Last week I had one of those moments.

It was a moment when I let my wonderful hormones get the best of me and I was once again wrapped up in unwanted emotions, feeling scared and anxious, and I let the tears overwhelm me.

It happened as soon as I went to pick up Fisher from school and he was having one of those days. Those days when he was just in his own world and could care less to the people around him. He wouldn't acknowledge me or look at me or respond to anything I said. He just wanted his lunch and his drink and that was that. I wish I could ask him what he did at school, or hear about his 'friends' and 'peers', but he doesn't have to tell me. I can tell by his purple and blue stained fingers that he got to color with markers. And his chocolate cover mouth lets me know that he got m&m's today, his favorite. I would just love to hear how his day went through his eyes, his experience.

So I lost it. I cried and cried. Thinking how stupid I am to think that just out of nowhere, he is going to talk, he going to act like an almost 3 year old would. I blame it on the pregnancy. My hormones are out of wack. I have been so good at trying to be so positive. He really is making progress! Tremendous progress and my patience is just running out... or something.

I love this little guy so much, and seeing how much he has learned in the last few months should be something to celebrate. Yesterday was his second assessment at his school. Now that they have created a curriculum for him we were anxious to see how well he is progressing. His communication skills are improving more and more everyday. He is learning to ask for things first without being prompted. He prefers to sign but is learning to say words that start with vowels or 'm'. However, he has mastered the word "up", "down", "elephant", "airplane" and "bike". His imitations skills are amazing and this is something that I have seen right away! If you show him a new sign, he will follow it and remember it!

It was also exciting to know that his social skills have improved greatly as well. He is learning to play with peers rather than just sitting and playing next to them. This is something we see when he plays with his little brother. Chase has been one of the biggest influences on Fisher gaining new social skills. They play so well together and Fisher just loves being around him! They have become wonderful friends and I am so blessed that they have each other.

I honestly have so much to be greatful for. I just need to keep my patience in line. I know that there will always be bad days. Frustrating days. But I want to focus on the good days. The days when I get to play 'Ring around the Roses' and laugh with my little ones. Fisher signing 'again', 'again' and we do till we get dizzy. I love those days. Those days I look forward too!

state fair

We love the state fair. We went last year to both the Utah and the Alaska State fair and the boys and I had a wonderful time. We thought that last night would make a great opportunity for a fun family night!

Of course the boys has a blast walking through the many buildings of animals. Listening to the sheep and goats 'baaa' and the cows 'moo'.

They loved watching the little piglets play and wrestle in the soft sawdust and straw and see the enormous pigs as they walked by.

We sat and watched the giant ferris wheel go round and round and talked of one day the little ones will soon be big enough to ride it. We walked through the crowds of people and wonderful smells of the fried food, making our little stomach grumble with delight.

We got to get up and close to real nascar cars and see giant tomatoes and pumpkins. We got to smell the prettiest of flowers and watch thousands of bees working hard in their man-made hive.

The State Fair turned out to be a wonderful family time, full of smiles and wonders and beautiful moments. A wonderful time indeed!

pooped out

I went to go check on the boys after they went down for their afternoon nap. Since the boys are sharing a room now, nap time has been a little of a struggle. But they are slowly getting back into the routine.

However, I just had to laugh when I walked in and saw Chase sleeping like this...

I promise you, when I put him down he had both pants, socks and a shirt on.

Apparently he pooped out before he could finish taking the shirt off.

This totally made up for the struggle of getting them to settle down. I love how funny my boys can be!

san diego... the beach

I think my little man is meant to be a beach bum.

The beach is where he is supposed to be.

Give him water, sand and rocks and this guy is in heaven. He absolutely loved be at the beach. The minute his toes sunk in to the soft sand, he squealed with excitement and delight. He ran straight to the water's edge and just began to sink into its enjoyment.

I just wished we had more time to spend at the beach. More time for the boys to take it all in, but next year we know exactly where to go!

Chase enjoyed the ocean from the comforts of the sand. He tried the water and just wasn't a big fan of it like his brother. He much rather be dry and warm and play with the toys that surrounded us.

He liked to watch the kids from a far, laughing with delight in the salty water, he would laugh along as if he was partaking in the fun.

I hope we are able to experience this wonderful moment again. That we are able to visit the sandy beaches and play in the water next year and the year after that. The boys loved this place, as well as Wayne and I and I think it's the perfect way to spend an overcast afternoon with the people you love!

So sad to leave wonderful San Diego. It was such an awesome trip with such beautiful memories created.

I loved this family vacation! Can't wait to start planning next summer's!

wild animal park

Sunday morning we woke up to a grey sky blanketed in fog. Our hopes to go visit the beach were put on hold, but we thought this was great weather to head up north a little and visit the Wild Animal Park.

It couldn't have been planned more perfectly. We woke up early enough to get to the park before the fog passed by and the heat kicked in.

Our first stop was Simba Station, to ride the adventure ride and get a tour of wild Africa. This was definitely a fun adventure, and if you do chose to do this ride, get there early and get there first. The lines are insanely long and this is at the very end of the park, but it is definitely worth it and you get to see a ton of different animals.

We were lucky to see so many animals on this trip. And I loved how they are all together in one place, with so many different things to see.

After our adventure ride we chose to walk through Wild Africa to see the lions and cheetahs. We stopped to take advantage of the wonderful foliage surrounding the park and smell some of the beautiful flowers.

And if you wondering where Chase was in all those flower pictures, well, the ride just wore him out.

The boys loved the petting zoo located in the park. They got to pet and chase many different sizes of deer. I was so surprised how calm and relaxed these animals where with all these kids poking and touching them. It was a fun experience for the boys and they definitely didn't want to leave!

And we ended our trip with a ride on the carousel. The boys chose their favorite animals to ride and they were filled with laughter and excitement as they went up and down and round and round.

It was a nice way to spend the morning as the fog wore off and the sun began to show itself across the beach. We headed out so we could go spend some time in the ocean!

sea world

Sea World. What a fun and exciting place. The minute we walked through those blue gates and heard the splashing of the water rides, the boys got excited. They loved walking through this park.

Walking through the polar expedition to see hundreds of penguins swim around, watching a huge walrus get ready to eat and of course the beluga whales splash through the water, everywhere we went there was something fun and exciting to see.

But watching Shamu jump high in to the air, splashing and getting people wet, was definitely the highlight of this visit.

Fisher loved watching the whales. Chase wasn't really that interested in it and was ready to go after the first few minutes. But he was a trooper and loved clapping along at the end of the show.

We loved Sea World!

san diego... the zoo

We did it! We packed our suitcases full of swimsuits and sunscreen. We loaded the van full of snacks and treats and refreshing drinks. We had our iPod loaded with the best music for road trips and by the afternoon we set off to the west coast. San Diego to be exact!

The boys and I have never been to San Diego and we were thrilled when Wayne planned a weekend jam packed with things to do and see. It was definitely a vacation this family will remember, and one that will be shared over a couple post on this blog.

Saturday morning we woke up early, enjoyed a tasty treat of waffles and eggs and loads of hash browns. We lathered up with sunscreen and headed to the San Diego Zoo.

If you know me well you know that while I was studying to become a landscape architect I wanted to focus my design on Zoo designs. I absolutely love visiting zoos. It's something I have to do when I visit a new state. So you could say that I was more than excited when we walked through the gates of this beautiful place and I had to make the tough decision of what I wanted to see first.

I was probably more excited to see the animals than the boys where, but they loved it just as much as I did. They lit up with the excitement of strange and new creatures to discover.

Pandas! I was so excited to watch and look at the amazing animals.

The boys loved watching these large bears chew on bamboo and sleep quietly in their beds.

I was amazed at how big this zoo is. Everywhere we turned or look there was something so fun to see or watch. Fisher kept stopping and pointing, he was just taking it all in. Learning new words for animals and enjoying the ones he already knows.

I loved watching my boys bond with their dad as they fell memorized to the movements of the animals moving so gracefully in their enclosures. They laughed and smiled and it was such a wonderful moment that has created some of the greatest memories for us to share.

And even the heat, or the walking, or being eight months pregnant couldn't stop the fun and wonderful time we had. We had an awesome time at the zoo, and I am so greatful that we got to go!

Plus we got to see beautiful San Diego and their amazing bridges by riding high up in the sky on the sky tram.

Riding high above the zoo, watching the gorillas roam the ground and the flamingos chill out in their pond, the boys loved this ride. So much in fact, we rode it twice!

And we knew it was about that time to leave when little ones rest their heads and eyes fall close and the afternoon nap welcomes us. After all, this is our first stop on our trip and we still have a lot more places to go!