San Diego

Lately Rachel has been fascinated with animals...dogs, cats, birds. So when Steven decided to take this week off, we thought that a trip to the San Diego Zoo was a perfect thing to do.

We went to the Zoo yesterday. We had a great time and was blessed with beautiful weather. The sun was bright and shinning and it hasn't too hot. Most of the animals were out and about and easily spotted. Because this zoo is so big, there are buses you can hop on and off of at several spots throughout the park. Knowing this ahead of time, I planned to not use the stroller and just take advantage of using the bus. We ended up only taking the guided tour and didn't use the bus the remainder of the day, Rachel walked just about the entire day and did a great job at it. It was so much easier just carrying the backpack and not hassling with the stroller.

This was Rachel's first time to the San Diego Zoo, and she loved seeing all the animals this zoo has to offer. In the middle of the day, Rachel spotted a little girl who had had her face painted to look like a Dalmation puppy face. Rachel wanted a "puppy face". Seeing how the prices are cheaper than what we're used to at Disneyland, we told the girls we'd get their face painted. However, upon discovering that the price to have the entire face painted was $11.95, we went into the nearest souvenior store and were able to get off with purchasing them each a Panda mask. LOL. These are just a few of the many pictures I took on our adventure at the San Diego Zoo. To see more of our pictures, you can see them here.

A trip to San Diego wouldn't be complete without having dinner at our favorite Mexican restaraunt. Over the course of enjoying our dinner, we decided we weren't ready to go home and wanted to explore some more of San Diego. We made our way to the only place we knew we could access the internet, The Apple Store, and got on Orbitz to look for the best hotel deal. Rachel didn't quite understand it when Hannah kept telling her we were going to spend the night. But for someone who was falling asleep at dinner, she found another burst of energy once we got to the hotel room. The girls wanted snacks, and at 10:00pm, a trip was made to the vending machine and both girls came back to the room with chocolate. One of the enjoyments of being on vacation - having candy at 10:00pm. LOL. Rachel eventually fell asleep, clutching onto her bag of M&M's. This morning we got up and took advantage of the free breakfast the hotel had and then we were off. The USS Midway is on display and open for tours, so we planned to head there. However, it didn't open until 10:00am, so we walked Front Street and looked at the Tall Ships on display. The Midway was a fun adventure (althougth not if your prone to claustrophia). Rachel enjoyed all the little areas she could explore, and did well for the four hours it took to explore the aircraft carrier. After the Midway, we headed towards home, with one more destination in mind, The San Diego Wild Animal Park. We barely made it in time before they closed the gates to incoming guests. We had only an hour before we had to be off the grounds, so we went straight for the Safari tour that takes you out onto the animal grounds. This is a new tour, as their old way of touring the grounds got too expensive to repair, etc. This tour takes you in trams out on the animal grounds were you are eye level with the animals, which was awesome!When our tour was over, the Park was officially closed and we needed to make our way out. Rachel was disappointed she wasn't getting to see more animals. Now that we have a membership to both the Animal Park and the Zoo, we'll be back when we can spend more time there.

We had a great two days in San Diego. Rachel really enjoyed all the animals she got to see. And it was fun getting away.

Helping in the Backyard

We've been putting in some long, hardworking hours into our backyard the last week and last few weekends. And Rachel has been there to lend a helping hand where ever she could. She loves being outside. Here, she's doing her part to spread some fill dirt we got. With the warm weather heading our way, it was time to get the sprinklers working, they haven't been hooked up since before our cement work in January. Steven's been working on the sprinklers for a few weekends and some evenings. Once that job was done, there were a lot of holes and uneven places in our yard. So with the help of Steven's Dad (and his truck), we were able to get two truckloads of fill dirt yesterday and filled in all those places. Once all that dirt was in place, this morning we decided to lay sod in a few of the larger places and reseed the smaller spaces. It was A LOT of work! Here are a couple pictures of the progress. The yard is really looking nice.

Sister Sleepover!

Bedtime often finds Rachel not wanting to go to her bed, but to stay with Hannah in her bed once bedtime prayers have been said. But because Hannah has school the next day, Rachel is always sent to her own bed. On occassion we've found her having sneaked back into Hannahs bed.

Because today is Saturday, we let the girls have a sleepover last night. They opted for both sleeping in Hannah's bed rather than making a bed on the floor. When I checked on the girls before we went to bed, and found them sleeping like this... I think there might have been more room on the floor. LOL. Rachel stayed in Hannah's bed until around 3am and then moved her sleepover to our bed. I think Hannah was a little disappointed to wake up this morning and find that Rachel had left their sleepover in the night.

Some Pictures from Our Day

We spent the majority of Mother's Day at Mommy's favorite place, Rachel didn't seem to mind spending the day there as well. We ate dinner in New Orleans Square where a jazz band plays on the patio. Today, The Queen of New Orleans was there to sing along with the band. Towards the end of her performance, she invited all the kids to come up and grab a tamborine. Our little performer didn't waste anytime in running up there and grabbing a tamborine. The kids stood there and danced while The Queen sang, and then they paraded around the patio. Gramie had never seen this side of Rachel and was pretty impressed. At the end of their performance, they got a strand of colorful beads.

Preschool Open House

Tonight was Open House for the Preschool in which Rachel will be going to in the Fall. It's an evening that allows incoming families to come and check the place out, as well as those families already attending to come and see what their children have been up to. We went tonight not only as an incoming family, but also to check out all the fun things McKenzie has been up to as a Pooh Bear.

All day long Rachel kept asking when we were going to school and when she would get to see Haylee and McKenzie. Finally dinner came and went and we were off to preschool. Rachel had sooo much fun. She ran from one thing to the next on the playground, checking in with her cousins every once in a while. Pretty much exploring everything. It was the same once we went inside the classrooms. Exploring everything, trying everything out.

"Come on McKenzie, I'll drive you to school."
Playing with some brissel blocks.
Rachel LOVED the KoolAid playdough. She played with this the most.
Next year, the three little ones will go to preschool together.
There's no doubt in our minds that she'll do just fine. Although Gramma witnessed a situation that might just get us a phone call from the preschool director come the start of school. Rachel walked up to a little girl playing at the basketball hoop, kicked the little girl in the shin, not once, but twice, and then stole the ball from her. We have four months to pray she outgrows her bulliness. LOL.

Sleeping Beauty

I love my girls, but at the end of the day, there are times I CAN'T wait until bedtime. The caos, the nonstop chatter and noise, the messes, and all the work of the day comes to an end once the girls are in bed. At the end of the night, when we retire to the bedroom to watch TV, we tuck the girls in, turning night lights off, etc, and it always makes me smile to see how stinkin cute my girls are when they are asleep. No matter what the caos, or battles were endured through the day, seeing them like this, makes it all okay..... ...... until the next day begins and the chatter, noise, and messes start over again. LOL

Rachel: The Destroyer

Some kids are gentle with things. Some kids are rough. Hannah never once did she break anything as a toddler (I think with the exception of an antique plate at my parents house). Rachel, is totally a different story. She has broken more things than you would believe.

It started at a young age. Which should have been a red light then, but it wasn't. LOL. She pulled a basin and pitcher off a table in our bedroom, breaking the basin in half. It wasn't until the last six months I found a new basin to replace the broken one.

There's been other little things along the way. But lately there have been some pretty major ones worth mentioning.

Last week, during a day in which it was a battle of the wills, and I was going to win by her taking a nap, Rachel pulled the curtains off of her wall, leaving about a dime size tear in the drywall. I now need to purchase a new curtain rod and patch the hole. I didn't realize how much I liked her curtains, until they've been down for a week.

Yesterday afternoon while I was vaccuming Hannah's room, I shut the door to vaccum behind the door and discovered a hole in the door about the size of a dime. The hole had been made as a result of the door being slammed into the door stopper over and over and over again...with force. The hole hasn't been there long, because it wasn't there a week ago when Steven measured and charted Hannah's height on her growth chart. I didn't get mad. I didn't let it stress me out. I'm not saying it didn't bother me, but what good is it to get so upset over something I can't fix?? I was thankful the hole is on the back of the door! I kinda had to laugh about it...because, that's our Rachel.

Carlsbad Beach

After our time at the Carlsbad Flower Fields, we drove across the highway to the beach. I'm not sure how much or even if she remembers our vacation at Pismo Beach last year, but Rachel sure loved being on the beach today. Although she still doesn't like the feel of sandy hands. LOL.

We strolled the beach for about half a mile. The girls picking up rocks and sea shells with Uncle Bart. Rachel thinking it was funny when the incoming waves just missed her. LOL. After our time at the beach, we went back to Uncle Bart's condo and looked at all the pictures we'd taken today. We went to dinner and then back to Uncle Bart's place.

On trips when I don't know how late we'll be out, I always throw the girls' pajamas in the car, that way when they fall asleep in the car on the way home, they can be easily put to bed and not have to be awakened to put jammies on. After a wonderful afternoon and evening, it was time to head for home. I did a diaper change and got the girls into their jammies, refilled sippie cups, and annoucned it was time to leave. Rachel started crying, she didn't want to leave Uncle Bart. She thought because I put her jammies on, it meant she was spending the night with him. LOL. However, once in the car it didn't take long before the girls were fast asleep. They were worn out from all the walking we did and fresh air we were exposed to.

Carlsbad Flower Fields

Today we made the drive and spent most of the day with Uncle Bart, someone Rachel has become very attached to in the last several months. He's her buddy and she loves to see him.

After stopping off to see Uncle Bart's condo, we made our way to lunch, and then to the Carlsbad Flower Fields. We did a lot of walking and Rachel for the most part did great. She was pretty cute, stopping to smell the flowers on a few occassions. One of the cool things to do at the Flower Fields was the Sweet Pea Maze. The Sweet Pea hedge was about five feet high. Rachel just kept going and going, laughing most of the way because she kept running into the same people over and over because they were lost too.Another thing to do, which I'm not sure what it had to do with fields of flowers, was this gem minning station. The kids got to pick a pail, and then they showed the kids how to shake thier tray back and forth in the water. Rachel actually had gold in her bucket!! In addition the gold nugget, she had a nice little bag of pretty stones to keep.

Clotheless Adventures with Rachel

I post these adventures because I know it'll bring laughter to some. Perhaps sympathy from others. Hopeful for notes of encouragement from fellow mothers experiencing or having experienced the same adventures with their children. And most importantly this blog acts as a journal, Rachel's online babybook.

Rachel has this fascination for not wearing clothes, or a pull up for that matter. Everyday I must dress that kid at least three times. One day last week, knowing that she had gone outback to play, I went to check on her. And how did I find Rachel you might wonder?? She was swinging on the swingset, with not a single article of clothing on...nor was she wearing her pull up. Her clothes and pull up were spewed about the backyard. She just kept on swinging with a huge smile from ear to ear.

Last Saturday we hosted a birthday party for Hannah. Having rented a bounce house to entertain the coming kids, we took full advantage of the bounce house late in the afternoon once the party was over. Sitting on the patio, enjoying the peace and quiet, I look up to see Rachel in the bounce house, bouncing, celebrating the day...in her BIRTHday suit. Grrrr.

The other day, as I was sitting at my desktop computer, importing pictures, Rachel came to into the office. Again, wearing absolutely nothing, except for a purple ribbon wrapped around her chest, she says "I'm Ariel". That one made Steven laugh so hard he about fell out of his chair.

Besides taking every piece of clothing off several times throughout the day, she can't stand to have shoes on. We'll be in the car running errands and at every single stop, I have to put her socks and shoes back on. I can't tell you how frustrating this one is. It actually makes me pretty mad about the third stop.

I am seriously hoping that Rachel outgrows this fascination for a lack of clothing come September when she goes to preschool. That's one call I would not want "Hello, Mrs. F*****, Rachel took her clothes off in class today and hid them and we can't find them".

A Trip to Our Happy Place

Upon waking up this morning, I decided it was a great day for a trip to Disneyland. So I packed the backpack, Rachel and I dawned our Mickey Mouse shirts, and grabbed my camera. Listening to the news as we pulled out of the driveway warned of the potentially high winds we could see today. And said that the winds were so bad at Disneyland yesterday that a palm tree frond fell on a guest waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise, sending her to the hospital. Ummm....okay, to be honest, that was kinda freaky, I'm in the car, already having told Rachel we were heading to see Mickey and we hear this news story. Do I go, or do I stay home?? LOL. I decided to go ahead and make the trip. The winds haven't been kicking up until mid to late afternoon anyways, and I would need to be back by mid afternoon to get Hannah from school. So there was a chance we wouldn't be affected by the winds, however, if by chance if there were high winds, we'd make the best of our trip by seeing some of indoor shows and doing some window shopping and then heading home. But on a happy note, we were blessed with a very beautiful day...no wind, bright and shinning sun, and temps near the 80s. Simply beautiful.

Rachel has reached the first height requirement for some of the more 'wilder' rides. She is tall enough for the Matterhorn Bobsleds, and for Gadgets Go Coaster. Today she went on Gadgets Go Coaster and had a great time! One of my most favorite places to eat at Disneyland, not necessarily for the food, but for the atmosphere, is the Hungry Bear Restaraunt back in Critter Country. The upstairs dinning deck overlooks the Rivers of America and provides for a relaxing area to sit and enjoy your lunch while watching the Mark Twain Steamboat, the Sailing Ship Columbia, and the canoes make their way around the River. It was such a beautiful day that Rachel and I ate lunch here and enjoyed the view and she enjoyed watching the ducks. I love the trips that Rachel and I have had, just the two of us. It's especially a lot of fun now that Rachel has developed her own likes and dislikes and her own little agenda for our day. :)

Clownin Around

We went to the circus today. Rachel's wearing her 'freshly picked nose'. :)

Bouncing Rachel

Having a bounce house in her own backyard was heaven for Rachel. It gave her a place to bounce and jump and do her tricks that she normally does on the couch and on beds.

I think she thought the bounce house was a new addition to our backyard and was here to stay because she cried when the man came to take it away. LOL.

Haircut for the Girlie

This afternoon, after school I took Hannah to get her hair cut. While Hannah was in the chair, Rachel asked to get her hair cut. How can you deny a girl a haircut when she uses her words?? LOL. Rachel did such a great job at sitting still and doing what the lady asked of her. Her hair looked cute enough, but then the lady added a couple of braids to the sides, making her look even more cute!

Easter at Gramma and Papa's

Gramma and Papa's house was the place to be for Easter Dinner this year. Gramma made a delicious meal that brought the whole family together. It was a great afternoon and evening of just hanging out with the family and Rachel and Hannah playing with their cousins. They especially had a great time doing an egg hunt in Gramma and Papa's back yard, searching for lots of eggs loaded with candy.

Uncle Bart brought each of the girls a giant chocolate bunny.
Officially a pro at egg hunting now.

Being silly with the cousins.
Gramma filled cute Easter tins for each of the girls.
Here, Rachel is adding to her stash from the eggs she found.