Living Desert Zoo & Botanical Gardens!

I took Emma out to Palm Desert on Thursday morning to visit the Living Desert Zoo. We had never been here before and it was (duh!) really hot! Imagine that... the desert in summertime was hot. Surprise, surprise. But we had free pass from last year's library event and they were going to expire at the end of June, so we packed up some water and sunscreen and headed out for a Mommy-Daughter day. Hot or not, we still had a good time. We saw giraffes, zebras, some mountain lions and a cheetah. We also spent a good amount of time in the petting kraal and the aviary... yay for shaded areas! Emma commented on one of the birds, telling me "Look at that egret bird's neck Mama... It's shaped like an "S." My friend Sophia should come here to see it." She is such a smartie pants. It was a lot of fun and I think we will probably be back again, but in the winter time! In fact, Emma kept telling me that she loved the giraffes and zebras but, when I asked her what her very favorite part of the day was, guess her answer??? Yep, the 88 cent slushie we stopped for at Circle K after leaving the zoo! Too funny. They were pretty good slushies though... It's kind of ironic because I told Emma that we would stop for a treat when we left and gave her the option of ice cream, froyo, and a slushie. True to form, she chose a slushie and, given the option, that would be her choice probably 90% of the time. The irony lies in the fact that those darn slushies/ slurpees/ snowcones/ whatever you call them were the ONLY pregnancy craving I had with this little girl. And now, 4 years later, she still loves them!

Aunt Pauline's 75th Birthday!

We headed out to Duarte to celebrate Aunt Pauline's 75th birthday this past weekend. Most of us had a good time, although I don't know how much she understood about why everyone was there. Her alzheimer's seems to be getting more advanced and she seems to be speaking less and confused a bit more. She did get very happy to see the babies (who are not quite babies anymore, I guess) but she smiled and murmurred over Emma none the less. I'm glad the little ones still maker her happy. The day was still fun though. The food was delicious and it was nice to see so much of our family and for mom to get to see some of her siblings.

Final Day of the Mini-Vaycay... California Science Center!

After we checked out, we were in no hurry to rush home so we decided to head about 20 miles north and visit the California Science Center. Emma & I have been here a couple times, TJ once, and Grandma had never been here, so everyone was looking forward to it. When we first got there, it was crazy busy and full of school field trip kids but, by the time we finished lunch, the crowds had thinned a bit and were were able to enjoy ourselves. The kids had a good time and, as usual, anything aquatic was a big hit. They both liked the touch tank the wave machine. The giant aquarium was great, especially since the crowds were gone. I showed Emma & TJ the laminated charts and they must have spent over a half an hour sprawled on the floor, staring up into the water, and trying to identify various types of fish. Grandma thought this place was really neat too and she can't wait to to visit it again with more of her grandkids.

Mini Vay-cay Day 3 - Downtown Disney, Movies, & Hotel Fun!

On Wednesday we actually did NOT go to Disneyland! Surprising, I know. But we did go to Downtown Disney. :) Based on our passes, we are blocked out of the actual theme parks for a large portion of the summer, including this day. So we went to Downtown Disney with the intentions of catching an early showing of the new kid's animated feature, Kung Fu Panda 2. Of course, the power had gone out & the theater was closed. So we played at the Lego store for quite a while as I used my phone to search for another local AMC theater. And yes, it had to be an AMC... I had 3 free passes! Well, eventually I found one right up the street from our hotel. So we stopped for lunch and headed once again to the movies. This time we actually made it into the theater and were seated. And then over 100 early elementary school kids came in on a field trip and they were loud and obnoxious and throwing popcorn etc. And their chaperones weren't much better behaved. As we were debating whether or not to complain and leave, I looked into the next seat and TJ was asleep. *sigh* When I looked at Emma's face, I could see she would soon be joining him in slumber land. So we complained, got readmit slips, and left the movies once again. We went back to the room where I made the kids lay down "just for a few minutes" and surprise, surprise, they both took a good long nap. We finished up the afternoon with a leisurely dip in the pool and headed back for a late showing of Kung Fu Panda 2. We eventually got to see the movie. The kids enjoyed it and it was pretty cute, but since when did I get old enough that I now consider 7pm to be the "late show???"

Mini Vay-cay Day 2 - Disneyland with the Ommen Ladies!

On Tuesday, we again got up early and headed back to the happiest place on earth. This time we spent the day at Disneyland. My friend Sarah and her daughter Ava met up with us later in the morning and that was nice, since we hadn't seen them in quite a while. We had a lot of fun and Emma & TJ were both very excited to meet some more characters and get new pictures for their autograph books. Both Emma & I were feeling much better than the day before (her fever was gone and I did NOT double dose myself on allergy meds unlike the day before!) so that made the day much more enjoyable. We got to see the new Soundsational Parade and it was really cute! Lots of classic Disney music and characters. We also hit the standard faves like Dumbo and Peterpan. I took TJ on the Matterhorn while Sarah and Mom took Emma & Ava on teacups and Alice, so that worked out well. We finished up the evening with some playtime in Goofy's Garden in Toontown. It was a fun day!