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We thank you for taking the time to visit our blog.

My husband and I are a young, growing, Christian, military family. My husband is a Captain in The United States Marine Corps. I am a former Elementary school teacher. We are first time parents to a beautiful little two year old boy, with twin boys on the way! I am a stay at home Marine wife, who loves to bake, cook, sew and craft! I enjoy being a Domestic Engineer. The purpose of this blog is to document the story of our life and adventures as they take place.


We are honored to be serving our country and ask for prayer in our upcoming adventures. We have been blessed tremendously, and thank God everyday for all he has given us!

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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Back To Blogging . . .



Hello my dear readers! I'm back!! Thank you for all of your e-mails and sweet comments. I love you all and appreciate your thoughts. I am flattered that you enjoy my blog and hope and pray that anything
/something I discuss will stir interest, questions or inspiration. Above all else, I hope that you know I pray for each of you and ask for your prayers as well!

 I feel rested and relaxed after a much needed mini-vacation with my hubby and little one. Rich had been away from us for about a month for work and when he returned, we decided to spend a few days in San Diego taking in the sights. We had a ball enjoying each other's company and just spending time as a family of three. No cell phones, no Internet, no Facebook or Twitter .  .  . just family time!


But, before I begin to share with you all about our past week, I want to say Happy Birthday to the beloved Julia Child!! Today, ( well, it is actually now a little past midnight), but August 15th would have been Julia's 100th Birthday! I love Julia Child. Not only was Julia a fabulous cook, she was also a fellow Pasadena Junior Leaguer! :)
I have been and always will be a big fan! Bon Appetit Mrs. Child!
Here I am visiting the Julia Child exhibit at The Smithsonian in Washington D.C a few years ago.
Above is a picture of me holding the Boeuf Bourguignon I made for a Julia Child party I hosted in Florida. :)


Okay, now back to my story . . .
While on our mini-vaca, we paid a visit to the world famous San Diego Zoo. This was Robert's first time EVER going to a zoo and it was my first time visiting The San Diego Zoo.
For those of you readers who aren't familiar with the San Diego Zoo, let me tell you it is MASSIVE in size! One could literally wander around the zoo for days and still not have seen all there is to see and experience! Here is a little history blurb for you; This zoo is located in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. The San Diego Zoo is know for housing over 4,000 animals of more than 800 species. It is also one of the few zoos in the world that houses the giant panda.

The San Diego Zoo grew out of exotic animal exhibitions abandoned after the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Dr. Harry M. Wegeforth founded the Zoological Society of San Diego, meeting October 2, 1916, which initially followed precedents set by the New York Zoological Society at the Bronx Zoo. He served as president of the society until 1941. A permanent tract of land in Balboa Park was set aside in August 1921, and the zoo began to move in the following year.

During our visit, we decided to hit all of the main attractions and focus our time in viewing the animals that Robbie is most familiar with. We made sure we visited the Monkeys, Lions/Tigers, Bears and of course the Elephants. These are all animals in which Robbie is familiar enough
 with that he knows their names and can make their sounds.


 At first, Robbie was amused by the monkeys. He studied each animal and then started to make the sounds that each animal makes.
Looking at the Monkeys with Daddy!


Quite happy after seeing the Lions! We always ask Robbie; "What does a Lion say?" he proudly answers back; "Roar" as he holds his little hands up and makes a Lion pose.
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First time riding on Daddy's shoulders!
One tired little guy at the end of a pleasant day at the zoo!
Two happy and tired parents at the end of a pleasant day at the zoo!


Off to Dinner!!!


 After a long and fun filled day at the zoo, we happily went back to our hotel and got washed-up to meet our dear friends The Adams' ( who happened to be down in San Diego for the weekend) for a night on the town in the Gaslamp District of Downtown San Diego!

The historic Gaslamp District in downtown San Diego, California is one of San Diego’s more colorful districts. It was founded in the late 1800’s and featured more of the seedy side of a port of call. Gambling halls, brothels, and opium dens were quite common and frequented by the likes of gamblers like Wyatt Earp, “in port” sailors from around the globe, and Chinese railroad workers.

Back in 1976, The Redevelopment Agency started to revamp the once hustling neighborhood that had been in decline since the 1920’s. Today, the Gaslamp’s historic buildings and distinct architecture provide an elegant backdrop for what has become one of the places in San Diego in which to enjoy the nightlife. The Gaslamp packs over 70 bars, clubs, shops, restaurants, galleries, and movie theatres.

We met our friends Richard, Amanda and their adorable little girl, Paige at a fun and swanky Japanese Sushi restaurant called Taka!

  Robbie and Paige shared a bowl of Miso soup with extra Tofu, of course!  

We then ended our San Diego getaway with a beautiful Lunch in La Jolla before returning home! I couldn't have asked for a better week!

This week, Rich is conducting more training. I drove up to my home town  yesterday and am enjoying a fun stay with my parents.

A few weeks ago, my friend Amanda and her little girl Paige had a play date with Robbie and me. Amanda had us over for Popsicles after the park. While at their home, I noticed the most adorable little chart on their refrigerator. It was a rules chart with happy face stickers next to each task or rule performed! I began to ask Amanda about the chart and she shared with me how much Paige enjoyed participating with it!

I was thrilled, the teacher in me couldn't wait to get home and get started on a rules and reward chart for Robbie!

Here is what we came up with!

 One of Robbie's chores is to put his shoes away when we first get home. He loves doing this and squeals with delight when he is given the chance to choose a sticker to place on the sticker chart after completing this task.
Here he is gathering his shoes.

 After he placed his shoes in their proper spot he is given the chance to choose a happy face sticker! This is quite a BIG deal!

 Sometimes choosing the PERFECT sticker is a big task for my little man!
 Once he chooses his sticker we place it on the chart under the right task! I love doing this together with him!


 I am so happy to see him take pride in a job well done!

 Thank you Amanda and Paige for a great idea!

Since I am playing catch-up because I have not blogged in more than a week, I must share that we had some exciting garden news this week!


We had our first harvest of tomatoes from our garden!!

 Robbie loved picking them from the plant.

 We then washed the tomatoes and cut them up .  .  .

and enjoyed them in a yummy salad!!!
Nothing like growing your own vegetables!!

This morning, my parents and I took Robbie to feed the ducks down by the lake! This is always a treat for all of us. :)
Here are a few pictures from today's outing .  .  .

Robbie and Gompa in a hurry to get down to the lake so they could feed the ducks!
At first, there were only just a few ducks. After throwing a few pieces of bread in the lake, quite a few of them surfaced.
Along with this little group; came a little odd ball limpy duck. He could barely walk. His stamina to come up to us was so very brave. He personified the story about the little duckling. This duck really touched my heart and blessed my day. My mom wanted to bring him home; I told her that was stealing. Besides little speckles was well accepted in his little group, He kept falling and slipping and had quite a bit of trouble walking out of the water, but nothing stopped him. I thought about the scripture in the Bible where God even keeps His eye on the sparrow. I thank God, and I trust Him to take care of our little, different friend who made our day!
I named him, Limpy Speckles the miracle!
Gi Gi and Robbie fed speckles 5 pieces of bread!!!!!
So much fun. Limpy was pathetically perfect to Robbie!
Naturally, my dad just had to shake things up, as usual!
"5 to 12 years OLD," DAD!
There was this HUGE, twisted slide...
...My dad and I went down it several times...
...I loved the thrill!...

...EVEN, baby Robbie went down it with "Gompa"...
...We DARED "Gi Gi" to slide down, and she refused 5 times, saying she was too old, too fat, too scared, afraid of heights etc...
I told her if she loved her grandson she would do it for him.
Well, Gi Gi did it!!!!!
We heard screaming and screetching, and oh! how it echoed as she came down.
Sorry!  Gompa, Robbie, and I have decided to spare you the picture!!! LOL!!!
I miss my man. Please pray for him! I can't wait to entertain him by telling him about Robbie's adventures.
Have a blessed and wonderful rest of the week. Each day is a gift!

3 comments:

letty said...

Awww I missed your post <3 I'm glad you're back and that you had such a great week with your beautiful family :) I love,love,love the San Diego Zoo and you are so right it is ginormous...lol. I always pray for you and your family, I hope you guys will be reunited soon God bless

Summer said...

Aww I love these pictures! It looks like you've had a great time!! Love you guys!!

Unknown said...

So glad that you had so much fun! :)

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