Thursday, October 30, 2014

There and Back Again...Our Epic California Trip

So, last week, we did something kind of crazy. We packed up our little family, and we drove to California with Graham's Dad and younger brother. We also met his sister, Megan, and her family there. In five days, we drove there and back and went to Disneyland, California Adventure, and the beach. Can you say whirlwind?

I was more than a little nervous before we left. I knew Will would be okay in the car (thank you, iPad!), but I had no idea what to expect from Logan. He actually did better than expected overall, though I definitely had a sore arm from reaching into the back seat to hold his pacifier in his mouth during some rough patches. 

Beyond the car ride, I didn't know how Logan would do in the parks. After all, they're not really geared toward infants, although I was pleased that several of the rides didn't even have height restrictions. He's now ridden Buzz Lightyear, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan, the carousel, and a few others...mostly while sleeping in the Moby wrap. I can't say I would actually recommend taking an infant to Disneyland, but I learned that it is possible, and we still enjoyed ourselves immensely.

My favorite part was watching Will's reaction to everything. He's such a little observer that he didn't react strongly to most of the rides when we were on them. He would just stare wide-eyed at everything going on. But as soon as a ride would end, he would look at me and yell, "More, more!" And, with the help of a few napkins stuffed in his shoes, he was tall enough to ride a lot of the rides. His favorite by far was Radiator Springs Racers in California Adventure. He loved how fast the cars went. He was completely exhausted by the end of each day, but I'm pretty sure he would do it again in heartbeat.

Here's the whole gang in front of Disneyland:

Toon Town--We love fire trucks!

Will, exhausted, but happy:

I even managed to get a shot with my boys!

Sandwiched in between our two days in the parks, we spent a morning at the beach. Will wasn't super thrilled about playing in the water, but he loved having a giant sandbox to dig in. His cousins were so good to him, and they were really patient with his tendency to destroy things. We're working on that.




It was a great break from the crowds and fast pace of the parks, almost relaxing even...until I locked our keys in the car. I am so talented, in fact, that I even locked our back up key in the car along with the normal key. I'm impressive that way. Thank goodness for a father-in-law who has AAA and for a speedy locksmith. 

The highlight of that day was getting to see my best friend, Stephanie, who drove up from San Diego. After she waited in the pool area at the hotel for an hour while I sorted our the locked car issue, we finally met up and had a great afternoon letting our boys play at the pool and having dinner at CPK. I tell you what, good friends are hard to come by, and I'm grateful to have one like her. We don't see each other often, but I always love when we do manage to carve out some time to spend together.

So, we survived our adventure, and we made some great memories along the way. Now, on to celebrate Halloween. Stay turned for ridiculously cute pictures!