School is out for the summer!!

I already feel more relaxed and calm!  Although I'll technically be working all next week, the kids are gone and that makes everything so much easier.  I can actually get my stuff done for 8 hours instead of juggling teaching and the eight hours of administrative work that needs to be done.

I know that I've totally neglected the blog and if you're not a Instagram or Facebook friend you've seen nothing for months.  I promise to get you up to date with all the pictures I've been taking!

SLO Children's Museum

 After a day of adult sight-seeing and hand holding, Andrew has a blast at the SLO Children's Museum.  The museum itself is a three story building and each level is designed for different areas of interest.  The top story was my personal favorite.  The Jelly Bean Junction is specifically designed for four and under and all focused on trains.  The best part was that other than the elevator that took you in and out, there was no way to leave the section.  Escaping the play area is the hardest part of the other Children's Museums we've been too.

 There was a giant train to climb into and push buttons, which of course was Andrew's favorite.  This xylophone was on the front.  It made a lot of noise!

 The train table set up was nearly the size of my living room, with pop in holes throughout so that the kids could sit in the center.  Andrew enjoyed breaking the tracks apart and shoving all the trains into the train station.

 In the book reading part of the train station these windows looked down upon the other two levels and the outside portion of the museum.  Clearly, Andrew does not have a fear of heights.

 Down on the second floor, we played with the Firetruck and police cars.

 This climbing tower was pretty neat.  Andrew loved figuring out how to get taller and taller and mommy didn't have to worry about falling because it was totally caged in!

 He found the musical stage pretty quickly.  These drums and bongos got a lot of use between the four times he came back to them.

 Another, much larger, xylophone!

 Um, although Mommy really wanted to ride the horse, Andrew thought that it was horrible (that is not a laugh, that is a scream!).

 The police motorcycle was huge, but it didn't stop Andrew from climbing up to ride it himself.

Outside was several water toys, including a canal to build bridges and dams to stop the water flow.  We spent a tiny bit of time out there, but for the benefit of not becoming totally soaking wet, we weren't there very long. The first floor wasn't directed at Andrew's age so we just passed through.

All-in-all, this museum was a hit and totally worth of $6 per person.  I'm sure when we're in Arroyo Grande for Christmas with the Bennetts we'll make our way here again with the other great-grandkids :)

Tourist Day-Ayala, Pismo, San Luis Obispo

 On one of our days at Great Grandma's we went off on an all day adventure.  We started at Ayala Beach to see the sea lions and walk around the drive on pear.  Andrew was very, very excited about the sea lions!

 The coolest part of this location is that the sea lions and people are totally "free" to interact.  The gate above isn't locked and anyone can do down the stairs to where they are laying.  Dave is the only one in our family who attempted to get close, but came back immediately when they started barking at him!

 After the pier, we went to "The Farm" per Grandma's recommendation.  It was very cool!  The rooster roaming around immediately caught Andrew's attention.

 The goats were a bit scary at the beginning, that is until Andrew saw a cat and took off after it.

When it came to feeding the animals, Andrew was initially quite scared.  He quivered and said, "no" in his firm voice, yet he still tried to pick up the food and give it to the animals.  He would sort of hold it out about a foot away from their mouth and drop it.  The billy goats were pretty aggressive and scared him more.

 The lamas were nice and calm and he actually fed thim over and over again.  This one ended up getting pretty much our entire bag of food ($0.25).  As you can see from the below picture, Andrew was very serious as the food changed hands/mouth, but he loved that the lama ate it.

 The baby cows were adorable.  Andrew was sort of mooing at them.

 While we polished off an entire Fresh Apple pie, Andrew watched the horse rides with his noes and forehead pushed against the glass.

 After "The Farm" we made a stop at the Madonna Inn while Andrew slept and Grandpa read his book.

 We ate lunch at a great BBQ place and split up for the afternoon.  Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Melissa went back to Great Grandma's house and we headed to the San Luis Obispo's Children's Museum.

 

Visiting Great Grandma Ruth

 The weekend before Andrew and I went back to school we drove to Arroyo Grande to visit Great Grandma Ruth (my dad's mom). We left in the middle of the day on Thursday, August 16th and Andrew slept the first 2.5 hours of the drive.  With Melissa and the iPad in the back seat with him, the rest of the drive was smooth.  Grandma bought a new condo in AG (leaving Bakersfield) and it was our first time there.

 Grandma loved hanging out with Andrew!

Andrew loved all the attention from everyone and especially loved that Great Grandma had stairs to climb up and down!

 

Here is a video of Andrew and GG playing with a frog that Daddy caught outside and brought inside

More posts to come with our other vacation days

 

From fear to joy

The sequence of these photos is about 30 seconds and was so fun to be apart of during our recent weekend trip to Great Grandma Bennett in Grover Beach.  More to come from the trip I promise (just got to get into the grove of teaching again).

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland again today!  We knew it was going to be packed and really, really hot so we left early (6:15 am) to get there before it opened.  It was reminiscent of winter when we were able to pull right into the parking garage, not wait to pay, get to park really close to the escalator, jump onto the tram without a wait, and walk right into the part without standing in much of a line!  They open Main Street at 7:30 am, even though the park doesn't open until 8 am, so we were able to walk down Main Street calmly, put on sunscreen, finish breakfast without any crowds.  It was already 80 degrees and I'd already started sweating!

We started on Dumbo (no wait at 8:05 am!).  Andrew was in deep concentration the entire time; I'm assuming he's trying to figure out what is going on with the giant elephants, water, and movement all around him.  He did make the elephant noise and raise his arm several times before we got onto the ride.

 Next we headed over to It's a Small World for a no-wait ride (seriously, this was lovely at 8:15).  Andrew immediately loved it and started dancing to the music.  He pointed a lot during the ride, danced some, and said "woahh" over and over again. 

 We rode on Casey Jr's Circus Train around Storybook Land after Small World.  Andrew actually giggled on this one--he's getting more "adjusted" to moving and looking at cool things.  He waved bye-bye to the boats when they passed.

 No explanation needed, but please look at the lady in purple in the bottom picture (bottom left corner)--she gasped when I let go of Andrew.  If she only knew...  We went on the carousal afterwards--our big boy didn't even need me to hold on to him!  He enjoyed the horsey and actually protested when we came off. 

 We headed over to California Adventure for the Character Meet n' Greet that we get for free with our Disney Credit Card. They have a new Mad Hatter set up with these cool plastic chairs. It was in the shade, so Daddy and Andrew played while we waited our turn to meet Minnie Mouse.

Meeting Minnie Mouse in this setting was pretty neat.  Andrew had time to warm up to her and the cast member had our camera and took a bunch of photos (so nice!).  He gave her a bump, giggled, and laughed with her even though he was still kind of scared of her.

 After Minnie, we rode Monster's Inc.  I'm not sure what Andrew thought of it initially (he was very, very quiet), but in the middle of the ride, he literally climbed over the taxi rail to move from Melissa to mommy and held on for dear life--I'm assuming he didn't care for it.

 Our last main stop was the Disney Junior Live show.  Andrew ate his banana before the show started.  I had no idea how he'd do with the 35 minutes long show, but he loved it.  They did a good job breaking it up with bubbles, treasure coins, and streamers all coming from the sky, along with several "dance with me" moments.  In the picture below, Andrew (Mickey eats) being very into the Hanny Manny segment of the show. 

After the show, Andrew fell asleep in his stroller and we ate lunch. 

We picked up our free 5x7 from the Meet n' Greet and headed home.  We were in the car by 1 pm (it was 101 degrees outside) and home before 2. 

Daddy and Aunt Melissa are napping right now and

Andrew is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I sit next to him and do this!

Pretend City

 Tawni and I took the boys to Pretend City in Irvine on Thursday (7/26).  Like the museum in Portland, this is a "please touch" place where they travel through a full city including the grocery store, bank, farm, house, theatre, beach, fire station, ocean front, Daphes' Cafe, dentist, doctors, library and an art studio.  All three of the boys LOVED it!  Tawni did a great write-up of it on her blog with details about each area--check it out!

 entrance with the "Reese" dog statue

 the grocery store

 weighing the produce was a big deal!

 The farm was Andrew's favorite (we went back several times). There were oranges and apples to pick off the trees and strawberries to pick out of the vines.  Lettuce grew out of the ground and the dirt bed had carrots and potatoes to "dig" up!

 I should have taken the big camera, but the constant blur of Andrew shows how much he moved.

 Sam with his pickings!

 In the construction zone with his safety jacket and Craftsman hat!

 Fire station!

 Beach (Andrew enjoyed climbing and and out of each car)!

 Gas Station Jeep (Andrew is trying to push Nate out of the drivers seat so he can drive, poor Nate).

 Daphes' Greek Cafe Kitchen

 Andrew was just a bit too short!

 The Library was a hit for Nate and Andrew.  They loved looking at the books and playing with the computer.

 He found the puzzle in the reading room of the library!

 The marina was, of course, a favorite. 

They had these adorable rain slickers to prevent the kids from getting soaked (didn't work for Andrew).

 fishing (really using the fishing pool as a tool to fling water all over the people behind us)

 trying really, really hard to be tall enough to reach the big kid area

 

 I caught a crab!

 Next up was the Dentist office and Doctor's office.  Andrew immediately found a tooth brush and knew what to do with it!

After the doctors, Andrew changed clothes and we ate our packed lunch (thanks Tawni!) at the "Real Cafe."  Free time was next--Andrew went straight back to the farm.

 After awhile, he wandered over to the theater.  It doesn't surprise me, but give my son a stage, some hip hop music, an instrument and an audience and he'll entertain himself (and others) for ever.  He danced with several older girl, tried on a princess costume or two and made a lot of noise with his drums and mariachi for well over thirty minutes (Sam and Nate played in the water).

All in all, this is a wonderful place to go.  If we lived closer I would totally buy a yearly membership!