Let's Go Chargers!

The first weekend of our trip my parents took the kids to church and Matt and I met Candice's family and Shannen and Lori at the Charger game bright and early to tailgate.  We had a blast!

My dad and Uncle Mike met us there right before the game with Zack and we watched the Chargers kick the Cardinals' butts from awesome seats in the Press level.  Zack is  the best little Charger fan!

As for the Padres, unfortunately, they lost the game on Sunday that kicked them out of the playoffs.  We were really hoping to go to the game on Monday but as the San Diegans are used to saying, "There is always next year."

Wild Animal Park

We debated between the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal park since they are so expensive and our days were limited days we decided to just pick one.  Candice had free guest passes and recommended the Wild Animal park to see the animals up close.  My mom took the day off work and came with us.  

As soon as we pulled up to the park, we realized that we left the bag with the bottle and formula at the house.  Lesson learned- it really isn't more helpful when more people are packing!  Super dad, Matt took off to the closest store (which happened to be a little Mexican market in the heart of Escondido) and got us formula and a bottle.

Luckily, that was an easy fix and the rest of the day went fairly smoothly and we had a blast!

Feeding the ducks

Who's the little butterfly?

The lions were so cool and big!

Elephants...my favorite.

Gorillas

The Lorikeet's were a big hit!

Abby on the Safari tram through "Africa"

Loving the carousel

San Diego Trip

We had a great trip to San Diego for our October break.  Although the flights we less than fabulous, the trip made up for it!  Grandpa and Grandma Hughes had a blast with the grand kids.  The kids both enjoyed their special time and are now going through constant attention deficit shock:).  They are lucky to be so loved!

Hanging out with Grandpa

Enjoying the park with Grandma ( and drinking water like a big girl!)

Zack meeting his namesake and uncle,  Andy

Abby loves her new Padre hat

These two can't get enough of each other

Relaxing after a long day

Family seesaw

Abby's first visit to Grandma's school.  They are so cute!

A Night Out

I have been waiting for the day when Zack was consistent in his schedule so that we could put the kids down and have our neighbor Melissa, who is a Junior at Kamehameha (i.e. responsible), hang out at the house while the kids slept so that Matt and I could go out.  I have mentioned to Lisa a few times that I was dying for a chocolate souffle at Roy's and some good wine and being the fabulous and grateful friend that she is she got a a gift card for Roy's at Ko'Olina to thank us for handing down Zack's clothes.  It was so nice and thoughtful..Claud your gift is in the mail ( soon!).

Matt and I had a great evening.  We put the kids down by 7 and were out the door by 7:05.  We had a great couple of hours to enjoy each other and were home in time to get decent sleep (which is key to a night out...it is no fun for anyone if you are exhausted the next day!).  If Melissa is game, we are hoping to make it a monthly thing.  It worked out perfectly for us and I think she got to hang out and play on her computer and watch movies so it was a win-win situation.

Beach Picnic

Sometimes it is easier, and way more fun, to be out of the house.  Matt called on my way home and suggested a picnic.  I picked up Subway, a family fav, and we packed up and headed to the beach across the street for an afternoon picnic.

Here are some fun pictures from our afternoon.  It is hard to have a bad beach day and even harder to believe that we are planing to leave this place some day!

Makaela's Dora and Diego Birthday Party

Dora and Diego are huge favorites of most of the kids now so they loved Makaela's themed third birthday party at the zoo.  The kids decorated backpacks (amazingly, Abby did not draw on her dress!), checked out all the animals, played on the swings and had some delicious cake!  Thanks Hoffmans for a fun day.

Zack and I watching the kids make their backpacks

Abby playing in the Spooky Forest

All of these pictures of the girls were so cute I couldn't choose which one to post...

 

Loving the jungle gym

Zack chillin' after a long day

Class Pet

Matt brought home the class pet, a Jackson Chameleon,  from one of the other science teachers to show Abby.  She loved it and wanted to hold it all weekend.  Initially, Matt told her she could just look...silly daddy!

She immediately wanted to hold it and she referred to it as a lizard  it sounded something like Lleeezooo)  She comes up with some interesting pronunciations for sure!



We found it was much better for everyone if it crawled on the top of her hand instead of Abby holding it in her palm...turns out squeezing is her natural reaction.