Pleasant Surprise

I had popped in a movie for Crew and about 5 minutes later when I realized it was way too quite, this is what I found. Precious isn't he!

My little boys love for planes

Crew received a package in the mail yesterday from his Grandma VanderSloot. Planes, planes and more planes. It was just a good as Christmas. He couldn't have been happier. Falling asleep clenching the rear wing of one of the planes is only a glimpse of how much he loves these things. 

He picked out this plane book last week and hasn't put it down since. It teaches all about the invention of the airplane, all the different kinds and their uses, and how airports work.

He is always on the lookout for a plane in the sky. 

Trip to San Diego

Being that it is Memorial Day weekend and we have Devin for an extra day. We wanted to do something exciting. We drove to San Diego Friday after Dev got off work. Checked into a hotel that had a great view of the city and ocean. Drove around and looked at buildings and old homes, (it wouldn't be a complete trip for Devin if we didn't check out the construction). We drove over to Coronado Island. I had forgotten how big and scary that bridge is. Then we walked downtown and had dinner at a delicious Pizza place. We had planned to go to Sea World on Saturday but were worried because all we had was rain in the forecast. But I'm happy to say it turned out to be the perfect day. It was exciting for Devin and I to go back and see the places we loved when we were kids. And a little crazy that now we were taking our child there.





Dolphin Discovery





Loving every trick and splash. We even sat in the Splash Zone.



Shark Encounter



This was the Pets Rule show. Dogs, cats, birds, and a pig. Wasn't as exciting to Crew as the whales or dolphins.

Beach Bums

Crew grabs his bucket, struts right out to the water, fills it up, goes back to his truck where it gets dumped into the bed and does it over and over again. Here we did it at least 30 times.



Devin and I got our first sunburns of the summer (on our backs). And they will be our last. Yes, we put sunscreen on, just not enough. I hate it when that happens.

More Park Pictures

You'll be seeing an awful lot of Crew on swings, climbing on stairs and going down slides. Thats just about all we do when it's just him and I.

Duck Hunt

We had driven Devin to work in Irvine on this particular morning. What I normally will do is pick a Park off of the GPS to go play at. Most times it takes me a couple of tries before I find one that is in a decent location and looks safe enough. This was one of the best we've been to yet. Great toys, great location, great people and great ducks. We were unaware that there were ducks until they all started to bombard Crew for his snacks. He's never been so willing to give them up. And of course they wanted nothing to do with us after he had given it all away. All he wanted to do was touch and swim with them. He only made it down the slide once.

Huntington Beach

On Saturday Rachel, Crew and I decided to spend the day at the beach. So around 10 am we loaded up the car and sent off for Huntington Beach, CA. Rach and I are starting to get the hang of the whole beach thing. Now we have a body board, beach towels, and toys for Crew to play with while we enjoy the Pacific Ocean. After I get used to the open water I want to start surfing.

Friday after work we drove from Irvine down to the coast and visited Crystal Cove and Laguna Beach. We stayed at Laguna Beach until 11 pm! Lets just say Rach and I always wanted to have a long walk on a beach at night. At Crystal Cove we saw a school or dolphins and a sting ray. We also saw some divers harpoon a really large fish.

Here are a photos of our Saturday day trip to Huntington Beach.

Crew thinks he wants to catch a wave like his Dad

The sun is setting and same with Crew's energy levels

Crew on the way home.

Crews first swim of the Summer...or something like it.

TUESDAY: The morning started out with our first stop to the smoothie shop next door. There are all kids of yummy food places in our complex. Daphnies, PEI WEI, Red Brick Pizza, Baja Fresh, Robeks, an Ice Cream shop. Also a Surf/Skate shop, Dry Cleaners, L.A. Lakers store, Pilates classes, Wine Shop, and Spa. And a Target just across the street. Just about everything we need.

Next, it's to the slide. This is one of the play areas in our complex. Since there isn't a Park within waking distance, we spend most of our time here. Not much of a play ground but it keeps him happy.

Apparently Crew has caught on that you sit by the pool and relax, not swim. OOPS!

Laguna Beach, CA

The beach is about 45 minutes away from us. I'm sure it'll take no time for us to memorize the route. (We bought a GPS before we left and use it every where we go). There were little boys surfing and body boarding  all over. Crew couldn't take his eyes off of them. This summer will be swimming lessons next summer will be surfing lessons.

So much to do

I haven't been able to capture a picture yet but Crews favorite thing to do is SLIDE. All we have to do is say the magic word and it puts the biggest smile on his face. There are so many wonderful parks around. It's a mothers dream. I've been surprised at his fearless behavior on the equipment. He'll try everything and doesn't accept any help. 

With so many airports around and always an airplane overhead he has become so facinated with them. So today we took him to an Air Museum. His first Museum and he loved it. When he is in the car or in his bedroom and hears a plane he'll sit there and say plane over and over again until we acknowledge that yes that is a plane.