San Diego - Sea World

We were totally hooked up with a backstage tour of Sea World, thanks to a wildlife conservation board that Errol sits on. One of the founders works as Sea World, and is pretty high up there. Not only did we all get in free (saving a collective $400 or so) but Julie took us back and we got to meet animals that most don't get to. The most memorable was getting to go inside the penguin exhibit - as in we were inches away from the penguins! Milo was hanging on to a rail and we kept having to pull his little hands back so one persistent penguin didn't mistake his fingers for fish!

 Elsa petting a hedgehog

 Milo feeding a llama.

 An enormous beaver that was orphaned after the rest of his family was in a bear attack in Canada. Apparently Sea World takes in animals of all kind.

 Elsa and Carter intently watching the Shamu performance.

 Milo petting a sloth..A SLOTH!!

 Elsa petting a flamingo.

 This is taken from inside the penguin exhibit. 

 Shamu. We also were able to see a baby Shamu who was only 1 month old and was swimming around the tank nursing on his mom.

Milo and the flamingo - he loved it! They are super duper soft feathers.

San Diego - The Beach

We made two visits to Coronado Beach while in San Diego. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm, but the water was cold. It didn't stop Elsa from splashing around in it, and after a little coaxing even Milo dipped his toes in. He had much more fun playing in the sand, though.

San Diego Part 1

We had an amazing trip to San Diego to visit our friends Kevin, Liz and Gabe as well as The Gladding's. The kids did great on the 5 hour flight there, and immediately bonded with Gabe who might just be the sweetest baby on the planet. Elsa and Carter were "ridiculous", just ask them, they ran around Sea World chanting this! It actually rained (and sleeted) the first few days we were there which gave us a chance to catch up and snuggle the babes. We went to the Zoo's Safari Park and it was pretty awesome - lots of cool animals (gorillas for Elsa) and a really fun Safari ride. Here are a few pics of the first few days.

 Elsa eating Uncle Kevins awesome pancakes.

 We had a hard time getting Milo into the Zoo - he was very enthralled with the map outside!

 We even spotted a movie star!

 The whole gang, minus Errol.

 Milo admiring the animals.

 Kevin and Gabe

 Milo and mommy on the Safari ride. Either roaring like a lion, or yawning because it was well past his naptime!

Kiddo catch up

Elsa and one of her favorite "loveys" Baby Mono. She got this monkey on our way to Mexico just before she was turing one and has proven to be a faithful companion to her ever since. Her other loves are Dolly and Moo (a pink cow).

 Milo with Snuggy and Elsa with Mono. Our kids really seem to love stuffed animals.

 Elsa has started reading to Milo and he loves it. Although they can argue over who gets to hold the book...and Milo almost always wins...very telling of his personality!

Elsa also really enjoys helping Milo with this he hasn't perfected just yet. In this instance, we asked her to help him with his snack since we didnt' have time to give him a bath before heading out of the house. He was eating yogurt, and while he can do it himself, its an insanely messy experience.

Freckles

Miss Elsa at the playground on a super chilly Saturday. The freckles are even more adorable in person!

Milo and the movie

Milo helped return a movie to the store, and Errol snapped this very telling picture of him. We are in for a lifetime of laughter with this little man.

Milo and Jack

This is Milo and his buddy Jack. They are becoming fast friends and we adore little Jack and his sweet sweet ways!

Winter (?) in Maryland

This is winter in Maryland this year. Lame. We got this dusting of snow and the whole city freaked out and shut down. Silliness. The kids loved it, there was just enough for Elsa to shovel, and enough for Milo to get to experience snow for the first time. It was fun while it lasted, this week we have had rain and the temperature fluctuated between 20-70. Seriously!

Learning to Write

Elsa has been struggling with letters and numbers...pretty much forever..but she is starting to really get into it and this is her first attempt at her name. I'm impressed...and totally love the upside down "l". I also can't believe how good her "s" is. She is super proud, and so are we!

The Peace Ball

We went to the Peace Ball with our good friend Kristie. We are also calling it, Adult Prom. We had a great time and as luck should have it our good friends, Dale and Liz, also attended. The event was hosted by Busboys and Poets and was help at Arena Stage. There were good speakers (too many though), some stellar W. African music and lots of dancing and drinks. We were up later than we've been in about 4 years but it was worth it!