Sam wants to sneak money from the birthday jar!!!

Spring is here!

A full week of temps in the 60s and (Yes!) 70s along with daylight savings time means playing outside at night and riding bikes. Sam loves his Honda bike and trike and he's getting better at riding both. I was so impressed with Ava as she walked up to the blue Ybike, swung her leg over, and was off! Go Ava - what a monster! It is so nice to be able to be outside more!

Sam LOVED Monster trucks!!

Wow - I haven't seen Sam that excited about many things but Monster trucks was and is all he can talk about! Dad says he was a little scared at first but he warmed up to it and didn't even want to take his ear guards off. When he got home, Sam couldn't stop telling mom about the trucks and motorcycles going through the air and crashing... While running laps around the kitchen. I think it was a hit!!!!

Sunny San Diego!

 Coronado & San Diego, California

 

We had such an amazing family vacation in Coronado & San Diego!  It was so nice to get away from work and to spend time together relaxing and going on fun adventures.  Despite the long drive and hours in the car, the kids were great, and troopers throughout the whole trip! 

 

Day 1:  We arrived at around 9:30am after driving 15 hours straight through the night! The day was very mellow with naps and we BBQd on the patio for dinner.  It was probably the warmest day we would have at around 76 degrees, so we tried to soak up a little sun!

Day 2: Beach time and Dinner with the Vissers -  We wanted to take advantage of the sunshine so we biked to the beach a couple blocks away for the kids to enjoy the sand, sun and water.  Although it was warm, the water was cold, and Sam was all about swimming until a wave crept up on him - the cold water sent him running and crying to mom :)

 Although Ava loved playing in the sand, the problem was that she enjoyed eating it more!  It was a full time job just keeping sand out of her mouth! 

 Sam definitely approved of the beach and although he didn't get to swim (which was all he talked about the week before vacation), the sand and beach were pretty much the same thing to him!

That night we headed to San Marcos to see the whole Visser/Pescar Family.  The kids loved playing together and Sam especially loved Grady's bedroom full of lots of cool boy stuff like trains, cars, and animals!  We were also excited to meet baby Gelsey - the newest addition to the Pescar family.  We managed to get a picture of all the kids, which was an accomplishment!

Day 3: Sea World - I think this was the favorite day for all of us!  The dolphin show was a highlight, Shamu, and Sesame Street play land.

 Shamu          ***          Dolphins

 

Day 4: Park and Relaxation Day

 Day 5: San Diego Zoo

Sam and Ava love animals so we knew they would enjoy the zoo.  It was a nice relaxing day just walking around and seeing all the exhibits and animals...Sam was excited (he told us) to see the lions and tigers!  Unfortunately, we caught them napping but we still got to see lots of other neat animals! 

  

 Where is Sam???  There he is popping up like a seal!  And if you wonder where Ava was and absent from pictures... she was snoozing!

 
Sam checking out the monkeys.  When mom tried to lift him up so he could see better, he screamed in protest.  I asked him what the matter was and he said he was scared of monkeys.  I asked why he was scared of the monkeys, and he said, "Because they biting me."  Hmm... we thought he loved monkeys......


We also took a ride on the Sky Tram across the park - the wind made it a little chilly but it was a fun break from walking and great views of the park and surrounding area.

  The end of the day highlight for the kids was always the bath in their own "swimming pool"

Day  6 & 7: Rain was in the forecast for our last day and with a long trip home ahead of us, we decided to pack in the morning and head to Vegas for the night and then finish the trip home on the next day.  Sam and Ava actually loved the lights of Vegas and we all "Cheers'd" to a great trip!

We had such a fun trip and the accommodations were absolutely amazing (best perk of mom's job!!!!).  We will definitely be back sometime - just not sure if we will drive or fly there next time!  :)

Sam teaching Ava ring around the rosies

The best part of vacation - more time with these two!

They do take a little (okay - a lot) of the relaxation factor out of vacation, but its fun to have so much time with them! They are such good buddies and certainly find trouble together.

Having a blast in Coronado!

Hour 12 into our 15 hour overnight drive I wasn't sure if it was all worth it, but the luxury accommodations, the palm trees, the sand and sun have changed my mind - Totally worth it!!!!! The kids are having so much fun - they love climbing all the stairs (and there are LOTs of stairs) and hanging out on the patio, they love being outside (Ava is enjoying eating all the landscaping), and they loved the bike ride and beach. We have a fun few days ahead of us - this afternoon, heading to Escondido to see all the Vissers (and new baby Pescar), and then more beach time time, bikes, Sea world, the Zoo and sunshine the rest of the week.