Fun in the Sun!

A couple of weeks ago Mike and I decided to take the family to California. We were dying to take Cooper and Kamryn to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. We just knew Cooper would love all of the animals and Kamryn is always up for fun. We left on a Wednesday night and arrived in California at about 1:00 a.m. Of course both kids woke up and we were awake for the next hour or so trying to get them back to sleep. The next morning we visited Sea World. We arrived just before the doors opened at 10:00 a.m. at left at 4:30 p.m. The kids were great and loved every minute of it. Cooper loved all of the animals and was so excited to see all of the entertaining shows.

Here is Kamryn on the first morning in San Diego. She loved playing in the coolers and was entertained for quite some time.

A quick photo before they opened the park.

Cooper loved looking at the beluga whales and the polar bears. We are standing right next to the whales.

Our cute little penguins!

I must admit that I wasn't sure if Cooper would like the rides but he loved them. He went on all three Elmo rides and then insisted that I go on them again with him.

Sea World's version of the tea cups.

This is how Kamryn rode around the entire time we were in California. She stood up and held on.

Cooper and I getting pumped up to ride the tea cups again.

On the second day we visited the San Diego Zoo. It was amazing!!! We arrived at 10:00 a.m. and the kids lasted until 5:00 p.m. We had so much fun exploring all of the walk ways and paths. We were able to see almost every animal. Cooper was so excited by all of the animals that he just ran from one exhibit to the next shouting "mon" (his version of come on).

Cooper and the seal.

We had a hard time dragging Cooper out of this helicopter.

The zoo had so many places for Cooper to pose. He was constantly telling Mike or I to take his picture. Here are a couple of them.

If pictures could talk . . . I am not sure what was going through his head . . . Maybe the elephants were stinky.


On the third day we decided to check out the beach for a couple of hours before heading back to Sea World. Cooper and Kamryn had a lot of fun. It was was a cool morning and the water was even colder. We managed to get the kids in a couple of times but just enough to cover their feet. After playing for an hour or so Cooper discovered that the tide was coming in and kept announcing that the waves were going to get him.

Kamryn enjoyed playing in the sand for a little while before eating and falling asleep on the beach blanket.

Cooper and Mike building sand castles. Cooper loved building them up and smashing them down.

Our little escapee never misses a chance to get away.

Cooper and Kamryn checking out the views.

After our fun in the sun. We went out for lunch and then back to the hotel for naps. That afternoon we went back to Sea World. We were able to see everything we missed the first day and met up with our friends The Corbins. The boys had a lot of fun running around playing with eachother. The sun had gone down and the park was getting ready to close so we let the boys sneak under the barriers to get an up close look at the dolphins. Two or three dolphins came up to the glass to see the boys. They loved it and were acting very silly. Right as we were getting ready to leave one of the dolphins splashed water over the glass and got Bentley wet. He got mad and started yelling at the dolphins. It was priceless!

April: Easter, the zoo and lots of firsts

My parents came to visit for Easter this year and we had lots of fun together. We decided to take the kids to the zoo one day and they loved it. Here's a cute picture of Kamryn and her Grandpa. She just loves her Grandpa and always wants him to hold her so she can grab his mustache.

Kamryn loving Cooper's snow cone.

The group checking out the elephants at the zoo.

Dying Easter eggs . . . naked.

Christy decided that it would be fun to teach the boys how to have egg races. If you have ever tried to teach and 2 and 3 year old how to do something you can imagine how this went. Zach caught on quick but Cooper and Connor had no idea what was going on.

Zach figured out that you had to balance the egg on the spoon without holding on, Cooper just held the egg in one hand and the spoon in another and ran and Connor just stood there. It was hilarious.

Kamryn and Grandma.

Kamryn after the Easter egg hunt checking out what she found.

Kamryn decided that this roll looked pretty good because she stole it as someone was holding her.

Cooper and his Easter basket. He found it within 20 seconds of us telling him to find it. I guess the Easter bunny under estimated his finding skills.

Kamryn and her Easter basket.

I decided to take a couple of pictures of Kamryn on Easter morning. Here are a couple.

Cute little princess!

This is a classic Kamryn pose. Now that she has figured out how to crawl, she does this cute little leg raise. Maybe she is going to be a gymnist?

Another dare devil in the family?!? Yep, I found her like this.

Our little escapee. Although she hasn't made it out the doggie door, she is well aware that it is there.

Aren't big brothers so much fun?

Good thing she's cute because she is a handful now that she can crawl and pull herself up to everything.

Kamryn's first pony tail and first chocolate cupcake. Yum!

I put pig tails in Kamryn's hair for the first time. She looked so cute!