Yum, Yum, Gimme Some!

Thanks for the DELECTABLE chocolate fountain experience, Vidaurri's! We can't wait to meet little Vincenzo! I also loved the chef's hat, Dennis! Judy and I had a short jam session on the piano, in the background.
The smiles say it all!
Our ward activities committee has arranged dinner groups. Basically, participants get randomly selected to get together in groups of about 3 families. Then, we meet up for dinner one Saturday night and which ever couple is leading the group gets to plan the rest! Each time we do this, the "dinner parties" are different, so it's a fun way to get to know other people in the ward. It's very easy to do because it only happens once a month, and only if we elect to participate. This month we scored the most delish meal! The Viddhauri's don't mess around, man! We had a manicotti dinner with salad and french bread, and these goodies for dessert! Hence, the title of this post!

Kelly Has News!

She's expecting! We are so excited for her! We met up with our dear sweet friends the Nelsons in Temecula a couple weekends ago. They've lived in Arizona for about 6 years now. Steve is working on his dermatology residency there at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale after doing his medical schooling there at the U of A in Tucson. We are so proud of him for his success! We do wish they were closer, though!

Kelly and I both worked at Sierra Vista Middle School in Covina (L.A. area) as first year teachers. We met through Kelly's grandparents at church and we would hang out all the time because we have so much in common. Besides working together, our husbands were both named Steven/Stephen and they went to the gym together in the mornings. Kelly and I would scrapbook together and as couples, we'd play lots of board games. None of us are really that competitive though! ;)
Alyssa Nelson is a year older than our daughter Brooklyn. They warmed up to eachother pretty quickly, despite the look of it! Thanks for the yummy steak dinner, Alice and Morgan!

A is for Asparagus

This was NOT a learning time, but now that I think of it... Anyway, I thought I'd take a minute and "blog-brag" about Ian actually liking his first taste of asparagus.

Of course, Stephen doesn't think it was so smart of me to feed it to him whole because the bushy/pokey things at the end could be a choke hazard. Oops!

Our Home Away from Home

The zoo! It's no surprise that we really feel "at home" here for some reason...It's very liberating to visit someone else's zoo. I can enjoy the scenery while my kids are strapped in their stroller instead of creating their own exhibits!
This must be the hippo's favorite sleeping corner. He was sleeping here on our next visit too!
We saw the polar bear during a feeding time. Very eventful, but no live animals were harmed in the process! There were a lot of vegetable bits floating around in the water though. And whatever that huge bone was, it looked pretty nasty all water-logged and stuff.
Brooklyn always loves to pose on this little guy in the new Elephant Odyssey exhibit.
This is what they both were doing on the last long hill that I had to hike to get out of the zoo. I was totally bummed that the skyfari (the cool cable car ride that is free with our zoo pass) no longer boards double strollers. Can you tell we were all exhausted?
I love how Brooklyn didn't even eat the crackers that I gave her because she snapped out of it that quickly! I've discovered that when Brooklyn starts whining and claiming she's hungry at a random time when I know she's already eaten enough, she's tired and either misdiagnosing or acting/faking it. Weird, huh?
The slope behind me...

(The picture doesn't do it justice - it's long and it's steep!)

And I was only about half way up at this point too! Of course when we got home from the zoo, and I carried them both (at the same time) back into the apartment and straight to their beds, they were ready to party again! I don't think I've slept well or enough in the past nine months for some strange reason.

My Favorite Magnet

says..."I dreamed my whole house was clean."

Congratulations to the first person who can tell me who's fridge (in the Badger family) holds the magnet with this classic caption.

So this was the scene on a Sunday morning after Stephen's meeting and before church. Ian was sleeping and I was getting ready upstairs. Brooklyn decided to tidy - on her own volition! I was shocked and amazed! I wondered where everything went because Ian's white toy basket (you can see it between the rocking chair and couch) was empty.
Then I discovered this. This is the 2-drawer nightstand we inherited from my parents. Before it found its home within our home, we left it out next to the sliding glass door.
Apparantly Brooklyn found a good use for it. I was pretty impressed.

Scripps Night at the Ballpark

Petco Park was the place to be last Saturday night! It was Scripps Night at the Ballpark. All Scripps employees could purchase tickets at $12 a piece for a ticket to the Padres game and a free t-shirt. Also included in this special deal was admission to the big family-oriented pre-party outside of the stadium where there were climbing walls, bounce-houses, and lots of entertainment.
My parents joined us for the fun event and we all shared the ballpark meal that Scripps provided which included hotdogs, Cracker-Jacks, ice-cream pops, and drinks.
It just so happened that it was hat night, too! Free Padres hats for all! Wahoo!

This was my first visit to Petco Park...
I had no idea it was tucked away right in the heart of downtown San Diego! It was quite a contrast from Dodger Stadium, which is tucked away between some hills and seems to claim a small valley of its own.
We sat in the VERY TOP row of the top level. Literally, we had a bird's eye view. It was fantastic! Speaking of birds, we did see a seagull circling around the perimeter of lights, right about at our level. It was very serene, even though it was a ballgame!
As for the game itself, I have no clue who even won. I couldn't even tell you a name of a single player on either team. I know we played the Mets, though! And I'm pretty sure we were ahead by one run when we left at 9PM, maybe after the 5th inning or so? The point is, we had a great time and I got all caught up chatting with my mom.
I think Brooklyn experienced her first "group date" with Daddy as her main man of the evening...
Papa was a close second though; he bought the cotton candy!
Can you see the tub of it in Brooklyn's hands? She didn't let go of that tub all night even though we had limit her intake of the stuff!

Letting Go

I spent a LONG time coloring these bats so perfectly for one of Brooklyn's folder games.

I guess she got sick of waiting for them, and me!

Can you tell which ones she helped me complete?

Ian tried helping too.

Food Art

And yes, she actually did eat those bell peppers and mushrooms! When I praise her for eating these veggies, she chimes in that she does it "because they are healfy for my body!"

Did you get the artwork? It's a....

person!

Little Miss Helper

Wouldn't you smile to find this happening at breakfast time in the dining room?
Some days she really surprises me with her oh-so-polished manners and helpfulness! Other days, she sasses me and really really REALLY tries my patience. So I try to remember these pleasant moments and forget the others!

In the name of Math!

We met some new friends this summer from Iowa! Jason, Rachel, Annelisa, and Jonathan Grout came to San Diego for 6 weeks this summer all so that Jason (the Dad) could do some math research! He's a professor in Iowa and was invited to come out here for the summer. It was such a cool hook-up for them because they got to stay in a furnished apartment, (a ritzy one, at that!) for 6 weeks and tour the sights of San Diego, well, at least Rachel and the kids did. Jason got to... research! Thanks, Jason! We enjoyed hanging out with your family!
The grouts did a babysiting swap with us for date nights. Annelisa was a few months younger than brooklyn, but wanted to do a lot or most of the things that she saw Brooklyn doing, dressing up in hats, wands, and tutu's, wearing pigtails, and even sucking her thumb! Sorry about that one, Rachel! She even had curly light-brown hair and huge eyes (brown).

Brooklyn had a Little Lamb

We've been visiting the zoo like it's going out of style because, well, our passes expire at the end of this month! These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago. I seem to always be about 2 weeks behind in my posting - so here's for being up--to-date!
Each time we go, we try to visit a different section because there are so many cool different exhibits. This time, though, I was getting a little bugged that we drove 15 miles to the zoo only for Brooklyn to want to hang out at the park. We only have about 5 parks within a one-mile radius of us, so why did we get stuck here?
We went to the petting zoo where Brooklyn decided to claim a little lamb of her own. It was a little reversal of the nursery rhyme, though. Every where that lamb-y went, Brooklyn was sure to go.
I guess it beat out her pet fish Zoe in overall entertainment value.
This little show called Dr. Zoolittle was really fun. It was in a white circus tent in the middle of the children's zoo area. Dr. Zoolittle did all sorts of fun science experiments in which Brooklyn volunteered (via me, of course) to be involved! The cup on Brookie's head was a target practice for the two competing scientists who were shooting these cool home-made air guns. No pellets were used. It was just air that was forced across the room so strongly that it knocked down the cup easily each time!
This next demonstration ended up being a bug-eating experience.
Can you guess how she fared?
After close examination, she....
dropped the bug on the ground, then licked the palm of her hand. I don't know if she was trying to pretend she ate it, or just getting a taste-test of the exoskeleton. It was pretty funny though. I'll have to figure out how to upload videos someday for your viewing pleasure.

Lazy Days of Summer

swimming, staring
snacking, enjoying
water-sipping, waiting
wishing, pretending
posing
helping, tickling,
sneaking, climbing
We love summer!