Santa Barbara Zoo

On Tues. morning we took full advantage of the free continental breakfast at the hotel. After checking out we drove to the Santa Barbara Zoo. k seemed much more interested in seeing the animals compared to our previous visits to other zoos/aquariums.


How come zoos seem to always put the flamingos near the entrance?


k got a kick out of seeing the elephant do its "business".


Giraffes are my favorite animal at the zoo. These giraffes have a view of the Pacific!




D thought this display was funny because it looks so much like a domestic cat. (Here, kitty, kitty!) We didn't see the actual cat, though.


Thankfully, n slept most of the time in his stroller. When he woke up, D had to hold him again while pushing n's stroller. He slept most of the way home, though, so that was nice.

Stearns Wharf

After settling into our hotel, we walked to Stearns Wharf for an early dinner.


It was overcast during our entire trip.

There were huge pelicans swooping down on the pier, and a lot of people fishing.


We ate at Santa Barbara Shellfish Co.. I ordered the shrimp scampi because I thought k would like the rice, but there was waay too much butter sauce. The garlicky shrimp were good, though. D had the local Santa Barbara crab, which took a long time to eat since there was so much cracking to do. D was able to get a good amount of meat, and I had my share too.


The table next to us ordered the spider crab, and the waiter brought out a live one for show and tell.


The big mess that I referred to in an earlier post happened while we were waiting for our food. I was holding n when he had a MAJOR spit-up incident. It went all over my shirt and onto my pants...it was definitely one of the worst, if not the worst he has had. Unfortunately, it occurred on the one and only long sleeve shirt that I had packed. D generously offered me his fleece the rest of the weekend while he had to wear t-shirts in the cold. I learned my lesson to pack extra clothes for myself as well as for the kids!

You can tell I'm the photographer of the family because there are no pictures of me. D only took one the whole trip of me, and my eyes are half closed. We need to work on that.

State Street

After lunch we tried to check into our hotel, Hotel Oceana. We booked this place through Priceline.


The location was nice, basically a block from where Cabrillo hits State Street, Santa Barbara's main drag. Since it was still early, our room wasn't ready, so we decided to take a walk up State Street. Unfortunately, n wasn't up for the stroller ride. He cried and cried, and we got a lot of looks from passers-by. I felt like they were all thinking, "I'm glad I don't have two kids two and under" or "Why would you take such a young baby on vacation?" D ended up carrying n while pushing his stroller while I pushed k in her stroller. I think it might be time to invest in a double stroller! Anyway, we needed a bathroom break so I steered us toward Nordstrom, which has the nicest restrooms, plus a nursing lounge. This was basically the only store we went into.

k put on a mini-fashion show @ Nordstrom.


It was quite a walk back, so we took the shuttle, which is only 25 cents a person. Getting on and off the shuttle was a task in itself, since we had two kids and two strollers, but it was well worth it. On our way back, we got the call that our room was ready--perfect timing!


We booked a room with 1 king bed, so k slept in the hotel's pack and play. She liked the novelty of it.

La Super Rica

We're back from an overnighter to Santa Barbara. D extended his Memorial Day Weekend by one day so we just went from Mon.-Tues. On Monday we drove up in the morning, making a stop at the Camarillo outlets. D found some deals at Brooks Brothers while I found a couple of pairs of shoes at Nine West. It is usually very difficult for me to find shoes, so I was happy.

When we arrived in Santa Barbara, it was lunch time so our first stop was La Super Rica. This place became famous because of Julia Child's recommendation. The atmosphere is pretty nondescript, but the prices are still very reasonable, so that's nice. We ordered chicken and a "La Super Rica Especial", which had pork and roasted chiles. Yes, there was too much cheese on the special for our taste, but I liked the smokiness of the chiles. We should have just ordered one of these plates and one order of tacos, because there was too much food and we couldn't finish it. We also had a hibiscus agua fresca, which was pretty sweet. When we were half way done, D had the brilliant idea of adding water to dilute it. It tasted even better! Too bad that I put our now almost full cup in n's stroller cup holder and forgot it was there while trying to navigate the stroller down the stair while holding the door open. The bright red juice splashed all over the door and on the stroller, but luckily not on n or myself. This wasn't the last big mess of the trip, but you'll have to stay tuned for that story!

News Bulletin

D.C.L. switches to Diet Coke


ANAHEIM, CA, May 21
D.C.L. annouced that starting May 21st, 2009 D will drink Diet Coke instead of Regular Coke when drinking from a can or bottle. However, when drinking from a soda fountain he will still put half regular and half diet.

Regards,
LIMBYLIM.BLOGSPOT.COM

Butterball

My mom's nickname for n is "butterball", which I think is very fitting. Look at those thighs...much cuter than the chicken legs he used to have.


k loves her tiny camera that she earned through last year's summer reading program. I think it is the only prize that she still has besides her "Just Go To Bed" book, which she also enjoys.

2 Month Dr. Appt.

At n's doctor appointment yesterday, he weighed 14 pounds and measured 23.5 inches. My suspicions of his infant acne, cradle cap and eczema were also confirmed. He was so calm throughout the whole thing. He drank up his rotovirus oral vaccine as if he enjoyed it. He did cry a little after his three pokes in his thighs, but that is to be expected. I have this internal conflict of wanting him to grow up and staying the way he is, so small and cute!

College Sports: Revenue by Conference

2007 Revenue
From OC Register (May 14th)

#1 Big Ten: $177M
#2 ACC: $162M
#3 SEC: $149M
#4 Big 12: $119M
#5 Pac-10: $89M
#6 Big East: $78M (from thewizofodds.com)

Wow! This is bad news for the Pac-10. The Pac-10 should be at least third. Having attended a Pac-10 and a Big Ten school, I could tell the difference in fan support.

Big Boy

As of our last weekly weigh-in (on Sunday), n was at least 13 lbs. Official stats will be taken on Monday, for his two month appointment. He is already wearing and fitting into his 3-6 month clothes!

Mother's Day/Dad's Birthday

Last week my grandma had a stroke, so my parents went up to visit her this past weekend. At first I thought that meant we would have to cancel our planned Mother's Day/Dad's birthday celebration. However, I rescheduled it for Sunday night and everyone made it, so that was nice. We had take-out from Zankou's.


Our first picture with all four of us. k is wearing a sweet dress made by my grandma...hopefully I can sew like her and my mom one day.


My mom played "Happy Birthday" on the ukelele while we sang. My sister made the cake--yum!

U-Pick Strawberries

On Friday we went with my moms' group to Tanaka Farms in Irvine for their strawberry tour. This was k's third time! It was the first time, however, that the kids could actually pick the berries and take them home in a basket. The previous two years there were not enough strawberries, so it was just "eat as many as you can while you are out in the field for 15 minutes". (n hung out with my mom in the shade...it was pretty hot that day).


k munching on a carrot, sporting her new Hello Kitty sunglasses.


After a brief hesitation, k ate her fill of strawberries. She wasn't too keen on the picking part, so I picked, and she ate. I tried to fill k's basket to the brim, but a lot of them ended up bruising. I think I picked ones that were a little overripe, too (you know, the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice?)

In the future I would like to go apple or cherry picking--I've never done that before.

k + n

k's new favorite thing is "holding" n.

Spring Cleaning

Today D sat out in front of our complex for about four hours selling some of our unwanted "stuff" for our community yard sale. His total haul? Just over $30. Not bad, since he also did a lot of his BSF, talked to the neighbors, helped our community and we were able to get rid of some of the things that were weighing us down. I'm glad that D is the type of person that I could send out to do this sort of thing. He then drove the leftovers to Goodwill.


k, the Bag Lady


k is becoming more affectionate with "baby Nini". This is how she likes to hold him (by the look on his face, he doesn't enjoy this too much). I can't wait until they can become friends!