California!

Since my family wasn't going to be going up to Yellowstone over the 4th of July this year, we decided it was about time to go spend the holiday in California with Jason's family.  We loaded up Tuesday afternoon and drove as far as Vegas after Jason got off work.  Leila did fabulous in the car, but not so well in the hotel room.  She would not calm down and go to sleep!  We tried her in her portacrib (bad idea since she's in a bed at home), in bed with us, leaving her alone, nothing worked until two hours later I was able to rock her, while I was standing, and sing her to sleep.  And after all of that, she was wide awake, ready to go at 5:30 the next morning.  Not my favorite way to start vacation.  But it did mean we got an early start on the road and about an hour later Leila was zonked and took a decent nap in the car.

We made it to Oceanside and almost immediately loaded up with Jason's parents and Darlene to go to Sea World.  Darlene had received some free tickets and really wanted to take Leila and we weren't going to complain!  Leila absolutely LOVED it, especially the dolphins.  They have a section of the park that is Sesame Street themed, and Leila knew every single character.  Grandpa was even nice enough to buy her an Abby Cadabby stuffed toy, which became her sleeping buddy the rest of the trip.

Leila was mesmerized by the dolphins

The next day (Thursday), we spent a relaxing morning at home and let Leila take her nap before heading down to the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar.  Once again, Darlene was able to score us some discount admission tickets.  Thanks Darlene!  Our first stop was taking Leila to see some of the livestock.  They had a little petting area and she was both thrilled and nervous to touch the goats.  She would reach in, touch them with one finger, and then squeal with excitement and back away.

Next, we made our way to Kiddie Land where Darlene and Jessica took turns taking Leila on different rides.  She got to ride a carousel, some race cars, a bus, and some flying bumblebees.  Her favorite would be a toss-up between the carousel and the bumblebees.

These cars were too loud for her so she spent the ride covering her ears

They also had a little butterfly exhibit that you could walk through and they had hundreds of butterflies that were flying around everywhere.  You could get little q-tips to dip in nectar and then pick up a butterfly on the stick.  You could transfer them onto you, we even saw one little boy put one on his nose!  Once again, Leila was a little skittish about being too close to the butterflies, but loved looking at them from a distance.

They also had a bunch of little old west type of activities that the kids could try out.  So, Leila got to make some music, milk a cow, and ride a tractor.

Then we all went and enjoyed us some yummy fair food before calling it a night!

Originally we didn't have much planned to do on Friday other than a BBQ and fireworks, but then Jessica won a raffle at work for free tickets to The Wave (a waterpark), so we set off Friday to go do that.  Jessica was nice enough to give us her tickets even though she had to work.  Leila fell asleep on the way over there (after asking to go swimming repeatedly for an hour), so I relaxed with her in the stroller until she woke up.  And then she was all about the pool and the lazy river.  She's not a huge fan of splash pads though.  She doesn't like getting splashed on her face at all.  But she certainly loved being in the water and playing with everyone.  When we took a break for lunch, she wouldn't believe that we'd get back in.  We spent several hours there before heading home to get cleaned up and ready for the BBQ that evening.

Unfortunately Leila had a bit of a rough afternoon after that and was practically inconsolable for almost an hour.  Thankfully, Daddy Z made a feast of corn, potato salad, and grilled steaks, burgers, and hot dogs with festive cupcakes for dessert that cheered Leila right up.  After dinner, we loaded up in the car to go catch the Legoland fireworks (from a distance).  Unfortunately our car got stuck in some traffic and missed the first 5 minutes, but we still managed to see enough to make everyone happy.

The only decent picture I managed to get of my Patriotic Princess

As if we hadn't fit enough in to our trip already, we decided to make a trip to Huntington Beach on Saturday.  We made it up there just after 2pm and it took us forever to find a parking spot.  Obviously everyone else had the same idea.  Once we finally found a spot and hauled all of our junk over to the beach, we enjoyed some lunch (including strips and cheese) and Jack's before spending some time on the sand and in the water.  Leila is such a beach baby and absolutely loved every minute of it.  Darlene was nice enough to play around with her even though it meant she got completely soaked.

Once we were done at the beach, we made our way to Great American Yogurt (Mama Z's favorite yogurt shop) where we enjoyed some yummy yogurt.  The plan then was to go to dinner at Northwoods Inn.  Leila fell asleep on the way there, so we drove around for a bit so that we'd have a happier toddler as a dining companion.  Eventually we met up with Jason's friend Jimmy and his girlfriend Brook and enjoyed a tasty dinner before heading back home.

Good to the last drop

We drove all the way home Sunday, wishing that we didn't have to go back to reality so soon.  What a great vacation!

My Pregnancy: Week 18

Baby's now the size of a sweet potato!

Your fetus has become amazingly mobile (at least compared to you), passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking, and swallowing.  And, baby's finally big enough that you'll be able to feel those movements soon.

I had a head cold this week that was annoying, but other than that, pregnancy symptoms seem to subside more and more with each passing week, except my ever-growing stomach.  It is interesting because I feel that this little girl shifts around a lot more than Leila did because there are times when my stomach is so tight and feels like it may burst but then a few hours later and you can hardly see my bump.  It's pretty crazy!

We've been brainstorming some names now that we know we can focus on just girl names.  Nothing is striking us as strongly as Leila's did, but our top contenders are currently: Clara, Marian, Maya, Mara, and Sybil.  We'll see which, if any, grows on us over the next little bit.

Random Bits of June

June 3-We made some binoculars for our Sunbeam class one week and gave Leila one of the extra pairs.  She loved looking through them, but eventually destroyed them.  Then she started putting the broken plastic cup over her eyes and calling herself a superhero.

June 14-Leila put on her daddy's shoes and clomped/shuffled around the kitchen

June 25-While getting dressed, Leila informed me that she wanted to wear her princess dress and cowboy boots.  She's got style!