Back to Life

After all the traveling this week was about getting back to what we know. The kids were excited to return to school. Everyone really missed them and they were able to share stories of all the things they had seen while on vacation.

Riley was really in the exploring mood. He got to visit the other classrooms which also meant he got to play on the slide and explore the dino table. He went on walks and played in the water structures. The teachers are reporting he is an expert in the sandbox but don't you dare try and take his shovel (wow, that is so familiar).

For the weekend while Mommy was catching up on things at home, the kids and daddy went to Grandma Cindy's house with Uncle Greg. Riley got an early b-day present which was a pull-toy puzzle that included a giraffe, elephant, and zebra. He really likes pulling it around. While Riley napped Cameron went out to Pt Lobos. She saw some deer and was very excited to see the "rein"deer.

Florida Trip - Part II

I was a little afraid that the kids were too young for Disney World. A neighbor assured me that she took her kids at Cameron's age and it was great. I was unsure but it was such an awesome experience with them both. They were excited to go everywhere and Cameron was thrilled she was going to see Cinderella's caste in person. We saw it from a distance and she squealed and pointed it out. She was even more excited to find out we were going to have breakfast in the ballroom and meet Cinderella in person.

She met Fairy Godmother right outside of the castle and she watched all the older girls get autographs and take pictures so she was shy but she did hug her and pose. As we waited to meet Cinderella she was so happy but a little timid as she walked up to her. I guess that is to be expected when you meet your "idol." Cinderella was very nice and met Cameron's tinkerbell doll and talked to Cameron. Then we had breakfast where we met all the other princesses (Jasmine, Belle), some Cameron didn't even know (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty). The called Cameron "princess" and called Jeff and Riley "my Lord" which Jeff loved. After Disney we headed to Ft Meyers to visit with Grandpa and Ma-mere.

The beaches were awesome. The sand was like powder, which definitely has the downside of not being able to wipe off. Poor Riley took a face plant off one of the chairs and he looked like a sugar cookie until we poor water over him. Cameron was thrilled. Grandpa and shovels and buckets so she thought Florida was heaven. Then to top it off, Grandpa had a pool. She kept saying "Grandpa has a pool at his house!' so each day after our adventures around town/beach/etc we finished the day with a swim in the pool. It was a great vacation!


To see the rest of the picture from this part of the trip, check Picasa.

Florida Trip - Part I

There were several goals of the Florida trip. See the shuttle launch, visit Disney World, and see Grandpa and Ma-mere. We flew into Tampa because that was the shortest travel time and spent the night there. The next day we drove to Disney World and checked into our hotel, The Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had a room with a savannah view so we could see the giraffe's at eye level. It was really cool to see all the animals from our room. We celebrated Mother's Day with the grandparents and had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and explored Downtown Disney.

The next morning we drove out to Cape Canaveral. We could only get a car pass to the causeway even though daddy really wanted to be at Banana Creek. It was very exciting but really, really, hot! Daddy was sure we had to get there early so we were at our destination 3 hours before launch.

We listened to the updates over the loud speaker about the astronauts getting to the launchpad and getting strapped in and Daddy was getting updates from friends working on the system checks to make sure things were still a go. In the meantime the kids tried to find ways to entertain themselves and keep cool. Riley actually didn't complain about the heat at all. I'm not sure where he got that from, but he did enjoy getting the little water shower from daddy.

At the final count down we got in the best spot see watch the launch and 3..2...1...boom! The boom actually took a little while to get to us but the light was so bright! I didn't imagine it would be that bright. It moved so quick and was out of sight in seconds. By the time we got to the car, daddy reported it was over Europe. Cool! This was something everyone should experience, only 8 more to go!


For more pictures of our first few days in Florida, check Picasa.

Baby Shower at the Zoo

This weekend the San Francisco Zoo was hosting a Baby Shower. Its spring and they have lots of babies to show off. Although we woke up to a little rain we didn't want to miss the babies. Uncle Greg and Tim joined us which makes having the kids too easy. Because it was a little cool and rain was expected to be worse, the zoo was empty. The concert for the kids was like a private one because we had a front row seat.

There was lots of climbing. We spent a significant amount of time with the prairie dogs. The kids climbed around in their tunnels and pop up holes. There were several babies out of the tunnels gathering food and frolicking about.

The children's zoo was fun. Cameron got to brush a goat. We didn't feed the animals because several of the male goats were pretty aggressive. Although Turtle wasn't with us, we did see lots of turtles and tortoises (which a junior ranger explained to us was one that didn't live in water). We even saw a turtle named "Tim!"

Riley was very interested in the animals. He was very patient and stayed in the stroller for most of the day but by the end he wanted out. He ran around as much as he could and explored the store where we bought gifts for the teachers. You can see all the pictures from the day on Picasa.