A trip to the zoo and a meal of noodles

I know I have been remiss in posting lately, and, as with most of you, it is due to fall ministry all beginning this last week. I have a thousand ideas in my head for posts, but I will simply begin today by updating you on the Hawley mini-vacation that we took.

Sunday and Monday we stayed in San Diego for some wonderful family time. The drive down was smooth, though I might naively believe that because I was catching up on some glorious sleep both down to San Diego and back home. We stayed in our favorite, kid-friendly hotel in San Diego, the Embassy Suites, across from Seaport Village.

Upon arriving, Carter ran around the lobby, giddy with excitement at the water ponds everywhere, the enormous American flag hanging in the center of the hotel, and, mostly, the glass elevators, running up and down the center of the building like ants on a wall. Of course, he wasn't as excited to be IN the elevator, though climbing to our room on the eleventh floor put him in a prime position to see the giant American flag looming in the air.

We had taken Carter to this same hotel last spring, and he was just walking at that time. It was amusing to see him jumping on carpet patterns and running down the halls to beat mom and dad to our destination--usually on the way to a meal, yelling food items out like a short order cook. "Pancakes" and "milk" were the preferred items that day. Carter also enjoyed seeing the turtles playing in the lobby pond. Every time they swam under the bridge, he'd extend both arms, palms up, and say, "All gone." Whenever we had to leave the turtle area, he'd make sure to politely wave and say, "Bye, bye" to the turtles.

We ate dinner in the Gaslamp Quarter, where Ryan and I were able to relax for an extended period of time. How, you ask? Noodles. We discovered butter noodles (spaghetti), which will entertain and feed Carter for almost half an hour. In fact, he was so enamored with noodles, I believe they usurped pancakes on the favorite food scale. After a nice dinner with actual conversation, Ryan and I strolled Carter over to Horton Plaza to walk around a bit.

We all enjoyed a nice sleep that night and woke up early to Carter's cry for escape from the pack and play crib. After some Telatubbies, we rode the glass elevator back down to the free breakfast in the lobby. Again, we had a fairly pleasant meal, as Carter rediscovered his love for pancakes. I tried to get some egg and sausage in his little tummy, but it was all in vain.

After showers and packing up, we drove to the San Diego Zoo to use our zoo passes and spend the day looking at animals. We had a great time seeing all the animals, though I am starting to think Carter doesn't understand animals don't really look like cartoon pictures on a puzzle or in a book. At times, he seems more amused with Curious George than the real monkey swinging in the zoo.

We stayed at the zoo until about 12:15, and Carter made it clear that it was naptime. Not even the strange, pink flamingoes could convince him otherwise. Indeed, upon arriving at the car, he fell asleep in the amount of time it took to buckle him into his car seat and to start the car. He was happily snoring away as we drove home, dreaming of elephants, polar bears, and monkeys on trees. As I mentioned earlier, I joined him in blissful sleep, and poor Ryan drove us home from our delightful get away.

It was a wonderful trip, with time together as a family during such a busy season. And now we know the magic of noodles . . .