Sicky-O's

The week before Labor Day weekend, Michael started to feel under the weather; with working late nights and not really letting his body relax the 2-3 weeks prior, we thought it was no wonder he wasn't feeling well. After a few days, it seemed like he was progressively getting worse. The theatre had a set to tear down and a new one to put up, follow ups to be made and rentals to be tended to...no rest for the weary. But after about 2 attempts to go into work, Michael just couldn't do it. He was home for a total of 3 weeks, to the doctor 3 times and in the emergency room once an EVERYTHING came back inconclusive. No swine flu, mono, strep throat, xrays came back fine, etc. He was fighting a very high grade fever, body aches, a hacking cough and other wonderful sicky symptoms.

The sicky-o's lying on the couch resting
Isabelle and I stayed clear of him as much as we could and then all of a sudden little one spiked a fever too. Nurse Nightingale (me) now had 2 sickys to tend to but the upside in this situation for Michael was that he could finally cuddle with Isabelle again :) Luckily Isabelle only missed 2 days of school and a weekend. She had a cold with a snotty nose and a seal barking cough, which was partially due to yet another ear infection which she was prescribed Amoxicillan for 10 days. About half way through the day, you would have never guessed that she was sick. She wanted to go outside to play, start rough housing with Michael, Bear or Millie, our neighbor's puppy.

Good news...Isabelle is back in full swing and yesterday was officially 3 weeks since Michael started feeling sick and was chalked up to his first "normal feeling" day, which was perfectly timed to say the least. We attended the 40 Under 40 award ceremony last night honoring him and a bunch of other amazing folks under 40 who have made a great impact due to their exceptional leadership in Santa Clarita and neighboring cities and this is Opening Weekend of "Hounds of the Baskervilles" at the REP. Good times to be had but no celebratory drinks for this one!

The Animal Lover

After coming home early from my girls weekend getaway, Michael was terribly ill, Isabelle and I had to make our own plans for Labor Day weekend avoiding the "house of plague" at all costs.

Izzy watching "Prince Charming" eat
Caryn, Amy and I chatted the night before and after going back and forth about all of SCV's kid friendly places like bounce houses, the library and even the mall's play yard, Caryn came up with The Gentle Barn.

Izzy and Mia buying carrots to feed the animals
The Gentle Barn is a rescue ranch where horses, cows, goats, pigs...you get my point, were on the verge of death, rescued and nursed back to health (http://www.gentlebarn.org/). They are an awesome group of people and volunteers who rely on funding and donations to keep the gates open. We arrived about 30 minutes after they opened, paid our $5 each donation and were asked by one of the volunteers if we wanted to see the cows? And with a "yes" from all 4 of us, off to the cow stall we went...literally! We walked right into the cow stall where 5 cows were herded together eating breakfast and as they were doing that, Mia and Izzy had a chance to pet them.

Izzy feeding a horse for the first time!
While waiting for Mackie and Amy, we bought a bag of carrots to feed the animals with. We were told that a few of the horses were being boarded at the barn due to the "Station Fire". Those horses were pointed out to us so we would be sure not to feed them since they didn't know how the horses would react.

Mackie and Izzy-BFF's!
The morning was spent going from pen to pen, petting and feeding the animals. Amy and Caryn's welcome was by a horse sneezing on them both! It was hilarious! Isabelle and Mackie were all about wanting to "meet" each animal but Mia was a little more hesitant. Luckily Mommy Caryn wasn't and fed and pet them while Mia was in her arms. We had to be careful of the girls and their excitement screams or crying screams because we found out (Mia did the hard way) that the animals will flock to that person crying or screaming to see what is wrong and next thing you know, you are face to face with a goat and a sheep!

The largest pig we have ever seen!
The Three Amigas! The girls were taught how to feed the animals the carrots; open their hand up flat, palm up, put the carrot in the middle of their palm then the animal would take it from them. Izzy would giggle her tush off when they would nibble it out of her hand and then race over to me for another one so she could do it again. She fed the horses, goats, sheep and tried to feed one of the pigs who was walking around but wanted nothing to do with it. She even went over to the carrot that he dropped, picked it up and shoved it back into his face...he just walked away. She probably would have started stalking him if I didn't have her come see the peacock with me. Even more so with her feeding them, all I thought of was her sticking her thumb in her mouth afterwards...YUCK! All of us Moms were quick to pull out the disinfectant wipes when going to the next set of stalls.

Izzy and Caryn/Mia feeding the sheep.
The ranch is very clean and well organized and we couldn't believe how many volunteers they had, both young and old. The volunteers must have gotten a script before starting because they knew all of the animals names, how they got there, how long they have been there and were able to give us back stories on almost every single one of them, like the one of "Surprise" in the picture below. Surprise was literally a surprise, none of them knew the mommy cow was pregnant when they rescued her. It was really great 1 1/2 hours and I know this is something I am going to look forward to Isabelle volunteering for...what a great time!

Izzy brushing "Surprise" the newest edition to the Gentle Barn family.

The Week of New Beginnings

This past Sunday, Isabelle and her friend Sophia started Sunday School class at our church and loved it. Proud Grandmama shared this moment via email with the Reverend in Jordan who baptized Isabelle a year and a half ago:

"----- Original Message -----
September 03, 2009 3:12 AM
Subject: FW: First day of Sunday school

Dear Pastor Azar,

We wanted to share with you the little baby you baptized at River Jordan in February 2008. Isabelle ( the blonde) is now 2-1/2 years old and has started attending Sunday School at Christ Lutheran Church in Valencia, California – our church since 1978.

Sincerely,

Karen Ilich
(Proud Grandmama)"

Sophia and Isabelle showing off their stickers from Sunday School And here was his response:

"Dear karen,

That is very kind of you to email me with the picture of Isabelle. Indeed I still recall to wanderful event we had at the very site Jesus was baptized. I was a great privilege and honor for me to carry out this Holy Sacrament for your Grandson Isabelle. May she grow up in wisdom, stature, and grace.

I value a continued link from time to time and you graciously welcome to visit us again in Amman. May be Isabelle one day will choose to have Jordan as her venue for her marriage ceremony.

Best Regards to her Grandpa and her parents and a hug to Isabelle.
Rev. Samer Azar"

We hope that one day we will be able to return to Jordan with Isabelle, when she is a little older, and retrace our footsteps to share with her what all we did and what all she experienced when she was only 18 months old.

Amber and Isabelle at the video arcade-Dance Dance Revolution! Another new beginning happened today. We withdrew Isabelle from her other preschool and enrolled her into a new school, Tutor Time. This one is not far from work and home but not as close as her other one was. However after visiting Tutor Time twice, both Michael and I felt that this school offers more structure, planned curriculum and activities for our growing, ever so curious little one. Isabelle is going in as a "Prepper"-a 2 to 3 year old child who is potty trained and ready for bigger things than what the "Twaddler" class has to offer. She waltzed right in there, took Miss Gina's hand (the Director), went to her class to drop everything off and started playing. All of the other kids were outside so we all went outside. I said my good byes and with a few tears, Isabelle said good bye to me then to Papa and then back to Miss. Gina but now with no tears whatsoever. I called to check in on how she is doing and Miss. Gina said, "she is a perfect little angel and is doing awesome!". YAY! Hopefully there is no "honeymoon" and she will be the same way from here on out.

Isabelle at Venutra Beach with PapaWe were also very lucky to find out last week that Isabelle was accepted into a parent/child class on Mondays with Mia...Miss Stella's class. This is a parent/child participation class that Michael will be taking her to on Mondays from 10:30-12:30 which is truly VERY difficult to get into but once you are in, you are in. A lot of the children in this class have been together since 6-12 months old and the waiting list is huge but lucky us, Caryn added us to the list early on and to top things off, we found out that I actually know Miss Stella and her daughter! Tara went to school and was in Girl Scouts with her daughter Christy, who has seen NUMEROUS pictures of "Macho Nacho" that Tara has posted on Facebook. Such a small world I tell ya! Well this past Monday was her first day however Michael did not get to take her. He has been battling a nasty bug (and still is) and with me at work, Caryn offered to be the "surrogate mom" for us in class that morning. I came to pick Isabelle up to take her to her eye doctor appointment and when I got there she was telling me all about what she did; she had shared 2 toys with her classmates, did 2 art projects, ate snack, played bean bag toss, read stories and sang songs...all in 2 hours! Again, a more structured environment that we are so pleased she gets to be a part of.

We have ducts!

Just wanted to post a quick entry to let you all know that Isabelle and I went to her post-op appointment today and Dr. Munoz was pleased to tell us that Isabelle's now has perfectly working tear ducts! However I am sure the size of her gigantic "crocodile tears" will remain the same :)

The "BIG" Slide

Since Isabelle was one years old, I have not wanted Michael...wait, it was more like I have not allowed him, to let Isabelle go down the "big twisty slide" at the park (I think there was a blog entry where I mentioned that previously). She has only gone down this slide while sitting on someones lap or between their legs like a train and I was totally fine with that. Well today, while sitting here at work, the following video is emailed to me....

I called them after watching it and through his laughing, Michael told me that she cannot get enough of it! She was hesitant at first he said, but then followed another little girl up the steps and right down the slide, by herself. So much for Mom's sheltering...I guess they do have to grow up sometime :)

Summer Sauntering

As you all have read, heard about or perhaps witness it yourselves, Southern California's heat wave started about a month ago and with that comes creative, cool but energy burning activities to do with the little ones whether you are inside or out.

Riding her tricycle before dusk ...about 7:15pm
We are pretty lucky living in the community that we do. It is very family friendly and family oriented with endless activities and groups to be a part of the entire year. Summers are the best times. We have had many BBQ's and swim parties to attend along with indoor mall playground days and play dates at others homes, for a change of scenery and to keep all of us cool. In the midst of preschool and other activities, Isabelle had learned to ride her tricycle and scooter like a pro! Almost every night after picking her up from Preschool or Grandmama's (and weather permitting of course), I let her ride around in front of the garage or we take Bear for a walk and she rides her scooter. She had been eye-balling our neighbor Sophia's skateboard so who knows what is in store for us next.

Chowing down on BBQ'ed corn on the cob

One of our most favorite summer night activities to attend is Concerts in the Park. Every Saturday night the City of Santa Clarita puts on a concert, cover bands mostly, that are free to the public. Some bands are OK and others you need to arrive 3-4 hours beforehand to get a good spot! The usual suspects always get a group together and either carpool or meet somewhere and walk to Central Park; the double seat wagon Isabelle got for her 1st birthday comes in very handy for those nights.

Bravo...Encore, Encore! Isabelle and I hitched a ride with Amy and Mackenzie when we went to see the opening concert featuring The Skinny Little Twits. The girls were hilarious in their car seats next to one another. They got a HUGE kick out of it, giggling the entire way! When we arrived at the park, we were greeted by April and the Pickles (Roxy and Jazzy). The Hovhannisyan's and Price's were all set up right in the middle with a great shot of the stage. And within 20 minutes after getting there, the Magin's and Mangione's arrived to complete our group for the night.

Mackie and Izzy "dog piling" each other on the dance floor.

The Skinny Little Twits played everything! The Eagles, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, etc. and the kids were rocking out like crazy. I took Isabelle and Mackenzie up to the dance floor and there was no stopping them. They were dancing around together, falling on top of each other, playing London Bridges under my legs, just having a great time. We slowly started our way back to our "site", holding hands the entire way. We had a picnic dinner (PB and J for the girls and Corner Bakery for Amy and I) then right back to dancing until the concert was over. We had 2 pooped out little munchkins on the ride home that needless to say, slept VERY well that night.

Mia and Izzy cuttin a rug

Going along the same outdoor evening event theme, our local mall (Westfield) also hosted "Hot Summer Nights"....a month of concerts outside the mall on Tuesday nights. When we first read the line up we know that we HAD to come out for Boogie Knights (70's cover band-all Disco)! Besides all three Owston's getting to go together, to make the evening even more complete we were invited to a private preparty at Sicily (which is a restaurant that happened to be right next to the stage) for free food and drinks! After the preparty we got a table outside on the patio and watched Boogie Knights from there, until Isabelle wanted to go dance.

Debbie taught Isabelle how to suck up spaghetti

Lady and the Tramp style (pic by Tom)
She found her friend Jenna out on the dance floor and those two tore it up! Isabelle would be back and forth from the dance floor and then back into the restaurant for a break. Later on in the evening we all made it out there and were dancing machines! Tom had his new camera and was out there clicking away (a few of these are his-thanks again, Tom).

Izzy and silly Tom

That night must have made an impression on Isabelle because the last few times we have gone over to the mall the first thing she asks is if we will see Boogie Knights? I have to tell her no but we will be seeing them again soon because they are playing the last Concerts in the Park on Saturday, August 29! WHOO HOOO! This will be "that concert" where you will have to be sure to stake out your spot at least 4 hours before the concert.

Silly Papa (pic by Tom)

Look out last concerts of summer...we will be there boogying until you send us home. Gotta love So Cal!

Isabelle dancing to Boogie Knights

The Surgery

Packing Isabelle's princess purse plus another bag of books and things, getting her bathed and to bed by 7:30, making sure she ate and drank enough to get her through the following morning, Michael and I having a glass of wine before bedtime and setting our alarm for 5:30am...that was how we spent the night before heading out to the hospital at 6:30am for her Isabelle's eye surgery.

Papa and Isabelle walking into the hospital-7:30am
Hitting the road at 6:30am, we arrived at the Out Patient Surgery waiting room at 7:45am on the nose and it was completely empty; we thought the place was closed (not very reassuring to an already nervous Mom and Dad). A few more patients came in and then finally a nurse. YAY! We got Isabelle all signed in and told her to listen for when her name is called and then it will be her turn. Looking around there were people both young and old waiting too. The youngest was a CUTE little boy who was less than a year old who had a severely crossed left eye...made my little one's watery eye seem like nothing.

For the last 4 weeks we have been talking about this day; "Who is your eye doctor?", we would ask Isabelle. "Dr. Nunoz", she would respond (its Dr. Munoz but Nunoz is close enough). Then we would ask, "What is Dr. Munoz going to do?". "Fix my eyes. Make them all better" would be Isabelle's response. She had become very aware of her "dripping eye" and would even tell us when it was dripping. So when Nurse Christina called Isabelle's name and we followed her into the back, we talked about it again. Isabelle was walking and half listening to what we were saying but we could tell that she was very preoccupied in checking out her new surroundings; all the different smells, sounds and of course, the people dressed the same with hats and masks on. Nurse Christina walked us to the very last bed where Dr. Munoz was waiting to greet us. With a big smile, Isabelle said "Hi" to her and something about getting her eyes fixed.

Izzy trying to put a glove on Papa
There were a little pair of pink, puppy dog scrubs for Isabelle lying on the bed that we had to get Isabelle changed into. We placed a blanket we brought from home and Aloha Bear on her bed as Nurse Christina was talking to Isabelle and us, letting us know what all is going to happen. Joel, the anesthesiologist, came in to introduce himself as well as his assistant. They were so on top of everything which calmed both Michael's and my nerves until it was time to get her into her "new jam-jams" (aka: the puppy dog scrubs) and a surgery hat. I don't think I have ever heard our little one cry as loud as she did just then. Not even at birth did she hit that level. She did NOT want to put them on and told us that she wanted to wear her clothes. We told her she would have her panties on but needs to put on the cute, puppy dog jammies while Dr. Munoz fixes your eyes. She clung to Michael with a death grip beyond belief, we could not peel her off of him! We were doing everything to try to get her to calm down so I could finish stripping her clothes off her and get her into her scrubs as well as putting her hospital bracelet on which she wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with. Just as I thought this is not going to happen, I saw boxes of gloves on the wall...BINGO! Remembering our visits to Dr. Diab and Carlo when he was in the hospital, Isabelle always asked for gloves. She LOVED putting on doctor gloves. I immediately asked her if she wanted one and as quick as a wink, the crying and tears stopped and a huge smile spread across her face, "Yes!" she said. From there we got her jammie situation taken care of, her earrings taken out, an oxygen test (they wrap a little thing around her big toe to measure her oxygen levels) and she started chatting away with Nurse Christina and us. No sedative cocktail was needed for this little one.

And one for her... Then 8:30am came around...surgery time. We are sitting there chatting it up with Nurse Christina, playing with Isabelle and her gloves and then Joel comes over. "OK, its time to go" he says. I look at Michael who is holding Isabelle who looks back at me with pain/sadness behind his eyes, who then turns around and in his nervous jokingly way says to Joel, "Here, take her. Fast like a band aid so it doesn't hurt". Isabelle instantly starts crying and yelling "Mommy!" and with smiles through the heartache, we tell her we will see her in a little bit after Dr. Munoz fixes her eye. (Note: I am crying as I type this) As Joel and Isabelle disappear around the corner and the sound of her cry fades away, I loose it. The floodgates opened and I just stood there bawling. Michael hugs me and says, "Welcome to my first day of preschool with her." Nurse Christina comes over and hugs too me saying its alright to cry. She continues saying that we should be poster parents for this ward and she wishes that everyone could do as good of a job as we did. Whether or not she tells all of the parents that, I don't care. It was said at the perfect time and was wonderful to hear.

And now we wait...Michael and I are both updating our Facebook statuses, through tears I am uploading these pics and texting people who are wondering what is happening now. I head outside the waiting room and call Mom and Dad. I couldn't believe how much it hurt! Both times I was telling the story of what all happened up until that moment, I cried. I came back into the waiting room and Michael hands me a vial of eye drops and tells me that its done, Isabelle is doing fine and as soon as she comes all the way alert, we can go in and see her. Music to my ears!! I started packing up all of our belongings once again and as I was putting the last few things away, Nurse Christina pops her head out through the door saying, "She is ready to see her Mom and Dad". As we went through the door, it was almost a knock down race between Michael and I to see who could get back to her bed first! We pulled back the curtain to see a very drowsy, sad and scared little munchkin laying in the bed. Michael went and picked her up, wrapped her blanket from home around her and snuggled with her, standing there smiling from ear to ear.

Nurse Christina let her take a doctor hat home
We were able to leave once the anesthetic wore off which was about 45 minutes later. Upon preparing for our departure, Nurse Christina came over and took Isabelle's IV out of her foot, gave her a doctor's hat and of course, a sticker. I carried her out to the car where we thought she would be so out of it that she would fall asleep on the ride home but didn't. We talked about what had just happened and how we will have to go back to see Dr. Munoz for a check up in a little while. When we got home, Poppy and Grandmama were waiting in the house to see her with a new addition to her stuffed animal family; Tutu Bear. She was running around like she would be every other day but really needed the 3 hour nap she took. So far so good...let's hope it worked!

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and support. We truly believe that helped us through it all.

POST SURGERY VIDEO OUT TAKES (gotta love the new iPhone)

"Want some?"-Since no liquids had been consumed since 7:30pm the night before surgery, apple juice was a very welcomed offer when Nurse Christina brought it over to Isabelle. The sharing side of Isabelle, we guess or it was the drugs that hadn't worn off yet, thinks that maybe she felt that the cup of apple juice was big enough for all three of us to enjoy.



"The Boo-Boo"-She notices all of her "boo-boo's" and after looking at the ones on her hand then showing us the IV in her foot, she was done....back to cuddling with Mommy.

Our Fish!

Isabelle is as outdoorsy as her folks. She loves taking walks, playing in the park, games on the grass, riding her tricycle (which she has finally gotten down) and most of all....swimming.

Belly flop!Remember back to 4th of July, 2007...the first time we took Isabelle in the pool. She wasn't all that thrilled with the initial dip into the pool but also wasn't scared about being in it. Then in the Summer of 2008 we started the "1, 2, 3, GO!", blew in her face and quickly dunked her completely under the water and brought her right back up again and not once did she cry. Right then and there, we knew we had a water baby on our hands.

This summer is even better! She is so excited to go swimming to the point that if you had to bribe her to do something in order for her to go swimming, she would do whatever had to be done! She is a little fish! Mackenzie, who is another water baby like Izzy, came over one day with arm floaties and was bobbing around and jumping in the pool to Travis all by herself which is when Michael decided to go and get Isabelle a pair to try out while in Kauai and she LOVES them!

The "Nestea Plunge"-falling backwards into the pool...and with a smile!With Travis off in the summer, Michael, Isabelle, Travis and Mackenzie get together once or twice a week in the morning to go swimming. And from what I hear, with or without floaties, those two are fearless! We also go to the Magin's and Price's for pool play whenever the chance arises. Those Pickles (Roxy and Jazzy) are water babies too!

We are super excited about Isabelle starting lessons at our local Swim4Life Academy. Our neighbor Rose has given us a leftover credit from her daughter Sophia's lessons (thank you again, Rosie) and we can't wait to get Isabelle in! We have a feeling she is going to learn a lot more than the "lessons" (which were more like water play) that we took last summer through the City. We will be heading over to the academy after her eye surgery to get some time in before the Summer is over. Wait a second...at the rate this heatwave is hitting us, that wont be until October! She may know how to do the breaststroke by then! :)

"Playing the pole" with her diving sticks.

Pre-op...piece of cake!

With only 21 more days until Isabelle's eye surgery, we went to see Dr. Diab (her primary pediatrician) today for a check up. After playing in the waiting room with a few other kids, Isabelle's name was called and as we walked into the doctor's office, my whole outlook on how her surgery is going to go changed right then and there.



Isabelle followed the nurse over to the scale, she asked Isabelle to stand on it which she did without hesitation (she is now 28lbs. in case any of you were wondering). I picked her up to have her temperature taken and to my surprise, I didn't have to hold her head. While the nurse was getting the thermometer ready, I told Isabelle that the nurse is going to take her temperature like Mommy and Papa do at home-in your ear. She held perfectly still and when it was over she asked me to put her down so she could walk. Without holding my hand, Isabelle marched behind the nurse into the room where her check up was going to be done. The nurse asked for me to get her undressed down to her underwear and as I was finishing putting my things down on the chair, I turned around to see Isabelle sitting on the step stool taking her shoes and socks off. Dr. Diab came in a few minutes later and was going over all of her stats (still tall for her age with a big noggin and gaining wait...slowly but surely). He was pleasantly surprised on how verbal she is and that she followed his directions remarkably; I told him that I wish she was like that all the time at home too! He finished with her check up giving her a clean bill of health however, he noticed that she has not had blood work done since she was a few months old and with her being "put under" for this surgery, he wanted to have that updated.

Showing me her "boo-boo"

A hop, skip and a jump away from Dr. Diab's office, with a Batman sticker in hand, we arrived at the lab. We signed in, sat down and a minute later we were called in. Cringing to myself, I pushed open the door and the nurse in direct eye shot was all ready for us. I sat down on the chair with Izzy on my lap as she showed off her stickers to the nurse and admired the ones the nurse had at her station. The nurse told her she could have a sticker when she was finished taking her blood....I joked saying if I make it, may I have one too? :) She showed me how to hold Isabelle's arm; on her wrist and then up at the crook of her elbow. Then as quick as a wink, she was drawing Isabelle's blood. Isabelle let out a cry but it was not even half as bad as I thought it was going to be. We talked to her to soothe her and before the needle was even pulled out, her tears were pretty much gone. She scored with that nurse...3 stickers! One pre-op appointment down and one more to go...I think this Big Girl is going to be fine, its Mom and Dad that I am worried about now :)

Visiting Tia Tara and Fathers Day

What a whirlwind of a weekend! Mom, Dad, Isabelle and I headed up for San Francisco around noon this past Friday to visit with Tara, see her new place and meet her new beau, Shane. We thought that would be the perfect time to leave since Isabelle's nap time is from around 12:30-2 and that she would zonk out once we got moving. Well after 3 movies in the car and a dozen books being read to her later, Isabelle finally fell asleep....for a half hour!! Yes, a whole 30 minutes but that little energizer bunny was ready to go once we got to the city!

Our 7 hour car almost made it with no accidents, I say almost because while in Buelton we put a pull up on Isabelle just in case she fell asleep and had to go and thank goodness we did. As we were sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on the bridge to get to Tara's place a little voice chimes in saying "potty Mommy". I look around and we still had about a mile left to crawl off the dang bridge. I told her to hold it (if she even knows what that means). She continued to watch Elmo and then 5 minutes later she asks again, this time with more severity. I told her there is no potty, I am happy she asked me and that it would be okay to go in her pull up this time. She started crying and saying, "No Mommy, potty. I go pee pee in the potty." I felt awful! There was truly nothing we could do! I couldn't believe myself but I kept encouraging her to go in her pull up...and all I could think of was the mixed message was I giving her. She finally did go and we finally made it to Tara's new place.

"Pee-pee" stop at Anderson's Split Pea in Buelton With one big swoop, since Isabelle and I were staying with Tara, I unloaded and moved us in; pack and play, stroller, carry-on "toy" bag, my purse, Izzy's toddler tote and a large duffle bag. Sitting in the car for that long, even with the stop in Buelton, got me fired up to get moving! "SUPER MOM", is what Tara called me as she saw me trudging up the stairs to her apartment. I just told her that I don't like making trips back and forth so I get it done in one shot :) After dropping everything off, changing into warmer clothes (it was in the 60's there, compared to our low 90's that day), taking a tour of Tara's new place-which was all of 2 minutes, considering this is the smallest of places she has yet to live in-love you Tia :), we all walked to dinner at a restaurant a few blocks from her place called Savor.

Tia Tara, Mom and Isabelle at the San Francisco Zoo

Isabelle was so excited to be outside and out of her car seat! On the drive up she kept asking to get out and sit with me or with Grandmama. I told her that Mommy would get in trouble if she wasn't in her seat belt and that she had to stay in her seat belt like Grandmama, Poppy and I had to. It worked for the most part but as 2 year olds do, she kept asking just in case I had changed my mind. At dinner I was thinking, this kid is not going to sit still but Tia brought a few presents for Isabelle...finger puppets! She loved them and they kept her entertained but they didn't keep her from laying her head down on the table a few times about to fall asleep. Isabelle got her third wind when dessert arrived; Halva crepes and vanilla ice cream! We got back to Tara's around 10, stopping at a market on the way back to get Isabelle some milk, and had her in bed at 10:30 only to be woken up at 7:30 the following morning...to think I thought we were going to be able to sleep in a little bit!

The newest edition to the San Francisco Zoo...baby gorilla "Hasani"

Being up early has its perks though....after a quick bite to eat at Tara's place, we headed down to Dolores Park. Isabelle walked hand in hand with her Tia having a great time singing, galloping, running and screaming like Forest Gump, "Run Tia, Run!" We got to the park and all I have to say is what an eclectic bunch of people! There was a group of about 10 people doing Tai Chi on the basketball court that bumps right into the playground...talk about concentration!! Dogs running around everywhere, people laying out, others playing music. All of this at 9am on a Saturday! Isabelle ran right over to the swing set and met a little girl who was almost 2, Ava. She was there with her father who just happened to share with us that Ava' Mom was at yoga; I think he thought Tara and I were a couple until Tara introduced us saying I was her sister and we were going to the zoo today with our folks. We stayed for a little while until the call came in from Mom and Dad that they were on their way. We said our goodbyes to Ava and walked to a little cafe and people watched till we were picked up.

Our little prariedog!

Again, San Francisco has an eclectic bunch of people living there! Gays, straights, all ethnicity's, fashionistas and granola folks...speaking of granola folks, as we were waiting outside of the cafe, Ava and her Dad were crossing the street over to where we were at. Isabelle just happened to have her huge bag of goldfish crackers out of my bag (a gallon Ziploc bag full) and to work more on her sharing skills, I asked her to ask Ava if she wanted one. Besides us being complete strangers to these people and maybe thinking "we don't take food from strangers", although Izzy had just shoved a fistful into her mouth as Ava was walking up, her Dad said to me/Izzy "She doesn't eat those yet". With a smile, I told Isabelle thank you for sharing with Ava but she doesn't want any right now. We said good bye again and Tara then shares with me, that they probably only eat all organic since most kids are in San Fran and don't eat things like fishies. I laughed and told Tara that it was really a lesson for Isabelle and that I was glad she shared her food without pulling an attitude but seriously, what child doesn't eat fishies! That is a famous childhood snack for the past umpteen years....ok, I am off my soapbox :)

Poppy got this great shot through the fence! Mom and Dad picked us up in front of the cafe and then we all drove to the San Francisco Zoo, the zoo on the beach as I called it. The moment we got in there Isabelle wanted nothing to do with her stroller. We headed over to the safari circle of the zoo to see the zebras, giraffes and the newest edition to the zoo, their baby gorilla "Hasani". Just as we approached the fence Isabelle tells me she has to go potty. I rush off with her in a heated search to find a bathroom and luckily, 10 minutes later, we made it in time. However we weren't so lucky once we got to the petting zoo.

Isabelle petting her new best friendIsabelle has only seen goats, horses, pigs in real life a handful of times; Lombardi Ranch, which she more than likely doesn't remember, and most recently, on our trip to Kauai. However she never got to touch them and at this zoo, she got her chance. As you all know, Isabelle LOVES her dog and to show her love she rolls on top of Bear, gets right into her face and kisses her, hugs her and holds on tight even as Bear gets up to move away from her...very affectionate. Well based on this, Isabelle took it upon herself to sit down with the goats, pet them then tried to grab their necks to give them a hug. We quickly diverted that before one of the goats got upset and butted her or something. Instead of hugs, we found brushes for her to brush the goats and food to feed them with. Then as we were walking out of the petting zoo gate Isabelle says to me, "pee-pee" and I say, "OK, lets go find a potty" but she stops me and says, "I went, Mommy". BAH!

We had a great time seeing all of the animals and through a child's eyes...which didn't close the entire time we were there. The animal Isabelle got the biggest kick out of was the polar bears. There were 3 of them total but in 2 areas; we overheard that one of them didn't get along with the other 2 so they had to be separated. As I was carrying Isabelle, we walked up to the fence saw the 2 bears playing together going in and out of the water. Then we went to the "lone bear" who was sleeping peacefully in the sun. Isabelle noticed that too and said to us, "he's sleeping", I nodded yes and then suddenly out of no where she blurts out, "WAKE UP!" And no joke, the bear opens his eyes, lifts its head and looks right up at us! All I thought about was the tiger incident they had last year. "Time to move along", I said.

Isabelle yelling "wake up" to the polar bear...and he did!

The polar bear Isabelle woke up!

We finished the zoo in about 4 hours; Tara thought it would take 2 hours but I teased her saying that she has never gone anywhere with a 2 year old :) We headed back to Tara's place for a well deserved nap for all before heading out to dinner where we got to meet Shane who got along very well with Isabelle, oh yeah and the rest of the family too!

Grandmama, Isabelle, Mom and Tia Tara Since San Francisco is a walking city and there are lots of streets to cross, Tara and I taught Isabelle when to walk across the street and when we had to wait (never letting go of her hand, mind you). By the end of the night she knew that the "white guy" (which later turned into the "go guy"-we don't want to seem racist) meant its ok to walk and the "red hand" meant we had to wait. We would walk up to a street corner, stop and then ask if we could go or do we wait or she would yell it out to us before we even got to the corner.

Isabelle's wonderful picture taking abilities

After dinner we decided to go and get coffee. We found a little cyber cafe that had one patron and us in there. Isabelle was sitting on my lap, playing with Grandmama and I while Dad, Tara and Shane were talking. We read a few books that I had with me, looked at pictures from the zoo on Mom's camera and she pigged out on a "cupcake" (aka: chocolate chip muffin). In the midst of chowing down, Isabelle stops eating turns to me and says, "Boobies". Not sure if I heard her right I said, "what?" and again she says, "boobies" but this time points at a picture on the wall...an abstract painting of a woman and sure enough, she had her "boobies" showing! We all got a huge laugh out of that.

Devouring a "cupcake" (aka: Chocolate chip muffin) with no hands.

We got back from our dinner/coffee escapade around 10 (late again) and as we walk into Tara's apartment Isabelle announces that she has to poop. Tara takes her into the bathroom, plops her down on the toilet and Isabelle looks up at her and says "Go Away". Tara replied, "You want me to leave?" Isabelle responds with "Go away, and close door" to Tara. So Tara does as she is told and then a few minutes later Isabelle is yelling for Tia that she is all done. Hate to burst my kid's bubble but with no doors at school and I wouldn't do this in a public restroom, our house and at friends/families homes is the only place this new found "independence" of hers will be allowed.

Isabelle taking a picture of her Poppy at Fathers Day brunch. Fathers Day morning we met Mom and Dad for brunch at Savor once more before dropping off Dad at the San Jose airport on our way home. We got back into the SCV around 6:30, a little too late to BBQ so Mom and I went and picked up dinner for all of us and brought it home. Isabelle gave Michael his Fathers Day presents, which were a huge hit :) Besides the handmade "Walk Next to Me", tear-jerker, footprint card and yummy Gorp that Isabelle made for him at school, we also got him the new Friday the 13th-The Final Cut DVD (yes, he requested that) and I framed the following picture of Isabelle for him to hang proudly in his office. (Thanks again Melissa, for enhancing it for me!)

I had another photo in the mix to choose from that I was thinking of also using for Michael's Fathers Day gift. We like to call it....."Penguins Suck! WAHHH!" Happy Fathers Day!