Fun Friday

Yesterday, my mom and I took the kids to San Pedro to see the Cabrillo Aquarium and to play in the sand a little. Lillian loved looking at all the different kind of fish in the tanks. We saw big fish and smaller ones, a huge Lobster, Seastars, Urchins, Shrimp and more. It is a small aquarium, but it held her attention plus it had a little petting area. So Lillian and I were able to touch some Sea Stars and Sea Urchins. Pretty cool!! Afterward, we headed to the beach just on the other side of the parking lot. We bought a couple little sand toys and then we went to the water's edge to play with the wet sand. Of course dumb me, I forgot to bring the camera with me to water, (I left it with Grandma in the stroller...grrrr). Oh well we had a good time. At first she wasn't quite sure what to think of the sand and it took her a few minutes but eventually she was going to each of the little castles that I had made and destroying them by grabbing the sand and throwing it into the air.
She had fun, just wished I would have grabbed the camera before going on the sand. Once she was done destroying everything we headed back to the car and headed home.
We then went swimming at our favorite neighbors house with our favorite swimming buddy, Kristen Reissen! I got to do my laps, 34, and Lillian got to play in the water!! She loves going swimming!!! We were there about an hour before we headed back to change, grab Grandma and then head over to my parents house to grab the guys. It was then off to the park to have a picnic with my parents ward. Every year they celebrate Pioneer Day by having a picnic at the park. Lillian had so much fun. She loves playing with other kids her age and doesn't get the opportunity very much. She played on the equipment for 2 hours before we finally left. We couldn't even get her to come and eat with us. Needless to say we had one tired little girl. She only had about a 45 minute nap the whole day!! So we came home after getting gas and read some stories and she was out!! I had a great week, too. I have really enjoyed being able to take my kids to different places to show them all the wonders God created. It has been, so far, the best summer. I am so glad thankful for Brandon's job that has allowed us to have a little "fun" money to spend. Thanks honey for all your do, your hard work has really paid off and we are so proud of you and your accomplishments!!
I wish I had some pictures to show off how much fun we had, but the ones I tried to take of her playing on the equipment at the park didn't turn out. So you will just have to use your imagination.

LA Zoo

Preston and Lillian checking out the Meerkats
























This last Weds. we took grandma with us to go to the Los Angeles Zoo!! Lillian loves animals and is always excited when we tell her we are going to any zoo. This time was no different. She was so excited. Long car trips make her fall asleep, and this was a long car trip. It took us and hour and fifteen minutes to get there, (dumb 5 frwy)!! She had a nice little 45 minute nap, just enough to take the edge off and give her energy for our adventure! It was already starting to get warm when we got there too. So we quickly loaded up the double stroller after I fed Preston and we were off.
Since my mom and I have a Santa Ana Zoo membership we were able to get into this zoo for 50% off. Sweet!!! Free parking, $10.50 total for Lillian's and my ticket, talk about a great deal!!
We decided to have lunch first since it was getting to be lunch time anyway. We had a very nice little picnic lunch on the tables inside the zoo. We were even able to watch the Sea Lions swimming around in their pool. Lilian loved that!!
We then headed up to see the rest of the zoo. We saw Alligators, and Meerkats, Flamingos, Black-necked Swans, Tigers and Lions, Monkeys and so much more. I took pictures of some of the animals that we could actually see (as opposed to their hind ends) and the ones Lillian really seemed to like. We had a wonderful time even though it was so hot!! I think I was sweating the whole time, LOL!! Thankfully we had plenty of water and we all stayed well hydrated. Even Preston drank around 25 ounces plus whatever I fed him at the park and just before we left. So we had many diaper and pull-up changes and bathroom breaks. The zoo also had this high powered fan that sprayed water out. Great idea!! Lillian loved it and it was a great way to cool everyone off. They also had heavy misters that we stood under to cool ourselves off.
Lillian actually walked, or should I say jogged/skipped most of the time. We would go from one exhibit to another with her running to get to the next one. She totally wore herself out. She finally started getting really tired around the gorilla so we asked if she wanted to sit in the stroller and she did. Of course, the part where mommy has to now push 2 kids up steep hills to get to the rest of the animals at the top of the zoo. Yes the zoo is set on the side of a mountain, so there are lots of steep hills you climb! I,of course, got a great quad workout that day! Lillian loved seeing the Tigers, Lions and the white Leopard. We stood watching each of them for probably 10-15 minutes. The Ostrich was pretty cool too, even if it was all the way in the back of it's pen. We saw this huge, and I mean huge, Tortoise. I am not sure if I have ever seen one that big. Lillian thought he was pretty cool. Unfortunately, he was one of the animals that felt like only showing off his back end, so no picture (Sorry I don't take pictures of animal butts) LOL!! I wish we could have had another hour or more to look around, but it was getting late and the park would be closing soon, so we didn't get to see everything. But we saw almost everything. We went down to the gift shops and Lillian got some of her energy back!! I think she thought she was in heaven with all those stuffed animals. She would run over to one, pick it up and say "I want this one." Ha Ha Ha!! I told her she could pick ONE!! That turned out to be a little difficult, but we eventually settled on a Tiger! Plus mommy found this GREAT pop-out book with an animal for every letter of the alphabet, and these little finger ring animals. She loves them and plays with the constantly!
Our trip home wasn't too bad, it tooks about an hour to get back to my parents place and Lillian and Preston had a nice nap. Preston actually had a couple of nice naps while at the zoo. We had dinner with my parents and then mommy and Lillian went for a bike ride on my new bike. I love it and so does Lillian. We had an exciting, fun-filled day with lots of good memories!!
Enjoy the pictures!!

Zing Zang Zoom

Last weekend we went to see Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey "Zing Zang Zoom" circus performance at the Honda Center. It was so much fun!!! I have never really been to the circus before, so this was a real treat. I have to say thanks to my friend Aracely who got me a sweet deal on some terrific seats!! Love your website, Aracely!!
Anyway, I wasn't sure if Lillian was going to enjoy it and what she would get out of it since I didn't know what to expect. She loved everything that had the animals involved. So when the elephants, tigers, horses and zebras came out she got real excited. She was really entertained watching them. With the rest of the acts she seemed less interested in. We would try and show her things and she would look for a few minutes but then she would start getting squirmy and disinterested. Preston seemed fascinated with all the lights and for a while he sat happily contented on daddy's and then mommy's lap. He eventually fell asleep after mommy had to feed him, though. All in all I would say we had a wonderful time. I loved it!! The acrobats were absolutely amazing. It was a great experience, one I will not soon forget!!
As for the pictures.....well...we took some on the phone camera since my other camera's flash is acting up. Some turned out while others didn't. Not sure if anyone other than myself can really make anything out, but oh well. I also took a video of these acrobats swinging from the ceiling using some kind of sturdy cloth. It was soooo cool. Anyway on the video, there is actually 2 sets of couples swinging from this cloth (one on the far end and one closest to us) and in the middle there was a woman climbing and rolling down another sturdy cloth. The couple that was closest to us is the one I hope you will be able to make out. Eventually the man is holding her by this rope or something around her neck as she is twirling around on it. So stinking cool!! Well I hope you can make out some of the stuff on the pictures and the video, if I can get it to load. If not well then maybe you should go to the circus next year!!!!

Preston chillin with Daddy watching the clowns. They were pretty funny!!
Lillian smiling for the camera!! Below are the 11 or 12 elephants that came out holding each others tails!! Lillian loved watching them perform, in fact after the show that is the stuffed animal she wanted to get too!
Dancers just before they are about to perform!! So cool!!

6 month check up!!

I took my little guy into the doctors on Monday for his 6 month check up. He is doing great and is still average. Which seems amazing to me because he looks so chunky but I guess not. LOL
We had a nice visit with the doctor. She is really a fantastic Dr. and person. I love how down to earth she is. I am so lucky to have as my children's doctor. Preston got three more shots and an oral vaccine. He did pretty well too. He calmed down as soon as I was able to pick him. What a trooper!! Anyway, here are his stats: 18lbs, 26 1/2 long, and head circumference 17".
We are continuing to try him with real food. He loves it, well except the rice cereal but whatever. He gets the cutest little face when he see's us eating. It's like "hey, that looks good. How come your not feeding me!! I want to eat too." I decided that since he was a really big fan of rice cereal, (NOT), that I would try a different cereal. So at the Dr. suggestion we tried oatmeal mixed with applesauce and bananas, and he liked it. Hurray!! He still doesn't eat a whole lot real food, maybe a tbsp or so. (He thinks the mommy milk is the BEST). But he is enjoying the new tastes.

4th of July

Preston, Lillian and I went with Grandma (my mom) to watch the fireworks at Fullerton College. We have been going over to Fullerton College since I was a baby every year with a few exceptions when we would be out of town. I love watching them. They are so cool to look at and over the years they have gotten so pretty neat designs.
Anyway, we went over to the church's institute across the street from the college to enjoy the fireworks. Both the kids had a blast watching them. Preston sat in my lap and actually watched most of them. As soon as they started he looked up into the sky and just stared at them. It was so cute!! We all had a really wonderful time!!

The flash on my camera is really bright, so when you try and take a picture you are blinded by it.
Preston was really happy and enjoying the fireworks, the face is only because of camera flash.
Preston watching the fireworks. Isn't he just so stinkin' precious!!

Visit to Wildomar

Today Preston turned 6 months!! I can't believe it, he is getting to be so big. Only 6 more to go till he turns one! Yikes!!! Anyway, Lillian, Preston and I went out to Wildomar to visit our friend Ali and her kids. We met Holly and Cyndi and their kids at Ali's house. We had a blast. It was so nice to be able to get out and just enjoy being a mom. I loved being able to hang out and chat with the ladies and Lillian had a ton of fun playing in the pool with the boys. She is so funny, sometimes she can be so girlie and other times I think she is going to be a tom-boy. Oh well!! Today after we got there, it took her a few minutes to wake up from her short little cat nap, so she was kind of clingy for a while. After she woke up, though, she climbed right in to the little pool in the backyard. Of course by then the girls had all gotten out and it was only the boys playing, she didn't care in the slightest. She loved every minute of it. Towards the end, Erick decided that the pool needed some mud mixed in so he started throwing big handfuls into the pool. Did Lillian care? Nope she just kept right on playing as evident by the pictures below. Well she ended up getting showered off because she had mud everywhere. What a silly girl!!!
Preston on the other hand slept part of the time we were there and then he got to play with his friend Zac. Ali had two little chairs, (name has escaped me), for the boys to sit in. They sat and stared at each other for quite a while. Preston wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation and had the cutest little "thinking" face on. Zac just wanted to play and have fun!! All in all it was a great day to spend on my day off!! I am really going to love having every Wednesday off! I love being able to do fun things with my kids and spend the whole day with them outside of home!!! Thanks Ali, we had so much fun!! Can't wait for our next adventure!! :)

Lillian playing in the water with Erick before the mud!!

Lillian playing on the water slide in the pool with Ethan.
Erick Thompson and Lillian jumping up on the slide with Ethan Jones in the background.
Mud anyone?
See mommy, don't I look pretty with mud all over my face. (I know it's kind of hard to see since it was so bright out. But trust me, it was there).
Splish, Splash I am having fun playing in muddy water!!!
I am not sure how the mud got there. I suspect when Erick was tossing it in, Lillian got in the way. I had gone back into the house for a moment to put the camera down and came back to find this. So I ran back into the house to get the camera and grab this priceless picture of the my little dirty monkey!! She actually didn't even care that there was mud on her face. I just happened to snap the picture when she wasn't really paying attention. LOL
Preston Case and Zac Thompson relaxing in the chairs. Aren't these two just the cutest little boys!!
Hey who are you?!?!
They were communicating telepathically...LOL
"Hey dude! You should try these they are delicious."(says Zac) "Oh really!!! Hmm I will take that under consideration, thanks for the tip" (says Preston)