Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I love you.

Thank you for my presents last year and my two front teeth this year.

I have been a very good boy this year and I hope you bring me more presents. Here is my wish list:

Cheerios, applesauce, bananas and those little weenies that come in a can
Diapers (my mommy said to put this one on the list)
a toy kitchen with lots of toy food
a toy BBQ
a puppy (Lucy wants one, too)
a drum set (Poppy asked me to put this one on the list)
anything with lights, bells, whistles, gadgets, horns, or buttons.
Money for college (Mommy asked for this one, too)

Thank you, Santa. Did I tell you that I love you and you don't look fat in your big red suit?

Love, Carson

The Monkey goes to the San Diego Zoo.

He may have only just turned a year old but we thought Carson needed to broaden his horizons. Ok, so maybe Mommy and Poppy just wanted to get out of town and go to the San Diego Zoo. Off we headed...making it out of the house 15 minutes AHEAD of schedule (THANK YOU Poppy)...to sunny Southern California with visions of elephants and lions, bears and flamingos, gorillas and MONKEYS dancing through our heads.

We spent an evening in Old Town San Diego. We ate at Fred's, well, because they had a sign that said "Eat at Fred's" and because they had chicken chingaderas. Now, Mommy doesn't speak Spanish so when Poppy said that chingaderas meant 'things', she was a little confused. One because chicken 'things' didn't sound too appetizing and , Two, because Poppy says he DOESN'T speak Spanish. Poppy ordered his cheeseburger taco and Mommy decided to be brave and try the chicken 'things'. The chicken 'things' turned out to be the BOMB chicken 'things'. Little chicken burritos egg roll things with yummy goodness wrapped inside. A 'thing' to remember!

The next day our trip finally led us to the San Diego Zoo where the Monkey enjoyed his first guided bus tour. He saw the orantgatangs butt, the Meercats Manor and the soggy humped camel. He wasn't too impressed with the elephants or koalas, but he quite enjoyed watching the animals who PAID to get into the Zoo versus the ones who get free room and board.

We stopped for a photo op at the stinky flamingo exhibit...

With Christmas just around the corner, Mommy decided it would be nice to take some photos of the Monkey to use on the Christmas card this year. Of course, you have to WAIT to see which one was chosen, but here are some of the out takes...

After a long day at the San Diego Zoo (and instead of a nap) we took a short ride to Seaport Village for dinner an the Monkey's first Carousel ride. He was thoroughly amused and it was the best $2 Mommy spent on the entire trip!



That night, after a very long day, the Monkey fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel and didn't wake up until 7 am the next morning!

Our last day in sunny Southern California took us to Olvera Street in Los Angeles. Once again, Poppy ( who if you remember DOESN'T know Spanish) said that the old guy with the guitar who said something in Spanish was laughing at the Monkey because he was singing a song from his stroller. Props for the Monkey singing a stroller song. Props for the old guy with the guitar saying something in Spanish. NO props for Poppy who SAYS he doesn't speak Spanish. We had the BOMB chile verde burrito with the BOMB BOMB avocado sauce for lunch then headed for home.

The usually easy going and calm Monkey got a little fussy toward the end of our car ride back to Fresno. Partly because Mommy was sitting in the back seat trying to entertain him and partly because he was hungry and tired and had been in the car for 6 hours already that day. Mommy says he was fussy because Poppy stopped playing the Monkey's favorite silly songs on the radio. But SHHH! Don't tell Poppy that Mommy said that!