Hangin' With Tasha: Ladera Ranch Water Park!

Happy little swimmers!

"Daddy! Let's go and play up there!"

Shaunna and her little bathing beauty, Natasha

Kyra loves the water, just like her Daddy!

The water is the perfect height - just right for the girls to walk around in it

"Look Kyra, the water bucket is about to tip over!"

"Here comes the water!"

Big splash!

Natasha and Kyra loved playing in the water!

Are these two cute, or what?!

BFF's at play!

Splish, splash!

Another view of the water bucket as it tips over

Natasha, hangin' with her Mommy!

Climbing around the wet play structure

On Wednesday, Shaunna and Natasha graciously invited us over to check out their local Ladera Ranch Water Park. This place is amazing! Kyra had a great time and loved being able to walk around and play in the water. It was a little cloudy and cool while we were there, but I'm sure Natasha loves playing in the water when it's really hot outside. Kyra had so much fun leading her Daddy all over the big play structure, and she didn't mind at all that she was constantly getting splashed! She has always been a little water baby (or, I guess now she's a water toddler). The water is the perfect depth - the kids can walk right into the water and it slowly slopes downward, getting only waist-high on Kyra and Natasha. So they are easily able to walk around in there (although we still held Kyra's hand a bit while she was getting used to it all). Shaunna brings Natasha to the water park every week, and it looks like we might join in on the fun during the rest of the summer.

Thanks so much for having us! It's so great to be closer to you guys and be able to get together more frequently now!

Hangin' With Tasha: The Aquarium of the Pacific!

BFF's at the Aquarium!

Kyra was so excited to introduce Natasha to the Aquarium of the Pacific!

Seals & Sea Lions!

Look Tasha! There are seals & sea lions in here!

See! There's one right there!

"Hi!"

Cooling off at a touch pool

Getting a little wet, and loving it!

"Wa wa!"

Well, hello there Miss Cutie Patootie Natasha!

Keeping cool!

Checking out the sting rays

One of the gigantic crabs

"Looking Mommy, there's a fishy on my shirt!"

A girl on the go!

...Still going...

Kyra and a boat...or a "bo," as Kyra calls it

A last little bit of playing before heading home

Last Sunday, we had the pleasure of introducing the Larson family to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Amazingly for a summer morning, it wasn't crowded at all so Kyra and Natasha were able to get up close and see all the fishies and fun stuff. They had so much fun running around and playing together. They especially enjoyed a small touch pool area where they were tall enough to reach their hands in and cool off (it was a rather warm day). After a fun morning, we had a delicious lunch at the nearby Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant (it doesn't seem fair that we almost always eat seafood when we visit the Aquarium - maybe we should rethink that, but shrimp is just so good!). Thank you Larsons for a fantastic Aquarium trip, a yummy lunch, and some good Forrest Gump movie trivia!

Kyra has really been enjoying her new life in Orange County! This was just one of the many exciting days we've had recently. And we love knowing that there are many, many more great days to come!

Kyra's First Carousel Ride!

Kyra got so excited when she saw the horses on the carousel! She kept saying "neigh neigh" over and over again!

Cute summer sandals! Gotta love super-cheap clearance sales at Target!

Riding on the carousel with Mommy!

She absolutely LOVED riding on the horsey!

Having fun with Mommy!

"Look Daddy, I'm on a horsey! Neigh, neigh, neigh!"

"I could do this all day. This ride goes on all day, right?"

...then, 3 seconds later...

"Wait, what? What do you mean the ride ended? What do you mean I can't ride the horsey all day long? More, more, more! Noooooooooooo, I don't want to get off!!!!!! I will NOT get off of this horsey!!!! You can't make me get off this horsey!!!!"

"Seriously Mommy, I don't want to get off the horsey! You're going to have to pry my little fingers off of this thing to get me off of here!"

"I REFUSE to get off of my horsey!!!!!!...and, by the way, I don't appreciate the way you and Daddy are laughing at me hysterically!"

We took Kyra on her first carousel ride today at the Irvine Spectrum. She had walked by the carousel on our way to lunch, and she very excitedly kept saying, "neigh, neigh, neigh" (she already knows a bunch of animal sounds, including the sound for "horse."). So, after lunch, we walked back to the carousel and she was instantly captivated. Mommy had the pleasure of taking her on the carousel while Daddy dutifully manned the camera. Kyra absolutely LOVED riding on the horsey! She again kept saying "neigh, neigh" over and over again. She instinctively knew to hold her hands on the bar in front of the horse, and happily rode up and down as the carousel turned. She was happy as a clam and probably would've kept riding all day long if we had let her...

Unfortunately, it's not a very long ride, and it did eventually slow and come to a stop. As it began slowing down, Kyra's smiles turned to confusion and she (somewhat heatedly) began saying "more, more, more." When the carousel came to a full stop, well, pretty much all hell broke loose! Kyra was screaming, crying, holding on to that horse for dear life!!!! Moms were walking by us, taking their kids off the ride, asking if Kyra was upset because they thought maybe she had been scared on the ride. Nope, we explained. Just the opposite: she freakin' loved it and was traumatized over the idea of it ending! Our poor baby girl! It was so sad to see her so upset...but it was also so surprising, and (I'm forced to admit) it sent Mom and Dad into a ridiculous fit of laughter. We'll be prepared to keep our laughter fully under control next time, but we just couldn't hold back this time.

Kyra has obviously cried and gotten upset before, but she hasn't really thrown huge, monumental tantrums...UNTIL TODAY! Wow, this one was memorable!

Definitely a day we'll remember forever!

Some videos below (hit "pause" on the music player at the bottom of the blog first, so that you can hear the sound on the videos). The first, Kyra tells us what a horsey says. The second, Kyra enjoys her carousel ride. And three, hell begins to break loose.

Horses say "neigh"

Enjoying the carousel ride!

The ride comes to an end, and Kyra wants "more, more!" She begins to become irate...