Aquarium of the Pacific

Thanks to a state holiday, Ben got today off from working at the hospital.  SOOO we went to Long Beach and made it to the Aquarium of the Pacific.  The picture above is us outside the aquarium and you can see the "Queen Mary" across the bay in the background.




This bird became quite attached to Ben as you can see.  IT flew right down and landed on his head.  All the kids around us thought it was SOOOO funny.

There were quite a few places where you could touch the animals.  Here is Holdyn and Ben at one of the stingray ponds.  YES we all got to touch the stingrays..... they still freak me out.

It was a VERY fun outing for all of us!  

On a side note.... We went up to Bakersfield last weekend and found the perfect little house for us to move into in June.  We are SOOOO excited to have a place to call home we can't even sleep at night :)  

Home sweet Extended Stay America

Here is our pad...for those of you who were wondering.  Yes our little family of four has made the best of our hotel home.  

You can see Holdyn's new little tyke's kitchen.  That is the play corner... and YES that is a little trampoline in the right of the photo.  That is where Holdyn jumps like crazy!
Kimber's crib is to the left of the window (She is sleeping that is why it's a bit dark) and Holdyn (you can see her head) is on her bed on the right of the window.  It is really quite comfortable.  It thought it was going to be much worse.  Only 3.5 weeks to go!

Fun Land

We went to a place called "Fun Land" that is about a mile or so from our hotel.  It is open on Tuesday mornings for kids under 8.  We'd heard about it from a lady we met at a park and we decided to try it out.  The Girls LOVED it!  It took Holdyn a few minutes to get used to.  I had to take her through a few of the blow up play places, but she soon caught on.  There were only 2 other kids there so we pretty had the place all to ourselves.  They even had a kiddie corner that Kimber loved.  

Grandpa Roy Carr

Ben's Grandpa Roy Carr passed away yesterday, Monday March 18, 2009, in his home.  He has been struggling with Pulmonary Fibrosis for awhile and is finally at rest with our Heavenly Father.  Ben and the girls and I are going to leave L.A. tomorrow when he gets off (his attending was kind enough to let Ben miss 2 days for the funeral).  His Grandpa was a great man and will be missed by many!  I know I am a better person for knowing him.  We love you Grandpa and at this time we can't wait to get home to show our love to Gram! 

A fun day out

Well, since we are living in a hotel room, we've been trying to get out and find some place for the girls to use some of their energy.  We were driving around and found a petting zoo and pony rides in a mall parking lot.  We pulled right in and Holdyn couldn't stop talking about the horses.  So we went right over and she could have rode around and around all day long and been happy.  It was a little taste of home... since she cries at least once a day wanting to go "home."  Poor kid!   She did have a blast on the pony.  (You can't see it in the photo, but Knotts Berry Farm is Right behind the trees.  It is only 2 miles from where we are staying.)  

  We also went to a VERY nice park near the La Mirada City Hall.  There is Frisbee golf, and a huge pond for fishing and feeding ducks/geese, a trail that goes through and around the park, and a couple of great playgrounds.  Anyway, we went to feed the ducks and to check it out.  We had a great time!  

Here is Ben blowing some saweet bubbles, Holdyn and I chased them.
Here is the Fam by the pond.
I'm not going to lie, the geese sort of freaked me out.  I remember my older brothers getting chased by Grandpa's geese to get us feathers when we were kids.  The only geese I've been around were mean suckers.  So I was nervous around them, but the ducks aren't so bad.

Redondo Beach

Over the weekend we went and visited some relatives in Redondo Beach.  They took us around to a few places to see the area.  It was a great time!  Thanks Pilar for the tour and the great dinner!

Here is the family walking along the Pier.  Holdyn found a bin of all sorts of blow up things.... Dora, Strawberry Shortcake, other little girlie things and she picked a hammer?  I guess she's going to have to be the 'son' figure for now.
Here is Holdyn on the boardwalk area.  She was sooo excited to see the beach and ocean again.  Too bad it was pretty cold outside and we weren't about to go swimming!
After our tour, we went back to the Baird's home for a delicious dinner with their family.  Holdyn made herself at home right by their toy box.  
Here is Kimber with Nikki.  We had a great time with them! 

From Park to Park

When we are not at the park, Holdyn is sitting in the window watching for daddy to come home.  We've almost got 1 week down :)

We found a Park!

Here is Holdyn.... see that little person at the playground.  We pulled into the parking lot and I pulled her out and let her on the sidewalk, then I turned around and she was already there... ready to PLAY!

Holdyn meets Chuck-E-Cheese

We are lucky enough to have a Chuck-E-Cheese just down the road from our hotel.  Holdyn LOVED it.  We are trying to scope out all of the kid friendly places around.  It is hard for a 2 yr old to be stuck in a hotel all day long.  

Poor Kimber

Well, we arrived safe and sound at the Extended Stay America Hotel in La Mirada, CA on Sunday. We've got 6 weeks until we move again.   Kimber is still coughing and stuffy as ever.  Poor gal!  The Dr's think it is still an allergy, and she will eventually grow out of it.  We've got her on two different breathing treatments a few times a day to help her breathe.  Anyway, we are hoping that a change of environment and weather might help her out.  I guess we will see.  

Two more days 'till daddy comes home

Holdyn misses her daddy like crazy!  Here she is Skyping with him.  Every morning she wakes up and runs around saying "Dad here?  Dad Here?"  It's pretty cute but sad too. I can't wait until Friday Morning when she actually finds him after all of her looking.