We spent Thanksgiving in Merced with the VandenAkker family. We missed Christy, Ryan, and Noah, but it was great to have everyone else together. The boys loved playing shuffle board and watching uncle Mike drive his remote control car Oma made a delicious dinner and homemade pies. We always share around the table something that you are thankful for..here is what our boys were thankful for, Andrew is thankful for animals and Luke is thankful for Allie (big surprise!!) HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Tuesday we went to the Wild Animal park. The boys, especially Andrew really enjoyed this park. They loved the animals and being able to see them live in wide open spaces, much like they do in the wild. We took a little tram safari ride through Africa. We saw a lot of animals and learned about many different kinds of African animals. Andrew's favorite fact that he learned was that an ostrich could break a lions back with one kick. It is a beautiful park with a lot of walking and hills. We all had tired legs at the end of the day. The boys each picked out little souvenir animals, which Andrew created his own safari with back at grandma E's house. We took many pictures of the animals, but I thought I would spare everyone of them. We were able to have a nice relaxing day back at grandma's house today and tomorrow we head to Pake & Oma's for Thanksgiving and then onto home.
Grandpa and Grandma gave the us an early Christmas gift with a trip to Sea World. The boys have been so excited to see Shamu. They enjoyed the shows and seeing the animals. They especially loved Elmo's land, where they went on some rides and played on the big play structure. Uncle Paul joined us for the day and the boys loved having him along. Andrew endured his first big boy ride with daddy and uncle Paul. Although it was pretty chilly and he got all wet, he was beaming with excitement over his acomplishment. Luke was a litle too short, so he was content to take pictures and get some pressed pennies from the souviner machine. Allie was a trooper and too some great naps in her stroller and hardly made a peep all day. She enjoyed some extra time with grandpa and grandma while we did a few things with the boys.
We headed down to San Diego on Sunday afternoon. My dad had told us about a great hotel near Sea World, so we booked a room there, and it was amazing. The price was great, the rooms were big and very clean, it has 2 pools and spas that make you feel like you are in Hawaii, and our view was amazing. These pictures are from our porch looking over Mission Bay. If anyone is headed for San Diego for vacation we would recommend this place, it made our vacation even a little more wonderful. The hotel is called The Dana.
Sunday morning we went on a nice walk to the beach and Main Street for daddy and mommy's favorite coffee. We love going on walks when we visit grandma's house because it is always no peaceful and calm by the ocean in the morning and the kids always get excited to run on the big sand hills.
We headed down to Southern California for Thanksgiving break. We stayed at Grandma "E"s house for a couple days and spent two days in San Diego. On Saturday night we met up with a couple college friends and their kids...wow, we went from zero to 8 kids quickly. The kids had a great time running around together and the three little ones sat around looking cute and staring at each other.
Allie and I had some fun today while the boys were napping...we've been meaning to take these pictures for a while for her bedroom and for grandma's fireplace mantle. Allie was a trooper and I think we got some cute shots..she was in a great mood and loved her big skirt (thanks Aunt Kim).
