Digging and building all in the same week!

So, on one of the hottest days of the summer, so far, I thought it would be fun to take the kids over to the Skirball Center, with my sister-in-law Angie, and try to score standby tickets for the Noah's Ark exhibit. We put our names on the list then did some other random stuff while we waited. It turned out that a group ahead of us, maybe 5 slots up, had a huge group and they took the last tickets. We then went to the digging exhibit and played there for a while. The kids enjoyed it and then we were so hot that when Angie suggested Yogurtland...we could not refuse! We will eventually get in there. We've been before and it is so cool we want to go again. Maybe we'll have better luck next time. We still had fun.

Last week I waited around the house for my VERY BIG package to come in the mail. It finally came. We cleared some space and began to put all the pieces together. We would not have been able to finish this without the help of Rachel and Darrin. Jeff's sister and husband were in town and they were so nice to actually want to help us build it. We had some set backs, like one part didn't have all the holes pre-cut and we used the wrong hardware in some spots...but after we fixed it we ended up with this...

Aquarium

David was "lost" for a minute or two and we found him having a blast over at the boats.


Touching the sharks.


Veronica and David HAD to bring their babies to the Aquarium. Veronica was so delicate with the way she held her baby but David just held it by the arm...it was really funny to watch the two carry their babies.

Jeff's parents came into town back in June and we thought we'd head over to Long Beach to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific. We've lived here for 6 years and hadn't been.

The kids and I drove over to Dodgers Stadium to buy some tickets. It's kind of nice being there when no one else is around...very soothing.

The kids watching the grounds crew do their magic on the field.

I think I like the stadium better when there aren't as many people there! Vanessa's face says how much of a stinker she was.

Is bringing a 14 month old to a baseball game really a good idea? No.

My attempt at a shot of the kids in the pool.

Jeff had work in Palm Springs so we tagged along. It was only 1 night. We went to the pool A LOT and had fun. Veronica is finally brave enough to be in the water without squeezing me to death. David stays out of the water, unless it's a kiddie pool that is only about 12 inches of water. Vanessa likes to come in and out, very undecided about the being is such a big tub.

Hotel lobby.

After a long and windy day at the beach, Jeff thought it would be a good idea to give Vanessa a red vine for the drive home. When we got out, she was fast asleep with red vine all over her face, hands and feet.

4th of July weekend

Our 4th of July weekend started on Friday. Jeff took a half day and we headed over to the beach in the early afternoon. It's been so overcast most of the mornings so we figured we'd head over to the beach later in the day so the clouds would be gone. It was a great day.

Aren't fruit snacks a life saver? I love those things. I try to keep several bags stashed for the eventual meltdowns.

Vanessa thinks she's hot stuff now that she's almost 14 months old.

This is at around 5:30p.m. when I thought it was a good idea to remove their swimsuits and put on their clothes and de-sand them. The kids said they were done with the water and didn't want to get back in...so I thought it was a good idea. Within the hour they were down by the water splashing and rolling in the sand...in their clothes! Whatever...they got the cold showers when we finally left.

It's not the 4th of July unless there are snowcones...especially the blue ones that turn your lips blue! He was sneaking the cotton candy...I saw him with 3 different ones.

Don't you just love this face? She was pretty grumpy the entire bbq.

I didn't see Veronica the entire time...she's too cool to hang out with her parents these days. She had been asking me everyday if it was Monday yet so she could go to the pool party. I guess the pool party met all of her expectations...she had a blast.

This is the only pool that David will get near. He even went down the metal slide into the pool.