New Year's Day

This morning we all slept in a little bit, which was nice! Once we all got up, we ate breakfast and headed to the YMCA, which I was fully prepared to be crazy with everyone starting their New Year Resolutions and whatnot, but to my surprise, the place was dead! It was a nice surprise!

Once we were home we turned on the Rose Parade (I made sure to DVR it before we left, so that we could see it from the beginning). Hudson watched a little bit and then had to go down for his nap. Madison was excited for the floats that were fun for her, such as the Cat in the Hat float and the Cars float, but other than that, she really didn't care so much. So, we left it on in the background and periodically checked in to see if there was anything special being shown. I really loved the float that honored Lucca, the military working dog.

I found out earlier in the day that the Natural History Museum had free admission today for San Diego residents and apparently every Tuesday there are certain museums that are free (they rotate each week), and a bunch of the fun museums at Balboa Park participate and I had no idea! So, anyway, after lunch we loaded up the car and headed to the museum for an afternoon of fun!

Here are the pictures we took while in the Museum. Some of them I can explain and others, I had to snap a picture (there were a bunch of people) and keep moving and missed what the actual exhibit was. :/

I love Madison's face in this one...she was being "scared" of this dinosaur.

Apparently this one wasn't nearly as scary!

Hudson LOVED looking at the Dinosaurs.

Next, we examined how a seal uses it's "feet" to swim through the water.

Madison then had the chance to play with several different skulls and to manipulate them. This exhibit allowed her to manipulate their jaw to see how they worked.

Sorry this one is so dark...no matter how I took this one, I couldn't get good lighting (tried with the flash, tried without the flash...the was the best I could do), but we wanted a picture with the shark!

Next, we looked at the Manatee's. Madison loved them and she also loved that there was one she could clim on and take a picture with. Then, this sweet little old man came over and asked if he could take a picture of the three of us. Super sweet, but please pardon my outfit...hadn't changed yet and wasn't expecting to be in any pictures.

Then, we stumbled upon this cute little guy! Madison loved that he was "her size."

We tried this multiple times and finally had to just accept that Hudson wasn't going to look at the camera. He was too fascinated with everything around him.

I love this next picture! I just think Amethyst is so beautiful! 

(This picture doesn't do justice with just how beautiful this was). 

One of the last exhibits we went through was the Chocolate exhibit. It explained the origin of chocolate and it smelled amazing. Here is Madison at one of the Tropical Rainforest Trees where you could find Cacao. 

After we were done with the museum, the kids wanted to look at the fountain. I didn't trust Hudson not to go diving in it, so I kept him in the stroller, but he loved it just the same.

Once we were home, we all took naps for a little bit and then we had an impromptu movie night. The kids wanted to have a picnic and since they were requesting quesadilla's, I figured, why not!?! :) So, I threw on Monster's Inc and we all watched it and had dinner. I let them use the, "Happy New Year" plates and napkins from last night and they thought it was the best thing ever!

 Hope you guys had a great day!