Life's Rad in Carlsbad

If you drive around these parts, you can't miss the ubiquitous license plates boasting that Life's Rad in Carlsbad. We spent Day 3 of Joey's week-long vacation here.

Carlsbad Outlets. We dropped off grandmas.

Then took the kids to Sea Life at Legoland. Definitely a rad museum for kids. Everything is at their eye level....so you don't have to constantly pick them up to see all the marine life.

I still have to cart around my bottle warmer EVERYWHERE for this kiddo. She absolutely refuses to drink her milk cold.

Japanese King Crab. See relation of size to baby in stroller?? I was afraid one of these would find me in my sleep. Amazing and freaky at the same time.

Tons of activity stations for kids--this is an aquarium built for kids in mind!

Tunnel walkway

Yes, that is a Legoman scuba-diving inside the water...you know, like in the wild.

Ended the day with dinner at Carlsbad Souplantation. The only restaurant that can feed all four Ohs right now. And baby's first meal "out". What would we do without Souplantation??

La Jolla Coves

We took our family to La Jolla Coves the day after Milly's party.

I love the (rarely photographed) natural smile on Big Kid's face...but could someone photoshop out that piece of hair on my face???

Playing with Wiki sticks at brunch.

Waiting for our food at The Cottage. Cute place, good food. But I miss Marston's in Pasadena.

Strawberry stuffed french toast

Exploring mussels and anemones

The big kid loves to go for an occasional carrier ride. But at 32+ lbs, it gets pretty heavy.

Shopping in downtown La Jolla

The family left....and returned this week! Haha. Husband's in Michigan for a Pastor's Conference, and we decided to have Reunion #2 with the grandparents. I could use these breaks on a once-a-month basis.....=)

Two Bunches of Ranunculus

We had high hopes for the day. We got our kids ready, packed up in the minivan, and set out.

It was Sunday, April Fool's, but of no relevance to us this year. (Our last big prank was in 2007.)

I was looking forward to some family time at the Carlsbad Flower Fields, for their advertised Kids' Day. Joey had taken the time off of his usual Sunday morning basketball with the UCSD college kids.

We went, made the rounds, did the kiddie crafts, and left around 5pm. It wasn't anything particularly memorable. I was wavering on whether to buy some ranunculus, but in the end passed. We had already paid $22 for two adults, and I really didn't think we had gotten our money's worth. Hayrides alone were another $15 per adult. Needless to say, we didn't ride them.

We had been invited to our friend's home for dinner & headed over there. They have four kids, and plus our two, there's a brady bunch of fun in there. We had a delicious meal, talked and laughed for hours, and finally left for home past the kids' bedtime, around 8pm. Unaware.

When we got home, my husband asked me, Hunny where is my black (man) bag? I went back into the garage to check. It wasn't there. And I felt that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach.

My memory suddenly went on rewind mode. A car pulling up next to us to park...the stroller being in the way...moving it to the front of the car....changing both kids' diapers...then getting into the car to leave for dinner.

And I realized that we had left the black bag in the dusty dirt parking lot of the flower fields. Four hours earlier. The black iPad bag (which was a Christmas gift from me), along with an iPad, wallet, and $200 in cash were sitting in our trusty Maclaren umbrella stroller. Easily totaling over $1000. We had both assumed the other had put the stroller away.

So the hubby drove that night back to the flower field. I waited, tense, for 30 minutes. Then I got a text with one word: GONE. I hoped it was an April Fools' joke. When he got home, I realized it wasn't.

We looked online to check if there had been any fraudulent charges on the credit cards. First stroke of luck: there weren't any charges, yet. Then we had to decide if we should cancel all 6 credit cards and go through the hassle of waiting for new ones....or risk dealing with fraudulent charges and wait to call the Flower Fields first thing in the morning. We decided to wait.

I called them at 8am on the dot. No answer, an automated answering line, with no chance of speaking to a live person. I thought quickly. There was a flower shop next door. I called and spoke to Kent. He said that he hadn't seen a stroller in the parking lot the night before, on his way home from work. I knew the chances of finding our items were slim to none.

He said he would check with the Flower Fields at 9am, when they opened. I went about my morning.

And he finally called me back, a little after 9, with these words, "They do have a stroller that was turned in. Can you describe it to me?" I described it quickly, and he said "Yep, that's it."

I ran downstairs to tell my hubby the good news. He left a few minutes later to go and pick up our things. Several hours later, after running errands, he returned home with our things, every item intact.

We never discovered who had turned in the stroller, or if an employee had found it. But I discovered my faith in the people of Carlsbad. We wanted to reward someone, but didn't know who. It felt like I had just hit a hole-in-one and should buy everyone dinner. But we didn't.

Instead, he brought me back two bunches of pink ranunculus.

Disneyland

Becca's first trip to Disneyland....it was quite the production. My husband had a packing list, rented us a hotel for the day, and had me go grocery shopping for 'supplies' beforehand. She probably won't remember any of it, but us adults had enough fun on her behalf I think. Here we are w/our benefactor, Kevin. He works for Disney (i.e. Special Effects Animator for Tangled, Bolt, among others. He's a genius!) & made the long drive to Anaheim to get us in for free. Yes, that is how we do:). Pastor Junie & Pastor Phil

Becca left w/a few new friends...also courtesy of Disney, Phil, & "Uncle Timmy." Thanks Tim, all I hear now is "I luddoo Meeeeekey Mouse." All in all, I was quite impressed with you Disneyland. Next time, I'm coming back for some of your Dole Whip, World of Color show, & a pair of minnie mouse ears (when I'm not 37 weeks pregnant & fighting a cold). Crazy what parents will do for their kids!!

Peekaboo Playland

I know I have a 20-month old, but most of the time, I don't think of myself as "mom." Something about buying this Groupon for a childrens' playland hit home w/me though. Maybe it's the fact that I'm on maternity leave again and have the chance to meet up for playdates. During the day. On a weekday. Such a novel idea. Life has taken a few other new turns as well. Joey's officially on a 3-month sabbatical from LAC church (to finish up his studies). And we've been visiting several different churches on Fridays & Saturdays. It's quite odd to just drive to church together in the same car....but I'm not complaining=). We'll be in LA till baby #2 is born, then off to Redding for a few months!

Perfect Day

Some years I am not really into the whole birthday celebration thing. And 32 is not a big milestone year.

But this year, with my test behind me, I plan on celebrating throughout the month of February. Heehee. It started with Brunch at Mike & Anne's, which is coincidentally Korean-owned. Brunch is my favorite meal, and it's up the street from our house. Love it there!

Followed the day with old-fashioned ice cream parlour, spa mani/pedis with my sister-in-law, and homemade pizza @ our friends' Jullie & Ben's new house on the Westside. A perfect bday.

But what I am most thankful for this month, is my husband. He sacrificed his time & sleep so that I could study. He made me breakfast in bed the day of. He reminded me to have family worship together. He didn't complain when I was in test-stress-mode. He skipped meals bc I was hardly cooking. Well, it's all over, and I will make it up to you hunny!!!!!

Goodbye December, Hello 2011

Here are a few photos to bring us into 2011...
After multiple frustrating photo upload attempts & several html error codes, I'm gonna keep it brief!!
We celebrated our 4-year anniversary in Vegas for 2 days, with a free flight courtesy of our friend at Southwest. It was our first trip together without the baby, & R didn't miss us or ask for us AT ALL! The following week, 6 adults + baby left for San Diego in an RV.
Our first stop was San Clemente....and the rest of the photos are self-explanatory!!