Turtle Bay

Last weekend started out with a trip to 5 mile recreation area. It has a creek running through it that is shallow enough for the girls to explore safely.  Jessica and Allison really enjoyed throwing rocks into the water.  Meema and I tried to show off our rock skipping skills but Jess n Alli seemed unimpressed with that.

I got a great shot of Jessica launching a big rock.

Yep that's Meema, somewhere behind Allison.

Jessica got a gift card from Lady and Paw Paw for using a big girl potty and she picked out a new princess tent for her and Allison.  Our other princess tent broke a month or so ago.

Meema and Grandad took us up to Redding to check out Turtle Bay Exploration Park last weekend.  Allison ate a chocolate pastry on the way up to the park, the drive was a little over an hour, and she got it all over her face.

The best part of Turtle Bay were these birds.  They give you a cup of nectar for a dollar and the birds eat it out of your hand.  I am glad Jessica didn't freak out when they started landing on her head.

Jessica enjoyed these digging machines.  She calls them "snorts" from the Dr. Seuss book Are you my Mother? 

I tried to keep the sun off Alli's fuzzy little head but she wasn't very cooperative.

Turtle Bay had a big fish tank.

Here we are on the Sundial Bridge.

I think that is Mt. Lassen peaking out just above Meema's head.

The girls got to explore the creek on after we crossed the bridge.

This bridge tells the time of day but it is most accurate on June 21st.

I almost fell into the water several times, the rocks were slippery and the girls were pulling me in opposite directions.

We also drove down to Sacramento last weekend to visit Grandpa.  The girls got to have their first pony rides ever and they loved it.  Jessica fought to stay on the pony and Allison cried tears when I pulled her off her pony.  I have a video of Jess riding the pony but it wouldn't load... grrrrrrr!

Here are the videos I was able to load.

Arabian Adventures

Well, I've been stuck on this air base for a month already and as far as deployments go, this is not a bad place to be.  To celebrate one month down, I decided to escape the confines of the base and explore the country.  As soon as I got off work this morning, I joined an expedition that went about an hour south of the base through the Arabian desert and we ended up on the shore of the Persian Gulf for a few hours.  We drove on the main highway for most of the way to the beach, but once we got closer, we stopped and the driver let some of the air out of the tires so he would have better traction to drive up and down the sand dunes.

We stopped at a scenic overlook.  You can see the Persian Gulf in the distance behind me.

 

   

Here are some videos of us driving through the dunes.  I couldn't believe what these guys were doing to their vehicles.  I was in a pretty nice Lexus SUV and this guy was driving as fast as he could up and down these dunes.  It makes me wonder how many times he has flipped one of his vehicles.  I guess when you live in one of the richest countries in the world, cars are disposable.

 

 

I barely got the end of this guy sliding down the dune

 

When we weren't going up the dunes, we would just speed along these open flat areas

 

 

We stopped for another scenic overlook of the Persian Gulf

 

and then we headed off to our beach

 

 

 We finally got to a little resort type area where we could sit and relax

The water was surprisingly cold when I first got in, but started to feel better once I got used to it.

 Walking down the beach, I stumbled upon two camels

 

I tried hiding behind a dune, but he knew exactly where I was.

 

 and I finally got the nerve to pet one of them

I found their owner and he was letting people ride them.  I rode "Raja".  The other one's name was "Rani", but it had a bad hip so it wasn't giving rides.

 

 

 

After the camel riding, it was time to eat.  I'm a big fan of Mediterranean food and Middle Eastern food is virtually identical to it.  The guides cooked all the meat right on the beach.  As you can see in the picture, we had lamb and beef kebobs, chicken, pita bread, hummus, tzaziki sauce and cucumber salad.  It was quite delicious.

 As if the day couldn't get any better, just as we were leaving, a guy walks down the beach with a monkey on a leash!  He gathered quite a crowd and the owner let some people feed him nuts.  And yes, if you're wondering, that monkey is in fact wearing a diaper.

 

All in all it was a pretty great day . To be able to get away from the monotony that has become my daily life is very refreshing.

Flying Kites

We went on a kite flying expedition with Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Eric at the 20th street park last week.  Jessica flew a kite for about 20 seconds and then curiosity over came her and she let go of it.  It blew away and the spool of string got caught in a tree.  The kite flew itself for over an hour, it was still flying when we left. 

The girls were more interested in the bubbles that Aunt Lindsay brought anyway.  At this park Jessica likes a metal arch with two African ladies on it, she calls it "the mean lady tunnel".  It scares her but she likes being scared, I will have to get a picture of it next time we go.

Jess and Alli probably spend an hour every day brushing their teeth... or what ever it is they do at the sink.  The toothbrushes go in their mouths but I don't think their teeth are getting brushed.

Jessica pretends to be an astronaut by putting this plastic toy bucket over her head, I think she was playing astronaut while watching Max & Ruby (multitasking).

Allison has caught on to the astronaut game.  I got a funny video of astronaut Alli but it wouldn't load :(

My most recent purchase: a baby trailer for bikes from Costco.  It also converts to a jogging stroller.

The girls were picking on each other quite a bit on our maiden voyage so I might be returning this if they can't keep their hands to themselves.

Then again, they were pretty tired so that was probably a big part of the conflict, they were both fast alseep by the time we got back to the apartment.

Allison has been trying to eat like her big sister.  It takes me longer to clean up than to cook the meal.  This meal was spaghetti with meat sauce, I tried to make it like Joe does.  The girls enjoyed it

We met up with Grandpa for some fun a few days ago.

I got a really cute video of the girls throwing food at some hissing geese and Allison running away but that video wouldn't load either.  This video thing is starting to annoy me!

Potty Blog

I bought a potty chair for Jessica last week to prepare for potty training.  I read a book about it and I set a date.  I was going to wait until Monday but, when I showed Jessica her new potty chair last Thursday, she decided then and there that she was done with diapers.  I wasn't ready yet... I got over the shock of it quickly enough.  Now Jessica doesn't wear diapers, ever, not even to sleep.  The first time we Skyped with Joe, Jessica must have gone to her potty and sat there at least a dozen times trying to produce something to show off for daddy.  By the way, the book was totally Jessica's idea, and that's why I had to get a picture.

She has managed to inspire her little sis too!  Allison wants to use the potty so badly.  She has gone number two once and pee pee several times in the last few days.  She will tell me, poop or pee and then I sit her on her froggy potty.  Allison is very impatient, she jumps up and expects there to be something in the potty (it's magical to her). She knows she is suppose to push but she doesn't like waiting.  Sometimes she gets so mad that she picks up her froggy potty and throws it across the room and then she throws herself on the floor.

When she does make the magic happen she will exclaim, "Uh oh, pee pee!"  She loves to flush the toilet.

Jessica made me move Allison's potty right next to hers so they could snuggle.

We didn't venture too far from home this weekend.  But we still managed to have fun.  We had a play date on Saturday with cousin Addison.

Sometimes Jessica just has to run circles, at least once a day in fact.

After the play date with Addi, we stopped by Home Depot and picked out some flowers to plant in Meema and Grandad's yard.

The girls made Meema do all the work.

Grandad planted some lettuce, spinach and stuff.

The girls have taken naps together a couple times last week so I snapped some pics to share with Joe, aren't they sweet little angels daddy?