California - Part 2 - The Living Desert

If you know Ansley, you know that she's up for going to a Zoo any and every day.  What can I say, my girl loves animals (I guess she gets that honest).  So, our first official outing in California was to The Living Desert. 

 this was the petting zoo area with tons of small goats

 And what's a trip to the zoo without lunch and milkshakes at a diner?!

California - Part 1

I'm going to have to break up these California pictures b/c we took over 300 while we were there!!  (don't worry, I won't be posting all of them!)  We went with Troy's parents to visit his grandmother in Desert Hot Springs for a week.  This was an exciting trip because it was Ansley's first flying experience!  She ended up sleeping on every flight except for the final leg coming home from Dallas.  Luckily there was an amazing flight attendant on that one who took Ansley under her wing and let her walk around with her and gave her snacks!

 We left our house at 3am on Tuesday and didn't get to Grandma's house until around 8pm, pacific time. I thought she would go straight down, but she had to put on a concert first!

 ...and then play with toys!

 our amazing view

 Ansley watched the sun come up with Troy the first morning...the time change was a bit of an adjustment.

 Ansley's first In & Out Burger experience

 Ansley took up crocheting while we were there!

My little girl and my big girl...I mean, my husband!

Can you tell what Ansley's new favorite hobby is?!

Edisto!

We went to Edisto Beach the week of Labor day with my mom and Jim. We had a very relaxing week in an oceanfront house!  The view was amazing and now that Ansley is a little older, she's a lot more tolerant of the sand and ocean.

Ansley is my brave little girl here!!  She loved going out with me and jumping the waves!  Troy almost had a panic attack every time we did this but we were having fun!  (PS: I'm crouching down in the water...we aren't in as deep as it looks)

And what's a trip to the beach without at least one major meltdown!

This is as fas as Troy will go into the ocean!

Ansley is chasing a bird here yelling "C'mere, hold you!"

I'm not sure if its this particular beach or just this time of the year but dolphins would swim up and down the coast all day and evening.  I've never seen as many dolphins in my life as I did on this trip.  I was so amazed watching them swim and jump out of the water! (I have a 5 minute video of them doing this, which I will spare you...but if you'd like to see it, let me know!)

Our first family kite experience!

The last day we took a ride to Botany Bay.  It's an old plantation with a private beach that is opened to the public certain days/hours.  It was an absolutely beautiful place!  This is our drive in.

On our 1/2 mile trek to the private beach!

You aren't allowed to take shells from the beach...look at the pile up!

Since you're not allowed to take shells with you, people pick up ones and hang them on branches of trees or anywhere they can find a special spot.  Troy and I picked one out and perched it high on a branch!

Since the tide was high that day, this is what parts of the trail to the beach looked like.  It made the journey that much more interesting!

Our last visit with the native wildlife before we head home!!