Blackburns Take On the Zoo

You can't go to Southern California without going to the San Diego Zoo.  Our kids love animals and love to visit the zoo, so off we went!

We spent the whole day looking at exotic animals and enjoying time together.  I mean, look at these amazing gorillas!

So beautiful, so majestic, so foreign.  All right, we did actually see a lot of animals, but who wants to be bored with pictures of animals when you obviously came here to be bored with pictures of my cute family and our wonderful non-adventures!

My poor pregnant sister had a scare with high blood pressure the day before the Zoo, so she was forced to spend the day in a wheelchair.  My kids were jealous that she got to be pushed all day, but they got over it quickly when they noticed that she didn't get to see the penguins.  We're glad that you decided to come to the Zoo anyway, Erin!

And another candid shot of my family that makes me laugh: my sister Alison serving the rest of us while we say, "Could you make me one more sandwich?"  Thanks for taking good care of us, Alison!

The Zoo, as usual, was tons of fun.  We definitely need to go back!

Post-Graduation Vacation

As I said, this year was full of graduations, especially in the Blackburn clan.  R graduated residency, A1 graduated kindergarten, A2 graduated preschool, my niece Carmen graduated preschool, my sister Alison and her husband Casey each moved to new (and better) jobs, my sister Erin and her husband Ryan both graduated their bachelor's degree programs, Ryan got a big promotion at work, my sister Megan got a big promotion at work, and my mom turned 60.  I can't think of a better reason to go on vacation and celebrate!  So we went to Oceanside and spent a week enjoying what southern California has to offer.

We stayed at a beautiful beach house...

...where the kids had a blast digging in the sand and running from the waves.

I joined in for some of the running, and they're right, it is fun!

We also spent some time in Olde Towne (pronounced "ye oldie townie") San Diego, where my dad couldn't stop the teacher in himself.  This is the perfect representation of him, turning every moment into a teaching moment, like how to read a map.

Speaking of perfect representations, this picture just makes me laugh.  Why do my sisters insist on making funny faces for the camera?  It makes for some awesome shots, though!

I love spending time with my family.  San Diego was a lot of fun, once we figured out where the good food was.  Yum!!

Moving!

That's right, we have moved again and for the last time!  And if you can believe it, this is the only picture of moving that I have (I must have been busy packing boxes or something): A1 helping to clean out the "Narnia cupboards" in our apartment.

For those who didn't know that we have moved, send me your email address (not in the comments below), and I'll send you our new information.  More pictures of our new place to come!

California Friends

With graduation comes lots of changes, the biggest for us being a move away from California.  So we partied it up before we left.  We had a big picnic with friends from the ward, and friends who had moved to other parts of California came to participate.  We will miss hanging out with you and being able to see you so often.

And in the last few weeks before moving, we had a movie night with the four families that we played with every day.  We will miss the Johnsons and the Jones and the Niesens and the Bradys.  You are awesome and made that last year of residency bearable!

A2 will especially miss his best friend, Hayes.

Even months after moving, he still wonders what Hayes is up to and when Hayes will come to visit.  Yeah, Hayes and Audun, when are you coming to visit?

R Graduates (Again)

June was full of graduations.  The biggest, of course, was R's final graduation from residency.  I promise that he will not have another graduation - it seems med school and residency have cured the desire to ever learn again!

To celebrate, the whole class had a nice catered dinner on campus and were entertained by a slide show of happenings over the past year.  What a great group of doctors.  R was blessed to be part of this program and to be surrounded by such amazing people.  Thank you for teaching my husband the skills he needs to do well in his career and for being awesome influences in our lives.

As the slide show pictures of residents hanging out in bars and dressing up for partying flashed by, I was overwhelmed by how few pictures there were of my sweet husband and the other resident family we were sitting with (we were the two families that started having kids before residency started).  Rather than hang out with the others in their program, the two of them devoted their down time (and time that should have been spent studying) to their wives and kids.  What amazing men we married!  I am so grateful to have a husband that prefers us over anything else in the world and will work so hard to support his family.  You are a true inspiration for your children and for me.

Congratulations, R!  We love you!

A1 Graduates (Again)

What a great year this was for A1!  She graduated from Kindergarten (I know that this is my third graduation post about her, but there won't be any more until 5th grade - hopefully).  She absolutely loved being in school all day and learning with other kids.  She loved her teacher and came home everyday with new things to share.

I once asked why she thought her teacher was the best.  She replied that her teacher, unlike all the other teachers, wore skirts and dresses, so she was the best!  That's the best compliment my little girl will give anyone, so take it and run, Ms. P!  I loved her teacher because she was very patient with all the kids and taught to multiple levels, based on what each child needed, rather than teaching to the lowest common denominator.  Thank you for being such a big part of our lives for the beginning of a long school career.  Thank you for instilling a love of learning in a little girl who wants to spend many, many years in school.

To celebrate graduation, all grades participated in a dance celebration.  The kindergartners did an Irish jig, so adorable!

Aren't they cute in their costumes?  I love the skirts and vests made from paper bags - so economical and environmentally-friendly!  And, no matter what anyone else says, my child was the cutest out there, and I'm very objective about her!

Then we had a party to celebrate.  The cupcakes were the hit of the party!

So congratulations to A1.  You are officially off on a great school career.

He Did It Again

Remember this?  Well, it seems that he didn't learn his lesson when he was one.  He's still up to the same antics at three, but he is the cutest little boy I've ever seen!