YMCA Family Fun Run

Today we participated in the YMCA's family fun run at the Otay Ranch Town Center. The kids ran just about the entire track and I had to run to keep up with them!

Love Makes the World Go Round!

Tonight Kailani's school had a spring family dance and the theme was the 70s. It was kind of hard to explain to Kailani what the 70s were like when I didn't really grow up in the 70s! We went to Party City to pick up a few accessories. She wore a dress with big flowers that I thought went perfectly with the decorations. Kailani felt comfortable going out to dance by herself. She did get to dance with two little girls from her class and another little girl from cheerleading. She had a good time!

We Have a Butterfly!

Today our butterfly finally hatched from its chrysalis. The kids enjoyed letting it go and continued to look out the window to see if it flew away. When they went to bed it was still sitting on the rose they left it on. It is really a beautiful butterfly. The real thing is so much better than the butterfly kits you can buy!

Go Phillies!

The Phillies were in town, so we decided to take the kids to a game at Petco Park. We actually ended up getting free tickets through the USO because today's game was a military appreciation day game. Jason took the kids to our seats for a few innings while I stayed on the grass in the "park at the park." They really enjoyed sporting their Phillies gear! Unfortunately the Phillies lost 6-1:(

Healthy Kids Day

Today the Armed Services YMCA offered a Healthy Kids Day with lots of activities and healthy snacks for kids. At each station, the kids had to have their "bib" checked off. Once they completed most of the activities, they were able to trade it in for a prize. The kids had a great time.

Tonight we're heading off to see The Lorax on base while Daddy's goes to the Phillies Game!

Hot Hula

Tonight Kailani's school offered a Hula Fitness for Moms class. Hot hula is a new fitness style that uses hula moves. It was fun, but it was a workout. I would be interested in doing it on a regular basis, but this way a one-time only event:( The class is offered only at 24 Hour Fitness.

Project Wildlife

Today we went to see Project Wildlife's animal center. Project Wildlife is an organization that takes in wild animals (birds, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, etc.) and rehabilitates them. Once a year they have a "baby shower" to celebrate the beginning of baby season for most of these animals. They were accepting donations and giving tours of their facility. I never really knew anything like this existed. If you find a hurt animal, you can drop it off to this organization and they will care for it. Some can be released back in the wild and some cannot. The kids got to see some animals they hadn't seen before. We saw baby hummingbirds being fed by syringe and several baby squirrels. It was a neat experience and I am glad we were able to go. Here is a link to the news story http://www.cbs8.com/story/17453159/project-wildlife-hosts-wildlife-baby-shower-event.

Afterwards, we headed straight to the Otay Ranch Town Center. It was the grand opening ceremony of the new library that will be inside the mall. It was very crowded, but the kids had fun. There were several story times and character visits. We sat for a story with Biscuit the Dog. The kids did a scavenger hunt to find different things in the library and traded it in for a prize (free kids meals at Chili's). We went for lunch afterward:)

Here is a picture of Kailani in front of a VW Beetle. She loves these cars! When she is old enough to drive, she wants a pink convertible VW Beetle! Everything we're in the car we have to play the game...whoever sees a beetle gets a point (convertibles are 2 points). The person with the most points at the end of the day wins!

Little Kickers/Little Pucks

This afternoon Zachary started a new session of soccer; this time with hockey. He was so excited for it to start. He loved everything they did. He did awesome and kicked the ball and hit the puck into the nets every time.

Top Collector!

Today we walked Kailani to school. Unfortunately, it's back to work next week, which means no walking her to school anymore:( There was a blacktop assembly this morning and the PTO recognized the top collectors for the walk for success the school did last month. Kailani only collected $50, but she came in 20th place out of a school of over 800 students. Pretty good! She was so excited to hear her name and to get a prize.

Mission Trails

Today Zachary and I met up with some of the moms from the meetup group for a walk at Mission Trails Regional Park. Zachary rode his bike for a little bit. He is getting so good at pushing off with his feet and then balancing for a while. Then, he rode in the stroller for the rest of the walk. Here is a pretty picture one of the girls took on our walk.

There are still so many places in San Diego we haven't been to yet. Hopefully we'll be able to stay here as long as we want:)

Hip, Hip, Horray for Hippos!

So far this week has been strange because after taking Kailani to school, it's been just me and Zachy. I really enjoy walking Kailani to and from school. I wish I could be home to do it all of the time, or just work part-time around her school schedule. This break just makes me look forward to summer.
Today Zachary and I went to the zoo with the meetup group. The zoo has a mommy and me program once per month and our group always goes. Out of the past 3 years I've been part of the group, I think I've be able to go 3 times. I was excited to be able to go today. The topic today was hippos. We took a walk past the monkeys and the tigers to the hippo enclosure. All of the animals were very active. After watching the hippos, the kids got to listen to a story about hippos. Zachary had a good time with his little friends.

Rock Park

Since the time change, we've been trying to go for walks at night because it stays lighter longer. The kids really enjoy riding their bikes. Jaylynn recently learned to ride her bike without training wheels, so now Kailani doesn't want training wheels. Jason took them off the other day, and Kailani is having a hard time learning to ride without them. Tonight she decided to go with her scooter for the walk:)
We stopped at the "Rock Park" right by our house so the kids could play on the rocks for a few minutes. Here are a few pics.

Happy Easter

The kids were very excited for the Easter Bunny to come. They woke up bright and early to see what he had left for them. The Bunny hid eggs in one room for Kailani and in another room for Zachary. I think they enjoyed searching for eggs the most. Becky and the girls came over and we did a bigger egg hunt outside. It was a nice day. Too bad Kailani has to go back to school tomorrow.

Easter Eve

Today we celebrated Easter a little early with a party and egg hunt with the meetup group. The kids love egg hunts!

Butterfly Jungle

This afternoon we headed up to the Safari Park (formerly known as the Wild Animal Park) for their special Butterfly Jungle exhibit. Unfortunately, by the time we go there, they were out of tickets for specific viewing times. We had to wait until the last hour when it was open viewing. We fed the lorikeets and walked around for a while and went to see the butterflies at 5. Zachary and Kailani really wanted a butterfly to land on them, but we had no luck. They were all very pretty to look at.

Mother Daughter Tea

Today Kailani and I went to a Mother Daughter tea, provided by the Armed Services YMCA. The event was at a local senior living facility. There were tables set up for the girls to have their hair and make up done. They each got to pick a gift (gloves, hat, necklace, head band) as they entered. We sat down and they served us tea with real china. Kailani had never had tea this way before, so she opened up the tea bag to pour the tea in her hot water. She actually liked the tea. They also served us finger sandwiches and scones. The favorite item was definitely the chocolate covered strawberries. Each of the girls got a raffle ticket and they called numbers for prizes. Kailani's number was called and she got to pick a prize from the table. She was very excited about that.

Spring Break, Day 2

Today we met up with some of the ladies from the meetup group at Ikea. They have a good, cheap breakfast. We walked around for a while and then headed out. We packed a lunch and headed to the zoo. We hadn't been to the zoo in a while and the Easter Bunny was going to be there. It was such a nice day to be at the zoo. Zachary loved the giraffes. There were two babies.
Of course we had dinner at Chick-fil-A tonight:)

Spring Break, Day 1

For our first official day of spring break, we went bowling with the meetup group on base. It took about 2 hours for the kids to play one game, but they all had fun. Since Jason was working on base today, he came over to the bowling alley and met us for lunch.
The kids are definitely enjoying the longer days. Kailani is ready for her training wheels to come off. Maybe this week...

Spring Fling

Yesterday we went to a birthday party at the park. Zachary loved to play at the park even though it was a little chilly out. While we are always out and about, the kids don't usually get to just "play."
Today we headed to base for the annual spring fling. We've never gone before and I was actually a little nervous that it would be too crazy with people to have any fun. It took about 45 minutes to travel what would normally take 20 because of the wait to get on base. There were tables set up with crafts, information booths, food, an egg hunt, and a kids race. The kids had a great time and they were really well-behaved (which is rare lately). Afterwards, we headed up to Becky's house to spend a little time with the cousins. We are looking forward to officially starting our spring break tomorrow:)