Life after San Diego

October was a fun filled month even after our trip to California. There was a Fall Carnival at Nathan's School. There was bounce houses, carnival games and a petting zoo. The kids were able to wear their costumes to the carnival.

We have a pet turtle that came with the house. He is the lowest maintenance pet ever. He ventures out of his hole in the bushes every once in a while to cool off or drink in the sprinklers and eats the bugs or grass in the backyard. Anyways the other day Mr. T came onto the back patio. So Natalie had her own little petting zoo in our backyard :-)

On Saturday the 30th we participated in the JDRF Walk. There were a lot of activities there to do. Like painting pumpkins. They also had bounce houses and we all participated in a mini Zumba class prior to the walk.

Pictures with the Coca-Cola Bear. The boy on the left is not a stranger, it is Daniel (a best friend cousin for Nathan)

Our whole gang with Preston's brother Kendall and his wife Liz (who has diabetes and the reason we participate in this event)

Kendall and Liz taking a photo opp along the walk.

Kendall and Preston having a brotherly leisurely stroll.

This year we did the 1 mile fun run instead of 5k because we were short on time that day. Nathan had a scout activity and the girls had a baby shower for a Sister-in-law. Nathan ran a lot of the way and I ran part of the way. The kids and I ran the last part together through the finish line. Here is Nathan finishing.

Taylor and I after finishing. I love Taylor's face of happiness and pride for running through the balloon finish line.

The kids and I after finishing.

Halloween 2010. Taylor was Minnie Mouse and Ryan her cousin was a dragon.

Natalie was a Flutterby Fairy officially but many thought she was Tinkerbell.

Nathan was Mario. I don't know if he is smiling under that Mustache or not.
Ryan, Natalie, Taylor, Nathan and Daniel prior to our ward Trunk or Treat. Can you tell that Natalie was concerned with the dragon mask. Her face here makes me chuckle.

There you have it. October 2010

San Diego Zoo

While in California we also went to the San Diego Zoo. I really liked it. The weather was perfect, you could see an animal at EVERY exhibit, the animals were actually active and not just lying around like the ones at our local Zoo.

Kid's with Aunt Sherri :-)

I really enjoyed the Koala's. I thought they were SOO Cute.

This jaguar was pacing back and forth along the fence. Preston was standing a few feet away when the jaguar peed. Funny part is they shoot their pee 5 to 7 feet. It came very close to spraying ALL OVER Preston.

Nathan's loves all types of the Big Cat's especially the Puma. They had a Big Cat trail, Nathan was in heaven.

The Panda Bear was the animal that Taylor was anxious to see. She loves Panda's

This Mural was a lot bigger than what is shown. It was covered with a bunch of panda's that were painted by kids of all ages and some of their teachers. It was neat. I cannot draw and looking at these paintings the 6 and 7 year old kids drew better than I would have.

The Polar Bear's were Preston's favorite exhibit. Those things are HUGE!!

We got to watch these polar bears wrestling and playing with balls for a long time. This was Preston's favorite part of the trip. It was really cool.

Co-Pilot Natalie.There were statues all over the place in the zoo for photo opps. Here are a few of them.

One of these things is not like the others. :-)

What the Monkey's your Uncle? No it's the love of my life and father of my children. :-)

The petting zoo. To be honest it was pretty lame, but everything else at the Zoo was pretty cool.

Sea World

Our Family went to San Diego last week on October 14th. We went to Sea World a couple of those days. We took a lot of pictures and I will just briefly tell about some of them. This picture was taken when we first walked into Sea World.


Waiting for the Dolphin show to start.

The Dolphin show was a little too Cirque Solei for my liking. I would rather see more dolphin tricks then acrobatics.

Natalie playing at the playground in Sea World.

I learned at Sea World that Natalie recognizes and says Elmo's name. Who knew.

The kids and Aunt Sherri feeding the dolphins. Feeding the dolphins is now very regulated and pricy. So Sherri took the kids to feed them by herself. Nathan enjoyed it and Taylor was scared to touch the Dolphins. She did feed the dolphins (aka throw a fish in the direction of the dolphin)

Riding Abby's Sea Star spin ( Sea World's version of Disneyland's tea cups)

Cute little stair steps at the beginning of day 2 at Sea World.

Waiting for the Shamu show. This picture reminds me how much our kids look alike.

Meeting the Sesame Street Characters after the Countdown to Halloween show.

Kids playing in a huge playground.

Natalie playing in the toddler play zone.

Girls meeting a friend of Ariel. :-)
Petting the bat rays. Once again Taylor was not interested in touching the animal.

Waiting for the Shamu Rocks show. We were in the middle of the Soak Zone and we were prepared to get wet but never got a drop on us.

So there are the pictures from Sea World. Hopefully soon I can post our pictures from the San Diego Zoo.