One of our favorite things to do when we are in San Diego is to run along the beach. We were able to go to the beach 3 of the days and we ran right at sunset. It was gorgeous!

One of the things that Matt was very excited about doing this trip was visiting the Stone Brewery with his brother Mark. Stone makes his FAVORITE beer. They just opened a new brewery and brew pub. The ambiance is incredible and suits the name Stone.

Here is the rock garden out back.

Mark and Julie, his fiance, joined us for lunch and beer.

Daniela and Christian ate lunch too. They had more fun though walking and playing in the rock garden.

Christian took this picture of us. Pretty good for a 4 year old.

Here is my sexy husband in the eucalyptus leaves.

Don't mess with this guy, king of the jungle.

We went to a bird show and an elephant show. Did you know that a male elephant weighs about 12,000 pounds? We also learned that the elephants feet have to be checked everyday for rocks or other things that can get stuck in their feet and cause pain and get infected. They are such large animals.

They are not able to look down at their feet and one of the most difficult tricks that an elephant can do is walk on a balance beam because they cannot see where they are going.

One of our favorite exhibits to watch were the gorillas. They were very playful and creative. There was always a crowd of people gathered around them.

Here is me in among the flower called the Bird of Paradise. They were in full bloom. Matt's Dad always jokes and says "may the bird of paradise fly up your nose." Actually that would be pretty painful.

Have you ever wondered why flamingos stand on one leg? And NO Matt it is not because if they lifted that one up they would fall over. LOL. We learned that flamingos stand on one leg to conserve body heat.

On Friday after Thanksgiving, Matt and I went to Wild Animal Park, while everyone else went to Sea World. It was very nice to get away and spend a day together. The park is amazing and we had a blast. This was my first time visiting.

The first thing we did in the park was ride the train that takes you around the outside of the park. This way we were able to see how big the park really is. We got a great view of all the animals. It was so neat to see the animals and there were no fences blocking your view. We were thankful that we took the train first because later that afternoon the line for the train was at least an hour long. We did not have a wait.

Here is a mother rhinoceros and her baby.

For Thanksgiving there were 43 people at Grandma Buman's house. It was so much fun. There was enough food to feed an army of people, with plenty of leftovers for days to come. It was so yummy. After dinner Matt and I hid the contents of a scavenger hunt that Aunt Ruthie had invented for the kids in the backyard. Later that night the nieces and nephews had fun wrestling their newest uncle, Steve. I am not sure who had more fun!

This year we went to San Diego for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed gorgeous weather. Our friends Matt and Becca Ellis picked us up from the airport. We stayed at their house in Temecula and talked until 4:30 AM Florida time, catching up on life.

On Thanksgiving morning, following Buman tradition, we ran a 10K race (6 miles) through downtown San Diego with Matt and Becca. It was so much fun to run through Matt's favorite city. The course finished right by PetCo Park, where the Padres play.

Can you find the Bostonians in all the palm trees?

This is one of the many oak trees found in Paynes Prairie. Paynes Prairie is a State Preserve, a so-called "wet prairie." It is a 21,000 acre state-owned preserve in Alachua County, between Gainesville and Micanopy in north central Florida. It was the first preserve to be established in Florida, and is one of the state's most significant natural and historic areas.

We followed one of the trails out to an observation tower that overlooked the prairie. Along the way there was so much to look at. Hey guys what's up there?

On one of the trails we saw a baby gator. So cute!

This was the sign we read as we approached the boardwalk. Yikes! Thank goodness that we did not see any gators on the pathway.

Mom and I went to the Micanopy Fall Festival while the boys played golf. Micanopy is the oldest inland settlement in Florida about 25 minutes away from Gainesville. It is quite beautiful with all sorts of oak trees. Mom and I saw some "real" country folks.

One of things that I found cool about the festival was homebrew rootbeer. You bought a tin mug and could fill it up with whatever kind of soda you wanted.

After the festival we went by Lake Alice and look for a gator. Thank goodness we saw one, otherwise Mom would not have been happy. We got a great show from the gator; he was very active. Gators are the coolest!!

After all these years, I still enjoy a hug from the world's best Dad!

Here I am at my desk, hard at work putting together the next week's Buman Buzz.

So Matt how do you like my "big" nceklace? This was the joke at breakfast one morning before Mom and I went off to school and Dad went to play golf.

My assistant at Brentwood School is Kim Dickson. This is our second year working together. We are both enjoy organization and a clean classroom! Here we are standing in front of the sliding glass doors of the 3rd grade classroom.

We had great seats for the South Carolina game, 4 rows from the field. It was the first time I had sat that close to the field. Mom was in for a real treat. The Gators pulled out a 1 point victory over the Game Cocks. Urban Meyer said that the noise level was the loudest that he had ever heard.

Mom loved the crazy Gator football fans and their tailgating. She couldn't take enough pictures of the RVs, Gator paraphanalia, and the football game itself. It was fun watching how excited she was.

Gator football fans take their football seriously.

The four of us played a game of corn hole, otherwise known as bean bag toss. Dad and I won, but both teams needed some practice. Notice that Dad stands just like he does when he throws a boccee ball?

Mom and Dad got the real football experience at UF, tailgating before a Gator football game.

Mom and Dad came to the Family Group's Thanksgiving Feast. We made sweet potato pie and broccoli salad to share with everyone. Mom also made me an orange and blue boa!!! Go Gators!

Dad golfed at the University of Florida Golf Course while Mom came and helped out in my classroom.

Mom and Dad came down to visit us. They were excited for warm weather and relaxation and of course spending time with their daughter and son-in-law. It was great to have them come stay with us. This was the first time Dad had seen our condo completely finished. Last time they visited us we were still in the RV and they had to stay in a hotel. It was nice that they could stay at the Buman B&B.

Here is all the candy from the pinata. I was so excited to swing at the pinata since it was my first time ever. I swung so hard that I broke the broom stick in half. Oops. After several others got a chance to swing at the pinata it broke.

Who are we really? Most everyone dressed up for party. Jenn and Laura planned all sorts of fun games - apple bobbing, corn hole, and a pinata. There was a ton of good food too. It was really fun.

We had a Family Group fall house-warming party at Jenn Wilson's house. Matt and I went as Ladanian Tomlinson and Dr. Buman.