Our Summer Bucket List

     Yesterday was a long, but extremely fun day full of all sorts of sea creatures!  With it being Memorial Day, the hubby was off, so we planned on going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I just had to rig the Summer Bucket again.  Which worked, Liam picked the right slip of paper!

     So we packed up the car with lots of snacks, extra clothes (in case it got chilly), 

the stroller, and camera and we were on our way about 8:30am.     

It was a LONG drive up there, so after some lunch, we finally made it

 to the aquarium around 2:00pm. Which gave us at least four hours to look 

around before they closed at 6:00pm.

The first exhibit we looked at was this ENORMOUS kelp tank full 

of different kinds of fish, including some little sharks!

We watched a scuba diver feed all the fishes,

 including an eel, which tend to be a bit shy.

There were lots of little tanks full of sea creatures.

Liam loved taking pictures of all the coral.

Next we checked out this huge Deep Water tank.  

It had Tuna, a Hammerhead Shark, Dolphin-head fish, and much more!

On to the Jellies.....these are amazing creatures!

These lite jelly fish lights were hanging from the ceiling, very cool.

To quote Sponge Bob Square Pants....."Jelly fishin', Jelly fishin', Jelly fishin'!"

Can you see who's in the pictures?

One of Liam's favorites! The Puffins!

And then on to the Penguins!  

Around the corner there was a touch pool for everyone to enjoy.  

There was Bat Rays, Sea Skates, Coral, Star Fishes, Seaweed, and much more!  

Liam didn't want to touch any of it though, maybe next time.

There was an area for the kids called the Splash Zone, 

where they could be interactive with how waves worked.

There was also this really cool wave tunnel that you could walk through. 

On our way out of the tunnel, Liam found some 

frogs and fish he wanted to take a picture of.

We started to get a little hungry, so we checked out the little cafe and got a snack.  

Afterward, we went out on the deck and took a look through some telescopes.

The last exhibit we checked out before the aquarium closed were the Seahorses.

Lots of pretty seahorses!

Can you spot the White's Seahorse, Leafy Sea Dragon Seahorse, 

or the Alligator Pipefish?

It was getting close to closing time, so we stopped by the gift 

shop and Liam got to pick out his favorite sea creature he saw today.

.....He chose the Giant Octopus and he named him Oscar!

We trekked it back up the hill to our car and just as soon 

as the hubby started driving back home, guess who zonked out!  

And he slept the whole drive home, which was good, 

since he didn't get a nap in today, and we didn't arrive home till 10:30pm.  

What a LONG LONG day! But like I said, sooo sooo much FUN!

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day, we sure did!!

Foxy Love

     I just had to share!  Foxes are very special to our family, since my Grandma Hazel used to collect them before she passed. When Liam was on the way, I knew I wanted to find a fox outfit for him to come home in, which I did at Old Navy.  So with Kinley on the way, I wanted to find a fox outfit of her own to come home in.  I was sooooo excited when I found a few at Babies R Us today!  Thanks Tori!  I think these are for little boys, since the girly ones were pink and purple with owls.  But I just couldn't resist the Foxes!! I'll just put an orange bow in her hair.

Kinley's Coming Home Outfit (Front)

Little Fox (Back)

A Foxy Sleeper, PJs, and Bibs

I can't wait for her to wear these! She is going to look so cute!

In Loving memory of Grandma Hazel

Our Summer Bucket List

     Well, yesterday was Mother's Day, so I hope all you Mothers, Step Mothers, Grandmothers, Memaw's, Nana's, and Mimi's all had a wonderful Mother's Day!  Mine was FABULOUS!  I was presented with flowers, cards, a crafty flower pot and a painting from the hubby and Liam.

Then Liam picked out an activity for us to do together as a family from 

Our Summer Bucket List.  We picked going to the Santa Barbara Zoo!  We have

 never been, so all of us were excited!  We packed up the car and headed down to 

Santa Barbara to spend the day.

The first exhibit we checked out was the Chinese Alligator.

Next we headed to see the Cockatoo & Turkey Vultures.

One of Liam's favorites to watch were the Penguins swimming, 

which he called "flying in the water."

Just around the bend, we checked out the 

White-Handed Gibbon and Leopard Tortoises. 

Across the way were the Flamingos and the American Alligator, 

which was sunbathing in the warm sun.

The Giraffe exhibit was one of all our favorites! 

After walking around for awhile, we decided to take 

a break for lunch and watch "How to Train Your Dinosaur" show, 

starting Duncan, the Dinosaur!

Liam and I being a little silly and decided what to go see next after lunch.

We decided on checking out the children's park.  There was a hill 

that the kids were using cardboard to slide down.  Liam had a blast sliding down!

We took a few pictures in this HUGE bird's nest and some eggs.

Foxes are really special to my family, so I just had to 

take a picture of this handsome fellow.

We next headed on to see some Guinea Pigs and the American Bald Eagle.

Then on to see the Gorillas. There's the hubby seeing how long his arm span is.

After the Gorillas we started heading back down to the front gate.  

Along the way we found the Asian Elephants.

One of our little traditions is collecting "Squish Pennies" from different places we go.  

So when Liam spotted the Squish Penny machine, he just had to 

add a new one or two for his collection.  He chose a the Santa 

Barbara Zoo Logo and a Raccoon one.

This is the flower that I received from the Zoo for Mother's Day.  

That was very thoughtful of them to do that for all the Moms out there!

Liam totally zonked out on the drive back home!

The zoo was a great way to spend Mother's Day! So happy Liam picked that out of the Summer Bucket.  After we got home the hubby made me an awesome Mother's Day dinner.  

Overall, the day was just AMAZING!  Wonder what he will pick tomorrow....