Grandpa visits

Grandpa Alexander drove out to visit for a few days. We were able to give a brief tour of the San Diego area, including the Oceanside beach & pier.

This is the Railroad Museum at Balboa Park in San Diego. They had a new Lego display that was pretty elaborate. Ismael, of coarse, was fascinated by all trains, especially those with the 'choo-choo' noise.

And here they are deep in conversation while digging for rocks around the backyard.

Christmas 2007

Christmas Day was my first day off in about 3 weeks, so I was glad to have a low key Christmas. Ismael didn't know to expect presents under the tree, but once he realized they were there and that he could open them (he had tried to open the presents at the babysitters weeks before), he was super excited. After every couple of toys, especially this truck, we had to take a break, play a bit, then come back to open more. He was just a bit overwhelmed.

After a Christmas dinner of Kraft mac & cheese & a much needed nap, we spent the rest of the day playing with all of the new toys. Of course, everyday since then we have played with all of the new toys too.

Christmas Disneyland

Ismael & I visited Disneyland while decorated for Christmas....

Of course, the highlight for Ismael was meeting Mater & Lightning McQueen.

We saw Pooh, Eeyore & Tigger too!

Christmas tree

I was oh so lucky to be on call on Thanksgiving Day, but the day after Thanksgiving we were able to put up the Christmas tree. Ismael was super-excited, but I'm not sure if he's more excited about the popcorn or the lights... He loved turning on the lights everyday when we got home or first thing when he went downstairs. Now that we've taken everything down, turning on the lights is not as much fun anymore.

SeaWorld San Diego

In my opinion, SeaWorld tops the zoo & Legoland, but you definately shell out some bucks to visit. Above, we are with the Clidesdale horse & to the right is Shamu. We opted not to sit in the "soak zone" so as to enjoy the show & still stay dry.

Cousins visit from KS

The Ogres Quinn & Drew visited for a week in November. We went to Legoland in Carlsbad, CA. I think I had my expectations set a bit too high, since I came away a bit disappointed. We had fun, but Drew & Ismael were about an inch too short for many rides. There were quite a few rides for adults w/ kids, as seen in the pictures. Quinn even got a Drivers License after taking a few spins on the track.

Making cupcakes

Ismael loves to cook, & one of his new favorite foods is cupcakes. So, we made cupcakes for his babysitter & family... after we tried them out ourselves, of course. I now refer to muffin as cupcakes & he'll eat it up...even the fat free bran muffins- I mean cupcakes.

Grandma visits

Grandma Alexander came to visit for a week in October. Our plans had to be modified due the fires & not being able to spend too much time outdoors. The first day we went to Mexico & thankfully we escaped without getting a speeding ticket or getting ripped off.

Of course we also went to the San Diego zoo (you can't come to San Diego w/o going). Ismael loves seeing all of the animals, especially the bears.

Probably the highlight for Ismael was going to Disneyland for the first time ever (it was my first time too). It was all decked out for Halloween. His favorite thing was probably seeing Mickey & the parade. He wasn't a big fan of a lot of the rides, but he did enjoy the trains.

Ismael turns 2!!!

It's hard to believe, but Ismael turned 2 on October 24th. It just so happened that none of the interns were on call that day, so I invited everyone over for pizza & cake, so that Ismael could play with the other kids. Grandma Alexander was in town as well, so he had lots of fun.

Fires...

There were several fires close by to the north, south & west. Of course, as an intern, I don't ever have time to watch tv, so I didn't really know what was going on until I saw the smoke & it started to affect the hospital (we got a lot of evacuees from other hospitals that had to close). The day they started, I was on call at the hospital & was sitting outside to eat dinner. I could smell smoke & thought someone was barbecuing nearby, but was informed otherwise.

The first picture is taken from my bedroom balcony at the start of the fires. The smoke line was obvious that day. By the next morning, however, the smoke was everywhere, so you couldn't see any blue sky. Ismael & I had gone outside to play, but the smell of smoke & the ash falling like snow from the sky kept us indoors for the next week or so. Afterwards, I had to spray down the patio with water to get rid of the layer of ash.

This is taken about a block from my house. The smoke is arising about a mile from where they store the weapons on base at Camp Pendleton. Luckily, that's as close as it got. There were 2 fires on base, one of which closed down the I-5 (a major highway between LA & San Diego) & the other was near the back gate (where I go in & out of base).

This picture is about a week after they started. Most fires were out by this time & the skies were starting to clear.