Hunting The Eggs

This year I decided to take Margaux to the Easter Egg Hunt locally at the Park District of Forest Park.  No petting zoo and not as many eggs as the big event downtown, but still good fun!  It was rather cold, so we did our thing and skedaddled over to Grandma Sally's for a nice hot breakfast!  Daddy had to work, but it was nice having Aunt Susie come along!

TCSF At State Finals

Nick going up for the shot against Shelby.

(Photo courtesy of Abby Clear)

Traverse City St. Francis made it to the Class C state finals, and our nephew Nick is a senior starter.  The games were played at MSU's Breslin Center and they beat Shelby High School but fell to Flint Beecher yesterday afternoon.  What an amazing season they had and we are so proud of Nick!  I am  glad that Patrick & Margaux were able to make it to the game...she told me all about it on the phone last night.  (She was still running her Grandma ragged at 11pm!) 

Disney Live: Three Classic Fairy Tales

 Cinderella & Belle...aka Addy & GoGo

I have GOT to start bringing my zoom lens along!  Another fun Disney Live event and it was extra fun with my friend Melissa and her daughter, Addison.  We were surrounded by hundreds of little princesses running around!  I am really enjoying these magical days.

Shamrocks & A Bunny

 My friend Linda's daugther, Maeve, was very sweet with MVP at the parade.

 Parade Girl

It's easy being green!

Same Easter Bunny fourth year in a row!  

What a fabulous weekend...the sun was shining, the temps were mild and there was a festive vibe in the air all around Chicago!  Chicagoans love their St. Paddy's celebrations, let me tell you!  Yesterday we went to the parade in Forest Park, it was a fun little family-friendly deal.  Today was the return of the south side parade and next weekend will be the big shindig downtown.  I took Margaux out to Woodfield Shopping Center today to have her picture taken with the Easter Bunny.  She loves him!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Such A Bummer When Vacation Ends

 Uncle Rod, cousin Doug & Patty...so great to meet up with them for dinner!  Rod was able to sail from Hawaii to San Diego with Doug!  (Navy)

 Bye-bye wonderful pools!

 Bye-bye hotel birdies!

  Bye-bye San Diego!

Loew's Coronado Bay Resort was a wonderful place to stay!  A very kid and pet friendly resort with gorgeous views of the Coronado Bay Bridge and San Diego skyline.  I love Coronado Island!

San Diego Trip: San Diego Zoo Safari Park

 I love that they bring animals out for educational purposes.

 She always has love for the petting zoo animals!

 Lorikeet Landing...you feed them their nectar and they swarm you!

 Lorikeet Landing...on MVP's head!

 

 Beautiful terrain.  This is where you go down for the different safaris.

 I was able to capture several close-up elephant shots!

This cheetah is resting after her running demonstration.  She is FAST!!!

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park up in Escondido is absolutely amazing!  The grounds are just beautiful and the animals have such large areas in which to roam.  Many of the animals were rescued from different places around the world.  We did the African Safari Tram, which was included with admission, and is small child friendly.  The other safari options are for children a bit older and adults.  There is a zip line safari and some more private safaris that take you even more up close and personal to some of the animals.  The Roar & Snore looks like a lot of fun, you get to explore and spend the night in their tent camp!  It was funny to watch and photograph Margaux and Daddy feeding the Lorikeets...at one point Patrick had about 20 of them on him!  Margaux looked a little unsure at first, but then decided it was pretty funny that they were perched on her arms and head! I wish the tigers had been closer to our lookout point, but I will say that when I heard one of them roar, it sent a chill up my spine, even from a distance!

San Diego Trip: USS Midway Museum

We decided to spend our rainy vacation day touring the retired Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Midway.  It was extra interesting since my brother-in-law Dennis was on this ship back in the 70's.  It's HUGE!  She was laid down at the end of WWII and was used throughout Operation Desert Storm and a few missions afterward.  Her decommission ceremony was in April of 1992.  The USS Midway Museum has been open in San Diego since 2004.  We didn't get to tour every nook and cranny of the vessel, with a toddler in tow, but we saw quite a bit!  I cannot imagine spending months at sea in such close quarters!  While standing on the flight deck, I looked across the bay and saw a naval ship with the number 74 on it...turns out it was my cousin Doug's ship that had just returned that morning!  Wonderful staff and volunteers, many of them veterans...go see it if you are ever in San Diego!  God bless our soldiers, past and present.

San Diego Trip: Torrey Pines State Reserve

 Our little trouper hiked about 1.5 miles!

From Wikipedia:
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is a coastal state park located in the California community of La Jolla, San Diego, California, off North Torrey Pines Road (formerly a part of U.S. Route 101). Although it is located within San Diego city limits,^[1] it remains one of the wildest stretches of land (8 km²) on the Southern California coast. It is bordered immediately on the south by Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course and on the north by the city of Del Mar.
The reserve consists of a plateau with cliffs that overlook Torrey Pines State Beach, and a lagoon that is vital to migrating seabirds. Many different kinds of wildlife and flora are found within the reserve, including bobcats, foxes, skunks, raccoons, coyotes, rabbits, cacti, coastal chapparal, and the rare Torrey pine. The eight miles of trails within the park offers an attraction for hikers and beach-goers (guided nature walks take place on weekends and holidays), and a small museum sits at the top, as was well as the Torrey Pines Lodge, a hotel and tour station. From the cliffs or many places along the beach, it is possible to see La Jolla to the south and Del Mar to the north. During whale migrations, it is sometimes possible to see whales from the cliffs. At the southern end of the beach is a large rock that projects into the ocean, called Flat Rock. South of this rock is San Diego's unofficial nude beach, Black's Beach.<sup>[citation needed]

We did not see any nudies!  Such a beautiful area...definitely a highlight of the trip for me!</sup>