Life with Dylan

Category: animals

  • Wordless Wednesday – Anyone Home In There?

  • Our Furry Neighbor

    We’ve all seen them scurrying across the street, but how many of us get the opportunity to watch these adorable animals eat just a few feet away from us? Much to our surprise this morning, just outside of the window was this little squirrel. Sitting in the big pine tree … eating his breakfast with us.

    His little hands holding each end of the pinecone just like we hold an ear of corn. Back and forth from one end to the other he nibbled away at the pinecone until there was nothing left. We watched him scurry up the tree, down to the end of a branch and get pinecone after pinecone. Only to bring them back to this same spot and eat away. Such an exciting moment for Dylan. He just loves animals!

  • Just Another Day at the Zoo

    When I asked Dylan what he wanted to do he excitedly said, San Diego Zoo! Life has been so crazy with work and school that we haven’t had time to visit the animals he loves so much. So it was up early and off to San Diego for the day.

    Dylan has been going to the San Diego Zoo since he was only 9 months old and he can tell you every nook and cranny of this place. If you get lost, he will tell you where to go. If you have a question about an animal, he will give you the answer.

    After walking through the entrance it was business as usual … first stop, the Reptile House. We have seen this Komodo Dragon at least 25 times, but he begged me to take a picture because it was “close up” and the Galapagos Turtles were just too cute. Mommy and baby … but that baby was HUGE!

    Next, he wanted to see the Polar Bears. Now, for those of you who have been to the San Diego Zoo, you know what a hike it is to get to those darn animals … and if you are lucky, you will actually get to see them doing something other than sleeping. I have been begging Dylan to ride the Skyfari for years now and he keeps saying he is afraid because it is so high. Well, this time he decided to take a chance. Maybe it was the bribery that he would have to walk all the way up there, or maybe the thought of getting off right at the Polar Bear exhibit. Whatever it was, I was just happy I didn’t have to walk there!

    Guess what? He loved it!

    …and the Polar Bear wasn’t sleeping!

    Ok, so Dylan is almost 8 years old … but when you are at the San Diego Zoo it is tradition to climb on every statue and take a picture. The life-size book about how the Polar Bears came to live at the zoo was pretty cool too and Dylan stood there turning the pages and reading every word.

    Now it was time to make our way down through the other exhibits. So many animals to see and so little time. Well, we had all day … it was really a matter of how long our feet could walk.

    There is a rock next to the River Otter exhibit that Dylan has been climbing on since he was 2 years old and he always insists on taking a picture here. He climbs up and strikes a pose. Such a goofball! One of these days I should line up all the pictures to see how much he has grown, but if I do that I will realize my little boy is growing up too fast!

    Mommy and Baby Hippo

    Yes, that orange blur is a Tiger!

    They had just fed the Lions and now they are resting.

    Today was an amazing day. I got to spend real quality time with Dylan with no agenda, no place to be, and tons of laughs. I watched him run and play, absorb more information about animals (if that’s even possible), and best of all … I got to hold his hand. It has been so long since Dylan has even wanted to hold my hand when I try to take his hand in mine. But today, today Dylan kept reaching for my hand. Best feeling ever!

    My little chunky monkey is all grown up. Now he plays with the big boys. However, he will still hold my hand, at least for a little while.

  • Spring Break in Monterey

    This year we decided to not only get away for Spring Break, but to take our first road trip together. It was better than I thought, considering the furthest Dylan has driven is San Diego (2 hours), and this was going to be a 6-7 hour drive. The Are we there yet? didn’t start until Santa Barbara, and then it was How much longer? about every 40 minutes. I tried to get him to enjoy the beautiful coastal scenery, but it didn’t last too long.

    At last, he sleeps and the drive is peaceful.
    It’s just not a road trip without a stop at McDonald’s!
    Dylan’s picture from the road. (only 1 hour to go)

    We arrived in Monterey about 4 pm and I immediately felt relaxed. Something about hotels and being away from home, not to mention the fresh coastal air, was just what we both needed. Our agenda included The Monterey Bay Aquarium, Fisherman’s Wharf, Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, and anything else we saw along the way to our destinations.

    The aquarium was amazing and we spent almost all day there. Took over 150 pictures! Definitely worth the drive to see this place.

    Dylan even got a little education on Steinbeck with some historical landmarks…

    And in true Dylan style had a little impromptu photo shoot …

    A little stroll through the Cannery for some lunch.

    Lunch at Bubba Gumps

    A Kid in a Candy Store … Classic!

    Day 2 – The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History (like he needs any more animal/nature facts to add to his ever-growing encyclopedia of a brain)

    Who cares if it’s only 60 degrees outside … we’re going in the water! Well, Dylan went in the water. For about 2 minutes and then he decided his feet were freezing so we put our shoes back on and went for walk along the rocks to see marinelife up close. We spent almost 2 hours here along the shore in Pacific Grove.

    Just a few of the seals we saw

    Come on Mom, let’s go!

    The kelp beds from above

    This sign was great … Tsunami in California?

     After a long day of sight-seeing, we decided to have an early dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf. Dylan love the fact that seals were right outside the window of the restaurant. he thoroughly enjoyed his calamari and pasta!

     We had an amazing time together and will always treasure the bond that we share.

  • Our Newest Neighbors

    Today started off just like any other day. Running late, rushing out the door, grab the backpack, purse, keys, coffee … Go, Go, Go … we are late. We make it into the car at 7:20am, only 5 minutes behind schedule, not too bad. As we are driving out of the complex Dylan says, “Mom, is that a Bobcat?” I’m thinking what did he just say? So I stop the car and look out the window. Sure enough, two little Bobcats are sitting on top of the wall that divides the complex from the fields leading out to the Back Bay. I said, “Um, yes they are” and I put the car in reverse so Dylan could get a really good look at them. He said, “Mom, aren’t we going to be late?” … “Yes, we are Dylan, but this is worth it.” Knowing how much my son loves animals I could not pass this up.

    Of course this is the one day I don’t have my camera with me! The Bobcats were just sitting there on the wall watching us. The quiet and peaceful atmosphere with morning mist filling the air made this a very cool experience for both of us. As I am reaching in my purse to get my phone out, thinking I can take a picture with my phone, about 10 crows fly out of tree making all kinds of noise and the Bobcats jump off the wall, back into the fields.
    Bummer, no picture.

    We live right next to a trail that I often run on and Dylan and I have walked on many times. We see this sign everyday as we leave the complex, but never really think anything about it. We think differently now and are happy to have such cute new neighbors living just over the barrier wall. Seeing animals in the zoo is nothing compared to experiencing wild animals in their natural habitat.