San Diego Day #2

It's only a couple weeks late, but here's some highlights from our day at the San Diego Zoo. (I'd give it 2-3 stars out of 5. It wasn't my fave. I think our kids were still a little too young and it was pricey beyond belief. But still a good time.)

This is really like one of two shots I have of Cole. This is right after he pooped for the first time on vacation. Finally! He was so relieved that he subsequently fell asleep and then slept most the day. Until we took the bus tour and he kicked me in the sweet spot the whole time...

Which could lead to this expression, except that we took this picture and the one of Jen below earlier in the day. I think I make a pretty good howler monkey. I've got the physique.

Jen's just way too cute to be a howler monkey. She does give the monkey a nice hair-do though.

Here's Jen's parents struggling to climb on the gorilla statue's back. I kept waiting for some little kid to walk by and say (you must read this in an innocent little kid voice - like the Simpson's neighbors - for the full effect), "Mommy, what are those two monkeys doing?"

Sibling love. Isn't it beautiful? This is right after I changed Cole and before he fell asleep.

Jen spent half the day taking pictures of the plants. I thought this shot was pretty cool. Who knows, she may grow up to be a wildlife photographer. She captured the picture of the two monkeys earlier and then this...

I have no idea what exhibit Teanna is in front of, but I'm pretty sure it's monkeys. That's almost all there is to see at the San Diego Zoo. Birds and monkeys.

San Diego Day #1

While everyone takes turns showering off the sand from Mission Beach, I thought I'd throw up some pictures from our day in the sun. We started out by driving down to the pier. We were lucky enough to walk onto the USS Midway for free (usually about $20 per person) because there was a special Memorial Day ceremony. So we walked around the decommissioned aircraft carrier, took some pictures and looked at all the cool airplanes.

Jen and the kids in front of a jet.

A really cool jet. Just amazing to me that something so big can fly, especially off a ship!

Then we took a ferry across the bay to Coronado island. Teanna and Cole loved being on the boat and seeing the sea lions on the buoy. We walked around and enjoyed the beauty of Coronado for a couple hours, went back to the mainland, and then walked up and down the pier, looking at the amazing ships - including the Star of India which has circumnavigated the globe an amazing 21 times since 1863, the oldest active ship in the world.

Teanna and Cole on the ferry.

Me and Jen on Coronado. This place makes us look good. At least me. Jen always does.

After that both the kids fell asleep while we drove up to the San Diego temple and took a few moments to relax and shoot some pictures. We drove back down to Seaport Village had dinner and rode a 100 year old carousel.

I love this temple. It is so incredibly beautiful, like a castle. You just drive down the freeway and BAM, you're hit with a does of Mormon beauty. It's hard not to notice. Great missionary tool...

This is my attempt to be artistic with our new camera. You know, take a shot of something with something else in the foreground. Not sure it worked out exactly, but hey, I still think I'm pretty cool.

We finished the day by going to Mission Beach - didn't realize the beach didn't have changing places, so only the kids changed into their swimsuits - and watched Teanna love the water and Cole love the sand.

I buried Cole in the sand 3 different times. We left the swim diapers back at the hotel, so the poor kid had sand everywhere...you know.

Teanna loved the water. Cole, not so much. She kept running away from the waves.

Hopefully I'll have time to update day #2 tomorrow.

Family Fun Time

We're trying to give our kids some fun experiences during the summer since I don't work on Fridays. So far, we've been to St. George (really it was in March, but it still counts), the dentist (Teanna wishes she could go back every day. Whenever we drive past the dentist's office, she asks if we can go in. She'll learn.), Thanksgiving Point and down to the Manti temple. Teanna was so disappointed she couldn't go into the temple, but both kids loved being there and talking about the special place by the rocks where dad asked mom the "most important question ever"! (It was, "Hey, how you doin'?" with an eyebrow raise and a hip nod. Just kidding. "Will you marry me?")

Enjoy the pictures.

This is how Cole slept on the way home from St. George. I think he was a little bugged by his sister at this point.

Teanna the movie star (love those sun glasses they let you wear) getting her teeth cleaned.

"I love the dentist! My teeth are so clean!"

Teanna only rode the horses once. Not much of a cowgirl this year.

Cole, however, rode them 3 times! And he loved it.

Me and the kids. Cole started saying "cheese" when we took these pictures. It was awesome.

Jen and the kids. Still as beautiful as the day we trudged through the snow for our wedding pictures.

Jen and Teanna. I couldn't help but think about how important Jen is for our kids, holding their hands and helping them step by step on their journey through life.

Two beautiful kids. Best of friends. As we left the temple, Teanna said she wants to marry Cole in the Manti temple. (We're still working on that one...)