Saturday in SB

So what's the first thing you do when you hit the beach? If you are James you golf!



Throwing sand is fun!



Look at that! The ocean!





Tia ChaCha and Tio Donkey arrive. They only stayed for a few minutes but they got to see James in action. Donkey helped James make a hole for golf.











The water was freezing! We did convince James to step in the water, but he quickly ran away.

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Burying seashells is also fun!



Later on we met up with Grandma Rosie, Grandpa Larry, Tia ChaCha, and Tio Donkey on State Street, the impressive main street of shopping in SB. I guess this could count as a milestone for James- his first bar. I mean, sitting at the bar.



And still later on, we met Uncle Juan, Aunt Marina, and their kids (my cousins) Juan Carlos and Marissa for dinner. I'm sad that I didn't take any pictures but this one of James' meal in a boat.

Friday in SB, Part 2

We didn't expect naps during our vacation. So right after the wharf we decided to hit the Santa Barbara Zoo. I know I've been there, especially with my Uncle Juan when I was little, but I didn't remember any of it. It was a nice zoo! Just right for our half day excursion.





James was very independent. He wanted to climb up and down every set of stairs at the zoo, at the hotel, anywhere and everywhere.





"Shhhh! Lions sleeping."



A bit of toddler defiance. James sat here and pouted for a quick minute, about something I forget. I thought it was funny that he sat next to that sign.



In a later post you'll see all of the pictures I took of the beautiful, beautiful flowers and landscaping everywhere. There were beautiful flowers even growing alongside the highways. I just fell in love with all of the natural colors. Here is a picture of a mosaic sculpture at the Zoo. I just thought everything was very pretty and artsy.



Self portrait on the zoo train.

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After the zoo we had a phone call from Grandma Rosie and Tia ChaCha. They were headed to my grandparents' home for a quick visit. We joined them and James was able to meet his Great Grandpa Ruben and Great Grandma Loreto Gutierrez. I hadn't seen my grandparents in probably ten years and I didn't know what to expect. They were just as teeny tiny as I remember, and Grandpa gave all of us a big kiss and was so happy to see us!

Friday in SB, Part 1

These posts are coming out a little slow. I finally figured out how to upload pictures but they are slow going and I can only do two or three pictures at a time. Bear with me!

On our first full day in Santa Barbara we headed to the wharf. It was surprisingly chilly and foggy. So chilly that I had to buy a sweatshirt! Me! Who is always cold!

A view of the harbor from the wharf.



Jim and James spotted a starfish on the wharf's posts.



This huge bird was a bit scary.



James and I admired the fresh crabs at one restaurant.



I guess there was a fire on the wharf five years ago and they replaced the old Sea Center with a new one. I don't remember the old one but this new one was very kid friendly and interesting. James looked at each of the aquariums with much interest.



A little tunnel for the kiddies.





James enjoyed "fishing" with this magnetic fishing pole set.



Seashells! We will hear a lot about seashells in the next few days.



Outside the sea center there was a Wyland exhibit. Wyland is Jim's favorite artist, so we were very excited to see what was offered. We entered the "maze" but didn't read through too much of the information because of a wandering toddler.













The staff in the "petting" area of the aquarium were so great with James. They gave him a little step stool to get up close and personal with the creatures. James pet a starfish and a sea cucumber!

Arriving in California

We left early on Thursday morning. James was so good on the plane. We had packed DVD's, books, a new Crayola color wonders travel kit (markers only work on special paper), and then hoped that several snacks would occupy him on the almost four hour flight. It all worked! He loved the slight turbulence on the plane and especially the landing. He said, when we had finished landing, "Do it again!"





We landed in Los Angeles and rented a car to drive the 2+ hours to Santa Barbara. Here is James pointing out our first sighting of the ocean.





We arrived at our hotel at around 5pm (West Coast time) and walked around the pond and pool area. These friendly white ducks greeted us.



We had a quick dinner out and then just rested in the hotel room. James was wide awake, way past his bedtime. We put him down at around 7:30ish (Calif time), thinking he should be tired. Nope! He chatted with us in the dark. Our room was one single room, so the crib was in the main space. When James went to bed, we were also forced to unwind. We tried to sit in the dark, and then tried to put the TV on low, but James was still jumping up and down in the crib. We gave up at around 9ish and no more peeps from James until 4am. He woke us up with "I got a poop!" Luckily he didn't really have a poop and we were able to sleep for about 2 more hours. It was a pretty funny night.