Californ-i-a

In late July, we decided to escape the heat by going to California. We flew in to LA, drove down the coast as far as San Diego stopping along the way and then flew back out of LA about a week later. All in all it was a great trip with lots of fun adventures.

We went to the beach:


































We spent a day at one of the Happiest Places on Earth:

Jedi Training

It's a Small World

Mini and Mommy with Minnie

Can't leave without a few souvenirs

In San Diego we found a fun Children's Museum:

And, of course, The San Diego Zoo:

All the Monkeys in the Zoo

Ava and Daddy on the Sky Tram

They even had Panda Bears!

The next day we went to the Wildlife Park and got up close and personal with some of the animals.

Here we are on the tram that took us through part of the park

We saw lots of animals:

Our favorite was the elephants:

There were even a few babies in the herd

Petting the Deer Ambassadors

The Wildlife Park was really a treat - one of the best days of a very fun filled trip. We headed back to LA after that. I'll post separately that portion of the trip because those pictures are on a different computer and this post is getting extremely long.

Only in Austin

Austin has the motto, Keep Austin Weird. It is on T-shirts, bumper stickers, radio ads and posted all over the city.

One weekend day we ate BBQ lunch from this school bus fitted with a smoker. Yeah, pretty weird.

Oliver's Birthday

Ollie turned 3 on July 8th. We started the day having breakfast with Daddy at Oliver's favorite restaurant, Chic-fil-A. They even brought him a balloon, ice-cream and sang happy birthday. Ice-cream for breakfast seemed a little unnecessary to Mommy but Ollie didn't seem bothered by it:)

Later we went to the mall bouncy place to play with his friend, Ella. Then home for dinner, cake and presents.

All in all, a successful third birthday!

Fourth of July Weekend

We went to the Georgetown Festival with Scott and Cindy to watch the fireworks and play on the 4th of July. Ollie liked the idea of the fireworks but wasn't thrilled with the big boom. He was a trooper though and watched the whole show. Ava on the other hand was happy to watch or sleep. More pictures to come on the fourth...

We enjoyed the long weekend and took a family trip to the zoo in Waco. Ollie liked the foxes:


And the rare Daddy Monkey:

The Big 3!

This year Oliver decided (unwaveringly) that he wanted a soccer party. So a soccer party he had! We were lucky to share the event with lots of friends and even a little extended family since Aunt Jen, Chase and Maddie stayed in town for the event. Mommy procrastination note: This party took place on July 3rd....one day I will catch up to real time.

The birthday cake...Thanks Aunt Jen for the decorating help!

The Birthday Boy in Action


Ollie and some Friends Preparing for Red Light, Green Light


Let 'em Eat Cake


Ollie and Ava enjoying the Bouncy House at the Party

Chase Getting in on the Action!