Panda Bears

 One of our main goals with this trip was to take our sweet Gemma to see her beloved Panda Bears.  So on May 1, that is what we did. The boys AKA James D. and James went deep sea fishing and the girls went to San Diego Zoo for the day.

 

 This is Bai-Yun (white cloud)

 Gemma was kind of in shock that she was actually going to see panda's after wanting to for so long.... We went through the first time and I don't think she quite processed it, so after we went and got a bite to eat at the Panda Cafe and then I took her back through to see them again.

 This is Gao Gao (means Big Big) He was found in the wild injured 18 years ago. He is a double rare Panda in that he is Left-Handed.  Gemma thought that was the neatest thing because she is also left-handed. I was really glad I took her back through because Gao Gao wasn't out the first time.

Time for vacation

We just got back this week after spending time in Southern California with our good friends The Fishers. We spent a week in the city of Newport. It was a fantastic vacation. We stopped in Las Vegas to partake of Fat Burger, then we stopped to see the Mermaids. Gemma was pretty fascinated with her.

 I don't think I have ever driven to California and not stopped at the Calico ghost town.  Jade, James Fisher and James are panning for "gold"

 We went to a beach that is known for Sea Glass. I found some lovely pieces.

Random pics...

James' ans Cisco's birthday cake
We had a whole bunch of robins in our backyard one rainy day.
Gemma's favorite monster high doll "Abbey" and the gingerbread house she and Jade built.
Waterfall braid on Gemma's hair.

Kangaroo Zoo

Mark came in town from New York and we went to Kangaroo Zoo for the day with Joey and Cerissa and their kids and Grandma Rory.

Money Machine

Jade earned a fun reward at school by selling fundraiser cookie dough. there were 9 students in the whole school that sold enough to take a spin in the money machine.
Gemma and I went to watch. It was quite funny they used a leaf blower to blow the money around and it took the kids a good 3 seconds to recover from the shock. It was loud and windy.
Jade did great though and she and one other ended up with the most money. It was all one dollar bills and she caught 10.