what we did on our summer vacation
it already feels so long ago, but phil got the first two weeks of may off for vacation. soooo nice to have him home with us. it was extra nice to see mikey and allie get especially attached to daddy and ask for him each morning. and i definitely got spoiled by having his help every day. the low back pain, fatigue, leg cramps, random aches and pains, shallow breathing, and frequent bathroom trips of third trimester pregnancy seem to have hit me all at once as soon as phil returned to work. made that much tougher since they packed in as much call as he’d take in a month into two weeks. so poor phil is looking just as tired and run-down as before. it’s looking to be a long summer. with baby #3 coming right in the middle of it all! 
but here’s a look back at our brief “summer vacation”. though we did have to spend a good part of it moving out of the old place and cleaning it up (yahoo- keys have been returned, full security deposit received, and we never have to go back there again!), but we did manage to squeeze in a few days of family fun.
one of the highlights was just lounging around and enjoying our home. helped along by the new birthday toys my dad got for the kids:
allie got a belated present: MY dream kitchen! 
up on her tippy toes…
phil splurged on a wii to celebrate vacation. the kids liked the boxing game.
allie decided she needed to lay down. but still kept playing!
mikey woke up one morning and requested that we go to disneyland, so off we went!
another day we checked out the natural history museum. the kids enjoyed the habitat halls. ok, ok, more like they enjoyed running up and down the big, long, echo-y rooms, pausing only to glance at each habitat.
and yet another day was spent at the zoo. in fresno. “what?” you ask, “why fresno?” exactly what i said when phil suggested it. turns out he just wanted to check out the city as a possible place for us to live after residency. oh well, a road trip’s a road trip, right?
the kids’ favorite was watching the elephants.
observing the zebras.
a camel observing us:
on our way out, we stopped to see the elephants one more time. except they had gone into the back, much to mikey’s disappointment. but before long, a worker came out and started chucking all these fruits and veggies into the water.
no one else was around (it was close to the zoo’s closing time), so we got treated to a private elephant feeding.
here they come strolling out again:
streeetch!
10 Comments
mrsstellalee
we have that same toy kitchen. we got it for megan when she was 2 and she still plays with it everyday, and now gavin does too. seriously, i was the one who was drooling over it when we were looking into getting it. it’s one of those good investment toys because it will definitely get played with a lot. 🙂
brofermin
Yeah for vacation! Looks like a blast and I love that you can take a “jaunt” to Disneyland! Sorry Phil is back in crazy call land. I feel for you and will be praying for quiet respites together before baby 3.
Kavedissian
let me discourage Fresno as much as possible. Knowing that place pretty well, yes there are some nice and pricey places to live. it is no place to raise your nice well behaved kids. My dad’s family lives is Madera which is the next town near Fresno. I hated it….it has gotten worse over the years. there are more and more gangs. I feel for you about all the preggy symptoms. I hated those leg cramps. Come to Colorado!!!!
brofermin
Fresno? I thought you were coming back to Minnesota 🙂 Of course, we may not be here unless we end up in Rochester. Or we could be in Cleveland, or Denver, or Portland…aren’t you guys glad you don’t have to go through another Match Day? Is Phil already being recruited for jobs? Love the stainless steel appliances in Allie’s kitchen, by the way.
Starbukk35
allie’s little pink dress is so cute! and i love the “playing wii whilst laying down”. that girl cracks me up.
oh, and sorry for not dropping off the aquarium calendar and picking up my sweater, hehe. by the way, i’m teaching Tales Between the Tides session I, June 30 & July 2nd. (http://www.cabrilloaq.org/science.html#tales) it’s described about 3/4 of the way down the page. if you think you can make it, i would love to have you guys join the class, but if you can’t, i totally understand. 🙂
joeandtara
i am amazed at how much ya’ll do! the kitchen looks like a newer version of ours; we use it all the time. skye is 3 and still wakes up and plays with it first thing. dakota plays a little less, but they all get in there in do their thing. i can relate to third trimester; i can’t belive libby is almost 9 months. how time flies. you all look great!
jame_o
oh how fun! i love the kitchen set. does mikey play with it too?
lschnell
I heard New Hope, MN, is a nice place to live. Maybe you and Phil should check out the culture in that city?
I barely know Allie, but she cracks me up! Love the tippy toe shot and her exhaustion after playing the wii. Too cute! And, “GO MIKEY GO” on that big boy bike. He’s growing up way too fast!
nitajan
Love the pics of Allie playing Wii–so much concentration must have worn her out. 🙂
joesee22
I’m waiting for Matthew to be old enough to play WII with me
That’s a nice kitchen…do you think it is weird that Matthew has a kitchen too? A friend bought it for him.