San Diego Botanical Garden

We spent most of our day in the children's garden. I had to drag her out to enjoy the rest of the gardens. It's a great place to spend day.

The children's garden featured mazes and giant chair, vegetable garden, a musical garden.

All the kids just have to take off their shoes to feel the water between their toes.

It's really magical for little kids.

After going to the Huntington Gardens, I've been looking for other great gardens that my daughter can enjoy. The place encourages kids to use all their senses while playing. I'm glad I found this place.

Full Moon

Ever since we started dating, we went to see the full moon reflect on the ocean. At one point, the moon reflected right in front of our spot. We have yet to experience the same situation. But now that we have a family, there is no reason to stop doing this ritual. When we are able to, we drive down to the beach when there's a full moon and walk in the beach at around midnight. It is nice to play tag or pretend baseball under the moon light.

Big Bear mini vacation

We saw some awesome animals at the Moonridge Animal Zoo. We saw a snow leopard, owls, bisons, foxes, and of course bears. Even though it was small, it was great to animals that you don't see elsewhere.

Shopping at The Village. We were a block from here so, we took a walk in the daytime and at nighttime. We couldn't help eating some Mexican food.

We planned to leave on Saturday morning since my daughter got sick. A storm has arrived during the night. We all saw snow for the first time. It was an unique experience drive in the snow.

The best part of going up there was snowboarding!!!! Last year I only went down once and I gave up. This time I went quite a few times. I gave up my fear and I started doing some good tricks. I hope we are able to go every year to continue snowboarding, and my daughter will get to skii next year.

Irvine Park

Today I took her to the Irvine Park Railroad's pumpkin patch. Since she saw an episode from The Little Einsteins about Halloween, she been talking about ghosts and Halloween. She enjoyed the moon bounce. After that, we headed to the haunted house. The first time, she went half way until she saw the witch. Then, after following other kids, she decided that it was no longer scary but fun.

Tidepools

Today we spent the afternoon at the Laguna Beach tidepools. When we approached the tidepools my daughter didn't want to touch the sand. After much exploration, she was touching crabs and playing in the tidepools.

Festival of Children

Yesterday I brought my niece and my daughter to the Festival of Children in South Coast Plaza. We were all happy to see the show from the Festival of Ballet Theatre. I hope we are able to see the Alice in Wonderland show coming up.

The festival was great. They got to write letters to the troops and decorate a flower pot. Besides, the sales around the mall were great.

Best $45 spent this year

The membership to the Santa Ana Zoo
My 2-yr old doesn't get bored here. We can spend hours doing the same things. I know she likes it because she constantly asks me to go. It is pretty small. Since we go so often, it's not much about seeing the animals. It is just a nice place to be outdoors for a little while. This is what it usually happens; she explores in the maze, she likes to slide on a large-scale frog, she explores the rainforest-like area, she skips on some colorful sidewalk blocks, she searches for butterflies in the conservation house, rides the mary-go-round and the train, feeds the goats, plays on the playground, begs for an ice cream, observes the toys at the store and finally, she says good-bye.

Oh, and it has been about 3 days that she started sleeping partially in her bed. I am actually happy and surprised that she likes it there. Another overdue milestone passed.