San Diego Zoo 1.2.13

One of the things we wanted to do when we were in California was to take Jeralyn to the San Diego Zoo.  She absolutely loves animals of all kinds and we thought she would really enjoy it.  And she did!  But unfortunately she started to get sick this day so I don't think she was as comfortable as she could have been. I felt so bad for her!  

The zoo was super cool for a lot of reasons, but one thing that really stood out to me was how natural of a setting it was.  The climate allows for so many different plants, such as bamboo.

The turtles were one of Jeralyn's favorites at the zoo.  She kept saying, "Sha-sha!" for Shelly.  She knows her favorite stuffed animal is a turtle.

Zebras are so cool!  My second favorite!

Jeralyn and I standing by an elephant statue.  This is when she started feeling worse in my opinion.

Our sweet little girl!

This is a 'secretary' bird.

And my favorite was the giraffe of course (since I collect them).  This was my first time seeing a giraffe up close and I loved it!  They were eating and it was fun to watch them.  Jeralyn was sleeping at this time.  

This picture is out of order.  But this is what she looked like while napping.  We tried to make her as comfortable as possible.

A Siberian Lynx.  This was Jeralyn's other favorite.  She made kissing noises to it and say, "Awww!" and leaned her head toward it.  So sweet!!

Right before we left the zoo we got her a stuffed animal that she showed interest in.  We felt so bad for how sad she was feeling.  She loved her little animal friend though!

New Years Sunset 1.1.13

Surfs Up! 1.1.13

This is how we brought in the New Year!  We went to the beach!  Oceanside Beach!  It wasn't what I pictured as my first California beach experience would be, but it had real sand AND surfers, so I'll take it!  I wish the sun would have come out more and it was like 80 degrees though...

Jeralyn had fun playing in and eating the sand with Daddy.  (Quent wasn't eating sand though...at least I don't think so)

Natasha came with us!  She took some awesome photos of our time.  Maybe I'll share them sometime.

There was a surf advisory...big waves.  We loved it!

And so did the surfers!  It was fun to watch them!

It's a... 12.31.12

The day after we arrived at Chad and Mikaela's they told us that they were expecting their second child mid-May.  On New Years Eve they were going to cut into a cake to find out if they are having a boy or girl.  How does that work?  Ha!  Mikaela asked the ultrasound technician to write down what they were having on a piece of paper, which Mikaela gave to the baker of the cake.  And the icing in the cake would be either pink or blue.  Make sense?  I have seen pictures of this online, so I was excited to see this in person.

Here is Grandpa waiting for them to cut the cake.  I really like this picture by the way!

The icing was pink!  It's a girl!!

This picture is out of order, but Jeralyn enjoyed the delicious cranberry salad Uncle Chad was so kind to share.  *wink*

Grandma was pleased with the results!  Congratulations Chad, Mikaela, and Josiah!

Gourd Farm 12.31.12

We drove down the road about 2 miles to a gourd farm.  It had really pretty oak trees in the grove and we walked around admiring the beautiful scenery.

Gourds galore!

Jeralyn was trying on Aunt Natasha's sunglasses.

On our way back to the car we let Jeralyn walk around.  She found all sorts of fun things to study...

...and eat!

Silly girl!  She had fun!

Dew 12.31.12

I believe Quent woke early to take some pictures.  He took some awesome time-lapse photos that he is planning to turn into a video.  It's super cool!  We'll post about it sometime.

Fallbrook, California 12.30.12

Chad and Mikaela live off of a road that goes up and up to a beautiful home overlooking the valley.  It's gorgeous!  The property has an orange orchard.  We could go out and pick oranges off the trees and eat them right then and there.  What could be better than that?  It was delightful.  On the second day we were there we walked about:

I loved these flowers!  Not sure what they are, but I really think they are beautiful!

These flower petals were more like leaves.  Gorgeous!

And then we came upon a poinsettia tree!  I didn't even realize they grew on a tree...or a bush.  Awesome!

Yes, we are getting our "poinsettias" on!  Ha!

Some more vegetation.

Oranges!  Blood oranges to be exact!

And cactus!

And cute nephews in the arms of beautiful aunties!

Josiah likes to stick his tongue out a lot!

Cousins 12.30.12

On December 29th we traveled to Fallbrook, California to spend time with Quent's family (minus Nate and Annie).  Quent's sister Mikaela, her husband Chad, and their son Josiah, graciously opened up their home for us.  Quent's parents and sister Natasha came from Michigan to spend the time together.  It was really a wonderful time together as a family!

We arrived at their place around 8:00 pm and immediately put Jeralyn to bed.  The next morning when I went to get her out of the pack-n-play, there was dried up vomit all over the crib and even on Shelly.  I'm guessing she threw up before falling asleep the night before, but gave us no indication that it even happened.  I even looked in at her before I went to bed but I saw nothing of the sort.  I'm guessing it was from motion sickness from the very windy and curvy roads up to their place.  Poor girl!  I felt so bad!  So we had to wash everything and give her a bath.  She was feeling great despite all of that!  

Jeralyn is 4 months older than Josiah.  Here they are playing:

She is really into giving affection, hugs, and kisses.  She says, "Awww..." and then leans in and gives a little smooch.  Her lips rarely make impact, but the sound effects say it all.

"Oh!  Let me fix your hair!"

"Awww!"

12.27.12

She's enjoying her Christmas toys!

Play Area 12.26.12

Since we don't have a play room, we decided to get an area rug for her to play on and to (hopefully) encourage her to keep her toys on.  It's a space between our dining area and living room.  She thought it was pretty cool to have this area to herself.  She walked all over the rug and enjoyed her little space. 

Video: Birthday Ski 12.23.12

Video: Little Ski Hill 12.22.12

Video: Before Skiing 12.22.12