Since we had a rainy day that wasn’t very outdoor activity friendly, we met up with some old friends at the fabulous Balboa Park to check out a train museum and grab some lunch.

It’s no secret that Noah (and his daddy) love trains.  So, when Matt discovered that Balboa Park plays host to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, we knew we had to make a visit.  It truly did not disappoint. Boasting 28,000 square feet of layout, it’s a train-lover’s dream come true!

Matt and the kids at the first viewing stage. Kevin Conner is Matt’s boss from Tyndall.

“Noah, what does a train say?” I think he hooted the whole time we were in the building.

A carnival on the layout.  The detail on these models was amazing.

There was a whole layout of toy trains too.  This part had a kid-friendly button that made a Thomas train go around a loop.
Noah pushed it several thousand times.

On our last full day, we visited the Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  It was a fairly small aquarium, but perfect for a windy, chilly day.

The kelp garden was cool.

This child has never met a stranger.

Pretty coral.

The view from the aquarium balcony.

Those were the last of our outings.  We spent the rest of our visit playing the sand and, in my case, nursing a migraine.  So glad we took the opportunity to visit the Pacific coast while we are still so close.  Three cheers for husbands who call for a vacation in the middle of the day!  Let’s do it again soon!

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Can’t forget to add that, on the way to San Diego, we passed the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile!  Totally random and very fun!

First exhibit of the day were some monkeys (chimps?).  Our little monkeys loved it!

It would have been insane to go to San Diego and not visit the world’s best zoo.  And, since we’re not really crazy, we went.  Rain was in the forecast for most of the days we were visiting, so we took advantage of the sunny weather on our first day in town and went to see some animals.  The truly lovely thing about San Diego was that it wasn’t hot or cold, just pleasant, so the animals were out and about doing their thing.  So much more fun to visit them when they’re playing than when they’re scrambling for shade because it’s a bajillion degrees outside.

We got to the park right when it opened at 9am and stayed until about 2pm.  I think we saw everything but the tigers.  The kids did great with all the walking and the no-nap day and Matt and I were in vacation mode (i.e., give them whatever they want so that they’re happy and we all enjoy this).   We had so many pictures from the day, it was hard to choose just a few.  So, will share a bunch with captions to tell this story.

Taking the double jogger was key.  Ava needed a place to sit by the end of the day!

These statues were all over the zoo and the kids loved climbing on them.

Early morning outing for the male gorilla, so that he can “take care of business.” This was pretty hilarious.
He walked right over in front of us, turned his back and got to work.

When he was done, he walked right over to the glass and got nose to nose with Ava.
Guess he wanted some privacy.

More playing/posing with the statues.

Totally her idea.

On Ava’s insistence we rode the gondola before lunch, from the top of the hill. Turns out she’s brilliant.  No line, and we got a roundtrip ride with no wait because our stroller didn’t fit.  Awesome! 

Noah loved this ride.  I was a nervous Nelly and had a pretty tight hold of him.
The kid has no fear and is a total thrill junkie.

More gorillas out to play as we coasted overhead.

The polar bears put on quite a show! They played a little water polo together and were very entertaining!

Can’t go to the San Diego Zoo and not see the pandas, right? We waited in line for about forty minutes, but the kids were pretty patient. I will say that I’ve not seen pandas this close before.  The ones in DC are far from the fence and usually hiding.  These guys were cute!

Noah LOVED the giraffes.  They were pretty busy and very near the fence, so he had a great view of them.

At the end of the day, we wound up at the petting zoo. The kids brushed the goats and Noah played with their dirt.
Gross, but they had a great time.

This about sums it up.  One last pose with a statue and, yes, we were all wiped out!

Passed out snuggling his new giraffe buddy on the ride back to the hotel.

Thanks for the memories, zoo friends!

See that ship?  It was waaaay out there.  It’s a BIG ship.

From our room, we walked across a lawn and then hit the beach…leading straight to the Pacific Ocean.

Needless to say, we absolutely loved it.  The weather wasn’t the most cooperative (we were freezing!) but that didn’t stop us from getting some play time in with the waves and digging up as much sand as possible.  This was Noah’s first trip to a beach and Ava’s first that she would really remember, so it was a highly exciting time!

Chasing waves.

Bundled up because he face-planted in the (cold) water.

“Ladybug Girl LOVES the beach!”

Sand!!

Each day we were there, we spent a couple hours just wandering the beach or going to check on the waves.  These kiddos are definitely water lovers, so it did take a little effort to keep them from just running straight into the water.  But, if we stayed back from the tide line, they were just as happy to play in the sand and make a total mess.

Nothing says “Day at the Beach” like winter coats and sweatpants, right?

Like I said, they enjoyed getting messy.  Ahh…sand in fleece.  That’s so easy to shake out!

This guy loves the beach.

So does this girl.

A great start to a wonderful adventure.  More from San Diego soon!

We spent part of each of the next four days in the pool.  Ava woke up asking to go every morning and usually went once in the morning and once in the afternoon.  Such a little fish!  Of course, we were all too happy to oblige since swimming made it seem like we were all on vacation in a fantastic rental house.

On Saturday morning, we loaded up the van and headed north to Mt. Charleston with plans to hike to Mary Jane Falls.  Matt and I had attempted the hike one other time but, since we were idiots and thought we could push a stroller up the side of a mountain, we didn’t finish.  This time, with better gear and rock solid determination, we made it to the top (after a 1.5 hour climb!).

This being a desert, you never know what you’re going to get when you climb a mountain to see a waterfall.  But, Mary Jane Falls did not disappoint.

Ava loved to touch the cold, cold water and climb over the wet rocks at the bottom.  And, in spite of a massive elevation change and having to help carry a three year old up the side of a mountain, even Grama & Grampa were still happy to be there.

The way back down was much easier, but we were all tired and hungry.  For some of us, the rumbling in our tummies made it particularly difficult to keep putting one foot in front of the other…you can decide for yourself who those folks might have been.

We treated ourselves to a picnic lunch at a day camp site and then made the drive back home.  You’d have thought we’d be worn out after all of that, but we still had plenty of energy for a swim that evening!

Along with the swimming and the hiking, we also had plenty of time to just play around the house.  We spent lots of time helping Noah walk with the walker and playing on the floor of the playroom.  Noah even got to open some early birthday presents!  Grama made him his own set of Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls and also brought a birthday outfit.  The outfit was Matt’s on his first birthday and fit Noah perfectly!

We tried to get a nice photo of Noah, Matt & Ava all with their dolls made by Grama (Matt’s were from when he was a kid), but this is the best we could do.

When we let the kids loose, things got a little calmer, of course.

Isn’t it nice how he knows how to sit still for a picture?

On the last evening of the visit, Matt made us fajitas for dinner.  So yummy!  Ava got to help Grama with the tortillas.  Not sure that it’s the most efficient way to cook, but I don’t think anyone had any objections.

Thanks for a great visit, Grama & Grampa!  You’re welcome at Henderson Bar & Resort any time!

Just one month after our roadtrip to Texas, we climbed back into the Blue Blur and set off for the Land of Oz.  We chose to  follow I-70 this time since the mountains would be passable this time of year.  It was a very pretty drive and largely uneventful since both kiddos were relatively healthy this round.  We rolled in to my folks’ house by noon on Saturday and got to enjoy a whole afternoon of outside relaxation before we ever even ate a meal!

Ava settled right into outdoor roaming and busting out every toy Granddad had set up for her.  Wes’s daughter, Denim, was home for the weekend, so we got to meet her for the first time.  Noah and Denim are only about eight weeks apart in age, so they fell right to the baby-sized work of  stealing each other’s binkies and staring at one another.

Sunday morning we got all gussied up and took some family photos…

And then Monday, we hit the road to go visit the farm for Memorial Day.  We had a great picnic, in spite of the howling Kansas wind and the nearly-unbearable heat.  We had a lovely time seeing our cousins (Ava talked about nothing else for the week before we left) of both the original and new generations.

After all the excitement of driving halfway across the country and then the trip to the farm, we were pretty content to spend the rest of the week just putzing around with Grammie and Granddad at their house.  We played “Ariel” over and over again, fed the birds, climbed the climbing wall, rode the swing, and had a picnic lunch at the duck park.

Grammie & Granddad hanging out with “Ariel” on the porch swing.

Granddad & Ladybug Girl doing morning “chores.”

Noah just chilling in a chair perfectly sized for him.

Relaxing on the patio.

Going for a bike ride.  Huge advantage to taking the van…lots of cargo room!

We didn’t travel far from the folks’ home this time, so didn’t gather much in the way of souvenirs.  But, Matt managed to find something to bring home when we stopped the gas station in Lincoln to use the restroom on the way to the farm.

And here’s Ava modeling the front of that glorious hat for us.

That one’s a classic, I’d say.

Of course, a roadtrip this year wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to see a medical professional for Noah’s ears.  He spiked a fever Tuesday afternoon and we got to experience yet another parenting first…a trip to the ER!  McPherson doesn’t have an urgent care facility, so the ER was our only choice for instant care.  I’ve heard horror stories of ER visits from other mommies, so was delighted to find the ER nearly deserted at 5:30pm and the staff to be agreeable and helpful.

Just because we stuck close to home didn’t mean that we stopped having adventures, though.  In addition to the trip to the ER, we had some after hours fun as well.  Matt & I got to go on a double date with Aubrey and Lance one night and then another we had a patio campfire with Grammie & Granddad.  Ava got to make and eat her first s’more and then, after Ava’s bedtime, we adults got to have our own fun.  Who says booze and fire don’t mix?  Even Grammie thinks it’s fun to spit whiskey on a fire!

All in all, this trip was a “blazing” good time.  Thanks for the fun, Grammie & Granddad!  See you again soon!

(Me, three months pregnant with Ava)

(Matt, pre-TPS and Vegas.  Notice the lack of under-eye bags!)

When we drove back from Kansas in early June, we stopped at the same spot.  The rocks haven’t changed much in the last four years, but wow, our family sure has!

It’s been a crazy ride from there to here and seems like it has gone so fast!  Grateful for every minute and this wonderful little family we’ve grown!

1.  Roadtrip!  We chose to drive to San Antonio this time, so got to take Noah on his first-ever roadtrip.  Considering how hard we pushed the mileage per day, both kiddos did great.  Ava watched a TON of movies (Incredibles, Peter Pan & Little Mermaid were big winners) and Noah was either eating, sleeping or fussing the whole way.  We crashed in El Paso for the night on the way there and got to go for a quick swim before going to Chili’s to eat dinner.  We were all exhausted at the end of the first day, but still got up crazy early on Day 2 to hit the road.  You know that any driving before the sun comes up doesn’t count, right?

2.  We got to San Antonio early on Good Friday afternoon and settled right into playing with heirloom toys and a few we brought along.  By the end of the day, we’d already played in the kiddie pool and had an amazing dinner.  When we woke up on Saturday, Auntie Moe had joined us and we could hardly believe we’d only been there for about 12 hours!

3.  The weekend was packed with church and cooking and Easter celebrations.  We dyed Easter eggs on Saturday afternoon while dinner was cooking…and just in time for the adults to clean up and rush out the door to Easter vigil.  To say we were packing in the memory-making would be an understatement!  Sadly, I don’t have any pictures of the grown ups dressed up to go to church.  Since I had a great dress, I consider this to be quite sad.

(Matt’s great idea for keeping Noah occupied.  Trap the sippy between the table and tray.  Dude has some serious perseverance.)

4.  Easter morning was fun.  We were up turbo early with the kiddos (have I mentioned yet that Noah was sick and running a low grade fever up to this point?) and watched some TV while we waited for grandparents to come play Easter baskets/eggs with us.  Turns out Grampa was sick, so we didn’t see him at all that day.  We did get around to hunting Easter baskets though, and Ava was pretty excited with what she found in hers (a ladybug watch!).

5.  Easter afternoon was a party at the White’s house.  It was supposed to be at Caspers’ but had to move since we were passing around the sickies.  We even made sure to get photos of the kids in their Easter best!  Just for fun, here’s last year.  And the one before that.

The kids had a great time at the party and were officially wiped out by the end of it!

6.  Our kiddos are so lucky to have two sets of their great-grandparents around.  And we’re so lucky to get to take them to visit.  We got to see Mahgie & Poppie at the Easter party and again at their house while we were in Texas.  Such a treat to get to see your babies loved on by their great-grandparents.  Noah met them for the first time at the Easter party.

And then more visiting at Air Force Village.

7.  We did two “special activities” with the whole family while we were visiting.  On Thursday, we went to the San Antonio Zoo.  Special highlights were the elephant demonstration, the reptile house, making a toy with the mold-a-rama, and popsicle treats.

That same night, we got to go see a Missions baseball game.  It was Noah’s first ever!

8.  Speaking of firsts, we had two this trip.  Noah spiked a fever on Monday so we got our first “see the doc while traveling” experience.  Ear infection…boo.  Not the most fun of firsts.  But, by Tuesday afternoon, it was like we had a whole different baby.  So much less fussy and so much more fun!

But, Matt and I had a fun first in that we got to go spend a night downtown on the Riverwalk.  It was our first time leaving the kiddos overnight.  We had a great time watching crappy cable TV (with no one asking us for anything!), going out to dinner, and sleeping for eight blissful hours in a row.  We only got one picture of such a momentous occasion…in the mirror of the elevator of our hotel.

9.  In our down time this visit, we just did a lot of eating, drinking and hanging out.  Ava played in the back yard a TON, which was great because she doesn’t get to do that much here.  Mostly, she played Ladybug Girl with her trusty sidekick, “Bingo.”

We got to share a meal with Ken, too, which was a total treat.  Ken married Matt and I, and we love to see him; but, he usually travels in the summer and we’ve missed him the last few years.  So many years, in fact, that he hadn’t met our kids yet!  There’s something special about a meeting like this, I think.

10.  Our return trip was pretty smooth sailing and we learned lessons from the first leg.  We left more pool time at the hotel and landed in a smaller town to spend the night.  So much less stressful!  We got home on Sunday at 12:15pm and were completely unpacked with kids down for naps by 2pm.  Matt and Ava even ran the train we hauled home for a while that night!

Thanks, Caspers, for a great trip!  We’re already resting up for another one!

We took off on Noah’s five month birthday, and got to Chicago in time to have dinner with Grama Peg & Grampa Clete before checking into the hotel and hitting the sack.  We were up bright and early on Saturday morning and picked up some Dunkin’ Donuts before meeting Sue, Steve, Michael, Whitney & Maureen at the house.

It had been two years since we’d visited Chicago, so we had to update this picture from our first visit.  Same kid, same snack, two years later.

Of course, on this trip, we had a new baby to shop around too, so we got several photos like this one…

…and these.

We had a great time with lots of playing in the snow…

…and Ava even found a good ride.

Of course, there was plenty of other good fun while we were inside during the weekend.

Since it’s a rarity that the whole Caspers clan can get together, we made sure to document the occasion to its fullest.  We’ve got some video of the paparazzi for these next few shots and it’s amazing the amount of noise and the number of camera shutters clicking in the background.

And, finally, the whole Caspers clan (minus Sarah & Carl).

Great trip!  See you next time!

The week was fairly chill, although we did get out and about a bit each day to explore San Antonio.  It was super hot and humid, so this pregnant mommy didn’t try anything too ambitious – I was really grateful to be able to use Ava’s naptimes as reasons to escape back to the air conditioning!

On Tuesday, we visited the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.  Apparently, they’ve gone through quite a bit of expansion over the years as Matt kept commenting on how he remembered things being so much smaller.

Ava had a great time exploring the flowers, trees and fountains.  She sure is a nature-lover at heart.  We’ll have to get that kid to a more plant-friendly climate soon.  My favorite part of the botanical gardens was the conservatory…it had an awesome bench set right over a giant air conditioning vent!  The rose gardens were also lovely, though, and new playhouse exhibits were set to open that weekend so we got a fun sneak peek of those too.

On Wednesday, we took the morning to go visit Mahgie & Poppie at Air Force Village.  We went to feed the fish at the pond and then joined them for lunch at the big house.  Four HUGE catfish really enjoyed the bread that Matt, Ava, & Mahgie threw to them!

The next big event was a Friday day trip to LBJ state park near Fredricksburg, TX.  We visited the living history farm where everything is done just as it would have been done in the early 19th century.  Ava got to see cows, chickens, roosters, and pigs and we all got to explore the house, barn & other outbuildings of the farm.  It was a gorgeous house…I told Matt we could have one just like it when we retire.  I *heart* old farm houses.

Our trip wasn’t all exciting outings.  We did spend some time just around the house too, and that was nice.  Matt helped his dad replace the fan in the dining room (oh boy, multiple Caspers men working on home improvement projects…look out!  At one point I asked Matt what it was like working with a mirror image of himself.) and we spent plenty of time watching movies on the new TV we discovered in the family room.

Did I mention that Texas was hot and steamy when we visited?  Well, it sure was.  The good part about that was that it made it totally ok for the adults to spend the whole afternoon sitting around the kiddie pool with our feet in and for Ava to spend hours running through the sprinklers.  You can never have too much water play on a hot day!

Sue & Steve celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary in the beginning of June and the weekend, once all the kids were home, was all about throwing them a super-secret surprise party to celebrate.  The three Caspers kids worked for a couple of months putting it together and I think it’s safe to say that their parents were not only surprised, but delighted, with the party.

All in all, we had a wonderful week in San Antonio and were glad to get to see all of the family in one trip!  Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa, Michael, Maureen & Whitney for all the fun & entertainment!

Last year’s visit seemed particularly poignant since so many things had changed about the place and our family.  This year, though, it seemed that we had settled into a new normal – accustomed to a new place, our new hosts, but preserving all those traditions that make the day so special.

As usual, we gathered at the Pleasant Valley Cemetery in the morning.

Maybe it seems strange to others, but I love that Whoozy thinks of this place as just another place to have fun and enjoy company and the outdoors.

The little girls of the youngest generation always seem to fall right back into step and become fast friends again each time they see each other.  The older girls watch out for the younger girls and they all play really nicely together.

This year, Ava not only had little girls to play with but also a new baby boy cousin and a baby kitten to love on and snuggle.  She tired of holding baby Blake fairly quickly, but sat and held the kitten for nearly an hour.  In spite of Larry’s best efforts, we didn’t come home with a new pet.

We spent all afternoon gathered in a circle, eating and visiting, telling a few new stories and several old ones.

Before we left for the day, we managed to wrangle the little girls for a picture and even got a shot of their mamas.    It’s hard to believe that these little  girls have changed so much in a year.

Their pretty mamas, of course, haven’t changed a bit.  

Thanks, Webb Family, for another great get-together and thanks to Pat & Larry for hosting all of us year after year.  We’re looking forward to next year’s picnic!