Day 6 California Trip

The boys mapping out what animals to see first.
The koala's were one of the first animals on the list.
This is one of my favorite pics.
Checking out the Zebra's and counting the stripes.
Brian's artistic taste of a flamingo and her gorgeous feathers.
Mr. Rhino
A family of meerkats
Sally the camel has 2 humps...for all you "Barney & Friends" fans.
The Zoo had a handful of these amazing elephants.
Sir lion taking a nap.
Mr. Bear enjoying his very own waterfall.
Monkey Joe and Monkey Tom


Snack time at the Zoo.
Snack time....I like that idea!
SHHHHHH....panda bears
"How many more animals are there?"
If you look close..you can see the BABY HIPPO!
Here is momma hippo and her "uggally" teeth
j-dog and t-bone
Pretty toucan
Talking parakeet who also sings "Old McDonald had a Farm."
Sunset driving up to Manhattan Beach
A group shot at Ben and Amy's place.

Wednesday January 26^th, 2001

We woke up to another beautiful sunny day, ready to explore the San Diego Zoo. It was also a great morning because I enjoyed a Starbucks carmel latte! We had are van packed and we were off….once we arrived, we were extremely happy that the parking was FREE!

Upon entering the gate, the man that took our ticket gave us a map of the zoo. Joe took the map held it up excitedly and then hit some other man’s leg to try and get his attention (thinking that it was Brian) and when he realized it wasn’t…he felt quite bad. To Brian and I it was quite amusing….another lesson the importance of staying by mom and dad.

The park is SO MONTERSOUS in size! It doesn't even compare to the other zoos’ we have been too.

Some animals we saw-birds, monkeys, lions, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, snakes, a black panther---scary looking, cute panda bears, and a mamma hippo and her new baby hippo that had been born at 11:30am that day. The boys will tell you that the momma hippo had toilet paper coming out of her butt, but it was really the afterbirth! Gross, I know.

After lunch we went on a double decker bus, which the boy thought was really cool to see a tour of the zoo. If you go on the tour someday, here is a pointer…sit on the left side otherwise you hardly see any animals.

Included in our admission, we got to take a Gondola Ride that went over the tops of all the animals in the park…..very cool. It is when you are on this ride that you really begin to marvel at the monstrosity of this zoo! Amazing!

The boys were getting tired around 4pm, so it was back in the van to head north to Manhattan beach to meet or friends Ben and Amy for dinner. It took us about a little over 2.5 hours to get there in CA rush hour….thank goodness the for carpool lane otherwise it would have been a lot longer!

When we arrived at Ben and Amy’s, we weren’t quite sure how to park the van in the driveway seeing as all the driveways are about 4 feet in length…tops. Brian solved the problem by parking the van sideways….whatever works right?

All the houses are built in the hills right on top of each other with very narrow lots. Now that is what you call a tight nit neighborhood! Ha! Ben and Amy showed us around their humble abode and then we proceeded to have cocktail hour while the boys played with legos!

We headed out for dinner around 9pm….which the boys would tell you is after their bedtime..but since they had a good nap in the car, we knew they would be good. They boys really got their fill of mac n’ cheese this trip….we’re on vacation!

After dinner, we headed back to Ben and Amy’s for quick potty break and change into pajamas. Then we were off to Aneheim to Disneyland Drive.

Thanks Ben and Amy we REALLY had a GREAT time!!

What a bum(mer)! My Baby Got Back!

Well, the Mr. Vnak is back for this post.

As the few readers of this blog know, the past 6 weeks have been pretty bum for me. Successful surgery, but a painful recovery. Realistically, I'm feeling about 65-70% of the way there. I still have internal soreness and nerve related pain, but I do progress on a weekly basis. Fortunately, I've had a most awesome caretaker. Until yesterday.

Friday eve we celebrated Tom & Joe's 5th Birthday (which will be covered in a separate post). So Saturday morn the boys were awake and playing with their new toys while Katie and I laid awake in bed. Suddenly we heard Peter coughing, and then gagging, to which Katie jumped out of bed and saw Peter puking in the toilet. Katie went running to the bathroom and her first step was in an unseen spot of puke, to which she fell straight on her bum. Upon her fall she yelped in that abnormal pain and anguish filled yelp we all have within us, to which I, in my disabled abledness, rushed to the bathroom only to find her crying on the ground.

For the next hour I tried to console the veefe who had fallen while also consuling the still puking Peter. After a few phone calls, the grandparents and Katie's sister arrived, one half to help with the kids and the other with Katie. We headed to the ER and spent the next 8 hours getting treated. It was very slow. Very. And their computer system was down so the radiologists couldn't read the X-rays.

We came home, I tried my best to play with the chums, but then sent them off to the grandparents for the evening. Finally, the next day, the doctor called and confirmed that Katie had broken her butt. (Fractured tailbone).

So things ain't going so well at home base. It's kind of cute, one disabled parent caring for another disabled parent while trying to watch/care for/entertain three toddler boys. Don't know how we gonna git through the next few weeks. Should be interesting.

Despite our recent run of less than stellar luck, I will make the following conclusions about this event:

1. We eventually concluded that Peter's pukedness was caused from eating too much frosting on his cake and candy at the party the night before. Damn, he's gonna have fun in college.

2. Now that Katie's boot is brooken (and a little swollen), I am officially nominating Sir-Mix-A-Lot as the resident house DJ of the week.

3. How clever of my veefe to steal the sympathy and recovery time graces I've received from my friends and family. It's amazing how fast the spigot shuts off. All hail thy holy queen!

4. Finally, this post is brought to you by Katie's doughnut pillow upon which I was perched while crafting this fine post. We out.

Day 5 California Trip

The boys holding up the sign.
Joe and Peter inspecting.
The boys enjoyed seeing all the military ships and cargo ships go by.
One of the 1st light houses.
Peter enjoying some tickle time with dad.
The 3 amigos in front of the light house.
Joe and Tom enjoying the park.
Statue of Cabrillo.
Cool pic of the ocean

Tom and Joe locked up in the Brig for eating too many fruit snacks.
Peter also got thrown in the brig for giving his brother's too many fruit snacks.
Joe in the cockpit and loving it.
Tom taking his turn pushing all the cool buttons and gadgets.
This is a pic from on top of the deck. It is SO amazing and breathtaking to stand on the deck and realize how enormous the ship is.
Here they are checking out a helicopter
Tom was infatuated with this helicopter. He was explaining to us how many people it can sit and how much cargo it can carry.
Please smile...I'll give you a sucker!
Tom and I in standing in the back of the helicopter he loves.
Joe calling the shots in the war room.
Peter taking orders from Joe.
Tom getting ready to call the shots in the war room.
This is an attempt to capture the entire ship....too cool.

San Diego skyline at night from our hotel room.
The boys passed out before going to dinner with my friends.
Brett, his wife, Leah and I after some din din and some great time/stories shared!
A family picture on a cannon outside the restaurant.

Tuesday January 25^th, 2011

Tuesday was day two of our the San Diego leg of our California excursion. We enjoyed another wonderful breakfast atop our hotel in the club lounge. Odd looks continued today from the other Club Level guests when we strolled in with the boys, but inevitably, by the end of the meal, the boys had won the hearts of some Grandmas and were telling them all about the airplanes they watched take off that morning.

We headed out to the Cabrillo National Monument which is on the northern side of the San Diego bay and about 10 minutes from our hotel. The view was spectacular as we were able to see the entire San Diego skyline, the Naval base, and the ocean from one vantage point. We then hiked asunder to the top of the hill and visited the historic lighthouse, which has been in place since the middle 19^th century.

After a couple of hours we headed to the historic Gaslamp district for lunch. The Gaslamp is basically San Diego’s bar district. Having no idea where stay, we sought the advice of a worker in the local Oakley store who sent us up the block to a bar called Rotten Nick’s which had awesome burgers, but they were literally the size of a softball. We enjoyed a nice dish of gelato across the street at café called Choclat and the headed over to visit the USS Midway Musuem. The USS Midway is a retired aircraft carrier, or “crap carrier” as Peter likes to put it. We really had a great time and were amazed at it’s history. It took 4,500 troops to operate the carrier, including 225 cooks (you don’t think about that when you think of a war ship). It was really cool to walk the 4.5 acre air deck and see a bunch of retired war jets. All in all, it was a neat experience. Afterwords, we went back to our van for a snack and Tom chose to have an apple which, of course, he managed to drop out onto the pavement. I picked it up and told him not to eat the half he already started and that was covered with grit, but to instead eat the other half with the peel on it. Well, Tom didn’t want anything to with the good half of the apple and insisted I clean it off, which I somewhat did and told him, “If the apple is crunchy, it’s dirt…ENJOY!” Well, that caused an uproar with the boys and they have been quoting and using this phrase throughout the trip.

We quickly returned to the hotel for a quick swim before sunset, but the water was frigidly cold (at least to the adults). Ah, the beauty of childhood where body thermometers do not exist. The boys could have cared less about the temperature. So needless to say, Brian swam with the boys while Katie chilled her tootsies. We were icicles by the end, but that problem is easily cured with 10 minutes in the hot tub. Tom, Joe, and Peter have learned to like the hot tub on this trip and it’s been a fun experience to watch them enjoy this.

We put the boys down for a quick 45 minute nap before heading out for dinner, and it was like we knocked them out for a week. Katie and I sang and danced, and tickled to wake them up with little success. They wanted sleep, but we wanted food. We met Katie’s friend’s Brett and Leah for dinner at Tomm Hamm’s lighthouse. The food was excellent. The West Coast doesn’t appreciate how fresh their fish is. The Salmon was exquisite and the boys were good and patient.