Waterless pool

Ismael's favorite new toy is this cheap plastic pool. During the week, it's too cool in the evening to fill with water, but he still loves to run around & inside the empty pool & throw himself on the slide. We have spent many hours now playing with this empty pool, which I never would have thought he would enjoy so much.
Here he is doing a kamakazee down the slide. Hey, at least he's using the slide...he was just running around & throwing himself over the side...that is until he did it a little bit too hard & realized it hurt.

Intern-ii

After a couple of weeks as interns, we decided to get together to blow off some steam. We did that by playing some Nintendo Wii. I'm playing doubles tennis above, & they're boxing in the picture below. I must admit, it was a bit addicting, so I don't plan to ever buy one...

To toot my own horn, I did go undefeated in tennis & boxing. Ismael spent the night playing with his cousin's long lost twin's toys...

Wild Animal Park

The Wild Animal Park is connected with the San Diego Zoo, but located in Escondido, about 25 minutes from our house. It is big & spread out, so you have to be prepared to walk...a lot...

Throughout the day, they have "Keeper talks", where the zookeeper answers questions, & sometimes, as shown above, brings the animals up close & personal. Here's Ismael wanting to run up to the animal (whatever it was).

You can also go up in a hot air balloon, which we did not do, as it costs quite a bit. Here we're on a "safari" tram that shows you animals in their "natural habitats".

They also have a petting area with deer to pet & feed. Ismael loved it.

When to visit...

Anyone is free to visit anytime, but I've had several people ask for a general schedule, so here it goes...
Good times to visit: July 2-29, Aug 27-Sept 23, Oct 22-Nov 18, Jan 14-Feb 10, March 10-April 6. By "good", I mean I'll be working 7am-5:30ish M-F, overnight call every 4th night.
Okay times to visit: Sept 24-Oct 21, Nov 19-28, Dec 10-16. By "okay", I mean I'll be working 5am-5:30ish M-F, overnight call every 4th night, weekends 8-12, probably only 4 days off all month.
The times not listed above means I'll hardly see you if you visit, & when I do see you, I'm guaranteed to be very, very cranky & tired.
If/when you decide to visit, please let me know ASAP. The reason being that it takes an act of Congress for me to get a day off or even request not to be on call certain days. I have to put in my requests 3 months in advance, & once the schedule is made, it's very hard to change. Go Navy residency!! :)

All Play & No Work...

This is in the museum on base...I'm thinking of getting one when Ismael starts dating.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go... Ismael finally has some tools to use with his workbench. As you can kind of see in the background, he's not exactly lacking in toys, but hey, I can't pass up good deals!! I'm still searching for a good deal on a play kitchen...


This is his favorite tool by far. He uses it everywhere, on everything & in everything. He'll just hold it in the air & let it run. Boys...

I don't know how he came up with this, but he's had to use it on everyone's feet.

He has spent lots of time with his tools & everyday he comes up with new ways to use them. Today he was using the electric screwdriver in his ear (& then in Pooh's ear).