Zoo News

Here are more photos from the Zoo! We did the sky run over the top of the park which gave us all a great view of San Diego but really scared Sean and Aubree!

Waterpark Days!

This summer we have been able to go twice to the water parks! The first one was to Wild Rivers in Irvine, CA. We got a hotel room in Irvine and spent a whole day at Wild Rivers. This was a great family trip. Kyla decided that she was going to learn to swim and did!







Later in the summer we did a trip to Palm Springs Knott's Soak City with cousins and Jessica. Kyla, Aubree, Jacob, Alex, Jessica and I had a great day hanging out and having fun! Aubree learned to trust inner tubes and Kyla really broke out of her shell and did every water slide she could. She was a real dare devil and loved every second of it.

We found them at the San Diego Zoo!

We decided to get Annual Passes to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park. The girls really love animals and Sean has never been there! We have gone to both parks now and really love it. We still have so much to see at both and can't wait to go back! The first trip was the the Wild Animal park where Sean's work put us up in a hotel the second time was to the Zoo and we stayed for a weekend camping in Julian!

Fishing up some Fun!

The girls have really gotten into going fishing. We took them up to Idyllwild to fish in a small stocked pond. The girls had a lot of fun and caught some fish! Kyla actually caught 8 fish and the largest one that was caught that day!

Ending another year!

I can't believe that another school year has already ended. This one was like no other one's because for the first time it was my own kids that had graduations and celebrations. Kyla graduated from Kindergarten.... Here are a few pictures from her favorite class and teacher Mrs. Back

Kyla also had an end of the year play of Mother Goose. She played Little Miss Muffit. She was so cute and did very well!



Aubree also had a graduation from Preschool. She goes onto Pre-Kindergarten so they had a small graduation. Here are her photos!

Reactions... but not the kind we like

Kyla came down with an ear infection on Memorial Day. We took her into the doctor's and they gave her amoxicillin to treat it. She has had it before with no problems. We started to give it to her as perscribed and she started to get better. On Tuesday I woke her up for school and to my shock and astonishment this is what I found....

SOOO.. if you ever want to know what an allergic reaction to Amoxicillin looks like here it is. They get a rash that itches all over their body that can be large like the ones on her back or it can be like small spots. I was afraid that she had the chicken pox but when there were no little blisters that came out after this bath I knew it was an allergic reaction. I also can tell you how to help your poor child who is suffering from the "poka dots" as they came to be known in our house. My wonderful sister-in-law who is really know her stuff about healthy living and homeopathic remedies told me to have her stay off of gluetin, sugar, and any heavy food and eat watermelon and lemon water. I had her only drink gluetin gree chicken stock (thanks Rachel Ray), lots of water, and all the watermelon she wanted (which was not a lot but anything has to help). After two days of having this rash, itching, taking LOTS of oatmeal baths she is finally better!

A change for the summer

It seems like every summer my hair really starts to become an issue so I end up cutting it. So as summer approaches I decided to cut my hair. It is cute and will take a little getting used to. This summer however Kyla decided to have her hair cut with me and it is shorter then it has ever been before. She looks like a different kid, but it fits her personality well.

A new addition

Our family has a new addition.... Introducing GOLIATH. He is our pure bred German Shepard puppy. He is a fun new addition to our family.

Much needed Vacation

This year I was fortunate enough to have three weeks off for Christmas Break. Sean took one week of vacation and we decided to take the family on a vacation. I tried to convince him to take a week cruise somewhere close, but he was determined to try something new. Sean had recieved a fax at work of one of those "killer" deals on a vacation. The flier stated... "5 night/ 6 days all inclusive vacation for $149 per person, Kids under 6 free". Sean convinced me to call and get more details. We thought $300 and airfare, we can handle that! After calling and having the salesmen talk to me for an hour and promising me that it would only be $300 for all four of us we booked the trip to Cancun, Mexico.

Two days after they charged my credit card for the $398 (they didn't tell me about the booking fee) I recieved an e-mail with the number that I needed to call to book the dates at the hotel. Upon calling them they told me that January is considered peak season and that it was another $300. We also wanted to make sure that we were staying at a family resort so it would be another $300 to upgrade to the resort we wanted (Sandos Playacar). After getting upset at the agent and speaking to two managers I was able to get one of the $300 fees waived, but had to pay the other. We were now up to $698 for the vacation and we hadn't even booked flights!

I ended up pricelining the flights and got a pretty good deal on them. The only weird thing was we had to have a stop and layover on the flight. We left from Ontario airport, flew to Salt Lake City, UT then to Cancun. On the way home we had to fly from Cancun to Altlanta, Georgia then home to Ontario. We really learned how hard it was to fly now. It was not the 5 hour flights that was hard, but getting through security with two small kids and six carry on luggage pieces. We also had many weird looks and comments because we put those animal backpacks that have tails that we hold has handles on them. They really made sure that the girls never left us and that we didn't have to worry about them. I would recommend them to anyone who is flying with small kids, but be prepared for the comments and looks from other people.

When we finally got there and took a long van ride to the resort we were pleasantly surprised. The resort was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and the food was great. Our room was very large. We had two queen beds, a pull out coutch and a great balcony to sit in and relax. The resort had plenty to do. It sat right on the beach with hammicks, beach chairs and a waiter to bring you drinks all day long. There were five different all you can eat buffet resurants, six sit down resturants, a great kids club where we could check the girls in for the day for activities and have them watched, and a great spa to relax in.

The girls loved seeing the Iganas that ran around all over the resort. They played with kids in the pools, played at the beach, and ate anything they wanted. They really got used to having the "fruity drinks" (virgin strawberry daquri's and pina coladas) all day long. Kyla was in an amazing theatre production that they put on there called "Disney Spectacular" where she was Simba and a fish in Little Mermaid. She said it was the best part of the whole trip.

I was able to go Scuba Diving for the first time ever! It was amazing. I chased a sea turtle, played with flamingo fish, and saw lobsters and crabs. Sean was also great and had me swim with the dolphins which has been a life long dream. We really had a great vacation filled with fun, food, and adventure. Here are a few photos and videos from the trip!