Ladd Photos

Gavin pitching some strikes:

We visited the San Diego History Center’s special exhibit celebrating 100 years of the zoo: The Lore Behind the ROAR. The exhibit was filled with lots of interesting history about the San Diego Zoo and its animals. The boys enjoyed dressing up as zoo keepers and learning about what the animals eat.

I had the day off, so I got to enjoy the Halloween parade at school, as well as the class parties for Connor and Gavin. The kids looked so cute in their costumes.

This year Connor was Optimus Prime and Gavin was a banana. Connor’s teacher, Mrs. Flinn, was Poppy from Trolls, and Gavin’s teacher, Ms. Namdar, was a bucket filler.

We got to see “The Art of the Brick“, a special exhibit at the Fleet showcasing the work of artist Nathan Sawaya. All the pieces were made with Lego bricks, which blew the boys’ minds. Of course, after getting inspired they had to stop by the hands on section where they could make their own Lego creations.

It was Connor’s last soccer game for the season. After the game, we all gathered at a nearby park for snacks and to hand out trophies to the boys.

This was Gavin’s last fall ball game. He can’t wait for the spring season to start!

The boys wanted to visit Legoland to build at their various Lego build stations, so we headed over to Carlsbad. We also got to check out the Christmas decorations.

While we weren’t at the zoo very long, we did get to see a cute baby gerenuk and a very bored looking polar bear. I also got to say ‘hi’ to one of my favorite animals: capybaras.

My family and I have visited theNat to see the special exhibit “Animals: Machines In Motion”. The boys had a lot of fun learning about how the bodies of various animals have adapted and work.

We learned a lot about teeth, how animals fly, and how a giraffe’s heart can pump blood all the way up to its head. We also marveled at the size of Sue, the largest and most complete T-Rex skeleton yet found.

Connor and the rest of the kindergarten kiddos did a great job singing at their holiday performance. Afterwards, they headed back to class to enjoy hot chocolate and build some fun crafts.

The kindergarten kids singing their hearts out:

Fun and chaos at the after performance party:

We headed over to Balboa Park for some Christmas cheer. First we stopped by the Dr. Seuss Christmas Tree (he was a local of La Jolla). Then we headed to the Timken Art Museum to check out a special display of hand crafted Christmas ornaments.

We also walked though the museum to look at the paintings. Connor really studied them, trying to figure out all the brush strokes.

Present unwrapping pandemonium with our boys in the morning, and in the evening with the whole Loera clan at Eddie and Sally’s house.

We made a trip to Legoland so the boys could enjoy some special Christmas holiday events going on. They colored some Christmas tree ornaments and did a scavenger hunt to earn a few holiday pop badges.