Wednesday Coop

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Long Beach Aquarium

The Great Hall
The Blue Whale and her calf are a famous site at the Long Beach Aquarium

Adam not liking a mascot

Watching the Whale Movie
Periodically, the Great Hall goes dark and a whale documentary plays all over the room, a favorite site for us.

Adam & Daddy watching the fish
Don't know what their watching but don't they look like they're having fun!

Species: Diver
The first time we saw the diver come into the tank, Beth screamed, "Let Nemo go!" to the amusement of those around us.

Watching the diver
She's since accepted the diver as a good guy or at least not an enemy anymore, and enjoys watching him swim around.

At Christmas time Santa drops in

Jason high 5'ed Santa Diver

Jason resisting temptation
He didn't touch but doesn't this just seem like a cruel joke? Don't touch this open tank right in front of you!

Our cousins came with us once
Amazing, huh? Looks like they're in there swimming with the fish.

What are they trying to find?

Trying to find these...

They found them all!
Can you?

Uncle Stacy watching the waves
The current special exhibit is "Waves" so they play a surf movie in the Great Hall (like our favorite whale movie)

Another favorite - the Lion fish

Aquatic life has amazing color!

The Leafy Sea Dragon
I find this fish absolutely amazing!

Petting the sharks
On our first visit Beth was scared of anything connected to sharks and wouldn't consider touching them.

A volunteer helps Beth
Determined to get Beth to touch the sharks, a volunteer explains how to touch them properly and then...

Beth's first touch
The volunteer is literally picking up the tiger shark for Beth to touch...she loved it!

Beth can't get enough
It only took one touch and now Beth loves, loves, loves petting the sharks, rays and well, any animal we'll let her near

Beth getting a too comfortable
Beth's love almost meant we were going to take one home! She told me she really loved it and wanted to keep it!

So what are we touching...
There are tiger sharks and rays (stingers removed)

...and this huge ray
Although we never touched this one, it always stays low

Casey touches a ray

Jason petting a shark

Jason getting wet
Your bound to get reaching too far or getting splashed by the playful, yes, playful rays

Petting at night

Adam gets Daddy wet
Adam pretends to want to pet the sharks but really it's all about the splashing

Beth petting a ray
It's worth mentioning again: wouldn't touch a year ago and now has to be dragged away!

Beth in the play area

Jason and some shark jaws

Jason looks like a tasty treat

Beth and the big sharks
Outside there's a big tank of big shark, no touching these guys!

Adam at the play area
Push a button and spray water on innocent passersby, and this works all year round!

Beth at the play area and...
Adam squirting water again and again...

Beth & Jason at the tidepool
Another family favorite is the tidepool touch tanks where there are anenome, sea cucumbers, sea stars, etc...

Beth being brave with Daddy
She was scared at first but once again, she now loves this and could play with these critters all day!

Happy Birthday, Sea Lion
We got lucky to randomly be there on a Sea Lion's special day, it was quite a celebration!

Arf, Arf, Arf
Can you hear her? She's copying the loud barking of the sea lion behind her

Adam watching the Sea Lion
Inside you can see the Sea Lions underwater

Adam and the Puffins
Thanks to Puffins Cereal, this is a new favorite animal

Jason loves Puffins, too

Jellyfish!

Adam pointing out the jellyfish

Adam and more jellyfish
They're just so amazing!

Adam and a shark
It's been fun watching Adam's enjoyment increase over the year as he's gotten older

Adam and a large sea star
Adam has moved from the stroller view to an upclose approach over the year

Adam and his favorite...
It's Nemo! He could hug this tank all day long! It's full of Dory, Nemo and lots of cousins :)

Adam and Nemo
We always include a stop this tank so we can find Nemo, and Adam is always thrilled

Jasn & Beth finding fish
There are so many fish at the aquarium, every size, shape and color!

Jason at one of the big tanks
On a quiet day it's fun to sit in this room with the tank all around watching the fish and turtles go by

Beth and the turtle
We always try to find the turtle, it's just so cool!

Adam back in his stroller days
He still ooed and awed from his viewpoint

Daddy and the shrimp
A special event: they had a shrimp tank where you didn't touch but rather let them touch you

Beth and the shrimp
The shrimp touched Beth, too!

Adam and water
He loves splashing but no one else likes it much making it a challenge to visit any touch tanks anymore!

Craft time
At a special Christmas member's night, we made fish necklaces, cards, saw a Santa diver and...

We got face/arm paintings!
Beth wanted a jellyfish (she though it would be pink, oh well!) & Jason wanted a shark on his arm so he could see it

Snacktime!
We often brought our lunches and picnic'ed outside by the Long Beach Harbor

Jason's birthday snack
He got a free ice cream for his brithday, thanks LB Aquarium!

The Harbor & the Queen Mary

Look Ma, no hands!

With our Cousins
Remembering Robinson

Family
Representing the many Leland descendants from top left: Alan, Jane, Jocelyn, Richard, Judy, Marty, Maria, Haaken & Henry

Family
We had a great time getting connected, sharing our lives and mourning together.

Our Shadow
We landed in Bismark, ND on Friday, January 4, 2008.

Bismark
North Dakota's state capitol.

Bismark Airport
So much easier than LAX :)

Driving through the Prairie
Just enough snow for a beautiful view.

Hay Bales
We were overwhelmed by the simplicity and beauty as we drove

Driving to Robinson
Our shadow again...

Almost there!
Robinson is about an hour and a half away from Bismark

We made it!
My first trip to Robinson, I'm so excited! (but fyi, there is no soft serve or gasoline sold here now!)

1st St. (facing east)

Prairie to the south

1st St. (facing west)

Main St.
facing south toward the highway

Main St.
facing North (yes, it just ends right there)

The house my Grandma grew up in
My Great Grandpa, Henry Leland, built this house after moving here from Norway

The 4 room schoolhouse
5th-12 grade

The farm

The farm
my mom remembers this row of trees as the forest at Grandpa's she played in.

The driveway to the farm
as viewed from the house

Haaken & Delores' house
Maria, Haaken's mom, and her sister's grew up here. (Haaken was named after his grandfather)

Downtown Robinson
This is another view of Main St.

The local bar
Robinson has two churches, a bar, a bank and a post office.

Like my new boots?
It wasn't quite as cold as I feared but there was enouch snow on the ground to tromp around in!

Haaken
The only family member from my generation was 4 year old Haaken (named after his grandfather, my Grandma's brother)

Sunrise over town
...to the east

Sunrise over town
...to the west

1st St. (facing east)
taken from the corner of 1st and Main. You can see the post office.

1st St. (facing west)
taken from the corner of 1st and Main (can you see my snowman?)

Haaken climing "snow mountain"

The Lutheran Church
Same building my Grandma and her brothers and sisters attended as children

The inside of the Church

Great Uncle Alan
...paying his respects to his brother Perry, who passed in 2004

Cousins Henry, Dick & my mom
leading the luncheon prayer

Gladys
Sweetest lady who told silly stories about my Aunt Esther

Cousin Richard and Gladys

My mom and another cousin
we met cousins of cousins and cousins from marriages and cousins we forgot we had

Dinner at the nearest restaurant
two towns away!

Esther's house

Esther's before Sunrise
We were far enough north that the sun didn't rise until almost 9am!

Sunrise
facing south

Sunrise on Esther's house

Sun's beginning to set
over Esther's house

Sunset

Sunset over Esther's house

Our Snowman
Me, Uncle Alan, Maria & Haaken

Signs of wildlife...

B-bye North Dakota
View from the plane of Bismark.
Gingerbread 2007

Great Grandma's crew
All 16 great-grandkids!

Our little secret
How did we get Adam to stay in the photo, you ask...just ask daddy.

Jason's 1st solo attempt
We were very proud of Jason as he decorated his house all by himself.

Robert's eclectic creation
While there was some hot glue gun cheating involved, it was a fun and entertaining creation!

Adam's involvement
Adam really enjoyed building and decorating until he realized it was candy and then he just wanted to eat it all!

Gage's decorative masterpiece

Beth's princess chateau

Braden's simple elegance

Jason's silly house
(his own words)

Eagan Benjamin
His first gingerbread experience (he slept or ate through most of it!)

Caleb's classic funhouse

Nick's architectual beauty

Tori's still perfecting hers

Robert's work of art

Amy's healthy home
Chase was too busy playing so she finished it for him, broccoli and all

Lindsay's present
Lindsay's at culinary school and loving it!
Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2007

Harvest Festival 2007
The Skellys at our church harvest festival

Cinderella

Cinderella's glass slippers

Cinderella
Mom had some trouble getting her hair just right but she loved wearing the tiara

Nemo
Adam carried his stuffed Nemo with him.

Nemo
Isn't he cute?

Nemo
Really, he is soooo cute!

Race Car Driver
Jason taking his pit crew job seriously

I'm Cookie Monster!
Halloween morning Adam was still being a character :)

Jason the Astronaut
Jason's wearing Daddy's Astronaut costume from when he was a kid!

Cinderella
Maybe not princess behavior but she was having fun

Testing the race track

Daddy's costume
Won't drink any soda but his costume was fun

Caleb
A green power ranger

Mommywith a butterfly & Superman

The Village Church Kids
can you find Beth?

The Village Church Kids II

Harvest Cake Walk
Daddy won a spice cake! He shared it with his friends at work.

Adam dancing
Adam loved the music and marching at the cake walk.

Adam bouncing
Adam loves bounce houses, just stands up and falls again and again and again!

Adam driving
Adam loves to drive (or at least pretend)

Cinderella lassoed a horse
There were lots of games at Hullabaloo

Cinderella at the pony rides

Storm Trooper at the pony rides
Braden was a storm trooper

Jason at the pony rides
driving the horses rather than the car

Caleb at the pony rides

Bounce house slide
Daddy taking Beth and Adam for a slide

Bounce house slide
Jason going head first!

Braden & Jason climbing

Jason still climbing...

Jason made it!
...and now down he slides.

Bounce house caterpillar

Stephen came to Hullabaloo, too

Caleb's popcorm ball
He makes it look yummy, huh?

Pirate Nick plays a game

Zurg & Coca Cola
Mom went for a simple hat costume.

Waiting in line to play games

Jason & Beth racing pumpkins

Waiting in line for bounce house

The prize
It's all about the candy

The prize
Choosing just the right candy took longer than playing the games!

Adam tries on Daddy's hat

Good night...
Outer Banks Vacation 8-2007

Leaving California
That's Newport Beach & Balboa Island down there. It was so fun to be able to see our beach from the plane!

Flying is fun!
Beth was a great flier

Peek-a-boo
Having a paci always makes it better

Adam's flying
This was Adam's first flight and he was great (much to our surprise, yea!)

Jason read to Adam
Having a big brother is the greatest!

Jason and Adam take a nap
Big brother's make great pillows!

Grandpa's GPS
Turns out we drove across a new bridge and GPS registered us as being off the road driving through water!

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Happy Birthday, Aunt Janice
Our first day in the Outer Banks was Aunt Janice's birthday so we got to have cake!

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OC Fair 2007

The Orange County Fair
We drive by this everyday for three weeks so of course we had to go (twice!)

The theme was surf, sand & cows
Pretty amazing sand sculpture behind Jason and Beth

Stephen hangin' ten
Stephen came with us one day so he could ride rides with Jason

Adam loving the fair

Jason & Beth at the farm
mooooo...

Andrew and Jocelyn
Could we ever be real farmers? We'll see how our veggie garden goes first :)

Our strong, tough boys

Stephen as a...
He didn't know it was a girl until after I took the picture

Surf's Up!
We will be sure to show this to Adam's friends when he's 16

Beth & Jason on a rollercoaster
A scared Beth clung to her big brother for safety

Bumper cars
Beth was still grumpy from two rides that were too scary for her

naptime
It was a very hot day and watching everyone else ride rides got boring...

Jason & Stephen on the swings
Mom was terrified watching but Jason LOVED this ride

Stephen on the big boy rides
I can't believe Jason will be tall enough for these rides soon, ugh!

Beth on the balloon ride
She really enjoyed this...we finally found something her speed!

Big brother waiting for Beth
Beth struggled climbing the net but successfully completed the adventure!

Sky Ride
One of our favorite rides, we loved watching the fair from up above

Stephen & Jason on the slide
Jason says this was his favorite ride...Beth says it was too big and wouldn't go

Adam got to ride the carousel
He recognized the carousel from afar pointing with excitement, I couldn't say no

Our friend Will joined us...
We saw our friend Will and rode a couple of rides together like this log ride.

Visiting the farm
Growing our own garden at home made this part of the day a bit more exciting.

Duck, duck!!!
Adam was so excited to see real animals like the duck he's pointing to here.

Beth LOVES all animals
This baby camel, Freedom, was so sweet

Petting the baby horse...
She could have stayed in the petting zoo all day!

She had to pet every animal!
Not just every type of animal, no, she wanted to pet every single animal!

There were a lot of animals!

Beth and her baby piggy
When told she couldn't take this one home, she asked if we could buy it!

Jason petting a llama
He was willing to pet anything even though he was much more interested in the nearby ferris wheel

Finding a dog at the art exhibit
There's sooo much to do at the fair...can you see Adam saying "arf, arf" at the dog painting

Craft time
We made glittery masks.

Adam at the circus
Although very cheesy, Adam liked clapping with the crowd and Jason was introduced to the idea of magic tricks!

Pig Races

Beth watching pig races
She tried to not sit in the dirt and when a nearby kid started kicking it around, she moved to sit with us...such a girl

Pig hurdles
These pigs are fun to watch

Woo hoo!!!
Adam really got into the races

Jason was a star cheerleader
He just couldn't stay seated, it's just sooo exciting!

Beth on the balance beam

Fire escape practice
Jason & Beth had a fire drill practice at one of the exhibits, mom even learned a few things!

Fair food
Cotton candy was our chosen treat

The veiw at night
We rode the "Le Grande" ferris wheel as a family

Adam on the ferris wheel

Beth on the ferris wheel

Jason on the ferris wheel

Jason boogey woogeying
Wish we had video of his last hurrah as we exited the fair

Cattle Drive through Costa Mesa
That's right, to go along with the cowabunga theme, they drove 300 cattle through the streets of Costa Mesa

Our friends waiting for the cows
It was a hot day but we were eager

Ready and waiting...

Police warnings came first
We were told to stay standing and hold the kid's hands...at this point I start wondering, am I crazy to be here?

Here they come!

Jason waving to the cowboys
There were sooo many horses, cowfolk all around the 300 cattle

There they go...
They were very impressive and luckily, very well behaved

Beth mooing...
The kids all mooed a lot at the cows

Have a fun at the fair!
The cattle walked from a park to the fairgrounds so Jason told them to "have fun at the fair!"

The cattle drive caboose
For the cowabunga theme, surfer woodies brought up the rear of the cattle drive
Beth's Disney Princess Birthday

Beth's 3rd Birthday
We had a girl's day out complete with a Disney princess lunch

Beth's 1st Present
Her day started with a new baby Cinderella doll (her favorite princess)

Beth's Cinderella Balloon
Thank you Stephanie for my huge Cinderella Carriage balloon!

Beth's Twirly Dress
Beth spinning to be sure her princess dress twirls enough for the princess lunch

Beth & Cinderella
Yes, we have a life-size Cinderella on our door!

Beth & Minnie Mouse
In addition to princesses Beth was hoping to see Minnie and yes she got her wish

Beth & Pluto
I had to pry Beth away. She wants to go back tomorrow and hug him again :)

Beth at Monster's Inc.
Haven't yet seen the movie but she likes the ride

Beth & Mommy at Princess lunch
It was girl's day, just mommy and Beth

Beth & Ariel
The 1st Princess...she told everyone all day "I'm three!"

Beth & Sleeping Beauty
She's pretty and all but Beth was concerned, "where's Cinderella?"

Beth & Snow White
Playing a little shy, she was asked, "are you like my friend, Bashful?"

Beth & Cinderella
She finally got to meet Cinderella and was told, "we look like sisters!"

Beth's Birthday Kiss
Wow, Cinderella gave her a big birthday kiss

Beth's Cinderella Kiss
Cinderella told her to keep the kiss on her all day!

Beth & Belle
Yes, this is Princess #5...don't ask how we found time to eat!

Beth's birthday ice cream
They sang and gave her dessert. She was completely overwhelmed!

Can we ride the Ferris Wheel?

Beth on the Ferris Wheel

Beth kissing Lightning McQueen
Who knew she had a secret crush! I smiled for the photo and she turns and kiss!

Beth & Mommy
What a day, and she still has a party at the beach tomorrow with all her friends
Fourth of July 2007

Jason and Beth
Look, we got our faces painted!

Jason hula hooping
He didn't win but you should have seen him try again and again and again!

Adam got a turn, too!

Stephanie helping Beth
...with the egg toss (they were hardboiled so it wasn't too bad)

Jason catching a water balloon

Marine soldiers

Flag raising ceremony

Pledge of Allegiance

Our Stars and Stripes

Patriotically dressed

Jason being patriotic, too

Adam loves water!

Adam hanging out
Adam loved the pool and is happily hanging on all by himself!

Adam blowing bubbles
and enjoying a swim with daddy

Where'd she go?

There she is!

Steph & Beth

Jason's cannonball

naptime on a daddy pillow...
After all that swimming and games and food, it was time for a break!

Getting ready for fireworks!
Look at all the sun we got today!

Fireworks among the palms
We watched fireworks at the Newport Dunes, very fun setting!

Beth at the fireworks

Happy face firework
We like this one

Adam liked the fireworks
but he was oh, so tired!

Fireworks Finale

Fireworks on our driveway
We had our own show back home with our neighbors (it's legal in Costa Mesa)

Stephen lighting fireworks
After some trouble with a lighter, he used a candle to light them!

Watching is nice but too noisy
CA Road Trip May 2007

Castroville Tractor
We stopped in Castroville just south of Santa Cruz to see where our veggies grow

Jocelyn's Alma Mater

College Eight
Mommy wanted to show everyone where she lived during college.

Freshman Year
That's Jocelyn's dorm in the background, behind the deer :)

Sophmore Year
Mommy lived up there with her friend Steph...they had a great view!

Junior Year
Lived off-campus with Heidi, Eryn & Hez...house hasn't changed much!

Senior Year
There were oh-so-many water fights running around these apartments!

Campus Walk
Jocelyn took the family on a walk through the campus, it's still beautiful!

Jason in the Trees
Jason loves trees and saw soooo many fun trees on this vacation!

Adam & Daddy
and the view of the ocean from the meadow on campus

Adam
Adam's not walking but he enjoys standing and laughing!

Science Library
One of Jocelyn's favorite buildings on campus

Mommy & Daddy
Beth took this photo :)

Natural Bridges State Park
Daddy and Beth enjoying the beauty of the Pacific

Teaching Cartwheels

Demonstrating Cartwheels

Rollercoaster at the Boardwalk
We enjoyed the rides like this dragon rollercoaster

The Skyride
Mommy got to ride with Jason & Beth (it was Mother's Day after all!)

Taqueria Vallarta
Mommy's favorite restaurant...the veggie burrito was just as she remembered!

R2-D2 USPS

She's a Pinball Wizard...
We enjoyed the arcade at King's Dominion (mommy hung out here in college)

Bedtime Day One

Morning at the Beach
Santa Cruz Beach was much quieter on Monday morning than Sunday afternoon!

Beth at SC Beach
Boardwalk was closed and it was cold but we're at the beach!

Adam at SC Beach
"What makes you think I'm eating sand?"

San Francisco Cable Car
We didn't actually go for a ride but we got to get on and walk around :)

Touring San Francisco
We visited all the important spots in SF

Beth taking a turn
It's our vacation so we put the kids to work

Family in SF

Row, row, row your boat

Practicing our sailing knots

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge
A highlight of our trip, Jason got to drive across the bridge from his train set

Jason, Beth & the Golden Gate
Jason loved the Golden Gate bridge...Beth was cold

Daddy's Toy
Andrew borrowed this GPS unit from a friend at work, it was very handy (and fun)

Adam Driving
There was a lot of driving on this adventure so we took turns :)

Adam reading
To pass the time we read, watched movies, and slept!

Sunset on Day 2
Taken on our drive from SF to Eureka

Hike through Redwoods
We took a nice hike behind the Humboldt State Campus

Judy and the kids
This is our friend Judy. She showed us her really tall trees and other fun stuff

Amazing Redwoods
These trees are tall and grow in all kinds of crazy forms

Skellys in a tree hollow

Beth at the Redwoods

Jason touching a banana slug
We found banana slugs on our hike (mascot of UCSC so mommy was very excited)

Tasting banana slug
Jason licked the banana slug slime...he then spit for the next 5 minutes!

Adam says eeewwww!!!
He wasn't about to touch it let alone taste it (smart kid!)

Jumping off the poles
Jason climbs and jumps off everything these days

Everyone jumps
it looked like fun so everyone gave it a try!

Beth sliding
There was a park at the end of our hike

Beth & Judy racing

Jaon and a herd of Elk
Yes, that's a herd of Elk hanging out by our cabin

Beth and the Elk
Taking in the view from our deck

Paul Bunyan
We visited Paul Bunyan at the Trees of Mystery north of Eureka

Peek-a-boo

Jason's turn
These trees are very unique and fun

up close with the Redwood
Adam's fingers were sticky for hours!

The Cathedral Tree
People get married here

Adam enjoyed the hiking

Tree of Brotherhood

The Coastal Redwoods are tall!

Jason, Beth & Adam riding high
We took a skyride up over the redwood forest

Daddy, Adam & Mommy
We really enjoyed the view on the skyride

View from the top

Top of the Redwood Forest
The kids enjoyed using binoculars to look around

Beth & Jason & Walking sticks
They really liked the idea of using sticks to hike...we even bought Jason one

We love the Redwoods

Jason driving through a tree

Adam feeding the horses
Our cabin had horses, a fish pond, and don't forget the elk!

Jason petting the horses
The horses were really nice

Beth at the beach in Trinidad
From here we said goodbye to the coast and headed east to Redding...

Beth & Addison
We visited Jocelyn's friend Kristina and her family

Hugs...
Beth & Addison became quick friends

Jason, Kristina & his bluegreen
Kristina is the friend who bought Jason's blankie for Jocelyn at her baby shower

Addison & Jason & bubbles

Adam at the sand table
Again, he's eating sand!

Friends enjoying snacktime

Tree at TurtleBay Museum
This sculpture showed the root system under the tree

Ring around the Rosie
Yes, they played in the middle of the museum!

The Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay

Jason Hanging Out

Beth and the Sacramento River

Jason

Beth

strolling on the bridge

Building Dams
The kids loved playing here at the forts of Turtle Bay

Adam loves water
He was completely soaked and still wanted more!

Adam still loving water...

Butterfly exhibit
We came at the right time of year and got to visit the butterfly tent.

Addison catching butterflies

Beth quietly waving hi

Butterfly in the stroller
Adam got an up-close view of a butterfly (he must have left some crumbs for it)

naptime
Time to leave Redding and head south...

Visiting the Ewings in Sac
That's Audrey...her mommy, Janice, and Jocelyn have been friends forever!

Enjoying snacks on the road

Adam playing ball in the car
We found lots of things to do on the long drives

Half Dome at Yosemite
After driving super curvy roads we were very excited to see this view

Mommy & Beth at Yosemite Falls
We hiked to BridalVeil and Yosemite Falls

Jason & Beth
They were such great hikers and we made them walk a lot!

Adam at Yosemite Falls
At the falls it was misty and cold but Adam loved it!

Beth at Yosemite Falls

Jason at Yosemite Falls
After a day of hiking, Jason needed help smiling :)

Visiting Raughleys in Fresno
We drove from Yosemite to Fresno and played with Elizabeth, Caleb & baby Emma

Adam & Emma
Emma is a month younger than Adam, they were great together

Beth caught a chicken
The Raughleys have pet chickens and Beth loved them!

Jason climbed a cherry tree
Redwood or cherry tree...Jason loves climbing trees

Last stop...the Armes' in LA
We made a dinner stop to see our friends the Armes'

Aubrey & Beth

Jason, Brayden & Rethy
Willan, not pictured, was sleeping :)

Mommy & Adam still smiling
After 9 days on the road, we're all still smiling!
February 2006

Monster Siblings
Jason & Beth love wearing their Elmo & Cookie Monster!

Cookie Monster wants cookies!
By the way...notice Jason's short hair, the result of last month's haircut!

Weee!!!
Perfectly built for 2

Bubbles
We got to enjoy big bubbles at the park recently

Bubbles
Beth loved making & catching these bubbles at the park!

Bubbles
Jason also loved these big bubbles & can you see Ryan amongst all the bubbles?

Bubbles
We could've chased bubbles all day!

Wild Animal Park

See the lion?
Getting a good view from the tram ride

Baby Rhino
We got multiple great views of this very young rhino, simply amazing!

Bird Watching
Beth, Daddy, & Jason watching the lorikeet birds

Beth & the Lorikeets
She likes to look but don't make her get too close!

See the waterfall?
It's getting too dark to see but she loved watching the water

Giraffe Kiss
We didn't get to see the real thing so Beth opted to kiss plastic!

Pretty in Pink
Ta-da! Aren't I cute?

Ta-da!
Jason wants you to see how cute he can be, too!

Horsie Ride
Jason and Daddy take turns giving each other horsie rides.

Hi, ducks!
visiting the farm at the local zoo

Jason feeds the goats
It tickles!

A turtle ride!
Jason & Beth stop playing for a quick picture in the sun

Taking a stroll in Disneyland
Teaching Beth to walk with us, Jason holds her hand and leads the way!

Hi, everyone!
I am too cool in Jason's Superman glasses!

Peter Pan
Although the ride was a little scary cuz it was dark, we liked flying in a boat!

Flying Dumbo
Although the 3 of us barely fit, we enjoy flying an elephant!

King Arthur returns!
Jason had to try...maybe next time!

Alice In Wonderland
Jason's first time riding by himself-in the front row with us behind him!

Birthday party exhaustion
Jason partied too hard at a friend's or maybe too much cake?
Skelly Album - January06

Jason is 3!!!
January was a special month with Jason's 3rd birthday!

Jason & Beth
Jason giving Beth rides around the kitchen!

We got a new tent for Christmas
Beth enjoying the tent

New tent, yea!
Jason enjoying the tent

Happy Epiphany!
Christmas lasts until January 6, Epiphany, in this Skelly household!

Beth's new toy
Beth licks her pretend cake (actually a pop-onz block)

Zoom, zoom
Jason loved making his new airplane fly

What is it?
We bought a new bounce house & boy where the kids excited!

Daddy enjoying his bounce house

He shoots, he scores!!!
Our bounce house comes equipped with basketball hoops for hours of fun!

Bounce, Jason, Bounce!

More presents!!!
Daddy opens a Christmas package while Beth waits eagerly!

New baby doll
Mommy, get her out!

feeding the baby
Beth's new baby has a bottle and she loves to feed her!

Beth hugs her new baby
Beth happily plays blocks & cars with Jason but boy does she love her baby dolls

Beth sliding
We spend lots of time at the park. Beth is a whiz on the slides!

Jason skipping
Jason loves to run in the sand and just be outside!

Happy Birthday, Jason!
Jason woke up to a new trainset-actually daddy's old set from when he was a kid!

toot, toot!
Jason really enjoys his new trains and can play for hours!

Happy Birthday, Jason
We spent Jason's birthday at Disneyland!!!

A Tigger Birthday hug!

Aunt Rebekah, Micah & Eeyore
Rebekah came, too, so she could take Jason on his favorite ride-Splash Mountain!

Jason & Rebekah go for a splash!
Can you see them? They're in the back of the boat. Jason loves Splash Moutain!

Jason had a great Birthday

Beth & Matthew on the Monorail
We also went to Disneyland with our friends Matthew & Elli

Birthday Dinner
The family went to the Rainforest Cafe for Jason's Birthday dinner!

Beth's cheese smile
Beth wants you to know she also enjoyed Jason's birthday dinner out!

What's that?
The "rainstorm" in the Rainforest Cafe was a bit of a surprise for Jason

Happy Birthday!!!
They brought birthday ice cream and sang to Jason! He loved it!

Yummy, birthday ice cream!
Jason happily devoured his birthday treat

A birthday carousel ride
We can't go to the mall without a horsie ride, giddyup!

Jason bakes his birthday cake
Jason insisted on making his own birthday cake: a green circle cake!

Jason licks the beater
The best part of baking, yummy!

Jason decorates his cake
Guess what Jason's favorite color is?

Jason & his green circle cake
He did a very good job, don't you think?

Jason's birthday party!
Jason had his friends over for a birthday party!

Bouncing in the rain
It sprinkled during Jason's party so we only bounced for about 15 minutes :(

Boys in the tent
The boys still managed to have a fun party!

Birthday hug!
Jason thanks Grandma with a big hug!

What a Happy 3rd Birthday to me!
Notice the duplo tower behind him. He loves to build towers.

Drumming in the bath
So many toys, so little bubbles

Beth giving a try at painting
Whenever she sees the camera, she stops, turns & brings on the cheese face!

Yummy, yogurt!
Beth didn't think the tub was quite empty, she took it out of the trash for more

Two Pacis
What could be better?

What?
Beth's too busy feeding Elmo to smile for us & thanks daddy for the hairstyle!

Jason shaves Daddy

Daddy shaves Jason
Stay tuned until next month for pictures of Jason with short hair :)

Night, night Jason
Jason takes his naps in mommy & daddy's bed

Night, night Beth
Beth has settled on not one, but at least three blankies!