San Diego Safari Park

My parents live literally five minutes from the San Diego Safari Park, and I love taking the African Safari Tram. I have never been on a real Afrain Safari, but I certainly feel like I have after experiencing the Tram at the Park. Eleanor was not entirely impressed, she mostly liked to play with the pole on side of the car.

My second favorite part of the Safari Park is the gorillas. Ellie loved them to. There was a baby gorilla that was so fun to watch. The baby kept running around hitting it's mom's bottom. I wish I had gotten a picture of it.

Ellie's First Time in the Ocean

While in So Cal we had to hit the beach. We visited one down in Carlsbad. I can't remember the name of it, but it was pretty quiet and the weather was perfect! Ellie has been to that beach before, but it was March so it was cold and really windy. This time she got to play in the ocean a bit. She loved being there, but she wasn't a big fan of the feeling of sand beneath her feet. She always kept one leg in the air like a flamingo. It was hilarious!

So Cal Vacation - SeaWorld

Eleanor and I took a trip to the San Diego area for two weeks at the end of September and I am finally getting around to blogging about it. We had an amazing time! We spent the first week at my sister Jenny's house and Ellie had a blast playing with her four cousins. Their house is beautiful and I loved spending some quality time with my big sister. My poor niece Kaylee broke her arm while I was there. She was a great sport about it and loves her red cast!

I don't know where all my pictures of the kids are. I guess I was busy playing! Eleanor loved all the space she had to crawl around. She never adjusted to the time zone and woke up at 6:30 or 7:30 am every. single. morning! She normally sleeps until 8:30 or 9:30 am. I think she was just so excited to play with her cousins. 

A trip to San Diego is not complete without visiting SeaWorld! I was so excited to take Ellie, though she had a tooth pushing through her gums that day so she had a pit of a rough time. I think she still enjoyed it.

Eleanor with cousin Jessica meeting Elmo and Telly

Watching the Dolphin Show. It was my favorite!

Ellie loved loved loved the fish!

Eight Months

Ellie turned 8 months a few days ago and boy does she keep us busy! She is crawling quite a bit now. She has started walking along the furniture and would much rather have us help her walk everywhere then crawl. Let's hope she holds off walking for several more months.

At 8 Months Ellie:

- Crawls around following Mommy wherever she goes.
- Enjoys playing with the doorstop.
- Whistles when she is excited (It's hilarious).
- Can sit from a crawling position.
- Is starting to wave.
- Has her bottom two teeth coming in.
- Stands up in her crib.
- Naps twice a day.
- Loves eating solids, but won't eat the homemade baby food mommy makes her.

Pretty as a Picture

My friend Melissa took some absolutely darling pictures of Eleanor a few weeks ago and I love the way they turned out. I posted a couple below, but you can see more on her blog: http://storybook-photography.blogspot.com/2012/08/pretty-as-picture.html

If you need some super cute pics of your kids, you should hire her!

Napping with Minnie

One minute she was playing with Minnie and the next minute I look up and see this:

She was snoozing away with her friend Minnie on top of her. She cracks me up.

Bear Lake with the Andersons

Last week we spent a few days at Bear Lake with Kevin's family. Kevin's parents were very generous in renting a huge house for all 27 of us to stay in. The house was beautiful and it was so great to spend time with family.

We made quite a few good memories including sharing a flu bug that struck several family members (usually a new victim each night in the middle of the night), a couple mice running around (and eventually caught), smoke detectors going of at 3 am, homemade cinnamon rolls and lots of other great food, jet skis, a treasure hunt, great conversations and much more. Eleanor loved playing with her cousins and meeting more of the family.

Playing with Cousins Jake and Nathan

Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Adorable Cousin Nathan

Enjoying the Beach

Sleeping Jake and Ellie

The Twins Sophie and Seth and Little Nathan

Cute Cousin Sophie