The "Ya-Ya" Sisterhood

Avery's speech is making progress! :) She's added a few words to the list lately, of which my favorites are:

"Na-Nana" = Banana
"Wahff" = Waffle
...can you tell what we eat for breakfast?...
"Di-eee" = Diaper
"BAaow" = Ball

But my very favorite addition:
"Ya-Ya" = Julia
:)

Sunday's Event: The San Diego ZOO!

...I don't know what I was thinking assuming I could cram all of the weekends events into the last post... I'm sorry it was so long and cumbersome as it was! Anyway, the previous post covered Saturday's events. Sunday we loaded up and headed to the famous San Diego Zoo! All-in-all Avery had fun, but we think she may still be a little young to fully appreciate the whole thing. Collin and I, on the other hand, had a BLAST! What an incredible zoo! It was like Six Flags with animals!

We saw all kinds of beautiful birds, tigers, lions, panda bears, polar bears (YES- POLAR bears!! In California! HA!) a black panther, elephants, zebras, monkeys/chimps/gorillas (not including the ones I was traveling with) a hippopotamus (not including the one Collin and Avery were traveling with) :) koalas and kangaroos, and all kinds of other animals that were amazing to see up close! One might think that devoting an entire day to visiting a zoo is a little much, but we honestly nearly ran out of time to see and do all the things we wanted. It was such a thrill and a beautiful day, and we loved just being there and watching Avery absorb it all.

The rest of our trip!

We made it back from San Diego!!

I was so good about updating the blog while we were away, and then as soon as I got back into the "routine" at home it seems my blogging is slacking once again. (For shame...)

The remainder of our trip was WONDERFUL, though. Friday afternoon I actually worked up the courage to DRIVE somewhere instead of just strolling Avery to our "usual spots" around the hotel. I was hesitant at first, but once I made the call to the valet to bring our car around I was locked in. (Embarrassing... a 28-year-old scared to take the car out on her own! ...I'm usually more independent, but a strange city and 1.5 babies with me made me a little jittery!) We drove to Seaport Village and made an afternoon of it. What a great place! Just little local boutiques and stores situated nicely on the harbor. We had a good Mother/Daughter afternoon, complete with ice cream and shoe-shopping! Is that a perfect Friday, or what?!

By Saturday, we were so happy to have Collin off work to run around and play with us that we tried to pack in a FULL day. We walked our tails off, but loved every minute of it. Saturday began with a breakfast at Denny's and then on to the Birch Aquarium to explore all the creatures under the sea. Avery's favorite animals to watch were the sharks, the starfish and the flounders. She was very polite at each tank and made sure she greeted the fish with a wave saying, "Hii-iieee." Just one of the many things she does these days that take our breath away. (Yes, we're first-time parents... Veteran parents, please keep your eye-rolling to a minimum.)

The rest of the day was spent checking out Torrey Pines Golf Course, (host course of the 2008 US Open) hanging out at La Jolla Cove, and strolling around Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado Island. It was such a fun Saturday, and we all slept VERY well that night! Here are a few of our favorite pictures from Saturday...

Sunday we went to the San Diego Zoo... but that will have to be a separate posting! :) More to come!

Precious pictures of Drew...

Jen just sent these... I love my adorable little nephew!

Happy Valentine's Day!

What a fun Valentine's Day! Collin took his two (and 1/2!) girls on a fantastic date! We went to Seaport Village and had dinner at the Harbor House which sits on the water with breathtaking views at sunset. It just couldn't have been more perfect.

I was worried about trying to go fight the crowds... as out-of-towners... with a baby... on such a busy restaurant night. To try and avoid the "mob" of Valentine-ers, Collin made 5:00pm reservations! :) It ended up being just right because the restaurant wasn't busy yet AND we got to sit right by a window to watch the sun set over the harbor. Fantastic food... WONDERFUL atmosphere... and time with my incredible husband. What more could I ask for on February 14th? :)

When we came back to the hotel we had chocolate-covered strawberries (a Valentine's Day tradition of ours since Feb, 2000) and Martinelli's sparkling cider. (Yum!) Such a great way to celebrate! Thanks for making us feel so special, honey! We love you!

We got our exercise! :)

I guess I was feeling energetic yesterday... maybe it was because the weather turned a little cooler. We were finished with our lunch routine of walking to the outdoor food court, and we had done a little window-shopping (and some real shopping) and I wasn't quite ready to head back to the hotel room, so we took off exploring.

We walked down 5th street, straight though the Gaslamp Quarter. Fun sights! Lots of boutiques and restaurants. We walked all the way down the street until we reached the convention center. (about 10 blocks one way, so round-trip we went a ways...) Avery got out of her stroller for a little bit and ran around by the fountain outside Hard Rock. It was a good afternoon outing! When we got back we were both absolutely SPENT and ready for a good nap... Then Collin called and asked if we could be ready within the hour to go out for a Valentine's dinner! Ha! :) No rest for the weary... but it was all very worth it. :)

California Kisses

It's funny how kids can get away with almost anything. There's a phase of life (usually within the first couple of years) that pretty much anything goes, and all can be justified under the philosophy that it's just cute baby behavior. We witnessed a classic case of this Wednesday night as we met up with the guy Collin is in town working with on a project, his wife and their 15-month-old baby boy, Johnny.

Johnny might as well be called "Mini-Casanova." This kid was CUTE, and a flirt beyond belief. We had only been inside the doors of their house for a few minutes when Johnny started huggin' on Avery! Soon after that, he went in for a kiss! :o Avery's first kiss was from a California boy... on Vacation! (Pretty cool, Aves.) She wasn't sure what to think of him, but after he planted a few kisses on her she tried to graciously resist by holding her arm out and pushing his chest a little. When he tried another kiss, she all-out strong-armed the poor kid knocking him onto his bottom! HA! We all laughed out loud... and Collin BEAMED with pride that his baby girl was behaving like a true Southern Belle not giving in to the California Casanova. The whole thing was so cute. We caught a little of it on video...

Only Avery's 2nd Valentine's Day, and now she's added an out-of-state "crush." Let's just hope she remembers that "strong-arm" move 15 years from now when it actually counts! :/ Sigh... daughters.

Fun night though! We really enjoyed hanging out with some "locals" and seeing San Diego in a slightly different way than just as tourists. I have to say... I'm quickly becoming a big fan of this place.

Having fun!

Can you tell that this trip gives me more "free time" than I've had in a while? :) My blogging is quickly getting back to blog-aholic status...

Another fun day today! After a lazy morning at the hotel, Avery and I strolled down to Horton Plaza for lunch at the outdoor food court. She was unusually talkative and outgoing, saying "Hi-iieee" with a wave to almost everyone, including the pigeons.

We shopped away the afternoon and after a very healthy snack of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, we came back to the hotel to rest up and shower before Collin got home to take us out to dinner. We had seafood on the harbor tonight at Anthony's Fish Grotto, and then decided to walk some of our calories off and stumbled on the "Star of India" ship. It looked awfully "pirate-y" to us, so we made some goofy pictures. (see below) Avery was "too cool" for our pirate picture, although Collin tried to give her an eye-patch in one of the pictures, so that's why she looks like she's covering up one of her eyes. (Yeah, we're nerds... but is anyone really surprised by this?!)

Avery CRASHED on the drive home and we were actually able to change her into her PJ's and put her in bed without her waking up! Must have been the full tummy that did it. She's a sound-sleeper when she wants to be! We're still having fun and looking forward to the weekend when we can really vacation together as a family. Until then, I'm sure Aves and I can find a way to fill our days, but most of our pictures will probably be in the dark. Oh well... it's more fun to have pictures of all three of us anyway!

Hugs!!...

Hello, from San Diego!

Poages are in Sunny California this week!

Collin is working here for the week and so Avery and I decided to tag along. :) We figured that we should show Avery the ocean before she becomes a big sister, and we thought that there was no better time than now. So far, we've pretty much just settled into our hotel and haven't done a whole lot of exploring... but Avery and I are going to become very familiar with our hotel and surroundings by the end of the week since we only have Collin with us at night and I'm not brave enough to drive anywhere just the two of us. So anything within walking distance is fair game! :)

We'll post more pictures as the week goes on! Here are some from yesterday...

(Avery hanging out in the airport in her PJ's before boarding.)


(Sleeping on Mom-- as Julia tries her best to keep her awake by kicking!-- on the flight)


(Avery passed out on our first "exploratory walk" around our hotel... Then a picture of her having a pre-dinner snack at the hotel before Collin got home.)

Some funny videos of Avery tasting a Lemon at dinner last night...


Collin and Avery after dinner in Horton Plaza.