Grad school camp and San Diego take II

We are doing great! Life is good.  After my aunts left we were in town just for a week and we managed to have a LOT of fun in that week!  We had a playdate with Hunter's little girlfriend, Isla, and her little brother Sean.  She also has a 5 month old brother but he slept through most of the playdate.  Here are the 4 kids in Isla's bed.  Hunter consistently asks to take off her panties and take a shower with her.  It's fair to say that as they approach adolescence, they will not see one another any more.  

 They had to sit in the chair together.  They are totally inseparable when we have them together and they both ask for the other constantly.  Isla really wanted Hunter to go to her princess party (her and her best friend dressed up as princesses and got pedicures for her birthday).  Poor Isla was so disappointed.

 I have these amazing girlfriends that I met over the summer 2003.  We were at "grad school camp" - a camp that you go to to figure out how to get into a Ph.D. program.  So you can imagine that we're a pretty nerdy bunch.  Anyhow, we get together every single summer no matter what.  Just the 4 girls.  Three of us married the guys we were dating when we first met.  So far, I'm the only one with kids so the girls have been nice enough to come to me for the past 3 years.  Next year is New York though.  Below, Katie is playing with Hunter.  Katie just finished her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and is a Post-Doc at NYU.  Super smart girl! She's single if you know of any smart (and tall) eligible bachelors.

 Otherwise, she can wait a few years and Hunter will gladly marry her.  He ADORED Katie.

 Grad school camp was up at UCLA, so this was a stomping ground for us.  We had to go back and visit.  Kim, me, Zoe, and Katie.  I am by far the shortest.

 Action shot! Zoe is also expecting, if you couldn't tell.  She's having her first little boy in October!! She just graduated from Berkeley with her Ph.D. in Physics and is going to work for some government funded research institution in Maryland.  Wow! Another smart, impressive, wonderful person!

 Kim!  She graduated years ago from UT Austin with her Ph.D. in Math.  She moved to LA where she had a fancy fellowship, hated it, and decided to work in the corporate world.  She's so happy.  Now I'm waiting for her to have babies.

 Then we went for pedicures! What is more fun and girly (and kidless) than pedicures?!

And then we hung out by the pool.  Ben and Brian joined us by the pool - as did the little boys.  It was a super fun afternoon!

 The pregnant girlies!

 Katie got Aspen the cutest little bloomers!!!

 And she got Zoe an adorable little hedgehog shirt.

 Then we went out to Houston's for dinner before dropping Zoe off at the airport.  It was a quick, quick trip but SO much fun!

 Oh - and we got Zoe a little outfit for her boy.

 And pigged out on Cheesecake.  We eat a LOT of dessert when we're together :-)

 Ok, so then we went back to San Diego.  It's too much fun.  The boys love it!  We started with the safari park, where we went to feed the Lorikeets.  4 of them descended upon Brian within about 2 seconds of walking in the door.  He's a little weirded out but then decided it was super fun.

 Hunter liked holding the cup, but as soon as the birds came over her was done.  He poured his food into my cup.

 I thought it was pretty cool.

 But I was concerned about anyone touching the birds.  I won't mention who "anyone" is.

 We did the tram ride, which Hunter thought was super cool but bored Landon to tears.

 Then we got them Slurpees.  Overall, the Safari Park isn't the BEST place for kids this age but we had fun.  And then we went to the zoo.  I have no idea why we did 2 parks in one day.  It was NOT smart.  We won't do it again.

 The boys on the carousel.  I found it amusing that we smuggled Landon onto the carousel because Brian only had $2 in his wallet and that's how much it cost for Hunter to ride...

 The next day we went to Legoland waterpark which was AMAZING.  The boys loved it.  Especially Hunter.  If Landon had the words he would say "This looks like fun but they need to heat the water."  Hunter could have cared less about how cold it was.

 WATER!

 Hunter recently decided to make faces while posing for pictures.  While some parents might not appreciate this, I find it to be absolutely hysterical.

 The boys enjoying another Slurpee. happen to think this is the funniest picture I have ever taken.  I love it.

On Wednesday Brian had a work thing at the Del Mar track, so we all went.  It was really fun to watch the horses.  We got lots of compliments about how well-behaved the boys were.  That was a nice treat :-)  We didn't take any pictures of the horses, but these were the most beautiful animals I have ever seen in my life.  So amazing.

 On Thursday we went to Sea World.  Sea World at this time of year is amazing.  We didn't have to wait in any lines, even to feed the dolphins (which is only done twice a day).  Hunter was a sport about petting them again.  Landon was more hesitant this time than last time.

 And, of course, I was so happy to pet them! They are tied for my favorite animal.  I think they're just so special.

 We saw the Blue Horizons show, which Landon thought was amazing.

 My boys.

 So Hunter kept asking for a toy.  We have yet to buy him any souvenirs from anywhere (yes, even Disneyland).  I said each boy could pick out one toy.  Hunter picked out a 3 pack of Shamu balls.  Landon would not get over this gigantic Shamu.  I tried giving him a different one, a blue one, a small one - it made no difference.  So we got him this gigantic Shamu that is now sitting on our dining room table.

 We totally lucked out and realized that Tom Mangelsen, our favorite photographer and good friend, was in town.  I called him and told him we were there so we met up at the gallery and then went for a snack.

 The group at his gallery.

 Hunter and Tom at snacktime.

 Brian and i went out on date night after seeing Tom.  Yay for date night!

 Landon knows his place at the pool - ordering food.  He isn't much for the big pool - because it is cold - but he LOVES the jacuzzi and walking around on the deck.

 Me and my boys.

 Laundry basket rides!

 Our wonderful friend Angie lives in La Mesa.  We loved having them up to the hotel to go swimming.  Kai is a few weeks older than Hunter and Landon is a few months older than Fiona.  The kids (and adults) all had SO much fun together!  Angie even brought us these incredible pastries - oh my goodness! So good.

 So the day we saw Angie was a big day.  Hunter wa sin the pool all morning, then Brian took him to a beach birthday party when Landon took a nap.  Then they came back and we saw some other friends at the pool.  We went back to the room to take a shower because we were going to see a fourth set of friends for dinner.  Hunter was so excited to be going in the shower, prancing along, and he tripped over his feet....thud.  He fell right into the corner of the door jam.  It was awful.  I keep replaying it in my mind.  I picked him up and knew immediately that we were going to need stitches.  We were in the car on the way to Urgent Care when Hunter passed out - could NOT keep him awake.  So we ended up at the Scripps ER.  They were great and had him in the room and seen by a doctor within 30 minutes or so.  We were there for about 2 hours and Hunter got 7 stitches in his forehead.  I am totally traumatized.  The good news is that he was finally able to take a shower today.  Man was he stinky! They said no baths unless it is super shallow so he was D-I-R-T-Y!!!  Of course I took a picture before we went to the hospital.  I don't think you can actually tell how deep it is from this picture.  It was scary deep - in one spot I couldn't see the bottom and it was just all black!

 This was after having the stitches for about a day.  Looking much better already! He's healing great and is an awesome little patient.  His front teeth are also turning gray - I think from hitting them a few weeks ago - so we're off to the dentist now.  Wish me luck! My poor little 3 yr old with his stitches and gray teeth.