Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Aurora 3 Months Old!

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Sunday, September 11, 2011

Adventures Never End...

What a crazy year it has been - the Lord continues to bless, Amen! Most of you know that quite a bit has happened in our lives - and may have to change the name of our blog title to include Aurora Joy somehow. For those that don't know, Erica went into labor June 26, 2011 and we ended up with a beautiful baby girl - Aurora Joy - 8 lbs. 10 oz. - 20.5 in. She was born on June 28 at 6:10 am via Cesarian section.
Aurora Joy Zolnierek - 9 weeks

Since then we have been busy adjusting to the challenges of parenthood. We have finally gotten to the point where we decided to take a little trip with Aurora as a trial to our big road trip to Michigan in October. We left on September 5 for Crescent City, CA, which is supposed to be a 6.5 hour drive. We found out that with a 2 month old, it takes 9 hours with all the feeding and changing stops that need to take place. It was a good experience nonetheless.
Elk herd on beach enroute to Crescent City, CA

On September 6, we visited Ocean World, the local aquarium. It was a ten dollar tour, and we had a seal and sea lion show at the end which was very entertaining. I highly recommend going for a visit if you are ever in the area. Afterward, we stopped at the Battery Point Lighthouse for the tour and pictures. We are almost finished visiting all the lighthouses on the Northern California Coast. The rest of our trip was mostly scenic drives through the Redwoods National and State Parks - which were beautiful. We stayed overnight in Fort Bragg, CA on September 7/8, and finally got back home on September 8.
A shark eating Aurora @ Ocean World

Battery Point Lighthouse

Erica and a Giant Redwood

On September 7, Erica and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary. Because we were still on our trip, we ended up celebrating on September 9. Grandma and Grandpa Kendall were overjoyed to watch Aurora for the 22 hours that we were in Pacifica, CA enjoying our Anniversary celebration. We stayed at the Best Western Lighthouse Inn, which is where we have stayed the past two years. We had a delicious BBQ meal at Gorilla BBQ, which has been featured on the Food Network show "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" - excellent food!

Today, on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11/01 we decided to provide a little positive to a day that is remembered negatively. Aurora was dedicated at Central Baptist Church, along with Colin Seth Thomas (Debbie and Andy's new baby). Pastor Stephen had us come to the front, said a few words, and then prayed for the babies. We had a reception after service as a thanks to all the help and support we have received from our church family.

Baby Dedication - Family Picture

Baby Dedication - Debbie, Andy, and Colin Thomas & Erica, Matt, and Aurora Zolnierek

That's about all that is happening in Alameda - looking forward to posting during our road trip to Michigan.