Beachy Beach

Little Audrey loves the beach and we have been spending lots of time playing in the water. At first she was afraid of the water, but she got over that immediately! She now asks us every day if we can go to the beach. She refers to it as 'beachy beach." I am not sure where that came from but that's what she calls it. Our trips to the beach have changed dramatically with a toddler. We have tons of gear to lug, and it is not as relaxing as it used to be. I remember sitting on the beach, reading a magazine and enjoying the sunshine and now I am usually covered in wet sand and expected to fetch pails of water till Audrey is done making mud pies. The part that I don't get is that we walk down to fill up her bucket, then we go back to our play area, she immediately dumps it out, then asks for more water. It gets tiring going back and forth and Audrey figured that out, so now she prefers to be carried. It's tiring, but so worth it just to see the big smile on her face when we head towards the water. I included some pictures of some beach time and Scott heading toward the ocean to fill her bucket.

Vacation

We just got back from a very interesting trip to Santa Barbara with Audrey. It ended up being fun, but it was more like a scene from the movie Vacation at first. We made reservations for a place that a friend suggested and it looked like a great place, kid-friendly, etc. The website made it look like a paradise and they even referred to it as an 'oasis'. If their definition of oasis is being located 10 miles outside of the fun part of Santa Barbara, next to a freeway, then it was an oasis alright. Our stay there was short and sweet. When we arrived we went straight to the pool, which Audrey loved. After some swim time, we went back to our room to rinse off and we discovered mold on the wall near the tub, then the spigot fell off...it was a little scary. We decided that we should go search for other accommodations and that this was not the place for us. We called a few places and most of them were booked, but we found a place that only had availability for the one night, so we took it since it was getting late and we needed food and rest. We would have to find another place the next day, which was a bummer, but Audrey was getting tired (and so were we) so we settled in for the night.

When we woke up the next day, Scott called the place that we stayed at on our honeymoon and got us a room there. I was so excited and impressed by his negotiating skills. We never thought to call there because we were looking for a kid-friendly place with a pool for Audrey to enjoy. We remember it as being a romantic place and we never realized that they even had a pool. It worked out great and we plan to go back there. It is a great place, kid-friendly and the people there are amazing! The Inn of the Spanish Garden is officially our favorite vacation spot! We enjoyed our anniversary and we were able to share that with Audrey too. We even stopped by the hotel in Laguna where we got married 3 years ago. We wanted Audrey to see how beautiful this place is and admire the ocean view. We took some shots of us on the deck where we had our ceremony and reception and one shot in the hotel lobby, where we had our fist dance.

On our way back home we stopped in Ventura to see Audrey's grandparents and pick up Ivory. She enjoyed her vacation with the other dogs, but I could tell that she missed us, well Scott :) We survived our trip and we are looking forward to the next one!

Whales, Dolphins and Sharks oh my!

We went to Sea World on Monday and we had a great time. We took her to see the killer whales, dolphins, sharks and beautiful Clydesdale horses. We arrived just in time to get in line and pet one of the horses and enjoy a beer too. Audrey just enjoyed her water, but she seemed OK with that. They have a kids area known as The Bay of Play. Back in my day, it was called Captain Kids World and it was way cooler. They don't have those colored balls that you can sink yourself into anymore; I used to love those! Audrey enjoyed some play time with a few other kids until she was tired out.

We are leaving for a few days to go on a family vacation to Santa Barbara and celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary. It won't exactly be a romantic getaway, but it'll be fun! I'll be sure to post some photos of the trip. Gotta run to pack and get ready.

Sweet dreams.

We heart North County!

We took Audrey to one of our favorite beaches, Cardiff, to enjoy a sun and fun-filled day. The weather was perfect and we had a great time playing in the water. Audrey loves the ocean and it makes her dad so happy, since he has big plans to get her on a surfboard as soon as possible. She would stay in the water forever if we let her! We enjoyed some yummy burritos at Mozy's, another one of our favorite spots, and Audrey was crashed out in the car before we even left the parking lot. I included some beach photos for you to enjoy.

On Sunday we participated in a walk to benefit Hunter's Hope, (www.huntershope.org). It was their first annual walk and was a great event; it felt good to be a part of it. If you have not heard of this organization, please visit their site. Audrey had a blast with all of the kids and we got to see the Stivers family and enjoy some great music from Hullabaloo.

Family Fun!

We took Audrey to the new Corvette diner in Liberty Station and she loved it! What's not to love? There's a game area, milk shakes, balloons, loud music and complete and total chaos; it's a good thing that they serve alcohol. We ate and played till we were tired out. She loved the game area, even though most of the games were too tall for her to play, and you can see her trying to shoot hoops. Scott and I enjoyed a competitive game of hoops. I won the first round, but then Scott game back with a vengeance and as he always says, "you are only as good as your last game."

Audrey loves balloons and she is shown above politely asking for one. She's signing, 'please', to the hostess, so cute! I love that she knows how to ask for something, instead of just grabbing for it. Teaching her a few signs was one of the best things we did. We are going to continue the fun with some beach time and a family vacation.

Can you say...

Audrey has been talking so much and she can repeat almost anything we say. This is exciting and scary, but mostly exciting. The other day we were eating lunch and she refused to try something new, so I commented to Scott, that she was a picky eater and she looked at me and said "picky" with a big smile. She went on to repeat "picky" for a few minutes. I guess out of all the words I could have said, that is not a bad one to repeat. Her vocabulary has grown so much and she is now trying to master people's names. Her favorite name to say is "Branko." This is her uncle (my brother) and it sounds more like "Banko" when she says it, so cute! Whenever we ask her if she can say "Grandpa," or "Grandma," she replies with "Banko."

I have not posted anything in a week, but we have been doing some fun stuff and enjoying the cooler weather. We have been to the beach, the Science Museum, park, So Childish, Halcyon Tea and of course, Con Pane. Today we are planning to visit the Zoo and looking forward to that.

Happy! Happy!

On Tuesday, we took Audrey to the aquarium at Legoland. It was really cool and she loved it! Once we entered and she saw all of the fish, she could not stop screaming, "Happy, Happy!" It was great to see her smile and she was so intrigued with all of the sea life; if you have not been, you should check it out. Audrey had never seen a shark before and she enjoyed watching them swim around. I included a photo of our trip and we can't wait to go back.

We also took a quick trip to see the wonderful woman that delivered Audrey. We never took a photo the day she was born and we have been trying to go back to see her ever since, but something always came up. I will never forget the first time we met her. I had expected to see this reserved woman in a white lab coat and she came in the room wearing a bright yellow halter top and she must have dropped the "F" bomb 5 or 6 times. I remember leaving her office feeling a little uneasy and wondering if I should try another doctor, since she was the first person that we went to. We stuck with her and I am so glad that we did. She is not your traditional stuffy physician. She is incredibly intelligent and VERY direct. We dig that about her and will definitely go back to her if/when the time is right. She is the lovely woman in the photo next to the tired looking one holding Audrey, (that's me).

17 months old!

Audrey is now 17 months old and we can't believe how fast the time has passed. Everyone told us that it goes by fast and it does. I am so happy to be home now to enjoy this time with Audrey. We have been laying low and staying out of this crazy heat wave. On Monday we went to Con Pane for breakfast and Audrey enjoyed her scone bite while running around the bakery like she owned the place. She loves to look at the display case and shout out the different types of bread, or what she thinks they are called.

Later in the day we played a round of dress up. Audrey wore the beautiful dress that Jeff and Lisa gave her, since she can FINALLY fit into it. I took some photos to commemorate our 17 months of survival. We finished our day with a trip to the Science Museum in Balboa Park. I have heard that it is a great place for kids, plus it was air-conditioned...ahhhh. Audrey had a blast, despite the fact that a younger boy lobbed a few pieces of plastic fruits and veggies at her, it must be love :) She really enjoyed the alphabet board and I included a photo of that too. We are looking forward to more visits at the cool Science Museum.