Flower Fields of Carlsbad

Today we visited the Flower Fields of Carlsbad. It was the last day to tour the fields and it was misting rain but we went anyway. I love flowers, love to grow them, see them, smell them, love to put them in vases. Flowers display God's power and beauty as much as anything I can think of. They are so delicate, grown from dirt and sunshine, and yet so perfect in every detail. It just blows me away. We also enjoyed some strawberry shortcake while we were there. The rain quit and the sun came out. Afterwards we drove down Pacific Coast Highway past Leucadia to Encinitas and ate at a favorite place of mine - Moseys. We then stopped at Moonlight Beach. Emily played on the playground while Greg walked around on the beach and took pictures. We then continued up the coast to Oceanside and walked out on the Pier. Emily saw two kids in her class while we were there. It is a small world no matter where you go. On the way home, we stopped by Super Smoothies. All their smoothies are named for super heroes or villains - another of my favorite places. It was a good day to spend with my kids.

Lots of different types of flowers.

Us.

At the Flower Fields.

My sweet girl.

Some of the flowers.  We also went into a Sweet Pea Maze.

Greg at Moonlight Beach.

I love orange roses.

Cute playground.

A new type of poinsettias due to come out next year.

The dew on the roses.

Wild Animal Park 4/24/2011

We went to the Wild Animal Park with a friend of mine, Aida, and her three boys. We left early and stayed all day. We had such a great time. Aida and I really enjoyed all the foliage. We took the tour around the park to see the giraffes, zebras, elephants and a bunch of different kinds of goatish animals. Emily was ecstatic because she got to see an owl. She is all about owls these days. The kids really enjoyed feeding the birds.

What a fun bunch!

I have a thing for this flower - bird of paradise.  They just amaze me.

These birds are so brilliantly colored.  Kids had a blast feeding them.

This was the butterfly garden.

Dressing up as butterflies.

On the bus tour.  There were a lot of giraffes.

Kids inside a gourde.

The birds took a liking to Nathaniel.

Sequoia National Park

Tony and his family along with Greg, Emily and I visited the Sequoia National Park for a couple of days. It was absolutely breath taking and we all had a great, great time. We stayed at the Buckeye Tree Lodge just outside the entrance - definitely recommended.   All God's creation in full bloom.  I went through Bakersfield to get there which is the most north I have travel since I have moved here.  The drive up to Sequoia had lots of mountains, farmland, orange trees, wineries and lakes.  We went past Pyramid Lake which lined the road for quite some time.  There is a Pyramid cut out in the rocks.  We met a couple from Germany taking a two month vacation in the United States in a rental RV.  Tony and Rikki did the cooking.  Kru, Emily and I enjoyed a water gun fight.  Jax enjoyed the stairs.  Greg enjoyed having his own room at the cabin and taking lots of pictures.  It was a nice trip.

Beach Day

After church, Emily and I joined Nina (running friend) at the beach. Emily played in the water and drew pictures in the sand while we chatted. Weather was nice. Another beautiful day God has given.

San Diego Wild Animal Park

Rikki, her Mom, myself, Emily, Kru and Jax went to the Wild Animal Park this Saturday. The weather was perfect. The kids had a great time and Emily is ready to go back and explore some more. We got there a little late so we didn't get to see everything. I liked the lush foliage everywhere.

A Visit from Bob

It has been a while since I updated this blog. Time just gets away so instead of catching up, I will just start again with our visit from Bob, Jim's brother. We hadn't seen Bob in at least a year. He flew in after visiting with siblings in Arizona and skiing at Telluride. Emily was so excited to see him and really enjoyed his visit. She told him he looked like her Dad. I was taking care of the grandsons the first two days he was here. We took the boys to the park and Bob flew a kite with them. He was so good with them. He took Emily to the movies while I had my ladies over for Bible Study. Saturday, we drove to Mission Viejo and saw the house the family lived in when they lived in California. We took the Ortega Highway - beautiful scenery but much too curvy for me. Sunday we went to Seaworld for the day. It was a really good visit. Tony took him to breakfast at a local airport. Bob likes anything to do with planes.

Grandsons

It is official. I am babysitting two wonderful grandsons every Thursday and Friday. Kru will be 2 on October the 25th and Jax was born June 18th of this year (on his Daddy's birthday) making him almost 3 months old. I have babysat them for 2 weeks so far. Kru looks mostly like his Dad, is very active, very smart and articulate. He doesn't forget a thing, very strong willed, very precious. He is not one to sit and watch TV or play with a particular toy for very long. He loves going to the park, riding a skateboard, playing basketball, riding Emily's Razor scooter. Jax is a little more laid back, or at least it seems so. He likes to be talked to. He is a chunky little thing with cute cheeks, beautiful blue eyes and a slightly darker complexion than Kru. He looks mostly like his Mommy. He likes to have something over him, like a blankie or something. He loves to look around. He smiles and laughs and holds himself very well for his age. He has the softest skin imagineable. It is a real joy to babysit them and I don't do anything on those two days but watch them. We go to the park about 9:30 to 11:00, then we have a picnic lunch at the park. They both fall asleep on the way home and take about a hour and one half nap. We then do various things. I am very thankful that I have a son and daughter-in-law that trust me to take care of these precious boys. I look forward to watching them grow up. God has been so very good to me.
This is Jax enjoying the swing. Are those some cute cheeks or what?

What can I say? This baby is just so adorable. Yummy!



Kru found himself a little friend. He took her hand and led her all over the play ground. She tried to take him down the big slide but he prevailed and pulled her towards the monkey bars.

Here I am trying out the carrier. It is complicated.

Kru playing in the sand.

Love the rolls.