San Diego Zoo

Parker getting some shots of the orangutans 

At the elephant exhibit. Jared was sporting a pretty full-on beard at this point; I kind of miss it, it was handsome :) I think he stuck with it so long in a pact with Parker to get him to stop sucking his thumb (it worked!).

Taking a drink break in the shade--it was a hot, sunny day

Can you spot Grandpa Niki in the background?

Pushing the stroller and riding in the stroller was fun for each

We waited in line to see the pandas--luckily, you can actually get a really great view of them once you get in.

Parker captured a good shot with his camera.

Riding on the sky tram. Parker was pretty nervous about going on this (I didn't feel all that great about it, either, so I can't blame him), but as soon as it took off, he exclaimed, "Hey! This is really fun!" and then loved every minute of it.

Mariner I and Mariner II

We all couldn't resist the critter pics

 It's about time that I posted some pictures from Parker's birthday trip to the San Diego Zoo! They have been nagging me for weeks now :) Thanks to Dee and Niki, we were able to spend the day at the zoo with them and Nate, Lisa, and Alex. We got Parker his own camera for his birthday, and he spent a lot of time during the day diligently working at getting great shots and videos of the animals. We walked and walked all over, hopped on the tram here and there, and had a nice long lunch (where we caught sight of zoo keepers walking a cheetah on a leash along with its doggie buddy--who knew??). We even rode the sky tram back across the zoo at the end of the day--somehow, I got on the tram with all of the kiddos, luckily we all ended up feeling good and happy about the tram ride and made it back down to land safe and sound. It was a long, full, fun day, hopefully one that Parker will always remember as the day that we celebrated him turning five!!

Thanksgiving 2011

I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving! We spent the last few days down in San Diego, enjoying time with family and a big, bustling meal at Dee and Niki's house on Thanksgiving Day. The kids came home exhausted today, and both took long naps to recover from so much activity. We've had leftovers twice already, and have enough dessert in the fridge to last another week :) Thank you to Dee and Niki for all of their efforts and hard work, and for hosting such a lovely party in their home for all of us.

Dee modeling my first sewing project

Levi experiencing his first turkey coma--he literally fell asleep in his high chair at dinner! Too funny. He kept falling asleep in the strangest of places the whole time--maybe all of the new people and places tired him out?

Parker and Mimi

Alex treated us all to a musical performance

Parker was so busy running around with the other kids all afternoon that I was barely able to snap any photos of him. Here is one of the few. For some reason, he kept giving me this look whenever I saw him. Oh, how I wish I knew what really goes through that head of his.

Levi really bonded with his straw cup 

Dessert time--Jared and I compared notes, and apparently this was Round One for dessert for Parker--neither of us are sure how he snuck a Round Two in. I tried my best to micromanage his dessert intake, but I guess he slipped some by me...on a side note, Rainbow Fish accompanied him throughout the day. Maybe dessert Round Two was Rainbow's idea...

Levi peeking in on the guys watching the football game in the "Men's Room"

Grayson was really into this Pokemon book...he kept showing me different pages and having me take pictures of them...

Sailing With Niki and Dee

We are really excited to share all of our fun experiences on Prudence with friends and family, so we were happy to have Dee and Niki join us for a Saturday afternoon sail. It was a bit windier than we would have liked for a casual family day out, so we experimented with sailing with only the jib, which worked out fine. We saw some dolphins, Niki took the helm, Dee snuggled with Parker, and then we enjoyed a delicious bottle of Navarrouge once we returned to the dock. The only thing that was missing was a lovely steak dinner and dessert in the cockpit to top it all off! Next time!! 

Point Loma Lighthouse

We went for a great walk around the Point Loma Light House at Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego with Dee and Niki last weekend. The weather was a little chilly, but the views from the point out there of San Diego, the harbor, and the ocean are incredible. Parker did a pretty good job on the walk (he's never been much of a "hiker"), with only a few complaints about hunger along the way; Levi slept in the front pack almost the whole time. Parker held onto a magnifying glass the whole way, although he's still figuring out how to actually use it :)

"Surfing" with Grandpa Niki

We stopped by Dee and Niki's house after a nice day out on the San Diego Bay for some pizza, wine, travel stories, and of course, some Grandparent time!