Opening Ceremonies 2011!

Mikayla is playing softball this season. She is on a team called "The Dugout Divas." How cute is that? We went to her opening ceremonies this morning, which only took a short time. Unfortunately, their jerseys have not come in yet, but the girls still looked pretty good in their sleeves and baseball pants. Mikayla is so excited to play and the little ones are very excited to go to her games. And not only because they tend to take place at parks (read: PLAYGROUNDS!) but because they love Kayla so much too! After the ceremonies were over we let the kids play on the playground for a bit and then headed out to breakfast. It was a good morning.

Moonlight Beach, Encinitas!

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Checkout was at 10am Thursday, which left us the majority of the day to go play before heading home. I had promised Emma a trip to the beach this week, so off we went. Relying in the directions given by the Tomtom, we arrived at South Carlsbad State Beach... and realized it was a campground. So off we went again. After a bit of searching, we found parking and a wonderful stretch of sand called Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, just south of Carlsbad. We had a wonderful time playing on the shore for a couple of hours. Emma is still a bit wary of the ocean... I think that its a healthy fear. Gotta respect the ocean!... but she does like dipping her toes, and running from the breaking waves. Building sandcastles is always a favorite too. And the beach offered a newly appreciated aspect this trip too. Apparently, the sand right at the edge of the water, is a great place for Emma to practice her gymnastics moves. She did "pony kicks" for quite a while there. After we were done playing we took off again, this time in search of ice cream and lunch. We found both items in one cute little restaurant called Roxy's. They had some of the usual diner fare, but specialized in Eastern Mediterranean food so I told Emma we were going to try some "new foods" for lunch and she was all for it. I ordered us a stuffed grape leaves appetizer, a falafel plate, and (just in case) a small cheese pizza. The pizza went over great (surprise, surprise) and the grape leaves, not so much. I think they were a bit bitter for Em. But she did enjoy the falafel balls, the pitas, all the veggies that came on the side, and the yogurt-tahini sauce (or "dip" as she called it). I love the fact that my Emma has such an adventurous palate. It makes going out with her fun, rather than a chore!

My Kid's Clubhouse!

Wednesday was a relaxing morning for us on vacation. We spent most of the morning just hanging out, drinking coffee, and playing. Then we headed down to the pool for a while and came to the condo in time for a BBQ lunch Chris had prepared for us. After lunch, Erin, Chris, and Sophia headed home. So Jen & I let Emma & Hayden have a mini movie afternoon rest time while we searched for something fun in the area to go do. We ended up driving for about a half an hour to the city of Poway to find a place called "Kidsville." Well, we found it. Or, more specifically, we found where it USED to be. According to the worker at Pump It Up next door, Kidsville had closed in April. And, of course, Pump It Up was NOT having an open play session at this time. He was, however, able to direct us to another indoor playground place called My Kid's Clubhouse. This place was pretty cool. There was a huge indoor climbing structure (Adults can play too!) and all kinds of dramatic play areas and blocks, and more. Emma and Hayden had a good time playing there and wore themselves out. They got along most of the afternoon, other than a small tiff over which one of them was taller. Even after seeing the photographic proof, Hayden will still not admit that she is shorter than Emma. Too funny. I just kept telling them both, "yes, you are each getting taller everyday." I didn't elaborate on which one was doing it faster though. :) After stopping for dinner at Panera, it was back to the room for baths and bedtime, which was met without complaint. Yeah, they were definitely tired! :)

Sea World!

We spent Tuesday at Sea World with our friends. As compared to our last trip with family, we never even made it over to Elmo's playland or the Arctic ride. Instead, we spent more of our day at the actual shows. We saw the Shamu show, the new dolphin show, the seals and sea otters, sharks, and more. Emma and I had a great time. I would like to argue with Sea World about the calibration of their height requirement charts as they show Emma being a good 4 inches below the needed 42" yet she was almost there at the doctor's last month. This was a little upsetting to Emma, as she had wanted to go on the Journey to Atlantis ride. Other than that, we had a great time.

Mini Vay-cay!

We spent Monday through Thursday this past week on vacation with our friends. Jen has a time share and she asked Emma & I (and Erin, Chris, & Sophia) to join her and Hayden on a mini vacation. So we headed down to Ramona (40 or so miles East of San Diego) on Monday afternoon and spent the next 3 nights at the Riviera Oaks Resort and Raquet Club. The top picture is a shot of my favorite bridge as we crested the top of the hill heading into San Diego area Monday afternoon. The bottom picture is Emma, knocked out and sound asleep on our way home Thursday afternoon. As is the case in any group, we had our share of mini-diva-drama... I love you!... I don't like you... You're not my friend! etc etc etc. But all in all, the 3 girls (Emma, Hayden, and Sophia) had a great time playing together, snuggling up for movies, doing all things princess, swimming, and wearing their matching nightgowns I had bought them for the trip. Jen's mom, Charlene, even embroidered their names below Aurora's picture. They were so cute!