PRETTY FLY FOR A WHITE GUY

Five months already. Almost half a year. Is that possible?

Those cheeks...

He's almost sitting up

and taking real baths.

And then look what I found...



Stuck under the couch. Scootin' back.
(I left him laying up by the horse.)

This reminded me of someone else.

The same age, doing the same tricks.

And both with that hair--sticking straight up.

Except I think Luke has even more than she did.

Yikes. Boy hair scares me a little.

Five months already. How fun.

DEAR AUNT NATALIE,

It was a great day when something arrived in the mail just for me. A coupon for free candy!

I went to the store, picked it out and had a little something to say about it...

Thank you!

Love, Calli

THE INTERNET CONNECTION- SAN DIEGO PART V

Back to the beach with our friends long lost. Well not really, thanks to blogging. Catching up was no big deal. And after getting over the initial shock that their little girl ,whose name starts with A, wasn't a red-headed orphan, Calli had a great time with her new friend and her new friend's brother too. In fact, driving away that final morning, she was asking to go back and see her cousins. Maybe this trip was more confusing for her than we thought. Muchas gracias to the Blattmans for taking us in and showing us around. WE LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT.

SHAMU! SHAMU!-SAN DIEGO PART IV

"Hey Calli, do you see that three ton orca jumping high in the sky?"

"I'm sorry Mom, did you say something?"

"You know, that giant black and white thing right in front of you?"

I'm trying to concentrate.

"It's pretty amazing, huh?"

Really, I'm BUSY.



It appeared that she completely missed Shamu's performance thanks to being mesmerized by the trainers instead. Totally unresponsive to the splashes and tricks, but mimicking the hand motions right along with them. Maybe a football game would have sufficed. Later when she was heard saying, "Just believe", I had to laugh. Heaven help me. I hope she's not showing a future in motivational speaking.

A few of the highlights from our two days exploring "Sea WaWorld"...

Petting the bat rays

Bossing the sea lions

Relaxing in the Sesame Street Bay of Play

Riding Elmo's Flying Fish

SHE FINALLY SAW THEM-SAN DIEGO PART III

Unfortunately they were not found at our local zoo and for obvious reasons we didn't stumble upon any during our animal searches in Montana. So when we just couldn't make the circus happen, the "big zoo" became the place. Yes it was quite exciting, (Despite the picture... love it, so her) to finally see the "ELLIE-FONTS." Interesting how she says that just like these cute kids.







They were playing in the water, eating and drinking and who knows? Maybe they even heard a sweet little voice saying hi to them in the background.









We even got to dine outside with them in view. How cool is that?



The day started a little slower with some sleepy Australian friends, then turned spooky when we rounded a corner on the Big Cat Trail coming face to face with a black Jaguar. But nothing we saw scared our own little lion. (Could he get any cuter? He is such a happy baby.)



Mom showed her endurance pushing up the hill to find the zebras and Calli showed hers by declaring around nap time that she was ready for more. "Let's go see the giraffes!" Good choice. Seeing them so up close made us see how unique and different and important all of the things that have been created on this earth are.


Probably the most precious moment of the day was seeing the pandas. They really are a treasure. Beautiful and sweet. Secluded and quiet. Aah. What calm can be found.



But our favorite moment happened to be our last. Good thing we stuck it out. Those crazy gorillas were very entertaining. Fathers and sons wrestling, playing hide and seek, sliding like pro-skateboarders down the tree limbs. Baby Frank. Their playfulness reminded us how fun family life can be.


It was a big day for Mom too, doing the "big zoo" all by herself with two little ones in tow. Despite yucky heat and yucky noses, we came, we saw, we conquered. Blisters and all. We had fun. Mission accomplished.