Day Seven

dog park

dog park-Sammy, Kate & Mike. 

Downtown with Duke

Mike had some work to do today so we planed to do something close by. We decided to try out the Huntingtion Beach dog park in Huntingtion Beach's central park. This park is the same size as Central Park in NYC. It has a huge equestrian center, dog park, lake, nature center, trails & playscapes. The first place we stopped didn't have the dog park we were looking for so Kate & Mike played on the playscape while Sammy, Alex & I went for a walk. Next we drove around until we found the dog park. Sammy, Mike & Kate headed into the very large dog park & then Mike handed Kate to me over the fence. Kate was playing on a large playscape when I heard some dogs fighting. I turned around & I could see Mike by the dogs that were fighting & realized it was Sammy!!! Oh goodness!! Then I had to fight with Kate to get her off the playscape to see if Sammy was ok. Mike says that him & Sammy were minding their own business, playing fetch when this pit bull came up to them while they were sitting on a bench. Mike asked the owners to get their dog & told them that Sammy didn't like other dogs. The people didn't listen & their dog attacked Sammy!! Both of Sammy's front legs were bleeding. A nice man cleaned Sammy up & the owner of the pit bull told us to meet them at a vet's office. Luckily Sammy is ok, she just needed some skin stitched together. Our poor Sammy!!
After the excitement this morning, we decided to stroll around the shops in downtown Huntington Beach. It was mostly restaurants, but still fun.
Mike picked Sammy up from the vet & yes, the pit bull's owner did pay the vet bill, but she also wanted Mike to sign a form saying we would not sue. She never did say she was sorry, said it was our fault for bringing a toy!!! Mike has called animal control to make a report. My stomach is in knots about this whole thing!! We were going to head to the San Diego Zoo tomorrow, but now we have to stay home with Sammy. Oh goodness.

Day SIX

This is right before he started to eat sand!

Oh we all slept until 6 AM this morning & slept all night long!! It was wonderful! It was cold this morning, so we decided to head to IHOP for a Mother's Day breakfast. After that Alex needed a nap & then we woke him up to head to the beach because the sun was out!! The weather reports here haven't been right at all. Today the high this morning said it would only be 59, but then it was like 65ish when we headed out to the beach. I don't get it! It was really nice on the beach & we were there 3 hours. There were tons of people of all ages playing beach volleyball. Mike was impressed by the little girls who were really good!! Alex got his first taste of sand & he Loved it!! He went back for more!! After the beach, both kiddos napped & then before we knew it it was bedtime!
I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day! I loved spending mine with my sweet family at the beach!

Our home for a month

backyard

living room

dining room

kitchen-don't you just love the big window?  Yeah it looks out at a brick wall!!

Our room

Kate's room--she looks so funny in this big bed!

Where Alex sleeps

Kate already refers to this place as "home".  I thought we would have problems adjusting to a smaller place, but I have to admit that I rather like it!  I wish we had another room, just to have a place to put Alex.  We have been leaving the windows open and it has been nice.  It's nice not to have to worry about bugs!  The kids love the mirrored closets!  Alex's little handprints are all over the mirrors!

Alex at 8 months

It's hard for me to believe that my little buddy is 8 months old!!  He is such a happy baby!  Every day that I am out with him people stop me and tell me what a cute baby they think he is.  I don't remember getting this much attention with Kate.  I had a lady stop me in the Albertson's here and tell me how cute she thought he was and that he would make the perfect gerber baby!  I was worried about Alex and this house, since it has all tile on the downstairs, but he has done so great!  He learned how to sit down from standing while we were still at home.  He loves the mirrored closets and opening the drawers on the side tables.  He loves to chew on shoes more than anything and he still LOVES to eat!!  I am only breastfeeding him 3 times a day and he is eating solids 3-4 times a day with lots of cheerios!!!  He has been sleeping better during the day, the other day he took a 3 hour nap!!  I wish he would sleep later in the morning, I don't like my 5AM wake up!  We all love our little buddy! And I just noticed that he is getting in another tooth! The other front bottom tooth!

Day Five

Huntington Beach and pier chasing birds Watching surfers All those black dots in the water are surfers.  It reminds me of the movie Point Break! Unfortunately we spent all morning at an Urgant Care Center.  I was up all night with Alex.  He's cold that he has had for the last month has just gotten worse.  He has a nasty cough with congestion & green snort.  So now he is going to be on antibiotics & hopefully that will get rid of it!!  Kate is still coughing but seems to only cough at night & in the morning.  I have stopped giving her allergy meds & she is doing fine without then, no running noise or eyes, just this cough! On a side note, people honk like crazy here in California!  After leaving the doctor, the kids napped and Mike took a trip to visit Nixon's grave. When he got back, the sun had finally came out (it was in the low 60's all morning) and it was in the 70's so we headed to the beach!  Kate enjoyed playing in the sand and chasing the birds.  Then we put the kiddos in the stroller and hit the pier.  I couldn't get over how many surfers there were, it was wild!  I even saw a guy with a surf board attached to his bike!!  Crazy!  The waves were really big and we saw lots of surfing action!  Really cool.

Day Four

Walk of Fame

 Disney Hall

e

LOVE the palm trees!!

 

Rodeo drive

Kate on the Walk of Fame

Kate with Mickey Mouse on Hollywood Blvd.

Since Alex wakes us up so early every day, we decided this morning to just eat & head out the door & head to Beverly Hills/Hollywood/LA. So at around 6:45ish we headed out!
Things we saw today in LA:
- police car doing donuts on the 405. He stopped & picked up a tire that was on the road
- Methodist church with a service in English, Spanish & Korean
-Disney hall
-Downtown LA
-LA homeless shelter, looked just like it did in the movie The Soloist
-Rodeo drive
-sunset blvd
-Walked Hollywood blvd & walk of Fame
-ate at the Next Great Restaurant winner, Soul Daddy's
-walked inside the Kodak Theather
-Chinese theather
-finally found the Hollywood sign!!
-drove around & looked at some star's homes. So beautiful & green with palm trees lining the streets. Lucille Ball's house.
-Playboy Manson
And this was all before 1pm!!!

Day Three

Kate, Sammy and Mike.

So cute!

We did it!!( as Kate would say!). We made it here safe & sound & survived our first family trip to the beach!!!
Our day started to early again, thanks to Alex. Mike, Sammy & Kate headed out to find a dog park while Alex, Trudy & I did some serious unpacking!! It feels so good to me to be settled!! Then Alex napped while Mike did some work & Kate & I hung out. Around 2 we decided to head over to the Huntington Beach Dog Beach! Sammy had a Great time playing in the water & running after her toy. Trudy was a brat, I don't think we will bring her again. Sammy didn't even have to be on a lease! She would stay right by us, she is such a great dog!! And she didn't even attack any other dogs!! There were dogs everywhere & it was a beautiful beach! Kate walked down to the water, walked in but didn't want to play in it. The water is about 55 degrees & it was about 74 ish degrees out. Alex hung out in his stroller in the shade under our umbrella & Kate played in the sand. It was a really great first trip to the beach!! We can't wait to go again!!
Now both kiddos are both asleep before 8 & Mike & I are having ice cream & watching a movie!!
Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post some photos!

Day TWO

Happy Alex, not a bad view for me to have huh?

Sammy

Kate putting her beloved peanut butter crackers in between her toes!

Oh Trudy

Day one ended with us all sleeping at a Holiday Inn Express in Goodyear, AZ. We were confused on what time it was, it's weird being behind 2 hours. It's like it only took us 10 minutes to go thur New Mexico & into AZ. We had an ok night sleeping, Kate woke us up coughing & Alex woke up WAY to early-in any time zone!!
We had breakfast & headed out at about 9:40. The kids & dogs did great, we all even took a nap, except Mike that is. It actually didn't take as long as we thought it would & we were in Huntington Beach by 2pm.
It was so neat how the land changed on our way here. Austin is a little hilly with trees & then all of a sudden we were on flat land with nothing, well we did see some very large tall cactus. There really isn't much between west Texas & AZ! So we went from dessert looking surrounding to green mountains!! It was neat to see some very large windmills once we got into California, along with the houses in the mountains.
So back to our day 2, we get to our home away from home & everyone is excited to be here!!! We explore all the rooms & let the kids play while we unload the car. It was really warm for here (like 80 degrees) so we decided to explore & go grocery shopping. First we drove to the beach, which we decided was to far away to walk to every day & parking there is only $1.50 an hour. I was surprised to see so many people out & about on a random Wednesday afternoon, I wonder if it is like that all the time. We saw the Dog Beach & we decided we fit in here with having dogs, but not so much with having kids! Next we headed to get some groceries. While checking out we got a phone call that someone had Trudy! Yikes!! Now let me back up, on Day 1, stop 1, Trudy pulled on the lease & her collar came off & Mike had to run after her AND now she had gotten out of our new backyard!! I have to say I was nervous about her getting out. The gate is an iron one with slates & I was afraid she could get thur it & well I guess I was right! So we rush home to get Trudy & met a neighbor. Thank goodness for good people!!! Especially ones who will chase crazy dogs like Trudy!!!
So by now Alex is screaming his head off so I feed him & try to find a place to put his pack n play for him to sleep (while he is still screaming)!! Alex ended up in our room, with one half of his pack n play in our closet. Not sire if this is where he will stay, but it works for now.
We had picked up chicken wings at the Albertsons for dinner, so we all sat down to eat. Mike & I are both mentally & physically exhausted by this point!! Mike played with Kate while I worked on unpacking the kitchen a little & I'm going a little crazy that I can't unpack upstairs since Alex is sleeping!! Anyway, Mike heads to bed & Kate & I watch some American Idol. She starts to do some rubbing of the eyes so even before Idol is over, we headed to bed!!
All in all, the two days of driving wasn't all that bad. Sammy gets first place for being the best traveler, then Kate, who only complained two times the whole trip, next goes to Alex, who was pretty good, but he did do his fair share of crying & then he did throw up once. Trudy comes in LAST place due to escaping two times. But all in all we made it here safe & sound and we can't wait to explore California!

First day to Cali

Our morning started EARLY!! We had packed the van Monday night, so we were out the door with the two kiddos & two dogs by 5:30AM. The kids were in their car seats, Sammy was in the front seat, I was sitting on the 3rd row behind Alex & Trudy seemed to be everywhere!! She finally settled first on the front seat with Sammy & then in the back with me. Kate was happy watching Movies ALL day, she never did nap! Alex did ok, but he hardly slept either. He did some crying & towards the end of the trip he worked himself up so much from crying that he threw up! Poor thing! We made it all day with only 4 stops & made it to Goodyear, AZ by 9:30 Austin time. It really went better than I expected it to!

cute photos of kiddos from April

He can push this across the room!     They do this all the time, so cute!  Alex likes to see his reflection in the glass! I love this one of Kate! Here are some cute pictures of the kiddos from the end of April.  I love the ones of Kate.  It isn't very often that she lets me take pictures of her!