{ Birch Aquarium }

Today we went to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla. We got free admission becuase the New Children's Museum is closed for remodel and they worked out a deal with some other museums. Lucky us! We had so much fun. Here's the cool whale fountain at the entrance.

They have this funny aquarium full of sardines that just swim around and around. All day long as far as I can tell.

We spent some time at the cool shark aquarium full of smaller shark species such as nurse sharks, leopard sharks and black tipped reef sharks. The kids had fun trying to identify all the species in the tank.

There was a kelp forest exhibit where they showed a movie about the kelp forests and efforts to keep them healthy. The creatures that call kelp home are dissappearing too quickly. This is due to so many factors including pollution, global warming and even weather patterns.

My daughter took lots and lots of notes.

There is a tidepool outside where the kids got to touch a sea cucumber and sea star. Every so often, the "tide" would come in. It's a simulated tidepool complete with waves.

The jellies are so much fun to watch. What interesting creatures these are. They have no brains and four stomachs.

Here's another exhibit with a moray eel and abalones.

We spent about two and a half hours at the aquarium. When we were through, we decided to go to Balboa Park to take advantage of the free admission at the Science Museum there. We went through the entire museum and then headed over to the Natural History Museum until it was almost closing time. This is one of my son's favorite museums.

Need I say more?

{ los penasquitos canyon preserve }

We went on a hike today. We hiked two miles to the waterfall at Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve in San Diego. The kids enjoyed playing by the creek. My son was "fishing".

And got a little too close to the edge of his rock.

And soaked all of his clothes through.

Hiking back to the car, the breeze got cooler.

Thank God for daddy and his huge shirt to cover him up after removing the wet clothes.

And we all lived happily ever after.

The End.

{ Basketball Begins }

My son had his first basketball game today. He started off great! The first half of the game he hustled and passed the ball to his team mates. He was a real team player.

He sat out the third quarter and was dragging so much the fourth quarter that half way through his coach put another kid into the game and let him sit out. He was so excited when it was all over. He thinks his team won, 4-3. I have no idea what the final score was, but I'm taking his word for it. It was so cute. Yay, we love basketball!

{ My Girl Runs for Council Member }

My girl came home this week with a permission slip for me to sign. She wanted to run for the student council at school. We talked about what that would mean and also about winning and losing gracefully. Yesterday, seven kids from her class gave very short speeches about why they want to represent their class at the student council. Then, they each got to vote for two kids by secret ballot. We looked at the numbers and realized that only two people could get the spot and five people wouldn't. She decided she didn't mind if she didn't win. Her teacher tallyed the votes and revealed the final results today. My daughter is her third grade class student council representative with her friend as the back up in case she can't make any of the meetings. I was so proud of her. This is a good way for her to gain some leadership skills. Yay!

{ We Picked a Peck of Apples Today }

We went apple picking today in Oak Glen. It was hotter than I would have liked, but it was still a pleasant day. We went on the wagon ride, driven by Devon Riley himself. Several years ago the Wildland Conservancy bought this orchard to save it from being developed into tract homes. The trees started to become sick and dying and were removed. At about that time, Devon Riley offered his services as an experienced apple farmer to continue the River family's legacy on their farm. We drove around the orchards and learned some of the history of the orchards.

Both the kids picked a small bag of apples (1/2 peck according to the sign.) So, the kids picked a peck of apples, haha. Too bad it wasn't peppers.

We had a delicious lunch of pulled pork and fresh apple cider. Then we walked back to Oak Knoll Park through the back parking lot of the orchard. It was so beautiful in there with very tall old oak trees and grass and picnic tables. We will always picnic there from now on. The kids loved climbing the trees. At the far end of the park, we found a trail and hiked down it. It led to the other Riley's Farm, so we went down and walked around there some. We had more apple cider and the kids took turns at archery.

{ Cosmic Bowling }

Today we went to a cosmic bowling birthday party. It was fun with the lights turned off and the blacklights on making all the balls look neon colors. The kids had great fun. We will definitely have to do this again sometime.

{ My Puppy Love }

In case you ever doubted that my son was just like a little puppy. He chews on everything.