It is true...

I am FINALLY updating the blog after months of ignoring.  There is so much to share!  It has been a fun filled, crazy summer.  Daniel got to spend a month of this summer with Grandma and Grandpa in California.  He had a fabulous time!  I, on the other hand, was lost without this kid.  I had all of these plans to organize, meet up with friends I haven't seen in a while, try out new recipes, excel at work, etc.  Yeah, I accomplished NONE of that.  But there was some self reflection which was needed!

I sometimes feel we forget to do that.  To truly take time to see ourselves, our mistakes, our need for growth, our value, our worth and our potential.  When we don't do this, are we missing out on opportunities?  Are our actions affecting others for the good? or the bad?  Hmmm...things to think about I guess.  Enough of that, here are some pictures from my trip out to pick up Daniel after his month with the folks.

San Diego 2012

What a lovely trip!  Daniel and I got to visit my folks in California over Spring Break!  It was so nice to get away and just enjoy ourselves.  Here is our trip in a nutshell...

It starting on our way down, but not to worry...

It cleared up soon!

We celebrated Easter with Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandma and I visited the Vista Farmer's Market!  YUM!!

She made a delicious Strawberry Shortcake with the strawberries we bought.

Then we had a wonderful day at the Oceanside Beach...

 Another day was spent at Wholdford Lake with Grandpa!

 Another day with Grandma at the USS Midway Museum and Old Town.

A trip to The Yellow Deli and a cute little coffee shop.

Then home...

Potato Bowl Fun

Now, when I heard we were going to be heading to Boise to watch my brother play in a bowl game I remember being excited for a little vacation and being excited to see Naki play.  However, I do remember thinking, "Boise...how much fun can that little city really be?"  Well, surprise, surprise...it IS a fun little city.  Although we sadly did not win against Ohio, we had a blast.  Here are some iPhone pics from our trip...because, YES, I forgot to bring batteries for my camera.

Haha, one of my managers made this Prep Kit for me.  Those are real Idaho potatoes.  HAHA!

We got to watch both of the teams warm up, which was real interesting.  Also, how GREAT were our seats.

Funnies from Bear Lake

I honestly could't remember the last time I laughed so hard.  You know that laugh that leaves you breathless, where you lose all control and let loose the loudest, craziest laugh!  That is what my trip to Bear Lake was.  I laughed so much and so hard it was exactly the release I needed.

Things I won't forget:

LAWTON'S SNORING

PAPCORN

John and Lo's Photo Shoot

The INFAMOUS Volleyball Tourney

SCATTERGORIES

NE-YO!!

And this...

I had come back to the beach, from getting lunch to find Daniel doing the following...

1 - Seagulls...

2 - A pile of crushed Doritos...

3 - Daniel hiding behind a beach chair with a loaded water gun...haha!  Everytime the seagulls got too close, he would pop out and shoot them with the water gun.

San Diego: Final Post

What more can I say other than we had a GREAT time.  I am so thankful for the time we had.  I'm glad I got to spend so much one-on-one time with my little mister!  I loved getting to see my mom in her element and I'm so happy for her.  Anyways, it was so much fun that we are going back for the Thanksgiving break!  :)

(The view from my Mom's office window!)

(Our contribution to Mom's apartment were photo frames.)

(Pictures for the frames to come.)

(Lovely!)

San Diego: Sea World

Our first day in San Deigo we went to Sea World.  Man, what a place.  Honestly we had SO much fun!  Well, other than the greedy monster, which I will explain a little later.  Anyways, what a GREAT place.  :)

We fed the Sea Lions:

(Do you see the bird flying towards Daniel?  It totally got the fish before Daniel was able to feed it to the sea lion.  Wa-wa!)

(These sneaky guys had fish stealing down to a science!)

We saw Sharks:

We went to the Artic, which you got to go through a motion ride (pretend helicopter ride to the Artic).  It made me SICK and was the highlight of Daniel's trip.  :):

(I don't know why, but I would get gossebumps and a tear in my eye everytime I saw a whale or dolphin.  They are so beautiful.)

We got to pet Sting Rays:

We fed the Flamingos:

We played:

We got wet:

We also saw, but didn't get pictures of: dolphins, penguins (so cute!), and Shamu.  I also saw a little greedy monster come out of my son everytime we left an exhibit.  Each exhibit has a gift shop as you walk out and every gift shop that we saw, Daniel began to whine, cry, BEG for a toy.  It about drove me NUTS!!  Honestly, they position the toys right at the kids line of sight and of course, he had to have it.  By the sixth exhibit I had to pull him aside and give him a STERN talking to.  "Sea World is our adventure!  It is our treat, being here is the treat!  You don't need more toys, toys that you'll leave on your floor!"  He didn't ask for about two exhibits and by the time we left the penguins he was in full on tears!  By that time I was tired of fighting with him and I caved!!!!  I'm so weak!!!!  But after he got the toy, he didn't ask again and we were able to enjoy the rest of the adventure.  Lesson learned...hmmm...I'm still trying to figure that one out.