Trip to California

Well we have had a fun but short lived summer vacation! I took my board exam on June 20th, and since our orientation started July 1st, I didn't have much time for summer. Kristen and Ethan went to Idaho and Colorado before I joined them so maybe Kristen can do a post about their fun time there.

We had a fun dinner together on the evening of the 20th with lots of family and friends. The next day we went to the Folsom Zoo and to Keith's wedding. On the 22nd, we headed down to Monterey on the coast.

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium a couple of times. My dad watched Ethan so that Kristen and I could go look at all the cool stuff at the aquarium. I feel like we could have spent another day there because we still didn't see everything!

Ethan had never been to the beach (at least since he was a newborn when we were at Lake Tahoe). He loved playing in the sand! Even though it was overcast when we went, Ethan got a little sunburn and my dad and I got really burned. Kristen and my mom were fine! Weird

We took a drive on 17 Mile Drive, which is a scenic drive along the coast connecting Monterey with Carmel, passing by some of the most expensive real estate in California. They have tons of golf courses there too, including Pebble Beach and Spyglass. We eventually made it to Carmel and went to some shopping malls and back to the beach.

My parents watched Ethan one night while Kristen and I went out on a date together. We had decided to splurge a little bit on a nice restaurant. It was kinda funny because apparently there are not many young couples who visit the expensive restaurants in Monterey on a Tuesday evening. We were the youngest people in there by a long shot! We were pleased with the food though. We stopped at a dessert cafe afterward.

On Wednesday, my grandma came in from Florida so we were excited to see her again! We went to the aquarium with her on Thursday as well as back to Carmel for more shopping excitement.

On Friday, we headed back home to Sacramento and then back to Lubbock early Saturday morning.

I've had some 3rd year orientation activities this week and I start my psych rotation on Monday.

Riding the train at the Folsom Zoo

At Cannery Row in Monterey. We were happy that Ben was able to come down for the day

At the park

Riding down the slide with Mimi

Fun slide

Slide with Grandpa

At Lovers Point Beach in Monterey. Ethan loved the sand!

At the beach along 17 Mile Drive

Ethan playing with the sand again

My grandma Frayer came out from Florida to visit with us while we were in Monterey! She got Ethan a campervan toy that he loves

The glamour shot!

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium with Grandpa. Ethan spent most of the time climbing the stairs and ramps, but he did look at a few exhibits!

Another picture at the beach!

Our little Target employee

 

Ethan is all dressed up and ready to start his first day!

I've been very busy getting ready for my Step 1 board licensing exam in a couple weeks, so I don't have much time, but I thought this picture I took of Ethan on my phone was funny because his clothes make him look like he could start working at Target any day!

Easter

Kristen got some stuff to do a little Easter egg hunt at home with Ethan. He had fun looking for the eggs and putting them in his basket!

Here are a few pictures.

Having some shake before the excitement

Heading outside

Ethan and his mommy

He was trying to figure out what's inside the eggs!

On the search for more eggs. The wind is making his hair stand up!

This is one of my favorites! Playing with his new dinosaur

Puzzles!

Ethan's new favorite thing is puzzles. I love how excited he gets!

A few videos from this week

I thought I'd post a few fun videos of Ethan from this week from off my phone

Ethan pretending to be a dinosaur! Ethan is in love with Blue's Clues right now, and he watched an episode this week about dinosaurs. Now he likes to imitate them!

It was a warm day yesterday so we went on a walk to get the mail. Ethan was excited! He says "fast", "mail", and "cars"

He was watching me work on a project and he wanted to help out with the screwdriver! He learns so quickly.

Trip to Sacramento

Ethan and I went to visit Jeremy's family in Sacramento a few weeks ago.  We did so much and we had a great time!

He did great on the flights there and back!

Ethan and Toby became instant best friends. Ethan loves to throw the ball and Toby loves to chase it! They played constantly.

Ethan learned how to use a fork. Now he wants to at every meal.

Having a tea party with Mimi!

We went to the Folsom and Sacramento Zoos.  Ethan loved seeing the animals. 

   

 

 

His favorite part was the stairs though. We couldn't tear him away from them!

Ethan sporting his new rain boots from Mimi.  With no pants on.  Quite the fashion statement. 

We went to the park a few times.  Ethan's favorite was the slides.  

He loved seeing the doggies at the dog park. 

Robin bought Ethan this monkey stuffed animal at the zoo.  He started giving it kisses!

Halloween and the Zoo

Here's a picture from last month when Ethan was a raccoon for Halloween. He's playing in the dirt just like a raccoon!

The raccoon digging around in the dirt

We had a good Thanksgiving break. I had a test on Monday then I had the rest of the week off, so we spent lots of time together.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's house just across the street from us. They are in our ward. Everything was delicious and I think we all ate too much!

On Saturday, we headed up to Amarillo to visit the zoo (they don't have a zoo here in Lubbock). Ethan had lots of fun looking at all of the animals, but we barely stopped the stroller before he would start saying "More! More!"

He had fun running around too. It wasn't very crowded even though it was a Saturday.

Giving his mommy a hug

Making a face for the camera

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving!