G.G. and Poppie Time!

This past weekend we traveled up to Redding to visit Chad's parents...also known as G.G. and Poppie! :o) We had a great weekend hanging out, relaxing, exploring Turtle Bay...more on that tomorrow...watching the Olympics and enjoying lots of family time.

Landry quickly made himself at home...and Monkey came with him everywhere!

He was soooo comfortable that he decided to take over Poppie's chair.

 On Saturday Chad's aunt and uncle, Val and Mike, came up to visit. This was their first time meeting Landry...and it is safe to say that they loved him!

Aunt Val and Landry

It isn't G.G.'s house without ice cream before bed!

 On Sunday Landry discovered Poppie's guitar and wanted him to play a tune.

Poppie showed him how he could make his own music.

Sunday night we went to dinner at a delicious Japanese restaurant, Fuji, in Downtown Redding. After dinner we went for a walk to check out the sights. I love this picture of Chad and Landry...nothing sweeter!

G.G. and Poppie have a pet cat named Buddy that Landry quickly fell in love with. He also fell in love with other "pets" in the house. :o) Landry decided that even Killer needed a kiss!



We all know that Landry has a love of vacuums...he was in hog heaven playing with G.G.'s Dyson!



 And of course...there's nothing better than a story before bedtime...even if it is your own "biography." :o)

Thank you G.G. and Poppie for spoiling us this weekend! We had a wonderful weekend and can't wait to see you soon!!!

Monterey...Part 2

Yesterday I told you about our trip to Monterey...particularly the aquarium. As promised...here is part two! 

After the aquarium we decided to head back to our hotel for what was supposed to be a nap. Well...the nap didn't happen. Even though he completely crashed in the car...and it was WAY past his naptime...and we were about 10 minutes from the aquarium...he was bright-eyed and bushy tailed once we got back to our room.

He kept asking to go see the animals. So we decided to head to the wharf where we thought he would be able to see a ton of seals. Last time we visited the wharf area was covered in seals. This time. Not so much. As in...there was one lone seal in the area where there used to be 50-100.

Yes, we did walk down a few ramps and docks so that we could get "up close and personal" with this little seal. He was so cute. After that we decided it was time for dinner. So Gilbert's it was!

Our table looked out at the harbor...and we were treated to the cutest little show. There were a group of about 6 seals that were swimming, flipping, playing, and having a ton of fun out in the water. They were so much fun to watch!

On Sunday Landry woke up wanting to "go spashing!" We got in the car and drove to Pacific Grove to the tide pools. I thought that he would love to stand and splash in the pools, play with rocks, watch the hermit crabs. Yup. Not so much.

It took him quite awhile to get to the point where he would let Chad put him down. There were a TON of hermit crabs. Landry...not interested. He finally got comfortable enough to walk around on the beach by himself. At one point Chad climbed up on a big rock and Landry kept pointing and telling him, "No, Daddy, no! Down Daddy. Walk over here Daddy!" Such a cautious little guy. :o)

From there we headed back to Downtown Monterey, ate lunch, walked around a bit and grabbed a Starbucks before we hit the road. I have created a bit of a "Starbucks Monster"...he loves their black iced tea.

And...you always know that a good time was had when you look in the back seat to see this!

Monterey...Part 1!

This past weekend we escaped the heat and hung out in Monterey for the weekend! First stop...the Monterey Bay Aquarium! We spent a lot of time telling Landry about the aquarium and how he would get to see lots of different "fishies." He of course wanted to see...elephants! Poor guy...we tried to explain that there wouldn't be any elephants...but he still asked for them...several times. ;o)

We started off in the flukes and fins area...actually we started in the Open Sea exhibit...which led to lots of tears, crying, the death grip, etc...so we decided to make a u-turn and start with a smaller, more well-lit part of the aquarium. Of course it would have helped if Landry would have been willing to take off his glasses...but...we were in a new place, with lots of people he didn't know, so we should have known that it would take about 2 hours to be able to part with those bad boys...no joke.

Back to the story...flukes and fins...it was a hit! Landry loved to listen to the dolphin sounds. Seals... not so much. Sea lions...nope. Just the dolphins!

He and Daddy went "fishing" for krill.

Mr. Independent quickly decided, "I do it!"

Looks like fishing can be tough work...and requires a lot of concentration!

After that we headed back to the Open Sea area...Landry and Daddy looking for sharks!

The anchovies were a hit!

Always a highlight...the jellyfish!

Landry decided that he wanted to touch a lot of the exhibits! "I touch it," he would say. :o)

So...we headed to the Splash Zone where he could touch the exhibits.

Of course Mr. OCD was more concerned with washing his hands...

and then we decided it was time to take a break and eat some lunch! We were getting a bit grumpy...when I say "we" I really mean Landry and me. Sorry, Bubs...you inherited the "I'm hungry, feed me now...or I might stab you" gene from your mommy. :o)

We were much better after a belly full of..."fench fies!" Did you also notice that the shades came off finally?

So we picked up where we had left off and went to check out the "touch pools"...where you can touch the animals. Guess what...Landry did NOT want to touch any of the animals. 

"No touch, Mommy...I spash (splash!)"

This is the face I got when I asked for a "cheesy smile!"

Even though Landry didn't want to touch the animals...one of the animals really wanted to touch Landry! This little crab kept trying to crawl up and say hi to Landry. :o)

Then it was on to check out the salmon...which of course...Landry wanted to...TOUCH!

One of his favorites...the PENGUINS!!!!!

Next we went to check out the otters. Landry...not so interested...at all. He was, though, VERY interested in the stairs that lead up to the otter exhibit. "Tairs, Mommy. Tairs. I go tairs." The child is crazy! :o)

Last but not least...bubbles! No, not real bubbles...but that is what Landry called this exhibit. The aquarium has this really cool area that shows how the tides work. You can walk through a clear tunnel and water rushes over and around you.

We had a great day at the aquarium! Huge thanks to Jake for the passes. :o) More on the rest of our trip tomorrow!