So, I can't really remember much about March... I took my Step 3 board exam (& I just found out I passed- yeah!), we played outside in the beautiful weather, we went to Disneyland (of course) & went to the beach... Not a whole lot of excitement. I would have liked to been able to catch up on things, but really I just tried to dig myself out of the hole I've been in since internship started. 
So I'm finally getting around to updating this blog. The last 2 months have been rather crazy (I was on OB, then frantically studying for step 3 board exam), but we did find a bit of time to enjoy the 70-80 degree weather (ha, ha). The pics above & below are from the Wild Animal Park, which is part of the San Diego Zoo, but in Escondido & it mainly has the big animals (elephant, giraffe, jaguar, etc). As always, we went on one of my post-call days during the week, so we pretty much had the entire park to ourselves. That allowed Ismael to have the entire play area & not worry that another kid would mess up his lining up of the animals. Future type A...?
This was the first weekend in Feb...don't hate us for the great weather. Ismael still hasn't really figured out the reverse button on the remote control car, so everytime the truck bumbs into something, he has to go get it & turn it around & start over.
Jan 10... This was a busy day for characters at the park. We saw Mickey & Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Pinnochio, some wizard & other that I don't know their names.
Ismael has a secret crush on Minnie & this was the first time we'd seen her walking around. Ismael couldn't wait, but as always, became shy once we got to meet them. Minnie & Mickey played peek-a-boo with him for a minute, but Ismael was still too shy to stand alone with them.
We play daily with the train set...I guess the bucket hat was for added flair.
Most recently on the 29th...post-call, going on 3.5 hours of sleep interrupted by pages by nurses.
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 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. 
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!
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.
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.
Quinn even got a Drivers License after taking a few spins on the track.
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.
