End of San Diego trip

Today we wrapped up our San Diego trip. We had a great breakfast with Tyler Durman-- our motivational speaker friend from Hawaii. He told us all about his new book, Bite Sized Wisdom-- it is a book for parents of children age two to twenty. It is purposefully broken down into bite sized pieced that parents can read quickly throughout the day. We are so excited for him and we are confident that it will be a best seller in no time!!!We had to pack up much of the room on our own as Daddy had to finish out his CADA obligations.
Libi did all she could to help. She moved things around and handed me things when asked. I am so glad that she is becomming such a good listener!

After a quick stop at my favorite San Diego scrapbook store, we made the drive home. It was our plan to stop at Disneyland, but Libi was napping and I was tired so we drove right past. I am always a little sad when I have to drive past my favorite spot, but I know we will be back soon.

It was so nice to be back at home with all of Libi's toys, our TiVo'd shows, and the site of our nice big bed (and Libi's crib down the hall!)

For a little laugh I thought I would share with you some pictures that we took on Thursday at the Cheesecake Factory (which now has kids meals!!!) Libi was REALLY enjoying her milk...She found it highly entertaining to chew on her straw and then have to suck the life out of the straw to get the milk out!It was all fun and games until she tipped the cup so far that most of the milk came spilling out.No matter... I love my silly little girl!

Hotel time...

Libi and I decided to stay close to the hotel today as she spent a great deal of last night coughing!We played on the balcony, colored, watched movies, and just lazed around the room.We were able to see our camp family at lunch. Libi enjoyed coloring all over Daddy's paperwork and distracting him while he was supposed to be participating in a round table discussion.

Libi and I (and Cinderella, Elmo, Tinkerbell, Hippo, Panda, and Yosemite Sam) all took a nap in the bed today. I'm sure we were quite a site all tucked in to the covers!

When we woke up we met up with Ron again to head to Old Towne for dinner. We had an amazing meal at Casa Guadalajara-- our favorite haunt in Old Towne! Libi wouldn't eat the small pieces of "dilla" we put down in front of her-- she wanted the big piece. After this bite though she decided that she just liked the freshly-made tortilla so she pulled it away from the cheese and just ate that!Libs ate her first taquito today-- I think I liked it better than she did, but she ate quite a bit of it!After dinner we were treated to several songs by the wandering mariachi's. Libi loved all of the instruments and watching them sing.This would've been a great picture of Daddy and daughter, but she was too distracted by all the music around her-- she's totally my daughter!

San Diego Day Two

This morning we set out for the San Diego Zoo. We were very lucky to have another gorgeous yet slightly cool day-- the animals were all very active. One of our first stops was to see the elephants. This slightly sour face is due to the fact that I was trying to explain to Libs that she couldn't feed the elephants the leaf she picked up off the ground. Luckily we were able to see the zoo keeper feeding them real food. I think that Libs is way too affected by elephant stereotypes she's seen on TV and in movies: she kept insisting that they were eating peanuts not pellets. What does Mommy know??The rhinos were in the same area as the elephants. They were basking in the sun enjoying a nap---- until Libi came along. Thanks to Miss Moira and all of her music class training whenever Libi sees someone sleeping she yells, "Wake UP!!!" So we arrived at their pen and Libi yells at them and one of them actually woke up, raised its head, looked at her and stretched. I was totally amazed taht Libs had that much power over the massive guys!I just had to share this one-- there were three baby meerkats on exhibit. They were absolutely adorable!Libi (and Tinkerbell) walked through a great deal of the zoo! I was really excited that I might not need to have the stroller forever-- but it is nice to still have a place to stash all of the stuff we bring places.This is the only picture of Libi and I together at the zoo (I think I earned points for creativity!) We had just watched a My Friends Tigger and Pooh episode with Porcupine in it, so Libi was excited to see the real thing.This picture is especially for Aunt Andrea who gave Libi this monkey shirt for Christmas. This morning I had my little monkey pose by the Indian monkeys for a picture. She loved this spot and danced away while talking to the monkeys, but as soon as they got close to the glass she was in my lap!When Ron and I took Libi to San Diego in October she was asleep when we got to the pandas, but today she really enjoyed them! This girl was a little agitated today, but with all of her walking around I got some really nice pictures.After an unfortunate experience on the very steep escalator (you can ask me about it later) we made it up to the gorillas and hippos. Libi was much more interested in the fish than the hippo which was swimming by her-- that is thanks to her Granpa!This could be my favorite photo of the day. Libi insisted on staying by this exhibit for about 10 minutes, she watched the fish, played with the hippo cut out, and talked to all the kids who passed by. She also had a few....very brief..... moments of reflection where she just sat. Wonder what was going on in that head of hers?Our final stop at the zoo was the children's section. Libi was able to pet some goats and see a macaw, but her favorite were the meerkats. In the children's zoo they have a very low display where the kids and the meerkats can get right up to the glass. Libi thought it was histerical that they were trying to dig their way out and that they were scurrying all over. It was such a nice day!

San Diego Day One

Today was our first full day in San Diego!Libi and I left Daddy to his safari stuff and we went to see.....SHAMU and his fishy friends!We were so lucky today-- the weather was gorgeous and we got to do lots of things we hadn't done before! Libi got to see the Beluga whales and polar bears in the Arctic Wild exhibit. Sadly the walruses were sleeping, but she liked all the critters she saw.The crowds were light so we walked on to all of the rides in Bay of Play. My adventurous girl went on all three rides, but didn't really enjoy any of them. She shook like a leaf and kept calling my name, but when I asked her if she wanted to try another one she ran to the entrance. She inherited her Dad's sense of adventure!Of course we saw the red man! He and Zoe were in the photo area all day so we didn't see any of the other folks Libi was excited about. She still loves Elmo-- ran right to him, hugged him, and danced with him.

We also experienced the 4-D Elmo show! I was worried that she wouldn't wear the glasses or that the special effects would freak her out, but she loved it!!! She kept asking to go back, but due to this being the off season the show times were really limited!We also fed the seals and sea lions for the first time. Libi wasn't really sure about the stinky fish and the feeding tubes were difficult to use so some birds got a good meal on our behalf!The big part of our day was seeing the Shamu show "Believe!" Libi was such a good audience member. She even clapped during the audience participation section!Mommy always cries during this show, but she masked it by taking some amazing pictures of Shamu and his buddies!While waiting for the crowds to clear at the end of the show Libi decided to try on my sunglasses. She looked so cute in them, I just had to share this photo!Daddy invited us to the first general session because they were having a drum circle and he thought Libs would enjoy it. We got to see an amazing performance by the Drum Cafe. Libi played on her bongo and danced through most of the session, but then crashed due to a very busy day about a half hour before it ended. Folks were amazed that she could sleep through something that loud but I'm thrilled that she can sleep through almost anything!Case in point: the evening festivities were right outside our balcony. A DJ, lots of intoxicated activities directors, and the din of a thousand people talking didn't stop her from falling fast asleep! Sweet dreams.

Our trip to San Diego

Today we drove down to San Diego for the CADA convention.

Before we left the house, Libi decided to say goodbye to Goofy. For those of you who don’t know, our dining room chandelier is named Goofy. I’m not sure why this is, but for quite some time now she points to the light and says, “Goofy.” We hope that Tobee and “Goofy” will get along while we’re gone.

Libi used her gift card from Aunt Linda and Uncle Mitch to buy a Pixar look and find book—she picked it out herself! For the past week every time we get in the car she asks for this book. As we left the SCV today she again asked for the book and a few minutes later I looked in the back-seat and saw…..

She was still gripped on to the book—I guess she doesn’t want Ron or I to take it away form her :)

She napped a great deal of the way but when she woke up she kept saying “Almost to San Diego.” I guess that it is one of the units of time I use with her—that and “A few minutes” are the two that I say the most.

We checked into the hotel and got settled in to our room. We have such a nice room and it has a balcony!!! Better than the balcony is the view—we look right down on the pool!

While I unpacked, Libs got to color her Tinkerbell pictures.

Seeing her in a regular hotel chair, doing things at the table like a big girl make me want to cry!

Ron ran off to his convention stuff leaving Libi and I to dine alone. We went to the hotel coffee shop which was quite empty. This worked to our advantage as Libi was very loud!!! Note the smiling child in picture one…..

and the BEAST in this photo!

While waiting for our meal Libi and I colored on the paper placemats. Libs mostly asked for happy faces which she then added cheeks and hair to (a.k.a. scribbling all over them and telling me she’s giving them hair and cheeks!)

I drew a whale while discussing the things we will se tomorrow at Sea World and then my daughter told this story:

Libi: Give the whale a seatbelt. (She draws a line by its head.)

Mommy: Why does the whale need a seatbelt?

Libi: It’s on a bus.

Mommy: Oh, like the Doodlebops. (Mommy takes the yellow crayon and draws a bus around the whale.) Where is the bus going?

Libi: To dinner.

Mommy: What is it going to eat?

Libi: His nose. The bus. His tail.

Mommy: Wow, he’s hungry. How is he going to get home without a bus?

Libi: (Totally lost interest in the whale story and began to sing the “Who’s That” song from music class using every inanimate object it the restaurant.)

Now we’re back in the hotel room. Libi has figured out how to climb up on the bed, get into the chair, and open drawers on her own—we’re in for a long couple of days!!

When it rains...

have a park play date!It was my turn to host a Mom's Club park play date today. Despite the slightly wet weather three brave Mommy's took their kids to Fair Oaks Ranch Park. The kids didn't mind getting wet-- I think they all left with soggy bums from sliding on wet equipment...but it didn't dampen their fun!Tonight the girls hung out with Daddy while Mommy was scrapbooking with the big girls!We enjoyed our last night home for a few days as we leave tomorrow for San Diego. We will be posting all of our adventures which will include: visiting CADA friends, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, and the Wild Animal Park. We also hope to catch up with Sami, Erik and Ben (Sami is my preschool friend who found me on Facebook!)

Speaking of Facebook-- today I reconnected with two old friends from elementary school. I can't believe how many amazing folks I have found via this site. I have become better friends with many choir buddies, St. Martin friends, Disney Store comrades, DU folks, and MOPS moms through the amazing internet!

Drama queen...

My daughter is destined to be an amazing thespian! She creates stories with her toys, sings songs (both real and made-up) all day long and can sometimes be difficult to work with.Today found her singing the "Hello Song" to every one of the dwarfs. She also "changed" the diapers on all of her plastic Disney toys. Then she proceeded to throw them from the changing table to the bassinet-- I guess it was time for a nap!I told he she was going to take a tubby after dinner-- this is what happened when the tubby didn't happen IMMEDIATELY after dinner! Yikes!!! On the bright side, I will have lots of tantrum stories to share with the other MOPS mommies when the topic comes up again!Lastly tonight when she finally got into her tubby, she was mesmerized with her reflection in the mirror. She proceeded to brush her hair, her nose and her teeth while watching herself.

Let's hope that all these dramatic tendencies will lead to an Oscar and millions of dollars that she will share with her parents!