The McDonald Family

Monday, August 8, 2011

Weekend of Fun - Santa Cruz, Capitola, Petting Zoo and Pony Rides...oh my!

This weekend was a weekend of fun! Friday night we went to a fantastic Italian dinner at Piatti and then took Ella for yogurt at the Yogurt Shack in downtown Danville. She had a great time walking around and playing with all the kids that were getting yogurt with their families.

We decided Saturday morning to head to Santa Cruz for the day. Though it took us a while to get it all together, we finally left the house and got to the beach in time for lunch at Aldo's - featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives.....definitely a dive, but a great deck on the water! Lexi loved all the birds that were flying over and on the tables and we were so thankful to leave lunch without turning over any tables. She did bark a few times but people were very forgiving when we explained her OBSESSION with birds!
After lunch we walked down to the beach and let the girls sit in the sand and watch the waves. It was a great way to relax after our hectic morning. We decided to drive over to Capitola late afternoon. Capitola is a very small beach town with cute shops right on the water. It was extremely crowded so we just drove through and watched all the people.

Sunday was "Family Funday"! We took Ella up to Blackhawk Plaza where she had her first pony ride and enjoyed the "petting zoo" - basically a 10 ft x 10 ft caged area with pigs, goats, chickens and bunnies. She was not afraid of anything but really loved the bunnies the most! Afterwards we had yogurt and let her play for awhile in the toy store.

When we got home she and Lexi played in the sprinkler and ate snacks outside while daddy did yard work! All in all it was a great weekend!

Visit to Atlanta...

I am SO behind on our posts but am determined to get caught up this weekend - even if there are only pictures to post!

Two weeks ago Ella and Mommy took a last minute trip to Atlanta to visit with family and friends. It was the first time that Ella and mommy had flown across country since Ella has been walking... Let's just say that mommy had so much anxiety before the flight to Atlanta! But, as usual Ella did GREAT and did not fuss or cry the entire flight there or back (we even had to sit on the plane an extra hour in San Fran due to air traffic)!

Ella after we arrived in Atlanta from SFO - it was a LONG day!

While in Atlanta we got to spend lots of quality time with grandparents, family and friends! We even got to see a few of mommy's friends for a quick lunch and a birthday celebration for Straka!

One of the days we took Ella to the Children's "Imagine It" Museum. Ella had a great time running around and exploring with all the hands on activities that they offer. She had a wonderful time playing with her Mimi and NanaC, and afterward we grabbed lunch at Flip burger (yummy)!

It was a great visit but there is never ever enough time to see everyone or do everything. :-( Next time I think we are going to have to stay for 2 weeks so that we can see everyone!

Pictures from the Children's Museum.....