Family Fun!

We have been trying to get out of the house more and enjoy our last few weeks together as just a family of three before Rachel gets here. We want to enjoy this time with Hannah before it gets more complicated to get out of the house! So, two weekends back, Michael and I took Hannah to Monterey Bay to look at Hearst Castle and to go see the Elephant Seals. We got to the castle info center and went through it, but decided to pass on the tours for now. There are six tours and they are each almost two hours! We decided that we would go sometime when we didn't have Hannah since she wouldn't be allowed to talk or touch anything and for two hours and that wouldn't be fun for any of us! So here we are looking out at the observation deck:Then we went across the street to this little discovery aquarium. Hannah liked the coral display they had with the sea creatures. She kept pointing out all the fish, starfish and crabs! I got a quick video of her playing.

Then we walked out on the pier to see if we could see any fish, either in the water or caught by the fishermen.Then we drove a little ways up the road to Elephant Beach to see the elephant seals. They are really ugly creatures that make a horrible noise! They were fighting in the water and laying out in the sand. We also saw some little chipmunks (I think they were chipmunks, if not they are some other kind of small rodent)!Here are the seals lying on the beach. Hannah thought they were funny, and so did we!

Afterwards, we went back to Morro Bay and ate at a restaurant on the water at the docks. Michael was craving Clam Chowder so we found a seafood restaurant and he and Hannah ate the chowder and some calamari (yes, my child who won't eat sliced white bread, ate FRIED SQUID)!! I had an Avocado Cheeseburger, for anyone who was wondering! :)

Then, this past weekend we went to the Santa Barbara Fair, which is here in Santa Maria, and looked at all the farm animals. Hannah liked looking at the cows, rabbits, and pigs. She was actually scared of the sheep, I guess because they were louder than some of the other animals, and she only liked the quiet pigs! One of Michael's co-workers daughter entered a rabbit so Hannah got to pet it and see it out of it's cage. My camera deleted the pics, so you will just have to use your imagination! I can't wait to see what we do with her this weekend! :)

Day at the Zoo!

So about two weeks ago (yes, that is how far behind I currently am), Hannah and I went with another mom from my MOPS group to the Santa Barbara Zoo. Since I have shown you Hannah looking at the animals before, this post is about her first time to play on the zoo playground! They have a little picnic area and play place in the middle of the zoo and Hannah had a blast playing on the equipment. This is her running through the ant tunnel. It is decorated just like you are an ant crawling through the ground.Then she slid down the hill. I am not sure if it is supposed to be an ant hill or what, but basically they just made a mound and covered it in fake grass and kids slid down on their bottoms, in their socks, on paper sacks, pretty much whatever they wanted! It is the cheapest easiest "playground" ever! She inspected the "broken" eggs:And one day when she is big enough, she will join our friends Anna and Megan on the "Spider Web" to play!I tried to get a picture of the three of them sitting on this turtle, tried being the key word. Hannah kept trying to slide off the sides to get down and the other two were too busy looking at her or other things! These are two of my favorites, but neither one are frame worthy! :)

Oklahoma-Final Post! 5th of July

On Sunday night, our church had a cookout and huge fireworks display. The people who donate the fireworks do an AMAZING job! It is a really professional display, music and all, so we wanted Hannah to go watch since she enjoyed the fireworks from the night before. I only took a few since it was dark and she was too busy watching to smile. This first one is her saying cheese, but turning her eyes before it snapped so she didn't miss anything! :)As you can tell, we had a great time back in Oklahoma and it is always hard to come back home, but we are glad to be back in our own beds and back with Michael! :)

Oklahoma Part 5- 4th of July

I never even got my camera out on the 4th. Luckily, I do have a few pics that Tammie emailed me so I have some photographic memories to share! :) My parents always have a BBQ in the backyard with volleyball and then later homemade ice cream and fireworks. It is one of my favorite holidays because of the tradition, but also because I love everything patriotic and red,white and blue! So, here are the pictures, the first two are just some of the people that were there hanging out getting ready to eat burgers.

This is Leanna (one of my "other moms") and her granddaughter Kaylee! Kaylee was so excited because their hair was the same! I think this is my favorite picture that Tammie took! This is my grandparents, Joe and Betty. Hannah is now old enough to say people's names and remember faces and she got stuck on saying "Joe" over and over. In fact, since we have been home, any man with gray hair and glasses she looks at me and asks "Joe?" And usually after saying Joe a couple of times, she says "and Betty!" Hannah and I were glad that we got to see Jimmy and Wendy too! Wendy is another one of the "other moms" group! They now live in Tulsa, but drove in for the festivities, as did two of their daughters! :)Here is a pic from my phone with Hannah and her Joe! While everyone was playing volleyball, I set up the pool for Hannah and Kaylee (to keep them out of the way). They had a blast playing with the sprayer on the zebra head! Sorry that I don't have more pics to share, but THANK YOU Tammie for sharing the ones you took!

Oklahoma Part 4- Swimming!

GG bought Hannah a pool to play in at their house. The first night while we were blowing up the pool Hannah played in the sprinkler and got her dress wet, so we just let her keep playing in it! Her favorite part of the pool was filling it up with the hose! I caught some video on my cell phone, so it isn't great quality. She would splash her head and yell "WHOO," it was hilarious!

The zebra hooked up to the water hose and sprayed a little shower out from his mouth. Hannah called it the "horsey."She also loved going down the slide, but it was wobbly, so she needed help.She and PaPa sat on the back of his truck and snuggled for a little bit! She is such a PaPa's girl! :)Then of course, she had to go and give Lexi some attention!Here she was when we took her dress off, her diaper was SO full you could ring it out! It was just hanging off of her!We were about to put her in the bathtub and so we just took her diaper off and GG took her naked to go and look at the donkeys and horses in the field behind my parents house! She had a blast! It was a very fun day! :)

Oklahoma Part 3- Tuesday Pedicures!

On Tuesday, Tammie called and invited Hannah and I to come and get pedicures with her. She grabbed us Sonic drinks and we went! Hannah liked her drink and Tammie like how well it bribed Hannah to sit with her! :)We got Hannah's toes painted red to match ours! I wish I had pics of our toes because Tammie and I each got some fun decorative stuff done to celebrate the fourth! She was so funny watching her toes while she walked around and she showed everyone her red toes for the next two days!