More Field Trips

The 'Bat Cave' at Griffeth Park is actually called the Bronson Caves, but was used for many years as the entrance to Batman's Cave.  It has been in many movies and T.V. shows.

It was a very short hike, and fun to explore.



Huntington Gardens is always a beautiful place to adventure.  The rose garden was especially nice this time of year and smelled amazing.

The kids found a table just their size to picnic.  

And then cooled off in the misters.  

 

October Field Trips

Yes, this was in October.  The weather was incredible!  

James was flying into the Orange County airport, which is only 10-15 minutes from the beach.  So, since we were going out that way...and it was a minimum day for Brielle at school, we decided to go play for a bit.

Our cousins joined us for some fun playing in the sun.

The next week we had a trip to the arboretum.  I don't often have pictures of the 3 kids together, since Preston is still wrapped in the Moby a lot while we're out, so it is nice to try to get one every once in a while.

And a random picture.  Ethan, Preston and I were out running errands.  I went to get Preston out of the car and found Ethan had decorated his brother's head.  So lovely.

LA County Fair

 
After living in CA for 4 years, I finally made it to the LA County Fair.  It's something I had heard great things about, but had never taken the time to.  It was HUGE and very fun. We were there for about 5 hours and only covered less than a third of the fairground, and only little parts of what was in those spots.

We watched a show about animals native to California.  Brielle was brave enough to hold the tarantula during part of a wildlife presentation.

We got to see lots of farm animals, and the kids enjoyed the pig racing, duck racing and turkey racing.

There was a 'underwater' exhibit.

The kids were so excited to see the shark show.  The people running the show had very sarcastic humor, which seemed to confuse the kids in the audience.  Ethan loved the diver that went in to interact with the sharks.  He pretended to dance with them, and played one as if it was a guitar, which the boys thought was hilarious.

There was a lot that we missed.  Now that we've tried it, we'll make sure to go back again next year.

Pinewood Derby

Our ward held a family pinewood derby event, which was so much fun!  The kids designed, painted and decorated their cars.  

It was a good thing they didn't realized how tough the competition would be.  There ended up being almost 50 entries, and some of the families in our ward are almost professional 'derby'ers.'  The kids were happy to see their cars rolling down the track, even if they weren't nearly as fast as the winning cars.

Brielle named her car 'pinky' for obvious reasons.
Ethan names his car 'the rental car'.  Since we rented a car for our trip to Sacramento during the summer and we let him eat in that car he has become obsessed with rental cars.

Preston at 4 Months

Preston at 4 months
* Loves to smile (except when the camera is in his face)
* Rolls from back to stomach
* Enjoys watching and listening to the waterfall while the family eats dinner outside
* Likes to watch the action of his siblings playing
* Is usually pretty content to hang out and observe
* Does not like to nurse when he is tired (just wants to be put to bed)
* Loves snuggling with Mom in the Moby
* Sleep is sporadic.  Goes to bed about 7:30pm and is up for the day about 6:30am--but wakes to nurse usually 3 times during the night.  Naps about 3 times a day (morning, afternoon and a short late afternoon nap)
* Is still sensitive to dairy.  Anytime Mom eats some it upsets he tummy.  Lots of spitting up, crying, and upset stomach the next day.
* Likes to have something (like a burp rag or blanket) to hold onto when going to sleep

Preston Stats
Weight: 17lbs 10.4oz
Height: 27.8 inches
Head: 43cm

Brielle at 4 months
Weight: 15lbs 8oz
Height: 26.25 inches
Head: 41cm

Ethan at 4 months

(His stats are from when he is almost 5 months-- because of moving and change of health insurance, his 4 month appointment was late)
Weight: 18lbs 11oz
Height 28 inches
Head: 44.5 cm

Brielle 6 1/2, Preston 4 months, Ethan 4 1/2

Fire

The mountain across the street from us has caught on fire twice in the past couple of months.
Jams saw the start of this one on his way up the bike path.  It quickly spread from a small fire...

and continued up the mountain.  (this is the view from our house!)  It ended up burning about 250 acres.

We spent a lot of time outside watching the fire-fighting equipment out a work.  The helicopters would fill up at a resevoir right behind our church, and then you could see the water dumping.  These super-scoopers were filling up at Sante Fe Dam.

Preston's Blessing

My Mom and Dad came out for my niece's baptism in September.  Since they were planning to come out, we decided to have Preston blessed during the same weekend.


It is fun to live close to so many family members, that came to support.


Preston has the example of many great men in his life.


And while my parents were here, we had a little time to play.  That friday we went to the zoo.  It was fun to have my kids spend time with their Christensen Grandparents, since we don't get to see them very often.
 

Preston was all smiles.  While the big kids were watching the elephants, he was just excited about life.