Monday, May 31, 2010

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Day two of our camping trip I finally convinced Dave to visit Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I guess being from Southern California and living on the Central Coast he never has felt the need to visit another beach. I have great childhood memories of the Boardwalk and wanted to take the boys, so we finally went. It was much larger than Dave was expecting and good thing because there were a million people there! The boys loved hanging out on the beach and of course riding a few rides.

Riding the airplane
Gannon on the whale all by himself

Dave and Garrett on the Skyglider
Gannon loved the sea lions, so much that he really wanted down to go pet them. This child has no fear of large animals, even when they are in the ocean.
As you can see he was quite pissed when we wouldn't let him down to pet the critters. This was a no breather fit!
Silly boys.

I would say there were quite a few people there.

Happy Hollow Zoo & Park

When we were in Disneyland a lady in line had told me about the zoo in San Jose, Happy Hollow Zoo. We decided we would visit since we were camping close by.

What a fun place. They had animals, as you can see a petting zoo, fun rides, and a three story place structure. WOW - 5 hours was almost not enough time there.

Garrett and Gannon loved the goats, but Gannon spotted a water fountain at the entrance of the petting area and was pretty much stuck there for the entire time we were visiting the goats. These boys are for sure mine, they love rides! Gannon loves to sit with his brother and just check everything out as a passenger and Garrett steers or moves whatever he can on the ride.

I would have to say the favorite part of the park for the kids was the huge play structure area. There were lots of slides, two from the third floor, two smaller, and a toddler section. Dave took Garrett up to the big slide and I took Gannon on the little ones. Garrett was having such a blast going down the huge slide so I thought I would take Gannon and let him ride on my lap. Don't even think about taking him back to the toddler slide after that, it's not daring enough for him. As soon as we would get to the top to wait in line for our turn he was trying to lung out of my arms and go allow. Sorry little dude, you have to wait your turn and you're way to little to go alone. He was a little upset when we had to leave. Determined little sucker.









Practice Run and It's Pit Stop

For Memorial Day weekend we hadn't planned to really do much and at the last minute I really wanted to get out of the house. Partially because it was right after my last class was over, it was a three day weekend, and we handed been camping in a while. We also have a very long trip coming up so I wanted to make a list of anything that we may need prior to that and thankfully we did. Dave wasn't too sure about going anywhere, but researched camp locations and look for a last minute vacancy. We decided Morgan Hill was the best option. Not too far and close to entertainment.

We decided to head out on Saturday morning to avoid traffic and to give me one more night to complete my assignments. We headed out early Saturday morning and made a pit stop at Casa de Fruta for a potty break and for the kids to run around a bit. Side note - traveling with a potty behind you all the time is fabulous with a little one. Literally pull off to the side of the road and go!

We made it to our campsite by 2 and got all settled in. Not my favorite camp location, but it was really new and the bathrooms were awesome. So it worked and I can't complain when we made reservations on Friday.

I do love our trailer, not sure it's really considered camping, but I love it anyway. Now that we have a good system in place, it is very relaxing.


We had to ride the train.

Monday, May 24, 2010

A World of Fun

Yesterday we decided to get out of the house since we have Daddy back now and we took the boys over to the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose. (Thanks for the tip Robin!) Basically, it is a huge museum with different hands on exhibits throughout the place. The boys had a blast playing in all the different areas and of course the water play was Gannon's favorite and the dramatic play area was Garrett's! No surprises there!

San Jose has a great downtown with lots of other museums so we can't wait to go back and try a new one.
The water play area had a big kids side and a tiny ones side which was perfect. Gannon was too small for the big side, but was trying so hard to get some play time in.
The little ones side was much better for him.
Until he started drinking all the water. Again, no surprise there!
The circle exhibit had a huge Asian display with this paddle boat that Garrett really enjoyed. Gannon almost whacked a couple of kids in the head with his paddle. Time to move on...

Garrett's favorite. Upstairs their was an entire room that had a play market with artificial food, a couple of tables and chairs and a pizza station. There was even a counter with a cash register to pay for your pizza.
As soon as we walked in Garrett yelled, "dinner time" and ran over to the play food and started making "dinner". It was so cute. I sat at a table and he took my order, made and delivered my food, including a cup with juice. He grabbed a couple of plates for us and joined me for "dinner". He LOVED this room.
A little play time for Gannon too. This was in the toddler section of museum in their dramatic play area. He was just in love with the dishes. He had 4 or 5 plates stacked and was guarding them with his life. A little girl came over and grabbed one and he gave her the dirties glare ever. It was pretty funny.

Of course they both loved the bubble room. Garrett for the bubbles and Gannon for the fact that the bubble were all in water tables and he could just play in the water.

80's Party

Dave and I were invited to an 80's party and for weeks I have been driving Dave crazy with questions about our outfits. When you don't work, you really to look forward to a crazy evening out. So here is what we ended up with...I'm sad this picture doesn't show my leg warmers and turquoise shoes. Our weather this year has been a little out of wacky so it was a bit on the chilly side, but I have to say, the leg warmers do the trick!!! Don't worry, I'm not trying to bring them back. I felt like a clown in this outfit, but it was a fun night!

Thanks to my to aunt for the necklace & leg warmers, Taylor for the bracelets, and Kathy for the ring.


Gannon's Chores

Gannon loves to help unload the dishwasher which usually means I have dishes scattered all over the floor. I have figured out that he likes to stack the cat bowls so I have made those his job. I quickly unload the bottom and he is in charge of the cat bowls.



Stacked Perfect!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

5 Generations

It's not very often that family has 5 generations so we decided to capture the moment! They all turned out so good. We even managed to get a picture of Uncle Bob & Aunt Virginia, which is a first in 50 years.

Aunt Ruby, Uncle Bob, Mom, Me & Garrett

Uncle Bob & Aunt Virginia