Past few months…..

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Past couple of months…. 

Wow, I, Miss Kayla (mom too) can’t believe how fast time is going by… I realized it had been a few months since I posted about what all I have been up to in my day-to-day life. Here are some of the more exciting things and to start this post off, I will start with mom, Cubby and I  going to the movies. I had my typical doctor appts up in Ventura so the day before mom and I drove up to Thousand Oaks to stay in our favorite hotel. It is our favorite hotel because there are several shopping centers and the TOaks mall all within strolling distance. We like to just park the car and ignore its even around so we can stroll/walk everywhere we need to. So for this set of appts we strolled over to Best Buy as mom needed a charger for her phone. She forgot it at home and couldn’t find the one she always had in the car and her phone only had like 1% left of battery life. So we strolled over to Best Buy which was a lot of fun as that is a fun store to stroll through. Mom found a charger and asked an employee if she could plug our phone in for a little bit. Yep, they let mom do that while we strolled around the store – kinda like window shopping which is really fun.

We left Best Buy and saw there was a movie theater across the street. Mom looked to see what was playing and the Lion King was. Mom thought since we hadn’t been to the show in like forever (well I have but not mom) and she loves the Broadway version of The Lion King that she thought we were due to go to the movies together so we did. The movie theater was in a really cool outdoor shopping mall like with fireplaces and lounge chairs and tables. Anyway, back to the movie.. We both really enjoyed the movie and mom did think it was kinda of cool, but weird how the animals looked real but could talk.  The graphics, animation, etc were outstanding with beautiful scenery. I, Miss Kayla really enjoyed it too and stayed awake the entire time. After the movie, we strolled back to our hotel in the dark so I was able to turn my lights on my chair. 🙂 

Moving on mom and me, Miss Kayla found out the last week of July that the Safari Park is open during part of June and all of July on Monday and Tuesday nights only. It was like Saturday when we found out and there was only one more Monday and Tuesday left so we had to make it happen. They have never done this before but we always wish they would.  A friend of ours had given us some free tickets to get in that expired in August so it was perfect timing all the way around. Mom was like we have to go. We hadn’t been in months anyway and she knew I, Miss Kayla would love it! So that Monday we went late afternoon and stayed until closing. It was so cool, so much fun. I love to be outdoors during that time of day. There were a lot of lights, I got to visit the Lorikeets, did a lot of strolling all over, went on the tram, and oh, I got my face painted. I LOVE getting my face painted. The secret is, you don’t touch my skin with your skin and all will be good. 🙂 We had so much fun Monday night that mom said we just had to go back on Tuesday night for the last night. I really hope they do this next summer.

My fish at school died. We had so many fish for so long, not sure what happened. They just all died. 🙁
Mom decided to take me, Miss Kayla, to the pet store to buy a couple of fish for my school fish tank. I had so much fun. If any of you know mom, she can’t keep fish or plants alive at home so this wasn’t the greatest idea. Poor mom, she tried so hard that night to do everything right (what the fish person at the pet store said to do, not to do) but guess what… The next morning my fish were dead. 🙁 She felt so bad. So, mom, had me to go to school and she went back to the pet store to get me two fish for my classroom and brought them to me immediately after getting them.  A week or so later mom took me to the pet store again to get two more fish and even the fish person there asked if we were taking them straight to the school to make sure mom didn’t take them home. And yes, we did. You will be happy to know that the fish in my classroom are doing great – I help feed them every week and I keep an eye on them.

 Mom, Cubby and the gang and I, Miss Kayla moved to our final apartment in the area near my Adult Day Program. It is so nice to be in our new place and out of our temporary place. We love our new place. So, mom, Cubby and I, Miss Kayla decided to go catch the trolley up north and take it to Santee to run some errands. We went to Bed Bath & Beyond and who knew I liked Snoopy. I DO! I found a bath rug (we really needed a new one) with Snoopy on it and it was on clearance. I saw so many Snoopy stuff but I just told mom I had to get this Snoopy rug for our new bathroom so she let me. 🙂 We also got an outdoor mat that was on clearance from spring for our patio and it was Snoopy too. Very colorful and springy. 🙂 It was a fun day as it had been a long time since we had taken the trolley anywhere. Since we live further from the Trolley stops and we aren’t crazy about catching them into downtown, so we drive back up to La Mesa (area we used to live) and catch the trolley from up there in different areas.

So mom decided to take me, Miss Kayla to Sea World ONLY because it is a great place for visual therapy. I thrive with visual therapy with aquarium-like exhibits. They also had a neat nighttime show with lights (no animals) going on so she thought I would enjoy that as well. Something different. Mom put her personal feelings aside to do something very beneficial for me.  I will be going back as often as I can in hopes of being able to keep my vision strong.

Do you see the stuffed dolphin I am holding? Well a really nice lady from the UK gave it to me. I was window shopping and this lady came up and said “this dolphin is for you”. That was so sweet of her and I thanked her (well mom did for me). I love my dolphin!! How did she know my best friends are dolphin?

One thing I, Miss Kayla don’t like about having to move is that I really miss my goat friends. I have gone back to visit them a few times and am so excited to do so every time. They are even excited to see me as every time I stroll up to say hi they start vocalizing. 

My Adult Day Program had another outing. This time it was to the Birch Aquarium. I, Miss Kayla (mom too) had never been and my teacher told mom that I really liked all the different species (exhibits) of Seahorses. What was really cool is that mom met us there when it was time for my peers and teacher/staff to head back to STEP because I had a doctors appt in the area so mom and I stayed for a good hour. I was able to show mom the Aquarium and all the Seahorses. It was such a gorgeous day. We really enjoyed it and want to go back when we can stay longer, have a picnic on their patio, etc. 

It was finally a clear gorgeous evening so mom decided I, Miss Kayla, Cubby and her would meet a friend down at Sunset Cliffs for the sunset and then to photograph the Milky Way. It was GORGEOUS and I loved it. We strolled around on the trails along the cliffs for a while, we scouted out a few spots and came to the decision to photograph the large rock formation with the Milky Way. It just didn’t line up well for any locations I could access, so the rock it was. 🙂 I even got to get my photo taken with the Milky Way. 🙂 We haven’t been going out much to photograph it so this was such a treat. The season is just about over 🙁 but we hope to get out one more time. Next year we are going to have to hit it every month starting in February which means camping time! 🙂 

I arrive home via the bus from my Adult Day Program and mom and I, Miss Kayla always stroll to the mailbox before going home. So one day I went and there was a box addressed to me. I love to get mail especially this kind of mail from my grandma.

Mom got an email one Friday morning about SpongeBob arriving to Build A Bear store (Cubby’s store) so I, Miss Kayla told mom I just had to take Cubby to Build A Bear and get her a SpongeBob outfit. Yes, I know she already has SpongeBob pjs and I think a shirt (see I can’t even remember) but Cubby NEEDS a NEW one. 🙂 So that Saturday mom and I went to Build A Bear and I got Cubby a SpongeBob outfit. I was so excited and had so much fun. Yes, I LOVE SpongeBob!!! Oh and while I was there I got a new music piece for her too. 

Mom painted and decorated my toes (twice now) for Halloween. I, Miss Kayla figured that since store already has Christmas stuff out (Halloween is old now) that it was not too early to do my nails Halloween style. 

It was that time of year again where my day program has their Special Olympics. It was fun and mom got to come to see me and help me. I got to participate in Olympic Opening Ceremony by going on the stroll around the building with the rest of my peers participating in the Opening Ceremony. I didn’t get anything to carry this year, but maybe next year. I participated in Stander/Pacer races, balloon volleyball, bowling, and chalk bean bag toss. It was a lot of fun. It ended early but I did get to participate in some more games in the afternoon like basketball and a few others. 

So I had to find a new hairstylist as did mom… Mom trimmed my hair and has done some streaks in it which I love but its just not the same as going to the salon like everyone else getting their hair done. Mom went to this one gal twice to get her hair trimmed and then colored and really liked her. She discussed me with her and decided she could do me as well. 🙂 YAY! I was so excited to go and get my hair cut as I really needed it. Going through a lot of hair issues these days. I did great! and so did the lady that did my hair. She is now my and moms new hairstylist!! 🙂

Here I am with just after getting my haircut. 🙂

I had to go back to Ventura for more doctor appointments. Been having to go a lot. We stayed at our favorite hotel in Thousand Oaks on our way up and that evening after arriving we decided to walk over to the Thousand Oaks mall to window shop. Well, guess what??? I, Miss Kayla saw a Cubby bear store so guess what?? I just had to go in and saw they had Halloween outfits. Well, I told mom that I haven’t gotten Cubby a new Halloween outfit in like forever so I NEED to get her one and I still have $ on my gift card so. 🙂 It was so much FUN! 

Mom grabbed dinner we went outside to eat on the patio as it was so nice out (almost dark though) but I wasn’t going to have it. Mom packed up her dinner and decided we should start heading back to the hotel before I really lose it since we had a ways to go. I was fine strolling back – just didn’t want to sit at a dinner table while mom ate. But isn’t Cubby so cute in her Halloween outfit? 🙂 

After my appointments, we decided to stay in Ventura for a couple of hours so we didn’t enter San Diego County during major traffic time. Its hard to plan around San Diego County traffic – not like you can with LA and Orange Counties so we try to hit it when its lighter.  We went to the beach to stroll along the pathway and then we went to stroll around the harbor. 

Being such a gorgeous day, we strolled along the harbor and stopped in at Island Packers to say hello to our old friends and see what they had in the store. Mom let me, Miss Kayla get a new magnet for my refrigerator. They had a really cool Seahorse one and since I really liked the Seahorses at Birch Aquarium, it was the perfect one for me. Afterward, we strolled over to the Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center to see what all they have done, if anything since the last time I was there and since mom left there. Mom used to work there until we moved to San Diego. It was really cool. The Visitors Center store looked the same but had a lot of cool things.  Oh, and I got a date stamp for my passport book showing I was there again and I signed the visitor logbook. I don’t think I have ever signed it so I did. 

The open courtyard area was still the same but the elevator was really cool. It had murals on the walls and during your trip to the upper floor, it sounded like you were in the ocean (waves moving, vocalizations, etc). It was really neat. You couldn’t see the islands as there was a fog bank covering them but it was still a gorgeous day out. 

Over the years, I, Miss Kayla and Cubby has been to every island except Santa Barbara Island. Now, I didn’t get off on to the island, but I saw it from the boat and was really close to them. I was even on board when the boat dropped passengers off or picked them up and I was in the National Park waters so I think that counts. Mom did arrange a way to have me get off at one of the harbors at Santa Cruz Island but we never actually do it. Maybe one day. 

Here is the elevator (left pic), what the walls look like coming up the stairs and up in the tower. 

During our time in Ventura mom found out a good friend of ours was in the area for his normal October visit. Since we couldn’t get together this time, we decided to try coming back up soon before he left to go back home to WA. We hadn’t seen him since before we moved so we were overdue. The weekend weather looked great, marine conditions looked great, Island Packers had a wildlife and island tour trip out on my favorite Island Packers boat; the Islander so mom and I decided we would get up very early on Sunday and go to Ventura for the day to get together with our friend. We were also long overdue for a trip out with Island Packers. Its been hard for mom to return to both the park and Island Packers as she had to give all that up for me to move to San Diego. But mom has decided that we need to get back in it and try to come up often to go out with Island Packers and visit the park.  

I, Miss Kayla was so excited for our day trip that it was hard to sleep Saturday night. We got up and had smooth sailing all the way up to Ventura and arrived in gorgeous weather. We said hello to everyone, met up with our friend and got on the boat for our half-day journey. Yay. I didn’t want to be inside so mom took me outside and then I wanted back inside for the first part of our trip.

I fell asleep to take a short nap, but Captain Luke found us a large pod of Common Dolphins; my best friends! Oh no mom thought because I was asleep. Mom took some pics for me. After the dolphins, Captain Luke found a Humpback whale. We continued on as we were dropping passengers off at Anacapa Island.
Sidenote: It was nice to have Captain Luke as our captain as we hadn’t seen him in years either and it was good to catch up with him. 

…… Since I didn’t get a good shot of me with the dolphins when I was awake and outside with them, mom added a couple of her photos she took of my best friends; the Common Dolphins and added them to my photo. It’s not to look real, just FUN. 🙂 …..

The heart shape in this photo is the Humpback Whale blows as it surfaces. 

Out at the island it was foggy in some parts and sunny in other areas. The photos of the island is Anacapa Island. There are three islets to Anacapa Island so at low tide you can see one full island, but during high tide, it looks like three separate islands..
On the way back, we found a small pod of my best friends; the Common Dolphins and another Humpback Whale. 

Out at the island it was foggy in some parts and sunny in other areas. The photos of the island is Anacapa Island. There are three islets to Anacapa Island so at low tide you can see one full island, but during high tide it looks like three separate islands..
On the way back, we found a small pod of my best friends; the Common Dolphins and another Humpback Whale. It was so much fun to see them again. It has been so LONG.. 

I love to go fast and Captain Luke was going fast. So much fun to have the wind blowing in my hair. 🙂

After our wonderful morning early afternoon on the water we went with our friend to lunch in the harbor. I enjoyed our lunch (I serenaded) and strolling around the harbor before we said goodbye and headed home. 

Mom says she is going to try to do monthly updates so it doesn’t get so out of control like this time (so long). I, Miss Kayla has just been so busy it’s hard to keep it short. 🙂
So until next time…. 🙂
Love, 
Miss Kayla