Kayla's Blog: May 2014

Another Intermission ....

A break from road trip.. :) I hope I can get my road trip post done before summer.. Hmmm.. isn't that just a few weeks away?

Hey mom... I really need to do my blog more often so the posts aren't so long like this one. This is a book all in its own.. Sorry everyone for the long post, but so much to report on.. Enjoy! :)

I have been VERY BUSY the past few months along with mom.. We've been making a lot of trips down to San Diego County this past year researching, looking into programs for me after high school, then after age 22. Yep, we are going to move to San Diego County as mom found a program she thinks I will be happy in, and it sounds like they are making great strides to having more programs for me by the time I turn 22. Past few months, we have been looking at apartments in the boundary zone of the school I am going to, and just last week, we found one. :) So, we are moving to San Diego County two days after I graduate from High School.. Unfortunately, I will not be able to go to summer school here, but there is a summer school program there for a couple of weeks. Mom hopes I will survive the long summer break I will have.

Since we visited San Diego often, we tried to do it around our photo meet-ups with the photo group mom and I are involved in. Other times we visited the zoo/safari park with friends there or just us. We had to have some fun time while doing the "business" part of the trip. :)

Ken and Dixie are getting so big.. Here are a few pics from Feb, Mar, April.

Aisha is getting so big too... Here are a few photos of her in March and April...

While mom was taking photos of Indah and Aisha, I was hanging out with Janey...

On March 12th, Imani had her baby girl.. It wasn't the smoothest birth as Imani ended up having a c-section, and her baby had some problems, but overcame them, and was out on exhibit in just a few weeks. Amazing how strong she is, and she continues to do well. We had a photo meet up in March to see Imani and her baby.. She was 17 days old..

and then a few pics of Imani and her baby in April (23 days old)...

Frank watching Imani and her baby. Imani is Frank's adopted mother, so he is having a little bit of a hard time adjusting to someone else getting all the attention. I don't blame him as I would too.

Also in March, a baby hippo was born. We got to see him/her 3 1/2 hours after it was born, and stayed until it was 5 1/2 hours old.. So adorable..

In February, a few of our photo group friends went with mom and I to the LA Zoo. It was a great day! We got to see the Black Bear and Tiger in the snow. Mom and I always wanted to go on snow day, but didn't due to the expected crowds, but it wasn't that bad.

Oh, and I loved listening to the Siamang's..

The joey was out with its mom, the Meerkats were all up on top looking at all the people, and a group photo, except Suzanne is taking the picture.

Here are some other animals we visited on our trips down to San Diego.. :)

Villa does not like lizards at all.. This is her trying to shew away the lizard..

Monroe is nursing..

Frank and Monroe playing Ring Around the Rosie.. They are such characters and so much fun to watch..

A Gibbon playing peak-a-boo with us..

This guy was so adorable.... I just don't like how some monkeys / apes have a look of a sad face, but this is just how their mouths are shaped..

In April, Suzanne, mom and I went to Butterfly Jungle at the Safari Park. We went the first day it opened and right at 8am, and it was still crowded. We spent 2 hours in there. The butterflies loved me. They kept coming over and landing on my sweater, chair and tray. One hung out with me on my tray for the entire two hours, and the employee had to shew it off my tray when I left. I wish I could of taken it home with me.

Afterwards, we met up with Max and Michael at the Gorillas (photos above) until Mom and I had to leave at 1pm to go apartment hunting.

In March, mom and I came down to go to the early keeper talk at the Polar Bears with our friends.. It was really cool. Chinook, one of the Polar Bears was doing her morning laps, and came right by me several times. Chinooks paws are so big and cute..

After the keeper talk, and after we all got our fill of Polars at the windows, we took a group photo.

In March and April, mom and I went to the LA Zoo and here are some pics from our outing.

The little Gibbon is already four months old, but it sure looks tiny for being that old. They are born really, really small.

This is Kima who just turned a year old in April. She is so sweet, and the youngest of the three Chimp kids.

In this next photo, you can see all three kids; Zuri (left, oldest), Uki (top, age - middle), then Kima (bottom, youngest).

Mom and I are going to miss them when we move, but we will visit. Mom has been trying to photograph them at least once every two months to capture them growing up. Mom is really attached to them!

We met some friends in Long Beach for a whale watch trip. Afterwards, we stopped at Palos Verdes for the sunset.

My best friends; the Common Dolphin.. They were so cool to watch..

My friends swimming by me so I can see them really good..

This is a Fin Whale; the second largest animal on earth.

Mom went out whale watching with some friends one morning while I was at school and had great sightings.. Gray Whales and Common Dolphins (my friends)..

Gray Whale breached just outside of Oxnard harbor..

Mom and I joined a bunch of our friends from Southern and Northern California on an all day whale watch trip out of Moss Landing. These trips are always so much fun, and I love going out with Capt Jim and Kate (Blue Ocean Whale Watch)..

Two Gray Whales just off of Carmel or near there...

Risso's Dolphins

This Pacific White Sided Dolphin jumped out of the water right by my window.. I bet it was saying Hi to me! They are cousins to my best friends, same with the Risso's pictured above. Oh, that is a baby Risso's (golden brownish color)..

More Gray Whales traveling south..

For my spring break, mom and I went to San Diego for less than 24 hours to look at more places so we would have more than one option since our dates were pretty firm on when we needed to move. Mom couldn't leave to go have fun with this hanging over her, so we made a quick trip to SD. :) Saw lots of apartment complexes, but choose two for our second and third choice.

We did get to stop in at the zoo to see Indah and Aisha for an hour. Mom really wanted to stay longer as Aisha is starting to spend some time away from mom, but we couldn't.. Oh, Indah and Aisha decided to go up in the hammock and cover themselves in a potato sack for the last 1/2 hour we were there. Silly them.. Mom can't wait to get back to see her.

Mom and I went to Monterey for a few days and went out with Blue Ocean Whale Watch (Capt Jim and Kate). We checked out Fort Ord State Dunes park that was really cool except for being a bit too breezy for me. There were long walking paths that allowed us to walk along the dunes, beach, and just enjoy the scenes from it. We couldn't spend to much time, but it was still fun.

At the dock, this Stellar Sea Lion was hanging out with all the California Sea Lions.. This Stellar Sea Lion visits here a few times per winter/spring all the way from Canada.. He \ She is huge and cute! :) A rare sighting..

a Humpback Whale breaching. Yep, they are already here in the bay, and I heard a few were in our channel too.. :)

I had so much fun with the dolphins that I just had to take a nap. Cubby fell down just enough so I could use her as a pillow. :)

Mom and I followed some Gray Whales up the coast a week ago as they were traveling in really close to the shore. It was crazy.. Stop and go in the car, getting in and out of the car, and trying to keep up with them. My kind of chaotic activity. :)

A mom gray whale surfacing looking towards us.. See how close she is to the rock along the shore??