This past weekend we took Tyler to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla to mock enjoy the fishes.
Some kids enjoy Legos. Others find solace in crayons. Tyler is fascinated by animals. It’s great to see how big his eyes get when he spies a dog or a cat, or in this case huge fish that could swallow him up whole. He was so excited about the wildlife that we just barely saved him from taking a purposeful header into the outdoor tidal pool exhibit to get a better look at the Sea Anemones.
At the end of an eventful day full of animals, running around (geez, this kid is fast!), and fresh air he was down for the count on the drive home.
Man, this kid’s got the life 
I've heard of throwing dollar coins into the wishing well, but this is ridiculous
If there’s one thing that our son has taught us, it’s that things go better with applesauce.
Cheese, fish, noodles, chicken, hotdogs, crackers, apples, broccoli, sandwiches, bananas, cereal, filet mignon – all apparently taste better once dunked into a single-serving container of applesauce.
Who knows? Perhaps he’s on to something…
I could be having the worst day at work, my car could break down, I could lose track of where I last saw my wallet, suddenly come down with a vicious toothache, and my computer could crash in a flaming heap of plastic and silicon leaving me high and dry without a current backup.
All of this would be forgotten in an instant the moment I unbuckle Tyler from his car seat and carry him upstairs as he falls asleep on my shoulder.
This, my friends, is a major perk to parenthood 
This past weekend saw us playing host to Karin’s brother and his girlfriend Liz, who we took to the San Diego Wild Animal Park (or as they’d rather now be called “San Diego Zoo Safari Park”) on Saturday. We were lucky enough to get to the Lion exhibit at noon when they open the cage door to feed the lions by hand. If you get there on time you can position yourself roughly five feet from the wire-lattice doors and feel the vibrations from the lions as they purr while chowing down on raw meat.
On Monday we met my sister and her husband at the park, then showed them Queen Califia’s Magical Circle. This hidden treasure of Escondido is tucked away at the back of Kit Carson Park behind the duck pond, and is well worth the quick walk to visit. Tyler and his cousin Rowan had a great time exploring:
This past weekend Karin and I took Tyler to see Santa for the first time.
For the first ten seconds that he was sitting on Santa’s knee, Tyler didn’t know what to make of him.
But then a light blinked on in Tyler’s head, and for five seconds he smiled. That’s when this picture was taken.
The next 15 seconds were filled with maniacal shrills and flowing tears. Tyler was suddenly overcome with a terrible fear of Santa and wanted nothing more than mommy, who quickly came to his rescue.
But man, those five seconds of smiling were something special!
Oh, and for the record, Tyler wants “choos-choos” and “brmm-brmms” for Christmas. He’s all about trains and cars…
