Hooray for Evan

Yep, this post is pretty much just about Evan.  A few days after we got back from our San Diego trip, (and just a day or two shy of his 17 month birthday) he decided to stand up and walk.  Over two or three days, he went from basically nothing to walking everywhere, it was really funny.  The next week my mom came to visit, and we got some good pictures of his new trick.  You can tell he thought he was the coolest kid ever.
   

Thanks, Mom, for all the vacuuming you did!

Flip-Flopping his Toothbrush

   
While my mom was here, we visited Huntington Gardens, and Evan further honed his skills.  We couldn't let him anywhere near the ponds, though, because that inflamed his water-lust.  He just couldn't believe we wouldn't let him swim with the turtles.  Anyway, it meant that Evan, Grandma and I spent some time on the lawn while Connor, Elise, and Ryan watched the koi.
   

The other kids were working on some kind of Japanese craft.

    
One of the best parts of Huntington is the Children's Garden.  I guess it has a lot of other cool features for kids, but we really didn't make it past the water area.  This little artificial stream kept the kids (especially Evan) busy for waaaay too long, and we finally decided we had to go get some dinner.
    

No, I didn't think to bring swimsuits.  No change of clothes, either . . .

  

   

San Diego Part 2

So, these are pictures from our tenth wedding anniversary.  Ryan caught a cold, and we spent most of the morning hanging out on the balcony of our hotel room.  It was kind of nice, actually, after running around so much the previous two days.  You can see Evan practicing his walking - although I didn't count any of that as officially "walking" yet - it was mostly going between two support objects by turning around.  He's so cute.  
   

Poor Sick Ryan

   
That afternoon, we got a sitter and went to the San Diego Temple.  As I mentioned previously, it was a really neat way to celebrate our tenth.
  
The next day (no time to be sick on vacation, Ryan, sorry!), we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park.  I have to say that this was not as kid friendly as the zoo, but it was WAY cooler!  I mean, not literally - it was like 95 degrees outside - but it was a lot more interesting for adults than a regular zoo.  The elephant exhibit was a huge series of enclosures containing a whole family group.  We were there to see them do one of their "enrichment" feeding-times, where they let them into an enclosure where zookeepers had hidden/scattered some of their favorite treats.  It was amazing to actually see elephants running and interacting.  Connor took most of these pictures, and he was especially enamored with the baby elephant who went to get a drink.  
   

 
A good portion of the park can only be seen from a "safari", which for us meant this tram.  The kids liked the safari, but they were pretty tired and hot at that point, so I'm not sure how much they really absorbed.  Definitely something I'd like to do again, maybe in winter!
    

The tour guide said this rhino is the last of his kind.

Thirsty Baby

They got to meet a cheetah on a leash!

   
The day after that was Legoland.  I have to admit, the miniatures were pretty cool.  The kids have only seen the first Star Wars movie (Episode 4, that is), but that didn't stop them from liking this stuff.  
   

Lego San Francisco

The rides were hit and miss.  Most of them were great for Connor and Elise, but there wasn't much we could take Evan on.  
   

You can't tell, but she has a look of extreme nervousness on her face.

   
Ryan and Connor waited forever to do this ride that looked like a giant robot claw.  We watched people being spun around upside down, twisted sideways, every combination of direction you could imagine.  Then it was Ryan and Connor's turn.  Apparently they have different settings based on how old the passengers are, and I watched them be gently moved up, sideways, down, sideways, and be carefully unloaded.  It was pretty lame.  The kids had a great day, though, overall!
   

  
Our last vacation day was on a Sunday, so we made an attempt to keep it low-key.  We did a letterbox hike in a park in Escondido that was awesome.  The place was deserted, and had a beautiful pathway through trees and alongside a hidden pond.  When we found the letterbox, sadly, the stamp and book had been stolen, but we wrote our information with our stamp on it, and left it in the empty box.
   

Our letterboxing pseudonym is "Scared of Lobsters."
   

Next we visited the Mormon Batallion Historic Site.  Honestly, I wasn't expecting much, but figured it would be a good Sunday activity.  I guess they had recently remodeled it, though, and it was pretty amazing - all high-budget multimedia and totally kid-friendly.  You follow the story of the batallion via these semi-fictitious characters who appear to interact with the missionary/tour guide.  At the end, the kids got to pan for "gold" (something Connor considered himself an expert at.)
 

Elise got to be a washer-woman.

  
Before heading home, we drove down to the end of Point Loma to Cabrillo National Monument, a very cliffy peninsula famous for it's lighthouse. The "old" lighthouse functioned from 1850 to 1890, and we were able to do a self-guided tour.  The lighthouse building included quarters for the keeper and his family.  It was amazing how small everything was.  They had three kids in a room the size of a large closet, with no bathroom, no tv, no air conditioning - all isolated on this peninsula.  Diaries from those kids say that basically, they loved growing up there.  My kids loved eating take-out spaghetti there.
  

  
And that was what we did on our summer vacation.  Except for everything that filled the rest of the summer that I still haven't posted.  We'll see how long that takes!