Fire Trucks!

On Tuesday we had a had a playdate for MOPS and invited the local fire department.

The firefighters always express that they like coming out and showing the kids their fire trucks. Another shift came out two years ago for a MOPS event.

The firemen also wanted the kids to see one of the men completely suited up. They don't want the kids to be afraid of the men in the full masks. The Captain, who has four kids of his own, did a great job explaining the different parts of the fireman's suit. He also explained why they wear the mask and the air tanks. He wanted the kids to hear the firefighter's personal alert safety system and hear what the self-contained breathing apparatus sounds like when it is on. One of the moms remarked that all the moms were learning a lot from his talk also.

The highlight for the kids was getting to "drive" the fire trucks.
This firefighter explained how the person in the passenger seat is the one in charge. That person has use of the computer and is in control of the radio.

The kids also got to "drive" the ambulance.

This medic seemed to really enjoy watching the kids explore the ambulance. He let all of them (who were so incline) try out the bed. He also got the bed out in order to answer Wesley's question about if there was a ramp to get the bed in and out.

The firefighters were there at least 45 minutes and the captain stated they would be happy to come see the kids again. Maybe this should be an annual MOPS event.

After the firefighters left, the kids had fun playing on the playground.

Wesley really likes this zipline.

It was a great morning and I gained a deeper appreciation for our local heroes.

He is Missing Something

Two days after we got home from vacation, Wesley lost his first two teeth. Actually, I pulled them out. They were so loose, they easily came out. He is thrilled. The new ones are already coming in.
And the damaged tooth? The dentist is going to take it out on Thursday.

Dinner with Friends and Pancakes by the Sea

On Sunday (two weeks ago) when we left Legoland, we had dinner with our former neighbors. It was a perfect spring evening and the first day of daylight saving time. Wesley had fun riding bikes with Nicholas. Dan and Chris hung out and watched the boys play.
Lydia played inside the house and outside. Joy and I enjoyed talking and getting dinner ready. All too soon, it was time to say goodbye. I was reminded of that old Micheal W. Smith song, "And friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them."

The last hotel we stayed in was the Renaissance near LAX. I booked the hotel on Priceline for $55 so we were very happy with it. On the hotel's website they listed one place for breakfast. I wanted to try it and Chris decided it would be a good idea to get up a little early to help us get ready for the time change going home (it didn't help). So, we had a great breakfast at Uncle Bill's.

The view from the restaurant was very nice. I am sure I was meant to live in Southern California.

The Land of Tiny Bricks

On Sunday and Monday (over a week ago) we went to Legoland. Wesley did great driving the cars.
He lapped Lydia twice. She had a little trouble avoiding the curbs.
Wesley was tall enough for the Knights' Tournament and at first we thought this would be his first upside down ride (see the people behind Chris and Wesley) but because of his size, the robotic arm was programed for an intensity of one (five is the highest) so it only turned slightly.
We all enjoyed seeing Miniland USA.
On Sunday the Sky Cruiser ride was a 45 minute wait which is one of the longest lines we saw. We waited until Monday and rode it when it first opened (30 minutes after the park opened).
Chris and Wesley did the Kid Power Towers. Chris said Wesley wasn't much help pulling them up to the top.
My favorite ride was Skipper School. Wesley only needed help a couple of times to get the boat unstuck. When I rode with Lydia she let me do all of the driving.
Lydia's favorite ride was Fairy Tale Brook. It is a little ways off the main path so there was no wait either time we rode the little boats (no driving involved here) through scenes from different fairy tales.

During the Coast Cruise, the kids really liked seeing the gaint Q-tip being used to clean Mr. Washington's ear.

I had my little camera in my purse and used it some. Chris took most of the pictures using the DSLR, as seen here on the Sky Patrol.

Here is another round at Skipper School.

While Wesley was riding some bigger kid rides like the Lego Technic Test Track (wild-mouse style roller coaster) and Aguazone Wave Racers (he could ride everything there), I took Lydia to see the Bob the Builder 4-D movie. She did get to ride the Coastersaurus and she loved it. She could ride most of the rides there.

We enjoyed Legoland. No, it doesn't really compare to Disney but it was fun and well themed. We were there Sunday from 9 to 4 (the park closed at 5:00) and 9 to 5 on Monday and we were busy all day both days.

We stayed in four different hotels (we booked two through priceline and got great deals and two we booked with the entertainment card for huge discounts). The kids started out in seperate beds but once they were asleep we moved them together.

Harp Playing - Wordless Wednesday

A Wild Day with Old Neighbors

On Saturday we went to the Wild Animal Park.
We met some of our former neighbors there. Joy and her family moved away 2 1/2 years ago. The kids didn't remember each other at all but they had a great time playing together.
I think the boys were plotting their next move in this picture. Joy and I spent the entire day talking as we walked around the zoo. We both felt like no time had passed since we last saw each other - except for the fact that the kids have really grown and changed!
There was a lot of running around and having fun! Chris joked that we should have just taken the kids to a playground. Later in the day the kids played on the playground at the Wild Animal Park. The kids did take the time to look at the animals and the boys really enjoyed riding the tour vehicles for the Journey into Africa Tour. (Chris and I are pretty sure this tour is much shorter than it was 9 1/2 years ago.)

We saw a lot of beautiful and interesting animals.
We saw lots of elephants including a cute little baby that was born on February 14.

My favorite thing at the Wild Animal Park was feeding the lorikeets. We had tried this at Riverbanks Zoo last summer but the lorikeets weren't that hungry at the end of the day. The lorikeets at the Wild Animal Park were very hungry. In the picture below, Joy has two lorikeets on her arm.

Lydia and I both had a bird land on our heads! Chris missed getting pictures of that. Here is Lydia feeding a lorikeet that landed on my arm.

Look how happy Wesley is about the bird on his arm!

Lydia was so excited to ride the elephant on the carousel.

She also liked petting and feeding the deer.

Wesley enjoyed feeding the deer too.

The kids thought this shoebill stork was rather funny looking.

We enjoyed the Wild Animal Park and we really liked hanging out with friends there but Chris and I like the San Diego Zoo better. We are very grateful that we got to take the kids to both places.

After 8 hours at the Wild Animal Park, Lydia fell asleep in the car right before we went to dinner. Chris held her while she slept soundly through dinner. So, she missed her second dinner of the trip.

Dinner with New Friends

Have you ever become friends with someone through blogging and email? Have you have ever emailed that person and said, “I am going to be in your city. Do you want to get together?” That is exactly what I did with The Farmer Files. They are good friends with a lot of our friends at church. They moved away around the time we started attending the church.

They were kind enough to invite us over for an excellent dinner at their house. Our kids played with their kids for hours and we had to drag them away. It was such a wonderful evening.

We spent so much time talking that I took very few pictures. I thought I had a picture of Mrs. Farmer but I don’t. Well, I have a picture of her foot.For dessert, the kids roasted marshmallows for s’mores. Chris and I fell in love with their backyard.

Thank you Farmers for a wonderful evening.
Lydia fell asleep in the car and slept all the back to our hotel. She was sleeping so soundly that we just put her bed with all of her clothes on, including her little jacket.

The Famous Zoo

On Friday we went to the San Diego Zoo. The koalas are so cute, especially the babies.

This colorful bird was having a yummy looking breakfast.
The siamangs were making so much noise "singing" that they could be heard throughout at least half of the zoo.

We saw the seven month old baby panda around 11:00 or so. We walked by later in the day and there was a very long line to see him.

The kids loved the moving walkways. I really enjoyed walking around the zoo. Of course, it was fun to see all the animals but the zoo itself is very pretty and a nice place to walk around. The kids had fun running and playing together while we were there. I can't believe how much they exercise they got.

Wesley wanted to pose with all the animal sculptures. This was at the Elephant Odyssey which opened in May 2009.

The kids also enjoyed meeting this hippo.

Wesley asked us about seeing an anteater and we told him to ask a park volunteer. He is not shy at all so he had no problem asking where the anteater was. It turns out that they are in two different locations.

Throughout the day, the kids kept asking to ride the sky ride, The Skyfari, and since I had just tried to face my fear of hights early in the week I also wanted to ride it. Chris and I finally decided to cough up the $16 so we could all ride it. When we went to buy the tickets we found out that it was included in our in tickets to the zoo (we had San Diego 3- for-1 passes for SeaWorld, the zoo, and the wild animal park). I am so glad we didn't just decide to skip this ride. It also shows that I didn't take the time to do any research for our trip.

The kids loved the Skyfari and I wasn't scared!

We saw this cute little porcupine out for a walk with one of the zoo keepers. Wesley asked the girl, "Does she live at your house?"

We enjoyed the Sea Lion show and I think it may have been better than the one at SeaWorld.

We are able to see almost everything at the zoo between 9:00 and 4:30. It was a great day! Lydia fell asleep in the stroller about 4:00 and continued to sleeping the car and Wesley fell asleep in the car.