Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Weekend Getaway: Monterey Playground January 26, 2014

Filed under: California — Kelocity @ 4:11 am
Tags: , , ,

On our last day in Monterey, we kept it simple and headed to a playground so Adele could burn off some steam before being in the car for five hours. After some googling, we settled on the Dennis the Menace Playground. It did not disappoint.
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It was built decades ago so it didn’t fall into the traditional parks you see nowadays. They just don’t make em’ like they used to. Check out this slide! (hey, adults can play too!)
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And look at this one! It was a ‘roller’ slide. 
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Our plan to tucker Adele out worked. She was fried after a couple of hours of climbing, sliding and running.
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She slept for 3 of the 5 hours on the way back to LA. I spent the rest of the ride in the back seat with her reading, singing and playing. (And maybe some Elmo watching as well… shhh! I’ll never be one of THOSE parents. haha)

Here’s a video of Adele in the backseat (note: it’s dark, just listen!) All she wanted was to watch Elmo and mom singing was NOT going to cut it this time. ha.

 

Weekend Getaway: Monterey Butterflies January 25, 2014

Filed under: California — Kelocity @ 4:51 am
Tags: , , ,

After our full day at the Aquarium, we all slept great and woke up ready for more! Our room was comfortable with a king bed, and plenty of room for a pack n play. All three nights we were there, we put Adele down around 8pm and turned out the lights. Then Irving and I sat in bed and read on our phones/laptops in the dark for another hour before passing out. We logged a lot of sleep while we were up there, it was great!

We headed back to the Black Bear Diner for breakfast (it’s THAT good!) I had an amazing biscuit with a side of fruit. Adele had some ham and eggs with berries and toast on the side.
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Our destination for the morning was the Natural History Museum.
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We thought the Butterfly Exhibit was there, but turns out it was actually a few blocks down. Before we left, we explored the ‘backyard’ of the museum and found this fun nest to play in!

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I love this picture. She’s climbing trees!
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We eventually did find the Butterflies! The Monarchs love the trees and weather in this particular neighborhood and come for a visit for a few months each year.
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They had a simple trail where you could walk down and back and observe all the pretty butterflies.
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The tip-toes!
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I love her free spirit and love of the outdoors. She was running so fast I thought she would trip!
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The butterflies were awesome, there were SO many!
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We had a great time looking at the “Utter-fries” =)
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After our fun morning, we headed back to the hotel so Adele could take a nap. We took advantage of our built-in babysitters and snuck out for an afternoon date! First, we headed to Lover’s Point to climb some rocks and watch the waves. It felt like the old, adventurous ‘Kelley and Irving’.
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After that, we had lunch together, walked around a mall, got some Coldstone ice cream and then say American Hustle in the theater! It was SO wonderful to get away for a few hours. We had a blast. It was the perfect date!

 

Weekend Getaway: Monterey Aquarium January 24, 2014

Filed under: animals,California — Kelocity @ 1:02 pm
Tags: , , ,

Over the long weekend, we trekked five hours up the coast of California to the seaside town of Monterey. We met up with Irving’s mom and grandmother while we were there. It was three days of fish, ocean, family and relaxation. We had a lot of fun.
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First up on our list of things to do was of course the Monterey Aquarium. It’s a must see, we spent ALL day there.

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We knew Adele would like it, but we had no idea she would LOVE it. She had her face plastered to the tanks, we had to peel her away to move on to the next one.
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Her silhouette pigtails are the CUTEST!
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Hey fishie! Come here!
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We briefly let her play in the touch pool, but she was more interested in watching than touching.
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The aquarium is right on the bay, so you can go outside and catch a glimpse at the wildlife out there as well. She was mesmerized by the waves. She kept saying “Water! Water! Water!”
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But we eventually made it back inside to watch the Penguins!
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This was a ‘beach’ exhibit with lots of birds on the sand. She really liked this one.
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Once it was apparent it was nap time for the little (and lunchtime for the adults), we headed back to our hotel. (Shoes not required…the shoes and socks came off one by one on the ride back to the car!)
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Adele took a nice nap and Irving, Nini and I snuck off for a nice lunch at the Black Bear Diner. (Thanks for babysitting Adele, Julie!) When she woke up, she was in a great mood, so we headed back to the Aquarium to take fully advantage of our tickets!
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First stop was a visit back to see the waves!
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Outside, they have an exhibit where you can stand under a glass wall and a wave will ‘crash’ over you. You never get wet of course, but Adele thought it was HILARIOUS. She got scared and then giggled. Over and over.
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Back inside, we checked out the Jellyfish exhibits. I remembered these from when I first visited here in 2002(?)
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You could even make a drawing and it would ‘swim away’ like a Jellyfish would. Irving’s quite the artist!
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We spent the rest of our time there in the toddler playground area. They had a slide and bouncy things to climb on. And also a fish tank tunnel with little Nemos!
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That night, we all went for Chinese Food (really really good Chinese food!) and then called it a night. We were all pretty tired. It was a full, wonderful day.

Stay tuned for more photos of the rest of our weekend!

 

Christmas On Our Turf January 23, 2014

Filed under: Christmas — Kelocity @ 10:01 pm

We had a wonderful Christmas on the East Coast, but we were also excited for Santa to visit our California home a couple of weeks later as well! We had a great ‘Christmas’ morning, complete with coffee in hand, pajamas and presents!
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Adele’s stocking had bracelets, play dough, a crazy straw, and a princess cell phone and keychain. She loved it!
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We had fun taking turns opening presents and enjoying each other’s company. I didn’t care if it took us all day to open those presents, we had so much fun!
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Adele even got an “Elf on the Shelf” for next year! So excited to play that game next year!
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Our beautiful Christmas Morning mess!
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So what did Adele find under the tree this year?
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Here’s a summary!
XmasGifts1.) VTech Flashlight
2.) Ikea Trainset
3.) Elf on a Shelf
4.) Mrs. Potatohead
5.) Vinci Tablet
6.) Legos
7.) Baby Bjorn Toilet Trainer (!!)
8.) Books
9.) The World Cup soccer ball
10.) Foam Bath Letters – Not Pictured

What a fun day!
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Tonight… January 21, 2014

Filed under: Baby — Kelocity @ 8:49 pm

The first day back to work after a long weekend is always a rough one. We had a great little mini vacation up to Monterey (pictures coming!) and it was tough to mentally get back into the grind today. Needless to say, I was very excited to pick Adele up at school at the end of the day. I walked through the door and was greeted by a whiny little one who didn’t want to leave. (What? Didn’t you miss me?) I had to pry a book out of her hands and she was screaming at the top of her lungs as a result. I practically dragged her out of there, she was yelling at me the whole way back to the car. Awesome.

We had to stop at the grocery store on the way home and the car ride sounded something like this:
Adele: Waaaaaa! Waaaaaa!
Me: Do you want me to sing you a song?
Adele: Waaaaa! Yeah. Dadddddddy.
Me: Daddy’s not here, but do you want me to sing?
Adele: Yeaaaaaaa, waaaaaa!
Me: ABCD….
Adele: NO!!
Me: Ok… Twinkle Twinkle…
Adele: NOOOOOOO! SUNNN!  (Apparently I now take requests…)
Me: Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, Please shine down on me…
Adele: DADDDDDYYYYYY!

Anyways, we get to Trader Joes, she’s tearing apart everything I put in the cart. Once in the parking lot, she tore open a carton of grapes that went flying across the parking lot. Whatever.

We get home, I have three grocery bags, a work bag, a purse and her daycare bag… and she wants me to CARRY her. Wasn’t gonna happen. We walked into the house with her crying three steps behind me the whole way. It was kind of funny.

Inside, I went to get her high chair so she couldn’t get into trouble while I unload the groceries. I turn the corner into the kitchen and she’s standing there with drops of blood everywhere… on the floor, on blankie, on her shirt. What the heck happened in the 10 seconds I turned my back? Who knows. I still don’t know what exactly happened.

After dinner… I fill up the tub, turn to throw something away (2 feet from the tub) and I turn back and she has fallen INTO the tub… clothes, shoes, jacket. Everything. Do you know how hard it is to peel wet jeggings off a squirming toddler? I gave her a quick scrub down and then dropped the towel into the tub as I went to pluck her out. Awesome.

After my awesome night, I decided it can’t get any worse…. so I figured it would be the PERFECT time to put her to bed without the pacifier. I tucked her in (with puppy, kitty, monkey, bunny, ducky and three blankets) and crossed my fingers. She cried for five minutes… and fell asleep. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Even after all the bad luck tonight, apparently I earned a badge on my mom sash. Thankyouverymuch.

Feeling on top of my game tonight and pr-etty proud. I love that girl. She’s lucky she’s cute.