San Diego 2013 - Cabrillo & Safari Park

Just up the road from our vacation house was the Cabrillo National Monument. This was where the first explorers discovered California/San Diego. It had beautiful views, an old lighthouse and a "great" informative documentary about sea life. :) We had a fun time exploring, looking across the bay to Mexico and learning about early California.

Phil loves squirrels...they're not Australian critters so he had fun following this guy around.

Mexico is just there behind me. The photo doesn't show it but we could see Tijuana quite well.

And when the parentals wanted to explore some more and little Jocey wanted to go through the Junior Ranger program, well, what were we to do? A game of truth-or-dare including impromptu dances and singing of course. All for the other visitors' viewing pleasure. Oh dear-we are a weird family!

Braden rocking gangnam style

Chantel improv-ing it

and Justin in his Napoleon Dynamite dance.

I may or may not have done a "belly" dance. Yes, attempted even with this preggo belly of mine. It was beautiful I'm sure! And Phil sang opera for us. Yes, we know how to keep busy haha!

Another day that week we visited the San Diego Safari Park. 

This place was HUGE! Apparently it can fit 2 Disneyland's inside of it! This is just the back half.

We went on the safari tram which was really cool. We were able to see a lot of animals out roaming in a natural habitat. There were a lot of baby animals too. So cute!

 

When Phil and I saw this guy we couldn't stop thinking of our puppy, Koda. 

Everything from his huge paws, the way he plopped down for a rest and even just the way he walked reminded us of Koda, our own little lion. :)

 We saw a bunch of different animals and ended our visit brushing the goats. They were cute little guys!

This guy attempted to butt Braden's arm right after this picture. Guess he wasn't ready for a brushing!

It was a short visit to the Safari Park but we got to see a lot and were out before the heat set in. Good times!

33

What is new this week?

I survived an 11 hour road trip!...make that 22 hours in the car total. And my hubs says I traveled like a gem...maybe he's just too afraid to say otherwise :) There were times while driving when I thought, "Why did I do this to my pregnant self?" but overall it wasn't too bad. 

Nothing much other than that except for my increasing belly size and the strength of Bump's movements. Sometimes I don't feel her much and other times I'm left wishing I wasn't feeling much! :) I also had my DTaP shot in my left arm this week and couldn't sleep on that side for a good few days because it hurt...and I'm not a wimp with shots either. That made for some great restless nights. All for a good cause though, right?

How big is the baby?

I watched a video about a baby's progress in this week of pregnancy and they suggested grabbing a five pound bag of flour because that's about how big Bump probably is. Really? I'm carrying around a 5 lb bag of flour?! No wonder I'm tired and have back aches! Well at least its cute & living bag of flour :)

Maternity clothes?

This is the last time this question will be included cuz guys, they're all I got! I sewed about 4 knee-length knit skirts for myself and I live in them. They're the coolest thing I have and we all know that a pregnant woman in the middle of the summer needs all the help staying cool that she can get! They're super comfy too...sometimes so comfy that I forget I'm pregnant, at least until I'm attacked from the inside by Bump or try to bend over! Pair a skirt with a nice maternity tee and you have my wardrobe.

Sleep?

How do I answer this one? Some nights I sleep fine. Other nights I wake up starving at 2am, or thirsty, or just awake. Other nights I'm hot and uncomfortable in any and every position while other nights I'm fine. What to do? I guess I just nap and take it easy on the days that I can. We're also trying to train the puppy to not have to sleep in his crate at night. That may or may not be why I only got about 4 hours of good sleep last night. We'll see how long we last on that one!

Best moment of the week?

This may seem trivial but stone fruits are in season and I'm loving it. Bump goes crazy when I eat but fruit is her fave, or her dancing moves' fave. Nectarines are sooo yummy! We also found out that my insurance will provide a breast pump for me. That's good news to my budgeting ears!

Food cravings/aversions?

There hasn't been anything specific that I've really craved or hated these days. I've just noticed that I'm hungry all the time but don't have the room in my stomach for even a full sandwich. So now I feel like I'm eating constantly, but I'm eating the same amount. I have to remind myself that I'm not over-eating, I'm just spreading it out. Tis the life!

What I miss?

The thought of having a baby without the thought of delivery coming with it. Ha- I guess I lived in oblivion for a while and was so excited for the baby without a thought about how the baby would get here. Now as its getting closer I realize Miss Bump isn't going to magically "pop" out of me. It's ok- I'm only a little apprehensive, but I'm not dreading it.

What I don't miss?

Not having a constant buddy all the time. Meaning I don't miss not having a baby in me. It's nice to know that I have a friend at all times. I mean, sometimes her kicks get strong but I love feeling a little moving person inside of me. Its such a perfect miracle and I feel very blessed.

Overall mood?

Tired. I know, I know...wait until I have 2 kids AND I'm pregnant and then I'll really be tired right? Hey, I'm tired now, and I'll be tired then so just let me be tired ok? :) 

What I'm looking forward to?

Meeting our little girl of course! But more immediate than that, I'm looking forward to the time I have left with just me and my hubs. We're excited for Bump to come but we're enjoying the time we have as just the two of us for now as well. Only 7(ish...never know with them babies) more weeks!

And for your viewing pleasure I did a dance on the beach for you on our vacay last week. I know, I know, I got sweet moves.

and then Braden scared me from behind mid-dance!

(pics are actually from 32 weeks but I look the same!) 

and last but not least, Phil's artistic belly shot. Not sure I love maternity shoots that focus on the belly, but I like this one for some reason. Maybe because what is inside the belly is ours :)

San Diego 2013 - Arrival & Mormon Battalion Site

So there was a heat wave in Utah/Nevada/Arizona last week and it just so happened that our road trip would take us through the hottest points on the map. To avoid the heat, and 4th of July weekend traffic, my family left at midnight to begin our trek to San Diego. We were tired but still happy to start our trip. We got some really beautiful sunrise pics from the car.

After the loooooooong drive we finally arrived in San Diego!!

 and after that monster trip through the night without a good night's rest, none of our bodies knew what time it was. Being 32 weeks pregnant didn't help my cause either! We were exhausted and just laid on the lawn...

We were happy to be out of the car but still had about 4 hours to kill until we could get into our rental house. So stopped at the Mormon Battalion Historic Site to keep ourselves busy. It was a pretty location, right next to historic Old Town San Diego where the first settlers set up town.

We learned a lot about the history & story of the Mormon Battalion and the youngins even got to pan for gold afterwards.

 Us old folks were still in a daze from the trip we'd just made

With still 2 or so hours to kill we drove around to get our bearings in the area and found the beach. My parents dropped us all off because we all wanted to just get out of the car! When they came back about 40 minutes later this is what they found... 

Apparently while my parents were parking the car they saw two girls come sneak and lay down by us and snap a photo. I'm sure we're out there on instagram somewhere as -the random sleeping people at the beach-. I do remember hearing through my sleeping haze some people playing frisbee around us. I heard one say to the other, "Hey, let's move away from the 'sleeping people'". Ha, the sleeping family on the beach...we were all too tired to even care!

We were finally able to check into the house and this is the view that greeted us. We had finally arrived!

Perucca Family Reunion 2013

4th of July weekend brought the Perucca clan to Utah County. My dad's brothers and sisters and all the cousins hung out, ate, laughed and enjoyed activities together all weekend. We joined in on a few of the activities and had a lot of fun! It started off on the night of the fourth-we set up camp to watch the Pleasant Grove fireworks. They have such a great show without the huge crowds. It was great!

Here's our spot...

and then it gets filled in with the fam!

It was fun to see all the cousins interact. We don't all get together very often so we made the most of the time we had!

Love fireworks with my man. One of our favorite things to do!

 The next day we tried to escape the heat up in the canyon. We played croquet, hiked, ate lunch and hung out.

We brought the pups to join in on the fun. 

Koda loves being with Truman (my parent's dog) and doesn't leave him alone! Truman is a quite a bit older than Koda but puts up with him :)

Just up the path from where we met for lunch is Bridal Veil Falls. We took a walk up there to let the dogs cool off. 

BIG puppy! Too bad for him, people expect him to act old and wise but he's still just 8 months. He's still a playful little fella!

It was a really fun & relaxing weekend! Like I said, we only made it to some of the activities, and our camera didn't always come either. We had some good times with the Perucca clan...until next time!

30, Flirty and Thriving

On June 27th Momma P. turned 30...or so. 30 forever right mom? :)

We were able to get all 6 siblings together and go to dinner as a family to celebrate the lady who made us all!

I have limited pics because we were all too busy enjoying our yummy dinner & time together.

Then it was back to the parental's home for some presents & ice cream

Check out this lady with her gorgeous red locks of love.

Goofballs!

With getting ready to be a mom myself here soon, my appreciation for my mom has grown a lot...and hasn't stopped. You're an amazing lady mom and we're happy we got to celebrate with you! 

Happy Birthday!