Happy Birthday, Dad!

Dear Dad,

Feels like we just celebrated your "sweet 16" yesterday! Remember the ice cream cake in my dining room last February? Well, even though it's not another leap year, we're still sending you lots of birthday love today from sunny California to snowy New Hampshire. Happy 65th (or 16th and a quarter...?). Enjoy the corny video we made last night!

With all my love,
Krista

SeaWorld

Yesterday, while Jesse, Jim, and Tillie took a little vacation day of their own up in Los Angeles (for a taping of The Price is Right!), the boys and I went to SeaWorld. It's less than 2 miles from our door, so it's not like we needed to squeeze every last drop out of the excursion, yet we managed to stay for 7 hours. The weather was perfect—60s and sunny (shocking, I know)—and we had such a wonderful, happy time together.

I'm going to try to link up a slideshow of photos from the day.

If the slideshow doesn't show up in the post itself, you could try going directly to the album by clicking HERE.

Cabrillo

At the tip of Point Loma—all of 5 minutes from the entrance to campus—is the Cabrillo National Monument. With a reconstruction of the original old lighthouse...a beautiful monument...great surf and tidepools...and views across the bay to San Diego on one side and out across the wide ocean on the other...well, it was pretty lovely. We spent several hours there last Saturday.

 (Learning about the sad legacy of whaling; that's a real harpoon.)

On the ocean

What a great day! Jesse and I took a vacation day today, and our little family headed out for a whale watching, picnic lunching, yacht sailing extravaganza. We went out on the America, a replica of the famous (and gorgeous) original "America" for which the America's Cup race is named. (Here's a great history of the vessel and first race, which took place around the Isle of Wight. Worth the read.) She's a beautiful piece of craftsmanship....all wood (not one speck of fiberglass)...139' long with a main sail of 105'. It was such a treat to be aboard! There were no seats really, and the side walls were barely 5 inches tall most of the way around; it was a real deal racing yacht first built over 160 years ago—so yes, we kept William within arms reach the entire 4 hours. We got to help hoist the sails, and the boys (along with the one other small child onboard) raised the flag up the mast. The fact that we got so see whales once we were out at sea was just icing on the cake.

Plugging ears for the horn blast as we pushed out of dock. 

Jesse helping raise one of the sails (I helped on another line). 

The boys raising the flag all the way up 100 feet!

One major modification from the original: the current America has an engine as well as sails. We motored most of the way out (what we're doing here), but the engines were silenced for most of the sail back home. It was so quiet.

An hour or so in, a crew member headed up to serve as lookout for spouts. He spotted one almost immediately, about a mile off. We headed that way and soon were rewarded with several sightings of gray whales.

It was pretty chilly out on the open water, but we wore layers and enjoyed a cozy blanket the crew provided for the boys. The crew also handed around lots of snacks and drinks, and hot chocolate too, supplementing our picnic lunch very nicely indeed. Definitely an awesome day!

The Zoo

We have passes to the San Diego Zoo and have enjoyed a few visits so far — and Jim and Tillie have brought the boys several additional times. It's huge, beautiful, and with seemingly endless great creatures and exhibits to see. The boys' favorite spot is definitely the reptile house.

 

 

On our way out last time, we encountered this feathered friend outside the main gates having a serious showdown with his reflection in the side of a Coke machine!

Toothless

Another tooth lost, so all four from the middle (top two and bottom two) are now gone. Fortunately, as you can see, one of the bottom adult teeth is starting to come in so that he's not totally unable to bite into things!

Bottom line...

A year ago William showed some early interest in the using the toilet, but his curiosity quickly was replaced by a deep and encompassing disdain for all things potty. Two favorite exchanges on the topic:

1) One morning last summer, I asked William (as I often did) if perhaps that morning he'd like to wear his underpants instead of a diaper. With clenched baby teeth, tense reddening face, and veins somehow actually quivering from his chubby little boy neck, he bellowed out in staccato, "I - NO - YIKE - BIG BOY PANTS!!!"  It was clear at that point that he felt somewhat passionate about the topic.

2) Just a month or two ago, Josiah and I were asking William when he might be ready to wear big boy pants. "Maybe when you're 4?" asked Josiah. "No," William replied. "Maybe 5?" "No." Getting exasperated, Josiah said, "Well William, what about when you're a grown up man, like Daddy?" The reply: "I wear a big big diaper when I'm a Daddy. NO big boy pants."  Case closed.

Well, in a happy turn of events (that required a somewhat unbecoming mixture of coercion and bribery on my part, I'll admit), last weekend William agreed to don the despised big boy pants. Ellie the elephant and Daddy-Q (yes, that's the turtle's name) were decked out in solidarity...and had to be run to the toilet several times lest they wee on the couch or carpet! Daddy-Q's undies provided full-shell coverage, as you can see.

Anyway, the week has involved ups and downs, but we're pleased with the progress.

Regular life...

Jesse was back in Lancaster a week ago. Somehow I managed to skip "blogging for Daddy" as we usually do when he travels. We missed him lots...but on the other hand we weren't too put out at having to stay here while he went home to the cold! A few snapshots from our week:

Josiah's been doing some readin', writin', and 'rithmetic at home most days since we opted not to enroll him in kindergarten for the spring. 

 Mama Caz and Pop Pop are our everyday heroes!

(We have a tiny balcony/deck spot off the family room, where they're sitting here.)

SeaWorld!!!! I had never been to a SeaWorld before. All I can say is...wow. I'm pretty sure I love going there more than the boys. Seeing as it's 5 minutes from the condo, we're getting plenty of mileage out of our passes.

Josiah did a Wednesday night program at church through January that culminated in a mini-musical. He was a great member of the choir. It was fun to be a parent in the audience of a kids' production — I hadn't had that experience yet. :)

Tillie gave Josiah a little weaving set for Christmas. He's working on making a coin pouch, and it warms my domestic little heart no end. (The fine motor practice isn't hurting his rough penmanship either, so win-win!)

Hooray for the condo pool! We've been in even on cool (50s and 60s) days since the water is warmed. Such a treat.  

And there you have it, a "normal" week for us these days. I still have to pinch myself regularly to believe that this is, indeed, our life. We're enjoying every minute while it lasts.   :)