The therapy dogs from Helen Woodward Animal Center visited the first graders on Remember Me Thursday, a day aimed at raising awareness about orphaned animals and pet adoption. Aliciana was on hand to take some photos of the kids and their furry visitors.
Lots of robots, including a giant fire-breathing one, and 3D printers were the highlights of this year’s Maker Faire. The boys had lots of fun looking at all the displays and making some hands on crafts.
Every other year, the “Life Lessons Character Counts” after-school program is taught by Turtleback’s own ninja kindergarten teachers, Mrs Flinn and Mrs Stamp. Gavin has now completed the program three times, but this was Connor’s first time graduating from the program. Both boys had a blast!
The boys having fun with their buddies at the annual Turtleback Harvest Festival.
I was stuck in training at my new job, so I didn’t get to attend the Halloween parade this year at Turtleback. Luckily, Aliciana was on hand to take pictures of all the kids and their teachers dressed up.
Our boys looked cute dressed up as Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, two of their favorite MLB stars.
We went to the zoo to see the new parts of the Africa Rocks section, but it turned out that they didn’t have many more animals on display. I think all the animals were getting acclimated to their new homes. We did manage to see a few honey badgers and some vervet monkeys.
The boys had lots of fun playing with the dogs at our traditional Thanksgiving gathering at the Loera house. Papi and Reina came down from Phoenix and brought their two dogs and a friend’s puppy.
The food was delicious, with both a ham and turkey, and all the traditional sides like my favorite: green bean casserole.
We spent a nice lazy Saturday at Balboa Park. First, we explored a new collection at the Nat. The had all sorts of stuff from their archives on display.
Next, we decided to get some fresh air, so we headed over to the beautiful Japanese Friendship Garden. It was so peaceful among the koi fish and waterfalls.
Santa took the day off preparing for Christmas to visit the Teradata Holiday party for families. The boys had a blast doing crafts, and eating pizza and lots of sweets. I even got to show the boys my desk and give them a tour of the Teradata campus.
We visited the koalas and then wandered around the new Africa Rocks section of the zoo until the sun went down. Once it was dark, we got to enjoy all the Christmas lights and decorations that lit up the park for the holidays, part of their annual “Jungle Bells” celebration.
We went by the Safari Park to see if all the animals were ready for Santa to come visit. The tigers didn’t act very excited, they were just taking naps or just laying around.
The next stop was the goat corral, where we gave them got a nice brushing, so they would look nice for Santa. We finished off our visit by watching the elephants, rhinos, and giraffes roam around.
We started off at the “Embracing Peace” statue by the Midway, and then worked our way down the waterfront to Seaport Village.
