Bakersfield Zoo

This is a huge turtle that roams around our neighbor's yard. Holdyn has to go by it everytime we leave the house. It is pretty fun.

Since Holdyn loves it so much, we made a turtle and some of her other favorite animals out of her play-dough. (Turtle, Elephant, alligator) Don't you love that she is eating gold fish and drinking diet-coke....that's my daughter for sure.

Here is Kimber, she seems to think that it is easier to eat while standing in the high-chair.... we even have a leather belt in there to keep her sitting, she is usually up in a matter of seconds.

Anyway, our friend Kim, and her son Aiden, went to the Zoo with us to see all of the animals.

It was fun! It is a small, clean zoo not far from our house. There were not many people there so we got to see lots of action. They fed the snakes mice while we were in the reptile room.

Kimber and Aiden had a ball in the strollers.

They had a kids section of zoo where the kids can feed/pet the animals.

There was a worker there who picked up a big bunny for Holdyn to hold/play with.

This guy has an owl on his hand. It was fun to see up close.

The bears were the best part. They were awake (unlike most trips to the zoo) and they were playing. Standing up on 2 legs and wrestling with each other. Since the zoo was very slow we got a front row seat for the action. It was fun to watch and see how big they are.

Mindy and Spencer's visit!

Here they are!! We had a great time with Mindy and Spencer and were very glad they could spend some time here with us on their vacation!!! Holdyn took this picture as we were playing Rummikub.

Holdyn also LOVED playing and especially coloring with Aunt "Minnie"

Who knew there was enough room in this cubby for both the girls to squeeze in.

Spencer and Mindy were nice enough to bring some odds and ends out to us from home. Here is Holdyn playing on the old guitar.

Holdyn also loves modeling her little princess outfit. She's getting good at saying

"I'm Butiful!"

I was giving Kimber a bath in the sink because she needed a quick rinse and the next thing I knew Holdyn was naked standing next to me wanting to get in the 'sink-tub.' So here they are

taking up both of the sinks.... it is a good thing I'd already washed the dishes :)

More picts of my girlies

Here is little Holdyn. We found this desk at Goodwill. It's one of those OLD desks that the top lifts up. ANyway, it was pretty cheap and Holdyn LOVES it! I also wanted to put up this picture because of how she organizes her crayons. Have you ever seen a 3 year old line them up? She's been doing it for ages. She might be a little OCD like her mom ;)

Here are the girlies just before heading to church yesterday. Ben worked about 80 hours last week and 15 of them were on Sunday. So he wasn't able to go to church with us. It was an interesting Sunday. The music director in our ward, Sister Beasley, fell dead just before the opening hymn. It was very sad and a bit traumatizing for everyone who was there. Her poor kids and grandkids are in our ward and they watched the whole thing as the paramedics carried her out, still giving her CPR. My heart goes out to their family.

On a happier note, we've been able to spend some time with a friend from the island and her adorable boy Aiden. We went to a Park that had a splash pad and enjoyed the afternoon there. It was a fun place, but it was VERY busy with bigger kids who are out of school.

Here is cute Kimber and Aiden. They were so cute!!

Thanks Aunt Mindy for the Tutu's

Aunt Mindy made the cutest tutu's EVER for Holdyn and Kimber. They love to put them on and play and Dance. Here is Holdyn spinning like a Ballerina.

Below is Holdyn playing Dr. She has an old stethescope and she LOVES to put it in her ears and check out her sister and her stuffed animals. I think she's a great Dr. She even says SHHHH like her dad when she is trying to listen :)

Lake Isabella

We decided to head on up to Lake Isabella last Saturday. The girls LOVED it! We packed a picnic and set up our chairs and enjoyed a day at the lake.

Bella also LOVED the water and had fun swimming and playing fetch.

Here are the girly-o's doing their thing....being cute. Holdyn loves to help dress Kimber, Especially when they have the same things to wear.

Here are my two little bandits in their get-a-way car. Not sure why Holdyn's goggles look fogged up, hopefully she isn't driving.

We also had a great day with our friends Kim and Aiden (another MD student family). Aiden is such a cutie and the girls had a blast playing with him!

On a very random note, we were driving down the street and saw this pool up in the tree. Not sure how it got there... we haven't even had much wind. It is just a few blocks from our house and the Fire dept. had to come and get it down from the tree top. Anyway, we thought it was hilarious!

Ben is officially done with another rotation, Pediatrics. Now he is starting OBGYN, and at the mercy of women in labor. His schedule is going to be hectic and his days are going to be much longer...just another step in the MD student process! At least the light is almost in sight at the end of the tunnel :)

FUN at the Baker Reunion!!

We had a great surprise last week! Ben's attending Dr. had to leave for the week and she let Ben have 3 days off! It just happened to be the same week as my family reunion. So we packed up and left Wednesday at 3am and arrived on the mountain about 12 hours later. It worked out perfectly!

Ben jumped right in and took some great swings at the 'adult's pinata' and Holdyn had so much fun swinging at the kids pinata.

Above: Holdyn and Kimber in the stroller. They were both such great campers!

Below: Ben made whistles out of quaky branches for some of the kids.

Above: Our family fishing on the river.

Below: Holdyn and her cousins picking wild raspberries.

Above: Ben doing some fly fishing.

Below: Holdyn by the river.

Above: Bella had plenty attention. Here she is playing fetch in the river.

Below: Holdyn showing her true colors :)

Above: Kimber absolutely LOVED the dirt!

Below: Brenda with the kids going to see the deer.

Above: Holdyn and her daddy riding on the 4-wheeler.

Below: Courtney, Brenda, and Holdyn loving the hammock.

Above: Bella, Holdyn and Annie

Below: Holdyn and Daddy searching the hills for the rocky mtn. goats.

Posing in the meadow with all the beautiful flowers.

Holdyn and dad roasting the mollows!

There are a LOT of pictures.... sorry. We had such a great time and we were so glad to spend some family time in the mountains. Holdyn and Kimber both played hard all day and slept great in the cool mountain air in the tent. It was fun to see everyone that was there and we missed those who couldn't make it!