Ethan's Fieldtrip

I was lucky enough to go with Ethan on his Trolley fieldtrip on the 27th. We first took a bus to the trolley station, rode the trolley to downtown san diego, ate lunch by the pier, took the ferry to Coronado, then took a bus back to school. Along the way they gave us a checklist of things to look for (school bus, firetruck, Petco Park, etc.). I thought it was a great way to entertain the kids along the way. I'll probably try it once I have kids : ) We had a lot of fun and am so glad to be an aunt on days like these. I have also never seen so many kids without teeth at one time : )

Ethan and I on the ferry

Downtown San Diego from the Ferry
The kids looking over the side of the boat. The little girl in the blue jacket is Madelyn, she was in Ethan and I's group.

Once we got to Coronado, all the kids got to play on the beach. Ethan liked chasing the pigeons. I really liked how I got him chasing it mid-flight and with it's shadow on the ground.

Photo Shoot

I like to take pictures, and if I haven't taken any in a while I start to get a craving. To solve this problem I'll pick up our camera and take pictures of the kids while they are playing in the yard or walk around and look for something to take a picture of. This photo shoot happened to be of the kids. It is hard to resist taking pictures of them since they are so cute. I've also never made a picture black and white before, so I practiced a little with these photos.

Starlee. She is the biggest Ham and is always ready for someone to take a picture of her : )

Ryden has the longest lashes I have ever seen, so I wanted to take a picture that focused on them. I think it turned out alright. I would kill for his lashes : )
After I posted these pictures, Casey said he like the color version of Ryden better, so now I'm posting this one as well. I like the black and white, Casey likes the color. Which one do you guys like better?

Attention!

Garin is such a funny kid and definately doesn't lack imagination. Since he was really little he has always liked wars, battles, etc. He loves "Star Wars," "Lord of the Rings," and learning/reading about wars in history. Because of this we often catch him participating in his own imaginary battles. It is so much fun to watch because he makes the sound effects, gets on the ground, hides behind bushes, and as you can see, is very resourceful as he dresses for the part.

Through a window, so it is a little blurry, but I couldn't resist putting this picture up : )

Taking aim

Spring is here!

As always, I'm so excited for spring to finally be here. Granted, it is only slightly warmer than winter in San Diego, but still. The word spring just makes me thinks of picnics, fluffy little ducklings, and of course FLOWERS springing up left and right. These white daisies are everywhere in Janelle and Garth's yard, so I went out and took a few pictures. I was pretty happy with how they turned out.

Same type of flower, but an underside view.

Survey Says?

Okay, so here is the deal. For my birthday, Casey took me shopping and I bought clothes. Whenever I get new clothes, I have this huge desire to wear them right away. I just get too excited about all the cute things that I bought to wait. Sometimes I also imagine the perfect outfit, which sometimes involves more than one piece of clothing, so I'll buy one article of clothing then the other, and as soon as I have the whole outfit I want to wear it right away. I also tend to look over some of my older clothes in favor of the new ones. Am I the only one that does this? Is it just a girl thing? All of these questions were going through my head as I put on my new birthday clothes that I absolutely LOVE, which I have thanks to my wonderful, hardworking husband : ) Any thoughts?

Legoland

When Casey's mom first said that she was coming down she mentioned going to Legoland because it is the only amusement park she hadn't been to yet. When people asked what we were doing, they kind of gave us funny looks because Legoland is typically a kids park and you don't usually see four adults going by themselves, but I don't think they know how much fun it is. My favorite part was everything built out of legos. I didn't think you could build so many cool things with legos. It was fun going around and being a kid for a day : )

Since I like to take pictures, I had to take a picture with the camera man

Charity and Mom's favorite ride as we saw storybook land

Casey's mom soaked after the pirate ship ride. You got to squirt people with water and got squirted as well. Casey and I had so much fun getting people wet.

New York City Skyline (In Miniland)

The attention to detail was amazing. Even houses or scences farther away from the path had so much detail. This is Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

"I like big butts and I cannot lie" We thought that this little detail was pretty funny

Flowers along the way. I like how they sprouted right out fromt he tree branches.

Castle Lock-up

It was pretty fun to watch Casey's mom on this ride. She screamed at every turn. It was more fun than the ride itself : )

Legoland: Racers 4-D (the movie was really corny, but made for a good picture)

Corvette Diner

When Casey's mom and Charity got into town we immediately relxed and got pedicures, grabbed some lunch at Casey's mom and I's favorite place, Nordstom Cafe, then we shopped until we dropped. After picking up Casey from work, and a little more shopping : ) we went to Corvette Diner. The food honestly isn't that great, except for the shakes and old fashioned desserts, but the atmosphere is so much fun. All the waiters and waitresses dress up and do their hair like back in the day, they throw straws and Bazooka bubblegum at you, and really try to play the part. They also have a DJ that plays oldies. We had a great time!

Casey got two shakes they were so good, but was very protective, hence the pinching of my straw so I couldn't drink any while taking the picture.

Charity being shy

It's My Party

Well, I'm the big 2-4, but my 24th year couldn't have started out any better than it did. I had a great birthday! Jason and Ashley were in town the day before and we got to go to the zoo courtesy of Garth and Janelle, Casey made reservations at House of Blues (since my b-day was on Sunday), and then we went to Extraordinary Desserts which is always good. On Sunday we walked along the beach, then Garth and Janelle made a wonderful roast for dinner and once again we had Extraordinary Desserts, since that is where we got my birthday cake. I also got a lot of cool presents and cards. Thanks to everyone that was there, for all my great presents, e-mails, and phone calls.

House of Blues (the wall behind us was so neat)

Au Chocolat Birthday Cake. Translation: Dang Good : )
The beautiful card from my mom. My sister Jocelyn and Joanna also gave me really cute cards.

Me letting Casey know I'm done taking pictures. He doesn't take them very often, but when he does, he can get a little crazy : )

Point Loma Lighthouse and Tidepools

As part of our fun-filled weekend with Jason and Ashley, we went to Point Loma and saw the lighthouse and the tidepools. The rock formations were more amazing at the La Jolla tidepools, but Point Loma had a lot more sea animals. Next time we go we'll look under more rocks and hopefully see more.

Point Loma Lighthouse

Brittle Star

Sea Urchins

A pretty crane and the horizon

View from the Top

After a quick jaunt to Seal Beach, we went up to Mt. Soledad to see all the cool houses and the view. The view is amazing! You can pretty much see everything up there, including the San Diego Temple.

The Great City of San Diego

La Jolla Beach
La Jolla and the San Diego Temple

San Diego Zoo

I love the zoo! I had forgotten how fun it was, so I was glad when Jason and Ashley said that it was one of the things they wanted to see for their visit. I also have to thank my wonderful sister and brother-in-law Janelle and Garth for the passes. It was a great birthday present : ) We walked around the ENTIRE park, which is no small feat (100 acres), and saw just about every animal on display. It is like a jungle and so beautiful! I got so many good pictures that is was hard to choose which ones to share, but I think I picked the best ones. Enjoy!

We were glad we got there early because Pandas are more active in the morning and this one was just sitting there enjoying his bamboo.

I didn't really like taking pictures of animals through fences, but you can't deny what a beautiful creature it is.
Aloe Vera (I think this is my favorite)

Koala Bear. Isn't he just the cutest! I really liked how he was holding his little foot up.

Meerkat. Another time we saw them they were scouting the sky looking for birds that might harm their little ones. Little bit of trivia: Their favorite food is scorpions. They are immune to the poison.

R.O.U.S's (Rodents of Unusual Size). I don't know their real name, but that is the first thing I thought of when I saw them.

Komodo Dragon. They have such colorful and beautiful skin.

Just Monkeying Around!

Orangutan. He just sat there the entire time looking lazy.

Casey got that "Do I have to?" look when I asked him to take this picture, but I like how it turned out and it is one of my favorites.

Giraffes being fed by some kids. It's tongue is so long!

Turtle, turtle!

I thought it was cute how the one turtle was resting it's head on the other.