San Diego, August 2008

We enjoyed our time in San Diego with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Robyn. Their house is in a nice area and just a few miles from the Carlsbad airport.

We went to the beach on Saturday. The kids were not sure whether they liked it at first. After all, there was sand everywhere that gets all over you. We finally were able to build a sand castle with a miniature lake that was filled by the ocean water via a canal that Grandpa Bob built. The boys finally got into jumping the waves. Jesse or I would help them jump up just high enough to keep from getting smothered by the waves. Then Jesse and I went “boogie-boarding” together. Sunday we went to church and relaxed.

Monday we, except for Grandpa Bob, went to the San Diego Zoo. There was a lot to see. The animals we wanted to see were visible and often feeding, playing, or just pacing. We saw panda bears, koalas, orangutans, gorillas, hippos, a polar bear, grizzly bears, a tiger, a lion, a condor, a hornbill, and much more.

Tuesday we went swimming in a community pool (we also went Friday). The kids learned to overcome some of their fear of the water by swimming with just noodles, under close supervision of course. I pretended to be a sea monster and would go after them in the “kiddie” pool. They thought that was fun.

Above are some pictures of the beach. Soon I will post pictures from the zoo trip.

Alaska - May 2008

Mother's Day Sign

Hauling dead branches for Grandpa Sam

Marshmallow on fire!

(Just perfect)

Eli

Grandpa Sam and birdhouse

San Diego - Dec, 2007

Spencer

Robert and Jesse

Dad and Eli

It's been a while

This blogspot has been neglected for about 8 months. Since then we went to San Diego for Christmas. The weather was nice. Stuff, colorful and beautiful stuff, was growing everywhere despite the season. During our visit their, we went to the San Diego Wildlife Preserve. It was amazing. It appeared to be a slightly milder version of Jurassic Park with its rolling hills of various wildlife animals. Nobody got eaten or trampeled on. In fact, it was a nice peaceful ride around the park.

We went on a couple family trips. One was to Alaska to see Jesse's parents, Sam and Jan. We did a lot outside using Grandpa Sam's real tools. We built a birdhouse, a Mother's Day sign, and roasted marshmallows in the yard. Grandma Jan had all kinds of "arts and crafts" projects going on inside. We celebrated Eli's birthday with a pirate birthday party. This involved looking for a treasure box by following a "real" treasure map created by Spencer. It also included a birthday cake in the shape of a pirate's hat. We had a great time.

Jesse now has only 2 semesters of nursing school left. I am taking some Computer Science courses to pursue a job in computer programming. Jesse has been home with the kids this summer with no other work or school obligations. It's been great for her to have so much time with our boys.

Spencer, our oldest, will be going into Kindergarten this fall. We are scared for a couple reasons. One, he'll be riding the bus often. Two, we're not sure we want him to grow up. Time sure does fly by. After a week, he'll be an ace at riding the bus, making new friends, and learning.

Eli is going to preschool. He is doing great. He, and Jesse, both have Celiac's disesase which means there is no gluten in our house. He is much happier now that he is back off gluten. He loves to laugh and be silly.

Kaleb is a monster. He gets into anything and everything. Still, he is loved by all...especially his brothers.