Lola's pre'Birthday'

We went out for dinner for Lola's birthday. Then came home to open some presents and eat cupcakes. Lola loved blowing out the candles. She also loved the doll house accessories that her brothers gave her.

Vacation Bible School

The boys slept in while Lola and Momma went to church for the first day of Vacation Bible School. Lola had soo much fun hanging out with the big girls who loved helping her around. Here she is making a craft. She looks so grown up. Today's lesson was on obeying God.

Bubba Eric& Lola swimming

Lola convinced Bubba Eric to hop in the pool with her. She sure is going to miss her brothers when they go back to Denver.

Monterey Aquarium.

We made it to the Monterey aquarium after lunch on Sunday. Lola had so much fun showing the boys where the sharks and jellyfish were. Also the octopus was a big hit. It was so crowded though it was hard to enjoy the exhibits.  Before we piled back in the car we grabbed one last ice cream sundae!

LA pm

In the afternoon we went over to see the Chinese Mann Theater and Rodeo Drive. Also we went to the campus of USC where the boys went to the bookstore for some souvenirs.We also drove by the Universal studios. Before heading out of town we stopped by Aunt Betty's to get a kiss. Then we headed back up the coast.

LA am

The boys wanted to see all of the tourist spots that we could fit into one day. First we drove up the coast to see Malibu and try to catch a glimpse of some cool houses and cars!! We stopped at the Santa Monica pier after that to let Lola ride on the carousel. So then we went to Venice and saw the hippies and body builders at Muscle beach. Then we had some lunch at the Cheesecake factory.

Long Day in the Car.

We had a long day in the car Friday as we headed down to LA. We had to bribe Lola the whole day with "We'll go swimming when we get there." Which we did- but the pool was freezing. For dinner we met up with Aunt Betty & Jack for some Mexican. When we made it back to the hotel the boys headed down to Santa Monica to check out the boardwalk.

Road Trip

We headed down the coast after the surfing in the morning. We stopped for dinner at Monterey where we watched the sea otters swimming in the ocean below the restaurant. We spent the night at Carmel. After checking in we headed down to catch the sun setting in the ocean. There was the most beautiful beach at Carmel.

Surfing trial two

The boys had such a great time learning to surf that they wanted a second chance at it. We took them back over to Pacifica early Thursday to brave the cold water. They did so well for it being their second time. We are considering surf boards for Christmas:)

Six Flags & Shouka!

Lola was sooo excited to take her brothers to see Shouka at six flags. She showed them how much fun it is to ride in the zebra jeep. We found some seats in the shade to watch the Shouka show. Lola was very enthusiastic about cheering for her favorite whale.It was a scorching hot day so we didn't stay too long. The boys made it over to Tony Hawks big spin ride though.

The Stinking Rose

We ate at the Stinking Rose for dinner. It's a fun place to go out for something different and delicious. For those of you who are wondering 'what's the stinking rose?' ... Well, it's this restaurant downtown SF that specializes in garlic dishes. They use 1000 lbs of garlic each month. Everything we ordered was so tasty! After dinner we headed over to Ghiradelli for some ice cream sundaes which were also tasty.

Surfing Lessons

We had a 930 am apt. at Pacifica for Surfing Lessons. We found this great guy (Sonlight Surfshop) to give the boys a lesson. They both made it up! Lola enjoyed cheering for them. After lunch the boys headed over to Stanford to have a look around. For dinner we ate at the Stinking Rose which was a delicious treat of Garlic everything. Then for dessert we headed over to our favorite ice cream shop. The boys ended the day with watching a classic Austin Powers movie.

Bubba's come for some California fun!

The boys came to visit together! We are so excited to see them. We are all quite cozy in our cottage of apartment. When the boys arrived we gave them the grand tour. We headed up to see the Golden Gate Bridge. (And we detected a little hesitation in miss Lola over having to see the bridge AgAin) Then we went to see the Muir woods. After the woods we went to have some crab at the pier. We even managed to find the curviest part of Lombard to drive down. Later we even had Lola show Adam some of her tricks at the pool. The boys both slept great in our cool breezy pent house loft.

Lola jumps in the pool

We are so proud of our little fish. She jumps in the pool with no fear. Also she swims to the bottom of 3ft to pick up her seahorses! Here she is.... We love that she kicks her feet up.

Puppy sleep over

Our little buddy came to stay the night. Lola has been cheering him on as he uses his potty paper. Which in a strange way has made her a little bit excited about using her potty. Here he is waiting for her to finish with her bath.

Hot day at Six Flags

It was a scorching 97 at the six flags. We went with our friend from gym class. Lola was so excited she was listing all of the things she wanted to do when we made it there. She wanted to see Shouka (of course) swimming in the ocean, feed the seals fish and ride the zebra jeep and see tigers.. She listed all these things and a  couple more out of her own memory of the place. I was truly impressed. We did do those things and ride on the frog ride which she LOVES! It hops around in a circle. Later we were walking over to feed the seals and Lola ran into Shouka just walking around. She scrambled to get out of her buggie then she walked right over to him and smiled. She didn't want to hug him but she did shake his hand.

Houses for the Whales

One night while I was making dinner, Lola was playing with her blocks. Several minutes of her stacking the blocks she asks me for some help. I look over and she has stacked the blocks in twos and placed a whale on the top, except for one which is why she needed my help. I asked her what she needed and she told me whale house. I figured that this last whale would stay on top so I helped her balance it. She was so excited and proud I told her I would take a picture of it.

Popsicle

One of Lola's favorite treats is a cooold Popsicle. (She so cute when she asks for one too.) We had Winston over too one day to help clean up the drippings. Another interesting thing that happened on this particular afternoon happened while Lola was bathing. She bit her lip fooling around with this ocean rock she's been keeping in the tub. So she lets out this screaming cry. Winston, who was waiting patiently beside the tub, let out an equally loud sympathy howl that was so cute. You could tell he felt her pain.

Sunny Day at the Beach

It was a sunny day at the beach. And also a windy day! Lola lasted about two minutes before asking for her jacket. She covered her feet with sand about 50 times. She would say 'where's Lola's feet?' then spring them out from under the sand. The tide was down so it was the first time we saw the little tidepools. We didn't see any seastars but we did see a lot of other sea creatures including Seals that kept poking their heads out of the water to see who was playing on their beach. 

Hangin out

It's so fun to watch the kids move from playing beside each other to playing together. Lola and her friend played together while we had out last Bible study for the season. She even has started asking for them when she wants someone to play.

Napping w/ Winston

Lola's such a buddy to our little neighbor pup Winston. They are getting pretty good at tugowar. He is good at finding her favorite toys (Zebra & Whale) which she 'politely' reminds him that those are not his. Then she'll give him a monkey or rabbit to play with. Here he is waiting for her to wake up from her nap.

Excuse me 'What is this?'

Lola was the designated bib wearer when we took this picture to email to her bubba's who of course are jealous of her being able to eat fresh sea food. She is pretty open to trying new fish but the only one she really likes is fish sticks. 

Bike Rides

We go on a bike ride nearly everyday. Lola has begun to bring an animal every trip. Lately, it's been the zebra or Shouka the whale. Momma doesn't mind as along as they stay in their seat belt. We get to see lots of birds- ducks, geese and baby geese, hummingbirds- and squirrels and dogs and babies in buggies. And of course Lola's favorite is being able to see all the roses. She enjoys nature so much.

Sunday lunch at the park

Daddy was out of town today. We took our time getting around then went on a bike ride. After the bike ride we packed a lunch and headed to the park to play. We sure had fun kicking the soccer ball and popping bubbles. And of course we swung and said hello to the fish. 

Santa Cruz

We ventured down to Santa Cruz Friday afternoon. We strolled along the beach and Lola even went in the ocean for a bit. Then we found a ride she could go on at the boardwalk. She was thrilled to ride on a 'Shouka'  We even introduced her to funnel cakes. As we were leaving we had some dippin dots to eat- rookie mistake feeding toddler icecream before hour car ride! She was so wound up it was unbelievable. She was hollering and making crazy noises. We did have a fun afternoon before Daddy's trip.

Playdate W/ Winston

Winston came over for a playdate. Lola has certain toys that she lets Winston play with like the monkey- it's good for tug o war but the zebra is off limits. They get along pretty good for both being toddlers.

Boys come over to play

Lola's boyfriends from church came to play this week and we went swimming. The boys were happy to play with Lola's dolls and doll house. Lola also showed them how to use her vacuum.

Rose Garden @ the park

We have been waiting for the roses to bloom at the park and now they are in full bloom and they smell so wonderful. Lola enjoys playing on the big wooden playground that has a bridge and a super fast slide. She is also excited about racing Daddy in the big green field.