San Diego Part 1: Sea World

We took a fun-filled trip down to San Diego last weekend with Day and Paw.  One of the main things that I wanted to be sure to see while there was Sea World.  I had never been, and it had been many years since Michael was last there.  With Luke's love for dolphins, and Mia's love for all things animal, I knew we couldn't go wrong.

What I didn't know was how incredibly magical it is!  It very easily tops my list of favorite places to visit with the kids.  I think that we were all beyond impressed.  It was not at all crowded (going on a Friday after Labor Day helped, I'm sure), the weather was perfect, and the kids were completely engaged the entire time.  I am slightly disappointed with my photography skills this day, but I suppose that is because I was enjoying the moment instead of focusing on taking pictures.  Besides, there is no way that the magic and true beauty that we experienced there could be captured with a camera.

Seeing the orca whales

In the Antarctic exhibit - watching the polar bears, walruses, and beluga whales

Meeting and feeding the dolphins - such an incredible experience for Luke

 Seeing the Sea Turtles and their beautiful habitat

The Shamu Show

Riding the Sky Tower at the end of our day

Mia with her new friend, Daisy the Dolphin.  After being presented with all of the options for different stuffed animals, Mia had absolutely no doubt which one she wanted!  Luke brought home a very cute and oh-so-soft Polar Bear who is now named "Flip Flop."

We were at Sea World when the doors opened in the morning, and did not leave until the park was closing.  We watched every show that was performed that day - from amazingly trained rescue pets, to the Sea Lion comedy show, to the Cirque du Soleil inspired dolphin show with elaborate costumes and beautiful music, to watching the incredible Orca whales splash and jump - there was never a dull moment.  Luke said that he couldn't choose a favorite show because they were all his favorites.  I couldn't agree more....

We loved it all, from start to finish.  Sea World, we will definitely be back soon!

Monterey County Fair

We took a last minute, unplanned trip down to visit Uncle Todd and Michelle over the weekend and we all headed out to the Monterey County Fair. I didn't take many pictures, but the kids had a great time. Luke loved the cotton candy (big surprise!) and rides, Mia loved the farm animals.

Mia is 20 months

First Day of School

Luke was incredibly (I mean, really, he was over the moon) excited to start school today, which makes me ridiculously happy. I'm so, so glad that he really loves his school, his teachers, his friends ... all of it. In fact, he asked me about 3 weeks ago how many more days it would be until school would start again.

This year he is attending Mandala's afternoon Pre-K (Bumblebee) class with primarily other 4 year olds, most of who will be going off to Kindergarten next year (he is very proud of this "promotion" on the preschool spectrum!). He is going on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and we've signed him up for an extended day so he will be there from 12-4, an hour before the official school afternoon begins, to have lunch and do some extra activities.

First Pig Tails

I've been waiting for this day

Sibling love

Recently we have struggled with teaching Mia how to express her frustrations with her brother (or anyone, really) using words and not her hands. Her vocabulary is rapidly expanding (pretty incredible right now, actually), but is still not quite extensive enough to convey all of her wants, needs, or feelings. So she hits ....

BUT, she has become very good now at saying "sorry" and then hugging or kissing the person who she has wronged. Tonight she really wanted to let Luke know how she felt ... she knocked him right over with her hug, and then they laid there for a few minutes just hugging.


Very sweet. They are actually becoming even more loving towards one another and it absolutely melts my heart. Lots of hugs, kisses, and "I love yous."

A Special Kind of Love

I know that I'm biased, but I think that I have the best grandparents ever.

That being said, Luke and Mias' grandparents (both sets), are definitely contenders for that title.

With Grandma and Grandpa from New Jersey visiting us in California, some pool time, and a short trip to Tahoe, Luke and Mia had a lot of extra love and attention given to them over the past week.

Here are a few shots from last week ...

Day 1: A visit to the pool where Grandma (who I'm pretty sure wouldn't get her hair wet for anyone else) jumped right in with Luke ... and Luke got tossed around by his grandpas (and showed off his swimming skills with Paw)

A quick weekend trip to Tahoe filled with backyard fun ... and a visit from Mia's sweet friend Sayde from next door.

What do you do for lunch when you have grandparents in town? You eat ice cream, candy, and try a gumball for the first time!

Time for S'mores ... it was Mia's first s'mores experience - they both loved it (what's not to love?)

Grandpa (Jim) was behind the camera, and somehow we didn't get him in any photos ... we'll have to make up for that next time we are together.

Two very, very lucky kids to have so much love around them.

Potty Training (again)?

Over the weekend we took the little potty out just in case our little house guest decided that she would like to use it :). On Sunday evening, after our guests had traveled home, I took the kids up to the bathroom for our regular routine (potty, tubs, stories, etc.). Luke will often sit on the big potty if he has not "gone" yet that day, which was the case on this particular day. Since Mia is very much into doing anything and everything that Luke does, she followed suit and sat down on the little potty across from him. I didn't think much of it until....

... she went!

And I'm not just talking about a tinkle either!

I could NOT believe it ... I mean, we haven't talked about it, I figured she was too young, and she hasn't really even explored the little potty or anything. She just sat right down and went about her business.

Needless to say, we are leaving the little potty out. I have no inclination to potty train her right now - honestly, I feel like we just finally finished potty training Luke and I was hoping for more of a "break." Just goes to show me (yet again) that in this particular area I have absolutely NO control ... and we'll just have to follow Mia's lead on this one.