Baby Bailey

Super cute, right?

Nothing like a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Nintendo

Pretty sure Bailey could sit right here all day...

helping Craig win his video games...
when he should be doing his homework.
In his defense the book is open so I think this is considered studying by most students.

Bailey and Rex

Bailey and Rex have a love hate relationship.

Rex loves Bailey because she usually shares her food, whether it is on purpose or accident...
There is always food up for grabs when Bailey has a bowl and is trying to feed herself.
Bailey loves Rex because he is a soft pillow to lay on...
and he can make her laugh for no reason other than just sitting still.
They usually get along so well until Bailey pulls his fur or tail. This causes some loud barking, which always scares Bails and makes her cry, which in turn gets Rex in trouble. Too bad they only stay mad at each other for the length of time it takes them both to calm down. Then they go back to loving each other for five minutes until the entire scene replays itself again.

Grandma

A few reasons why Grandma's are the best...

They read you stories.
They sit next to you even though you pull your shoes off and have stinky feet.
They give you your first popsicle after your mom accidentally burns your mouth with mashed potatoes.
And they rock you to sleep after a long afternoon. Gotta love Grandma.

Santa Barbara Zoo

After resting up for the weekend, we decided to pay a little visit to the Santa Barbara Zoo. It had been years since I had been there, so we all piled into the car and headed up to see some animals.

Of course we saw some flamingos straight away and had to take a picture for Grandma Pam.

Unfortunately we couldn't stand there too long because the smell was pretty awful so we moved on to some penguins...

As luck would have it, they smelled much better. Not. Even Bails thought so.

You couldn't call it a zoo trip if you didn't see some lions, tigers, bears, and elephants...
We also attempted to feed some goats. And by feed I mean we were too cheap to buy food so Sam walked around and picked up all the little pellets that had been dropped by little kids and used those to entice the little buggars to come near Bailey...
He quickly gobbled up all four that Sam had found and then was off to find some patrons who weren't so cheap I guess.

In order to escape the heat we went into the reptile, snake and bug house. Besides the nightmares that accompany looking at all the scary creepy crawlers it was fun to see Bailey's reactions to the up close action...
She was amazed at the snake. I was amazed at how difficult it was to hold her like that. It looks like I was struggling because I was.
A gecko. Three seconds after this picture was snapped there may have been some glass pounding by a certain one year old who was attempting to grab, knock off, or seek attention from the little guy. He should probably be grateful there was some thick glass separating them.

There were some giraffes...
and possibly Bailey's favorite part, feeding time...
She has quite the appetite. She must get every last crumb.

There was also some quality Grandpa time...
Who doesn't love to get their face poked by a one year old's chubby wet finger?
They also had some turtles that actually moved, which is more than we can say for Sea World.
A little bit of walking practice.
And yes, we captured the 'most interested in what was going on' face as we were making our way back out to the car. My guess is it was a bird that flew by the lunch tables to snag some left over french fries.
Tuckered little baby. Thanks Mom and Dad for the zoo trip. We love you.

Piano Player

Some helpful guidelines for playing the piano...

If possible, try to be taller than the piano so you can actually reach the keys.
Perfect posture is a must. Long fingers are also very helpful. Chubby ones make it more difficult because they are heavier to lift.
Sticking out your tongue to help concentrate is 100% necessary.
If you are playing a difficult song, sticking it out even further is the way to go.

Sea World

We stayed the night in San Diego at a hotel fairly close to Sea World. That morning we woke up, headed out for some breakfast and then hit up a grocery store to stock up on snacks and drinks to help us make it through the day. We were a little nervous we were going to get busted trying to sneak in so much food, but we made it through the gates with no problem. Then it was off to the first show of the day, the sea lions...

Bails was quite impressed. Her face may look emotionless, but those clever otters and sea lions kept her attention for most of the twenty minute show.

Next it was off to the dolphin show. This one didn't hold her attention as well. It was pretty hot and we waited forever for the show to start so I can't really blame her. We did manage to distract her enough that we didn't actually have to leave our seats which is more than we can say for church. Chalk that up to a win.

Apparently all you need are a few Pringles!

After the two shows we met up with our friends the Walkers. Here we have Bails and Shayleigh having the time of their lives...
We headed over to snap a few pictures with shamu...
Well, the pretend Shamu anyway.

After pictures we proceeded over to the real Shamu show.
Bails was pretty excited for the show to start. Especially because we sat towards the back of the splash zone. Can I just say I was so nervous I was going to get soaked. I had gone over like three different plans of what I would do to avoid getting wet...hide behind Sam, just take off running, etc...
fortunately for all of us involved (the whole group that would have had to listen to me complain the rest of the day) our zone did not get splashed. Our section must not have been good about singing the splash song "shamu shamu" although Sam tried to prove me wrong about his expertise by chanting the song the remainder of the day...week...and possibly month. He is lucky to still be alive.

We snapped a few pictures with some turtles...
pretty much the lazy things did not move an inch the whole time we were by them so we had to get creative.
They could have been dead for all we knew, which may have not been a total tragedy considering Sam kept holding the baby way past the fenced off area. Good thing she thought it was funny too. Such a good sport.

At one point during the trip we were told the gondala lift was now free so we headed on over. Sometimes I forget that I get scared of heights until it is too late. I didn't really think about what we were doing until we were about to get into our little buggy. I read a sign telling us exactly how to sit to shift the weight so the car didn't take a devastating crash into the ocean. At this point I became alarmed and somewhat scared. I looked up to see just how we were attached to the cable and can we just say it was a little hook. We could have easily fell to our deaths so for the entire 5 minute ride Sam got to hear me freak out as I looked down and imagined our family's tragic end.
Bails obviously didn't have a care in the world. Wind in her hair, shaking the car whilst jumping for joy...I am glad she enjoyed the ride!

Can I just say that I am pretty sure these things are a scam...
I was positive we would get at least one ringer with our bucket of a million rings, but we still couldn't manage to do it. Sea World cheats. I am sure of it.

After lunch we decided to take some cool family photos with the little shark tank...
Here I am ruining the Walkers photo. Go me. In case you were wondering that is the face I make whilst trying to make a two year old smile. It obviously doesn't work well.

Here is my daughter, up close and personal with a live dolphin and what does she do?
Stare at me with her tongue out. In her defense she actually tried to touch the dolphin a little earlier when Sam took her up close enough to splash in the water. I guess this distance was just too far away to peak her interest.

Who doesn't love penguins?
The inside of the exhibit smelled like death by poop, and even this outside pond did a little, but Bails was happy to see them jump around, swim, and waddle about.

At this point we did have one mini meltdown that involved a piece of turkey from her lunchable landing on her forehead and some crying...
but it was nothing that a walk through the shark tank couldn't solve.

We may have not realized it at the time, but we definitely saved the best for last. We walked into the shark exhibit like every other one of the day. I wasn't even positive Bailey knew what a shark was until she made this face after looking at one...
I have no idea where it came from or where she learned to do it, but I guess this proves that it is just innate, sharks are scary.
The rest of our time in the exhibit consisted of us trying to get her to make the face again, or laughing because she did it.
I guess that goes for life in general too. We still constantly try to get her to make that face.
Hanging with the fish.
And her friend Shayleigh.
It was a long day, we got a little sunburned and we were definitely exhausted by the end, but it was a great family outing and we had so much fun with our friends.

A Trip Down Memory Lane...

A few days after arriving in Thousand Oaks for our marathon summer vacation we decided to head down to San Diego for a quick overnight trip. Sam made it in record time. I think it is 'Guinness book of world records' worthy to not hit a second of traffic and make it in a little over two hours.

Our first stop was where it all began...our lovely San Diego temple.

We walked around with Bailey who loved looking at all the flowers and feeling the gusty winds almost knock her over.
We met some nice sister missionaries who were kind enough to take our family picture so there was some proof that Sam did indeed come on the trip with us...
The biggest difference between this Mom and Dad?
Mom is lazy and prefers to sit and look at flowers.

Dad is crazy and wanted the baby to greet angel Moroni with a hardy handshake.
Aren't those thunder thighs the best things you have ever seen in leggings? I just think so.

After the temple grounds visit it was off to our old luncheon site 'The Poseidon' for dinner. Since they are fancy like that and didn't open till five we trekked down to the water to give Bailey her first little taste of the Pacific.
She was her typical Bailey self...fearless. She stomped right down to the waters edge, with a little help of course.
Don't mind my pasty legs. I don't get out much.
And as soon as the freezing cold wave was about to wash over our feet, those chubby little legs would pop right up to a 90 degree angle. Can we just say abs of steel. She would leave her legs like that until the tide washed back down. Then those little feet shot right back to the sand and she was off taking her steps for approximately 8 seconds until the next wave hit and they popped back up to a 90 degree angle.

We carried on like this until my feet were about to freeze off and my back was about broken from keeping twenty pounds of dead weight hanging in the air.
Apparently one of us loved this game a whole lot more than the other. She didn't want to leave until she realized she was about to get some food...
And then she remembered nothing makes her happier than stuffing that chubby little face with anything edible and tasty.
Did I mention it was super windy in San Diego? Is that a valid excuse for the way my hair looks? I sure hope so. We had a great time reliving our special wedding day with our cute little baby that we love to death. Love you Sam.