Fall Festivities with Friends

Last week we had a playdate at a Pumpkin Patch in Del Mar. It was really big and had lots of rides and things for the kids to do. CJ had SO much fun with his friend B. 

Posing with pumpkins

Checking out the sunflowers

How about this one?!

How does that corn taste? (ew.)

Running through the pumpkins!

CJ was SUPER excited about the train ride, and loved getting to "ding the bell".

There was also a car ride, and CJ was excited about the firetruck!

They had bouncy houses and giant slides. CJ loved it. He must have slid down and climbed up at least 20 times!

These two are so cute together...but they can also be trouble! Ha ha!

Come on B, let's ride the train again!

While we were waiting for our turn on the train, CJ kept telling me how he wanted to ride #3. I kept looking and looking and didn't see any numbers on the train. I told CJ "I don't think they have a #3 honey..." The train operator heard me and let me know that the numbers were on the back of each car (I had been looking on the sides) and that my son was indeed correct. Ha ha! Well, he got to ride in his #3.

One last turn on the firetruck!! 

What a fun time we had! Thank you so much for inviting us to join you, B!

Make New Friends

I've always struggled with making new friends. Not exactly conducive to a life constantly on the move in the military, but I'm working on it! I'm so glad that I always get to move with my very best friend, JT. And I also feel so lucky to have a "built in" best friend in my little sister.

The first 18 years of my life were spent in the same town, so I graduated high school with people I went to elementary school with. I was never in the popular "cool group", and I feel like that affected my self esteem. Clemson is a pretty big school so I struggled a little making friends there at first. But I eventually found my footing, and my two best girlfriends to this day are my classmates/roommates I met ten years ago this year at Clemson. When we moved to Hawaii, it was difficult to make friends there because there is a dramatic divide between the kama'ina (locals) and military (as in locals don't like military). Since I was working full time with locals, and then going home to a military base, it was challenging. In Michigan, most of the friends I made were my co-workers, but we didn't really hang out much outside of work until I got laid off. (I guess I felt nervous about trying to hang-out outside of work, because if it didn't "work out" it would make for an awkward work day? Or maybe I just assumed that everyone already had enough friends and didn't need ME? Who knows!)

When CJ was born, it suddenly became much easier for me to make friends. He makes me feel more confident, and is my "ticket" to talk to other Mamas. With him on my hip I'm not nearly as worried about being rejected by a potential friend, because I'm thinking more about him (and the 500,000 other things on our to do list). I had a really great group of Mommy girlfriends in Michigan, and I really miss them. We would have play dates, and moms nights out.

When we first moved here to San Diego I tried to find where I fit. Honestly I was a little intimidated by the beautiful "SoCal" women (I don't usually wear makeup or do my hair or dress up) so I was worried I wouldn't fit in. We don't live in "base housing" so I don't meet many other military wives (and the Dental Corps doesn't really have a great support system for spouses here). We live in a primarily "older" community so it has been hard to meet neighbors with kids. I joined a group on meetup.com but it didn't end up being a good fit for CJ and me. (The moms were all much younger so we didn't have much in common and their babies were younger than CJ, so naptimes didn't coordinate very well. We both needed friends closer to our ages, and similar lives.) I joined MOPS and made some good friends there as the year has gone on. This fall, I got "lucky" that another group on meetup.com had an opening...so I tried it out. Happy to say I found my fit! :) Most of the ladies are nice, fun and they are primarily in their early 30's. (The group has a monthly wine night, how can you NOT love THAT?!) and their kids are close in age to CJ!

A whole bunch of us are pregnant at the same time due in the next two months so that is fun too!

The group hosted a "Group Baby Shower" which was so nice! We had lunch down in La Jolla.

All of the preggos in the group. (This post is already SO late because one lady had her baby already! I had to get it posted before anyone else did! HA!)
In addition to the lunch, they also gave each pregnant lady a color coordinated "Hospital Survival Kit". (Pink-girl, Blue-boy or Green). Super cute! I can't wait to wear my pink socks at the hospital!
One of my new friends. Her daughter is exactly a month older than CJ, and her due date with her baby boy is exactly a month before Baby Girl's due date! :)
"Make new friends, but keep the old" was a song we used to sing in Girl Scouts when I was younger. I'm thankful to have friends scattered across the country, and I try hard to keep in touch with everyone as often as I can! But, I'm also so glad to be making new friends here in San Diego, it definitely helps it feel more like home!

Down by the Sea

Our friends did a lot while they were here. In addition to Safari Park and Disneyland, they also went to LEGOland. (I didn't feel up to taking CJ to an unfamiliar theme park without the assistance of JT in my "condition".) So, on their last day, we decided to "take it easy" and head over to the California coast!

I love this picture of us!

CJ and his Dada, checking out the pelicans.

Our family of 3, soon to be 4. :)

My friend's beautiful family!

Cute little seal on the rocks.

It is still so amazing to me to be able to go to the shore and see these gorgeous creatures in the wild. This mama had just given birth to her baby. It was so tiny, and seeing it nurse was so neat.
The pretty La Jolla coast.
Pelican in flight.
We tried to have a "photoshoot" of CJ and KD. This is how it went:
Ha ha! They were both more interested in running around in the grass! Isn't she so beautiful?!

Thank goodness JT was there to chase CJ because he was running FULL speed!!

And then he would fall on the ground laughing. I adore his zest for life.

This was the best picture we could get of the two of them!

It's always so nice to have time with our friends and family who live far away. Military life makes it hard not getting to see them as much as we would like, but I think it is fun for people to have new vacation destinations every time we get a new duty station! :)

As usual, the time passed too quickly! I can't wait for my friend to visit again in a few months and get to introduce her to our Baby Girl!

"Mickey House"

One of the activities our visitors wanted to do while they were here was go to Disneyland. JT and I were SOOOO bummed to have to go there, since we can't stand that place. ;) HA HA. It was by far the busiest day we've seen there, but we made the best of it and still had an awesome time (as usual)!

On the way to Disneyland, my friend and I were talking and one of us said the word "cereal". CJ heard "seal" and started demanding "dolphin" and "whale" (I guess he thought we were going to Sea World?) So when we got to Disney at first he was upset that we weren't at Sea World. Thankfully seeing the Whale in front of the Storybrook ride managed to suffice and he eventually forgot about it. Phew! I told him we were at "Mickey's House" so CJ started calling Disneyland "Mickey House". Meeting Geppetto.

All of us in front of the Walt Disney & Mickey statue and the castle!
The kiddos waiting in line for the carousel. KD really enjoyed it. CJ on the other hand, flipped out and started adamantly saying "No" "No" "Down" so JT removed him from the ride before it started (or else that would have been a really long ride). This is the third time CJ has not wanted to ride a carousel. Not sure why? He loves every other ride we've taken him on.

We also rode It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, and Dumbo. (Our friends also rode the teacups but JT and I don't do that ride anymore...). JT sacrificed one for the team and rode the Dumbo ride backwards to get this great shot of all of us on the ride!
Posing for a pic in a Dumbo. CJ was yelling "CJ chair" because he wanted to sit on the seat like a big boy (instead of Mama's lap). HA HA.
Our family of three.
Probably my favorite picture of our kids that we were able to capture. (They are actually standing next to each other willingly. HA!)
Our friends and CJ (he's too busy watching the Dumbo ride to look at the camera!).
Such a fun day!!!!

The little princess all tuckered out from her first trip to Disney! :)

The weather was perfect, and it was so much fun getting to share one of our favorite places with some of our favorite people. We hit a little traffic on the drive home (typical LA), so we stopped at Outback for dinner. The kiddos were tired and so was I! It sounds funny, but sometimes I forget I'm pregnant...until it's too late and by then I'm exhausted! It was worth it though, what a great day!

Welcome to SD

Finally finding a chance to sort through all the pictures and update my blog after a very fun visit from one of my best friends, her husband and their beautiful little girl, who is one. I got a mini taste of what it will be like to have two kiddos in this house, and it was wonderful!!

We tried to balance going and doing activities with downtime/playtime at our house so the kids (and this preggo!) didn't get too tired! CJ and KD eating breakfast together.

Playing together outside in our backyard. We told CJ to pick a flower for KD and give it to her. Awww...the first of many flowers he'll give her? ;)
Stooping down to be on the same level.
Running through bubbles.
After a relaxing morning, we decided to head over the the Safari Park for a bit. But almost as soon as we got there, the beautiful sun faded and it started raining! :( We tried to make the best of it, and still got to show them a few animals! The mamas pushing their babes uphill.
When it started raining harder, we didn't want the kids to get cold/wet/any sicker than they already were. (They both had colds with runny noses).
Two besties.
As we were leaving, the rain started slowing down, but we figured it was better to be safe than sorry!! CJ was throwing a little temper tantrum at this point because he wanted to go on the "ride" (Safari Tram).
CJ giving his "auntie" a hug, and KD looking at him like "THAT IS MY MAMA!!" ha ha!

Sharing cars, and playing together.

Lunchtime one day.

Thankfully, other than that one day, the rest of their visit was normal San Diego weather: sunny!! :) More backyard play!

CJ learning how to throw a ball straight up, he thought it was so funny.

KD learning how to play tee-ball at an early age! :)

Typical CJ.
CJ giving KD their second flower! Melt my heart!
Hello down there.
The car was quite the hit for both kiddos!
A natural driver already!
BEEP, BEEP!

More pictures from our visit to come in the next couple days!!! (WAY too much for one post!)