Swami's & Meditation Gardens

Even with Skylar being a big grumps on Saturday afternoon, we still wanted to get out for a few hours.  We decided to stop by Swami's in Encinitas to walk around and take in the beautiful ocean view.  When we got there Skylar was still in her bad mood and only wanted Mom to hold her.  The only thing that made her happy was playing with Dad's sunglasses and her little red cup.  Enjoying the view wasn't something Skylar was finding very interesting. 

There was a massive tiki head on the grounds which Skylar thought was pretty funny. 

We just happened to stumble upon the Meditation Gardens as we were walking back to our car and saw a good amount of people walking up this hill and turning into something.  The gardens were just stunning. They sit on top of the cliffs overlooking the ocean and has such beautiful landscape.  Skylar found the fish pond and was immediately drawn to it.  The koi fish in the pond were huge and one looked like it could eat Skylar.  Unfortunately we kind of dropped the ball on taking photos while we were there and only got a few.  We were glad that Skylar got over her grumpy mood and allowed us to enjoy the rest of our family outing.

Dustin's 30th Surprise Party

Another one of our friends joined myself in the 30 Club a few weeks ago.  Dustin turned the big  3-0 and his wife, Heather planned him a surprise party.  Dustin and Heather just had a baby a little less than 3 weeks ago, so having a party thrown for him was something Dustin was never expecting.  Jake was used as the decoy to get Dustin out of the house for a few hours so Heather and her mom could get everything set up.  Needless to say, Dustin was shocked when he walked into his house to find 20 of his friends and family there. 

Heather did a great job decorating the house.  She went with the "tiger" theme and had tons of balloons, party favors, and orange and black splashed all over the house.  The cake was the cutest decoration of them all.

One of Dustin and Heather's guest who was taking all the photos took some really cute pictures of Skylar at the party.  Even though she was the only kid at the party she had a good time playing with all of Carson's toys in the backyard.  She even had her first taste of cake which she loved and ended up taking over Mom's plate.

From the looks of everything, Dustin had a great time and Heather having pulled the whole thing off while taking care of a newborn, a 3 year old and not having much sleep did an amazing job putting it all together.  Happy Birthday to Dustin and much love to our great friends the Tenbroeck Family.

 

Oceanside Pier

This past weekend we decided to make a visit down to the Oceanside Pier and grab some lunch.  It was a pretty overcast day so when we were looking for parking we were surprised on how crowded it was.  Once we parked and walked over to the pier we discovered that the Annual Longboard Competition was being held.  There was live music, tons of stands with food, toys, art, and clothing.  Skylar had her first taste of kettle corn which she was a big fan of.  After walking through all the different stands we headed up to the pier to get a better view of the surfing and let Skylar roam around.  What started out to be just a simple lunch turned into a really nice family outing.

 

Sprayground

Skylar and I discovered a new way to beat the heat and that is at the Sprayground in San Elijo Hills.  When we first found it a few weeks ago Skylar wasn't in a swim suit so she wasn't able to get the full effect of the Spraygound, but this time was a different story.  The second I put her down she ran over to the water spout and was drenched.  There was a little boy there who she kept following around from spout to spout, it was pretty cute.  She just loved getting spray, spritz and sloshing her way through the park.  I definitely think we will be making another trip to the sprayground before summer ends.

Theta Baby Love

A few weeks ago Jacks and I set up a little play date with Kel so we could meet little Stephen Stagnaro and catch up.  Meeting Stephen was the best, he was just so precious and was such a well mannered baby.  I didn't even hear him cry, he just did some tummy time, ate, and slept.....the perfect baby.   Kel is an amazing mom, and of course, we wouldn't of expected anything else.  She looked fantastic and you could never tell she just had a baby a few months ago.  It was great chatting and just hearing how her life has changed since becoming a mother.  I love that we all still keep in touch (not as much as we should), but the times we do hang out I cherish very much. 

Zoo Trip

It had been some time since Skylar's first visit Zoo trip, so Jake and I thought it would be a good idea to take her again.  After making our way through the massive crowds we were able to put Skylar down so she could enjoy the park and the animals.

Unfortunately our Zoo trip was pretty quick because Skylar wasn't in the best of moods and only wanted to have Mom carry her around the park.  After we left the park we stop at the Carousel in Balboa Park and had Skylar take her first carousel ride.  She seemed excited when we first sat her on the horse, but when it started moving I don't think she knew how to react because she was pretty stone-faced most of the ride.



Swim Class

Skylar recently started swim class at the local swim school and she loves it.  The first two weeks she was a little intimidated but she has improved so much since then that they are already talking about moving her up to the intermediate class.  We always arrived about 10 minutes early so Skylar can warm up and play in the open pool before class begins.

Our instructor is Bri, who Skylar has really started warming up too.  She always gives Skylar High-Fives after she does something well.  Skylar's favorite part of class is when she does "Humpy Dumpy" and gets to jump in the water off the ledge.

She also doesn't mind going under the water.  Its pretty cute because when I say "1, 2, 3, Under" she always opens her mouth before I dunk her, so we are working on that.

The only part of class that Skylar isn't a fan of is when she has to float on her back.  It's the one thing she has to improve on before she can move up to the intermidate class.

The last few minutes of class is all the kids favorite because Bri brings out the big Choo Choo Train for them to walk across and jump into the water. 

I really love that Skylar likes the water.  I think it was all the swimming I did while pregnant with her.  It's totally in her genes.