Family Vacation - Day 6

Wednesday started way too early, thanks to the campers right next to us and their screaming baby. After they got it to quiet down, I heard raindrops hitting our tent. I immediately whispered LaVor's name and asked, "Is our tent going to be okay?!" He assured me it would and that I wouldn't wake up to a flood inside of it when we woke up. We continued to toss and turn, a potty break was thrown in there, and we eventually fell back asleep. About two hours later, we were woken up again by the same family, yelling at their kids to be quiet. The camp asked that quiet time be from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. and I believe this was taking place around 6:00. They woke The Lime up this time so we were up for good.

Pancakes and bacon were on the menu again for breakfast but this time I shared my Pinterest find with LaVor and we spiced things up. Rather than eating the two components separately, we sprinkled the cooked bacon in the wet pancake batter, thus creating a disc of sweet and salty, soft and crunchy yumminess.

After breakfast, we started taking down the tents and putting everything away. It wasn't long before it started drizzling (on top of everything already being wet from the early morning precipitation), which made things fun.

The cars were packed way before we had to be out of camp so we drove up the coast to Natural Bridges, a place we hold dear to our hearts. The tide pools were what we were going after but The Lime and I didn't stick around too long. Just like in Capitola, the smells got to him and he started dry heaving so we saw what we needed to see and made our way back to the beach.

We spent a good while playing in the sand and water (okay, let's be honest...everyone else did while I took pictures). It reminded me of us a year ago, when we were in Pacifica and The Lime could have cared less that the water was freezing. He didn't dive in this year, just got his toesies wet.

Once we all had our beach fix, we piled back into the cars and made our way back over the mountain. Since we had to drive through Milpitas to get back home, and it was lunchtime, it made sense to stop at La Milpa and fill up on chips & salsa, rice & beans, and nachos & tamales.

We got home in no time and quickly unloaded all the gear, set everything up, let it dry (thank goodness for warm weather) and packed everything back up. I immediately sorted the clothes and started the washing machine right up. The boys took showers and we settled down for the night with a slice of pizza, frozen yogurt, and friendly conversation.

Camping was fun and I survived!

Family Vacation - Day 8

Earlier in the week, LaVor's mom was chatting with her neighbor across the way when the neighbor graciously offered her passes to the California Academy of Sciences.  It really was a blessing because the tickets are super expensive, there was no way we would have been able to go without them.

On the way to the city, LaVor and I realized it was the first day of Outside Lands and were worried Golden Gate Park would be a mess.  What a relief when we pulled into the park and things were running as usual.

Everyone initially started exploring together but when most of the family got in line for the earthquake simulator, The Lime opted to continue exploring.  We browsed for a bit and then decided to check out the rainforest.

The butterflies were everywhere!  It was somewhat magical and got The Lime super excited.

We started off at the bottom of the forest as if in Madagascar. There were exotic plants as well as leafcutter ants.

As we made our way up, the number of butterflies increased and we were able to get a great shot of the water down below, where huge arapaima were swimming.

There was a plant at the very top of the exhibit that was attracting butterflies from every direction. I caught one extracting nectar from one of the flowers, captured another butterfly forcing a different butterfly away from a flower, and even caught a glimpse of a butterfly trying to seduce another. No photos were taken of that incident.

After the free show from the butterflies, we turned a corner to find a few lizards, snakes, and a cute little frog. We then took an elevator down to the Amazonian flooded forest which allowed us to see life from below.

LaVor and The Lime soaked up the chance to touch the starfish and other creatures. While checking things out, The Lime slipped on the ledge he was standing on and chomped down on his tongue. With blood spewing everywhere, we called it quits on the exploring and headed back to the main floor while we waited for the rest of the group.

While we waited, LaVor spotted The Lime's current infatuation - an alligator. And not just any alligator but Claude the albino alligator. That was enough to distract and calm The Lime down.

Our stomachs were telling us it was time to eat, and while on the way to get our hot dogs, we passed a group of folks getting their segway lesson. The teacher sounded like quite the character, yelling, "Schnell!" at the Germans.

We had a little bit of time before we needed to leave so we checked out a few more exhibits. The sharks and stingrays swam underneath us, the penguins dove right before our eyes, and the African hall felt as if we were really there. On our way out, we stopped in the gift shop where The Lime got a little bag of aqua marine rocks (his favorite color). We passed on the gigantic white stuffed alligator.

On the way to the freeway, we just so happened to pass a macaron shop. Naturally, we stopped and grabbed a dozen. The salted caramel was AMAZING. But still not like my Sprüngli's.

The day was finished off with a visit with my sister and her family. We gobbled up some pasta and let the kids run around at the park, where my sister suggested The Lime spend the night. It took him no time at all to decide if he wanted to or not.

A rousing game of Wizard (where I won for once) and some quality time with LaVor's grandparents was the end of a fun-filled day.

Family History - I Am Doing It

One day last week, while The Lime was taking his nap, the thought of genealogy popped into my head.  I knew my sister was working on gathering some information for our great grandma on our dad's side, so I decided to work on our mom's side.

Several years ago, I came across a website that had tons of information about my great grandmother's family.  With the help of familysearch.org and findagrave.com, I was able to link several generations together.  I also came across a gentleman who had lots of information about my grandfather's family.  He was able to provide me with a brief history of how that family came to America and also sent me several pictures.  The pictures are PRICELESS!

I've mentioned before that my Momo's parents divorced when she was about twelve years old.  Her dad passed away when my oldest sister was a baby, thus leaving a "void" in our extended family.  Not much was told to us about my grandfather and his family, so when I found this man (he's married to my mom's cousin) I was beyond ecstatic.  In fact, I might have cried when he e-mailed me the first batch of pictures.
It was a thrill and relief to finally be able to out faces to the names I've only seen and heard about.  One of which was my great grandmother.  She was apparently a "cold" woman, forcing her kids to touch the hot stove in order to teach them not to touch hot things.  While doing some research, I found out that her first child passed away at the age of five.  I immediately burst into tears, wondering if the loss of her daughter was the reason for her attitude toward the other children.  I knew then, even more than before, that this mother needed to be sealed to her daughter.

Great grandparents wedding photo | roughly 1904

My sister and I have had the wonderful opportunity to visit the temple two weeks in a row and perform ordinances for our family members who have passed away.  It was especially neat to be able to do work for sisters, by sisters.

The bug has definitely bit me and I have spent several nights looking up information way beyond midnight.  There is something to say (actually more than one reason) for having converts as parents; not a lot of genealogy has been done.  Which leaves more for me and I am absolutely fine with that.

Endure Whatever Will Be

I was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overdue for a visit to the temple, so when my mom offered to watch The Lime for me one day this week, I took her up on it.

LaVor and I had originally planned to go together last night but he ended up going out of town on business.  I decided that wasn't going to deter me from going.  In fact, I moved my time for going up even sooner.

I've never been to our new temple and although I had the directions, I appreciated the signs posted on fences pointing me in the right direction.  I especially loved when I was driving across the overpass, feeling sad and lonely (I decided I don't like going to the temple solo), and I looked to my left to see the Angel Moroni glistening in the sunlight.  That's when the crying started and it never really stopped.

I went to the doctor on Monday for a new patient visit.  Since I had to update her on everything health related, I told her we have been trying to get pregnant and weren't having much luck.  That's when she said it...infertility.  I don't really like thinking that way and I told her we believe that if Heavenly Father wants to send us another child, he will.

Since I've had months and months and months to think about this, I've come to this conclusion:  if we got pregnant right away, we would have had a baby the end of March.  What were we doing at that time?  Moving.  If we had gotten pregnant any time between June and March, I would have been pregnant while we were getting ready to move.  The stress of moving would have probably done a number on my pregnant body, which would have probably pushed me over the edge.

In my perfect world, those are the reasons why we haven't gotten pregnant.  But in reality, it could be that nasty "I" word that the doctor mentioned.  I'm just not quite ready to accept that.

All month in Primary, we've been talking about ways to strengthen our families.  The lesson for sharing time next week is: Heavenly Father wants me to marry in the temple and have an eternal family.  I am grateful every day that LaVor and I made the decision to be sealed for eternity.  There is nothing that I value more than the opportunity to be with my two boys forever.  And although I kept waiting for a peaceful assurance yesterday that more little ones would join our family, I only felt the need to focus on and appreciate what I have now.

So that's what I'll do, Carpe diem, seize the day.  And not wait so long until I visit the temple again.

Zoo Visit

After my "Defeated" post, I decided The Lime was acting out because we were staying in. So I looked up some free/inexpensive things that we could do, to hopefully avoid future meltdowns from both parties.

I found out the zoo was offering free admission for kids every Wednesday in July, with the help of Wells Fargo (glad they can do something right). We haven't been to the zoo around here yet so I thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to check it out.

When I paid for my admission, they gave us each a token to vote for some sort of animal conservation program. The Lime was more concerned about watching his token go round and round rather than which animal to help.

He totally looks like he's pooping in this picture.  I assure you, he's not.

We first came across these lemurs that we thought resembled an ugly panda with a tail.

While sneaking a peek at the lemurs, we kept hearing this LOUD whooping sound.  Now that I think about it, it sounded like Bobo from Finding Bigfoot.  It wasn't Bigfoot we were hearing, but Littlefoot (I don't remember what type of primate it was).

Picking on each other...ah ah ah!

Then we caught a brief glimpse of the orangutans before they hid in their little cave, out of the hot sun.

On the way to the chimps, we passed the zebras and an ostrich (no picture) that had its feathers all ruffled.

The chimps were quite the characters, as usual.  The Lime immediately commented on the bum of one, as did the other kids around us (it was channeling its inner baboon).  One came right up to the glass while another was lounging in a tree branch.

I tried to snap a picture of the tigers but they stayed in the rear of their pen(?) and wouldn't stop moving.  The lion, on the other hand, was front and center, pacing back and forth.

The giraffes and their insanely long necks were around the corner.  All of the animals seemed closer at this zoo than the others we've been to.  A good thing or a bad thing?  Good for pictures, a bit scary for safety.

As close as he's ever going to get to a giraffe

Notice the one in the middle has a slightly different pattern?  The brown is a smidge darker and the cream is not as smooth looking.

 

The Lime saw a sculpture of an alligator and really wanted to see a real one, even though he has a slight fear.  Unfortunately, there were only fake ones.  Fortunately, there was a toy dump truck in the same area and he quickly forgot about the alligator.

As if that play break wasn't enough, we then spent another chunk of time at a tiny playground they had set up.  When we got to the frog trying to eat the dragonfly, he asked, "Why is it throwing up?!"  It wasn't throwing up, it was just the frog's tongue extended to reach the bug.  Silly kid.

They also had a slide that I think was a snake?  It wasn't very slidable so The Lime walked down it, as did the 20 million other kids.

Whoops!  Looks like he did slide down once.

Last but not least, we saw the pink and stinky flamingos.

With The Lime's free admission, we also got a pass for the carousel.  Once he got on Nemo, I took a picture of us and found that I had been walking around with red lipstick on my chin for most of the morning.  I need to teach The Lime to tell me these things!

Poor thing was SO sweaty!  But he insists on wearing pants and his hat.

Before leaving, The Lime wanted to browse through the gift shop, which is really just filled with overpriced junk.  Although I was tempted to buy this.

And despite him not wanting me to take his picture, The Lime stopped at almost every face cutout but never stood long enough for me to snap a good one.

On our way back to the car, The Lime wanted to check out the fountain at the Charles Swanston statue.

Had it not been time for lunch, I would have driven around the area and investigated what else there was to offer.  The houses are adorable and I've read positive things about the park.

Looks like we'll have to add that to our list of things to do.