Astronaut Ice Cream

Today Colden received a special package in the mail from our friends in Texas, The Whitlows (we miss you guys!!) They went to the Johnson Space Center in Houston and bought him some astronaut ice cream. He had it for dessert tonight - he loved it!! Todd and I enjoyed a small piece too. Thank you to Michael, Shelley, Reagan and William!!!

Waterpark

On Tuesday Colden and I met my parents at Sigler Park Splash Pad in Westminster. It was so much fun!! It's a free waterpark with employees, so it's nice and clean. It even has a restroom with was VERY clean!! We'll definitely be going back!

Space Helmet

Fun things to do with an empty Happy Meal box!! He wanted to wear his space helmet out in public, but Todd talked him out of it. He's our "special" little guy :)

Play Date

On Monday Colden and I met our friends Rebecca and Elliott at Irvine Regional Park. Our first stop was the Orange County Zoo. Here are the boys checking out the goats (Elliotts favorite).

My favorite things were the mountain lions and black bears. I've never been that close to them before and it was just amazing!!

After the zoo we headed over to the playground so the boys could burn some energy. Even though they are a couple years apart in age, they played well together. I was so proud of Colden when he would hold out his hand to Elliott and help him off the slide. I guess I'm raising him well :)

California Adventure

On Sunday we went to California Adventure. It was HOT!! We rode a couple rides. Our new favorite is Toy Story Mania. The line was about an hour long, but thankfully it's mostly in the shade. The picture below is Todd on the roller coaster. He's near the back with his hand up - waving to us.


I actually remembered to bring a change of clothes for Colden so he could play in the water. He loved it!! And Todd and I were lucky to find a place to sit and watch him in the shade.

He got just a little wet :)

Beach Combing

We did one of our favorite things... beach combing in Dana Point. We always find really cool rocks and shells. This time the boys showed off their muscles on this tree branch. But the main goal is finding sea glass. And we always find some :)





It took a bit of convincing, but Colden finally worked up the courage to hold this crab claw that I found.

An Afternoon in Ontario

Last weekend Todd went to Ontario to participate in a focus group and while he was out there he went to the Bass Pro Outdoor Shop. He said that Colden and I just HAD to go and check it out. So yesterday we went out there. First we went to Ontario Mills (which we used to like) and were VERY disappointed. Almost the only thing in there were clothing stores. Not any of the fun stores that we used to like, such as the Warner Bros. store, and the cool store that sold rocks and stuff. We probably won't be going back there again. But then we headed to the Bass store. Very cool!! All the animals and boats were very impressive. Colden liked "driving" the houseboat and various ATV's.

I wanted to take a picture of Colden next to the stuffed wild boar, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't convince him that it wasn't real. So Todd had to get in the picture with him...

Todd hates raccoons because they ate all of the koi out of our pond...

The "boys" had fun at the shooting gallery they had in the store...

We took this picture when Daddy wasn't looking....

Colden knew that this deer wasn't real...

Swimming Lessons - Part 2

Last Thursday, August 14th, was Colden's last day of swimming lessons for the summer. He did really well! He's very comfortable going under water and likes to be tossed in. Here are some pictures from his last day with his friend, Anthony, and his teacher, Miss Emily.

Self Portrait

I realized that I don't have any pictures on here of ME... mostly because I am usually the one behind the camera. So I took a few of myself - of course I hate them all :)

Summer Visitor

We love Lucy!! Lucy is one of the classroom pets at Colden's preschool. We volunteered to take her over the summer. She is the sweetest guinea pig I have ever encountered!! She's really calm - must be because of all the 3 & 4 year olds playing with her at school all the time! We're definitely spoiling her with lots of fresh fruit and veggies everyday, and taking her out and playing with her. I think she'll miss us almost as much as we'll miss her when she "goes back to school" in September.

Dana Point

Today Colden and I went to the beach in Dana Point Harbor. It was awesome!! No waves and soft, clean sand. We both had a blast. He could actually go play in the water all by himself (not that I was ever more than 5 feet away.) I enjoyed the water too! It's nice not being pummeled by waves every 10 seconds. This will now be our "regular" beach - it's worth the drive!! As you'll see, Colden likes to build sandcastles, but what he really enjoys is knocking them down (see video). Have a good one!!

Swimming Lessons

Colden started swimming lessons yesterday and he LOVES it!! I took a few pictures, but they didn't turn out too well. The parent seating area is at the opposite end of the pool, and the camera only zooms so far. He's going Monday - Thursday this week and next week. He'll be a little fish by the time he's done!

Waterslide Play Date

Colden got invited to a friends house today to play in the waterslide. I was imagining a slip and slide type of thing, but this was enormous! Colden and all the kids (friends from his school) had so much fun!!