Venice Beach and Santa Monica

Mel and Nick came for a quick weekend visit so we decided to do some sightseeing.  First, we headed to the skatepark at Venice Beach.  The boys were entranced..so was Dada

Then Ryden had to bust out some sweet moves also...

My mom got the boys a Build-a-Bear that came with Skechers shoes and a skateboard.  Well...Trev now uses that skateboard as his own...mind you, it is a little itty bitty skateboard that he can barely fit his two feet on.

Fake bail

We walked around for only a few minutes after that and decided that Santa Monica would be more our style.  So we took one last pic by some wooden skateboarder dude and got back in the car.

Santa Monica was more like it...because they had RIDES!

The Ferris Wheel is one of my personal favs.

And how excited was Ryden when he found out he was tall enough to ride the roller coaster!  So Auntie, Nick, and Dada rode with him..

While we were waiting for the roller coasters to finish, Grandma took Trev on a ride that he was less than thrilled about.  Teresa told me he was upset from the get-go.  He got mad when the guy took the ticket so they could ride...then he got mad that he had to wear a seat belt.  His look below pretty much sums up how he was the whole ride...

Slight smile...

Not impressed....

Much better with a lollipop...

He even picked out one for his bro...

Lollipop dance!

We took one last final walk on the pier before we headed to the airport to drop off Auntie and Nick.

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My kids are sick again!  Snot everywhere...

FUN FACT:  Jason was eating some Mexican food covered in hot sauce and Trevin asked for a bite.  Jason said "It's too spicy for Trevin."  So the next day, Trevin was eating a chocolate chip muffin.  I asked him for a bite to which he answered "No mama....too spicy."  

Jump Jump!

Every night, when Jason gets home from work, the boys asked to be thrown in the air.  It's fun for them and a workout for him.  Trevin almost flips around each time...heart attack

Aquarium fun

We met the Vettraino girls at the aquarium for some fishy fun.  Ayla and Ryden were so happy to see each other and Trevin was even excited.  Little Zoey tried to keep up with the big kids also.  Our first stop was to pet some jellyfish.  Umm what??  No thank you!

Ayla wanted to stay at each place forever and also wanted to get as much information about the sea life as she could.  My kids just wanted to skateboard on everything.  The bellow picture shows Miss Ayla explaining to Trev all about a sea lion as Ryden looks the other way...bored...and skateboarding.

Moving on to the sharks...Trevin was more into splashing the water than actually petting a shark.

And let me just talk about the birds for a quick second.  When I come with the boys, we usually just walk through the bird exhibit and laugh as other people get attacked while trying to feed them.  Well, Nicole had the bright idea of buying some bird nectar so the kids could feed them.  The second she walked in with the little containers (holding Zoey), she was bombarded by several hungry birds.  Zoey starting crying and yelling "ouch mommy, ouch".  I wish I had a picture of it.  The birds calmed down and only one stuck around to eat...

Ry wanted NOTHING to do with them....Trev was all over feeding them

After that traumatic experience, we headed back inside to check out the eels and sea otters.

And then it was back outside to chill with some penguins

Fun times..this might have to be the location that the MacTrain (MacMasters and Vettrainos) crew visits on a regular basis.

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FUN FACT:  Jason brought home some Skechers basketball shoes for Ryden that aren't even in stores yet.  Ryden took them up to his room and put them in his closet.  When the boys were getting ready for bed I found Ryden staring in his closet and I asked him what he was doing.  His response:

"I'm just looking at my new shoes.  I just can't take my eyes off of them"

Adult birthday party

We went to a birthday party last week that didn't consist of sugar and screaming kids but was filled with sushi and champagne.  It was nice to interact with adults without having to chase the kids around.  Happy Birthday Danny!  Courtney sure knows how to throw a rager!

Angie is always in mom mode though...cleaning up all the empty bottles and straightening up...

High fives for our soon-to-be neighbors when we move to Manhattan Beach (but YIKES to my double chin and scary look!)

My artsy shot of the night....not so good