More pictures from SoCal

We arrived home late Tuesday evening after a pretty uneventful flight. The boys did great on the flights home and we were able to secure a free seat for Hudson. Brooks slept the first leg home and Hudson slept half of the second leg. Samba is very happy to have us home!

Trip to the beach

Brooks had fun chasing the seagulls around the beach

We took a trip to the beach yesterday. Ryan and I got to take a spin on the Giant Dipper roller coaster at Belmont Park. It was a fun ride and in great condition for it's age (built in 1925). We ate some fish tacos for lunch and got to see a big Christmas tree decorated with beach balls.

Ryan is out mountain biking with Shaun this morning, so I took the boys for a walk to a nearby park and around the neighborhood. Tomorrow is out big adventure to Legoland...

BIG owie

So, I promised another "exciting" story from vacation. Thursday night when we were cooking dinner at our condo, Brooks had a accident. He had not napped that day and was tired and acting goofy. He was spinning/running around the living area when he ran into the corner of the coffee table. He immediately started crying and Ryan went over to check him out, when he lifted his hand off Brooks' head there was a huge amount of blood and a big cut in the middle of his forehead. We knew we had to take him somewhere to have it looked at because it looked like it needed stitches.

Fortunately Shaun and Carissa were thinking and found a urgent care center for us to go to. We rushed Brooks out to the car and headed out. Brooks fell asleep on the way there and we got right into the urgent care center. A really nice (and excellent with Brooks) physician's assistant saw him. She felt we could take of the gash with some steri strips and "superglue". Brooks was an excellent patient. He didn't cry at all and laid very still for everything. He liked playing peek-a-boo with us when the glue was put on (so it didn't get into his eyes). He fell asleep again on the way home and has been fine ever since.

Having a good time in SoCal

After a looong flight, we made it here. Brooks did great on the plane, Hudson was a little harder to please, but manageable.

On Wednesday, we went to the Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park. Brooks loved looking at all the trains.


We found a playground, so we had to stop there too.


Brooks cannot stop talking about "Uncle", "Auntie", and "Ady". When we first got here, he was smelling everything. Guess he's not used to smelling nice flowers and eucalyptus in December!

We all took a trip to the San Diego Zoo yesterday. We saw a lot of monkeys, we think it should be renamed the San Diego Monkey Zoo. We did see other animals too. Brooks and Hudson loved looking at them and all the beautiful grounds.
I went to an Asian supermarket and got us some live local lobster and crabs for dinner last night. They were pretty feisty, but they were so yummy! So far we've had Afghani, Mexican, and Salvadoran food. Not sure what we'll try today. I have another interesting story to blog about, but I need to take some pictures to go along with it, so check back later!

LOTS of snow

Mom, I can't go down the slide with all this snow!

We got around 10 inches of snow last night. Church was even canceled this morning! Brooks had fun helping Ryan shovel the driveway. He made a hole in the snow and liked sticking his head in it. He didn't want to come inside.

Pics from the big party

Hudson had quite the party! He seemed to enjoy himself, got a little overwhelmed with the gifts, and liked eating his cupcake.

Trying on a new hat

I'm ready for my cake!!

Hmmm...

Let's eat the frosting first!

Yep, that was pretty yummy!

Happy 1st Birthday Hudson!

It was one year ago today that Hudson finally made his appearance! He has grown into a happy little boy over the past year and it's hard to imagine life without him. He adores his big brother Brooks and is quite the explorer. Happy Birthday Hudson, we love you!