San Diego and Disneyland!!

We had such a wonderful trip to visit my brother and sister-in-law! I'm still worn out. I never really pictured myself living on the west coast (I am a Texas girl through and through), but I think I could settle for San Diego! It is absolutely beautiful, and I loved the weather (much nicer than this humidity)! The plane rides were much better than I had hoped, with minimal crying and even some napping during part of the flights.

The first beach we visited was dog beach (not sure if that's really the name, but it's what we call it). Riley was super excited, and he couldn't wait to get there! We had to take a short walk from our rental van down the Pacific Coast Highway to get there, and he wanted to run the whole way! As soon as we hit the beach, he took off running towards the water! Even though the water was very cold, he didn't want to stay away. Elijah enjoyed playing in the sand and watching all of the dogs running around. We took my brother's two dogs, Mandi and Wesley, with us, too. Dogs, sand, waves, sunshine, my kids loved it (and so did I)! Riley cried when it was time to leave, and even said he didn't want to go to Disneyland the next day, that he just wanted to stay at the beach! Of course, he changed his mind.

Riley running out to the water and Elijah playing in the sand.

The next day was our big trip to Disneyland!  Riley could barely contain his excitement as we pulled up!  He still wasn't sure exactly what Disneyland was at that point, but he knew it was exciting since that's where Mickey Mouse lives!

My handsome boys wearing their first trip to Disneyland buttons!

My favorite thing was seeing Riley's face and hearing him whisper "Oh Wow!" as he took everything in!  I also love how Elijah was able to go on nearly every kid's ride we went on!  There weren't many times where we had to take turns watching the kids (that was really only for the big rides).  We met Aladdin, Jasmine, Mary Poppins and Bert, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Donald Duck, Chip and Dale, Goofy, Pluto, Pocahontas, and of course the big mouse, Mickey Mouse! 

This was the first time we met Mickey!  We also got to visit him in his house the next day!

Riley was completely exhausted by the end of the first day!  Ryan had to carry him up to our hotel room, and he was pretty much dead weight!  At about 4:00am, he fell off the bed he was sharing with Ryan (I was in the other bed with Elijah).  It woke both of us up, and I rushed over to him to see if he was okay.  He just stood there, still half asleep, and said "yeah".  He went right back to sleep like nothing happened.  It's very funny looking back on it!

Day 2 at Disneyland was just as much fun-filled as the first!  Riley did get scared during the Bug's Life in 4D show, and I had to take him out.  He thought is was hilarious, until the bug "shot" him with a laser (it was really just a little water, but he didn't know that).  He clung to both me and my sister-in-law, Katie, and cried.  Other than that, he loved everything!  Especially his very first roller coaster ride!

We had a very lazy Sunday while trying to recover from two days at Disneyland!  We went to La Jolla Beach, and watched the surfers and grilled hamburgers and turkey dogs.  It was overcast and much cooler, but it was still beautiful!  Elijah loved playing in the sand, and Riley made a sand castle with his daddy (which he soon destroyed!)  He thought it was neat that they found more water under the sand!  I love the goofy look on Elijah's face in the picture below!  Riley loved drawing in the sand!  I have to share two of my favorite pictures.  My favorite of Elijah is to the right, he was just so happy to be at the beach!  The other is of Riley (below right) just sitting and watching the ocean.  He wasn't still very often during the trip (or ever), and I love that I was able to capture this moment of him being still watching the waves!

Monday we shopped at Seaside Village, a quaint outdoor shopping area across from Coronado.  We could see Navy ships across the harbor, and even one heading out to sea!  Riley loved seeing the "big boats"!  Lunch was at In-N-Out Burger, a must on our to-do list since we aren't fortunate enough to have them here in Texas.  Dinner was at a great local Mexican food restaurant.  Now, for those who know me know that is a bold statement!  I do not like Mexican food, which is odd since I come from a family who loves it!  I will eat chicken enchiladas or fajitas, but that's it.  But this restaurant we went to in San Diego was more of a Carribean style Mexican food, rather than the TexMex we have here in Texas.  It was all outdoors, a patio setting surrounded by beautiful flowers.  I had salmon with chipotle mashed potatoes and asparagus.  Yum!!  I ate every bite!

Tuesday was our last full day in San Diego.  We went to Coronado island, and had lunch at a diner with the best ice cream sundaes!  The hard part was choosing which sundae to get, because they all looked so good!  We also visitied Imperial Beach and walked to the end of the long pier.  Fisherman lined the pier while surfers waited for the best waves.  Off in the distance we saw a Navy ship, and some islands.  I had to use my mom's camera to take pictures since I forgot mine at my brother's condo, so I don't have any pictures to share at this time.

We decided to take Riley and Elijah to the beach one more time before we had to leave.  So we went back to get our swimsuits and towels and went to "baby beach".  Obviously, that's not the name of it.  Riley called it "baby beach" when driving by it a couple days before and it just stuck.  This beach had more rocks and shells, and we enjoyed looking for interesting momentos to bring home.  Elijah enjoyed eating the rocks!

To the left is a picture of Ryan, Riley, and my dad wading in the waves. 

Here is Elijah examining one of the many rocks he tried to eat!

This is Riley and me at "baby beach".  I loved watching the pure joy on his face as we experienced new things!  I hope he remembers at least the highlights of this trip!  I know Elijah is too young to remember anything, but we have a ton of pictures to look back on (I have 350+, and that doesn't include any that my parents took)!  Even though we enjoyed our trip to Disneyland and the beaches, the best part was spending time with my brother and sister-in-law, Robbie and Katie!  We don't get to see them often (only 1-2 times a year), so it's always good to be with them! 

California, here we come!

In 2 days we are flying out to sunny California to visit my brother and sister-in-law!  My parents are also making the trip with us!  We'll be spending most of our time in San Diego, where they live, but we will be spending 2 fun filled, exhausting days at Disneyland!  Riley loves Mickey Mouse, but I don't think he quite understands that he is actually going to see where Mickey lives.  He's also excited to go to the beach! 

Yesterday was Mother's Day.  I should have taken full advantage and slept in (which I sort of did), let my husband cook me breakfast, and done absolutely nothing productive all day.  That would have been wonderful.  But instead I had an english muffin for breakfast, then spent hours washing, drying, and folding 7 loads of laundry, vaccuuming, and preparing to leave for a week.  I didn't even get to the packing. At least we celebrated Mother's Day Friday night (a delicious dinner at Red Lobster), and on Saturday with my husband's family (including a relaxing pedicure with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, who is expecting her first baby in December!).  We also had homemade ice cream while visiting Ryan's grandmother!

I made my usual packing list, and it keeps growing and growing and growing...  How do 2 little kids require so much stuff?!  The list for me and Ryan is very short.  Basically clothes, toothbrushes, and pj's.  But Riley and Elijah need toys to be entertained, favorite blankets to be comforted, special baby shampoo's and soaps, burp rags for Elijah's near constant spitting up and drooling, and of course, diapers.  Riley will just be in disposables full time while we're there (he usually does cloth part time at home), which we will have to make a special trip to Target to get once we arrive in San Diego so I don't have to take up precious space in their suitcase (keeping in mind that 50 lb weight limit on $25 checked bags).

But for Elijah, I plan on using cloth full time still, even at Disneyland. My husband suggested just using sposies while we're there so I don't have to "deal with the diaper laundry" (which I don't mind at all!). My answer to that was, "You can deal with all the poop blowouts, then." He had no response. That's just another reason I LOVE cloth diapers...no more poop blowouts!!!

I almost think I'm a little nuts, though. I don't want to pack any of the cloth diapers in our checked luggage. I don't want to take the chance of losing them if something happens to our luggage. I could deal with replacing clothes, toothbrushes, shoes, etc. But I don't want to part with my cloth diapers! Yes, I said my cloth diapers, even though I'm not the one who wears them! Not to mention the cost of replacing them. So they will go in a carryon bag, where I can keep them close.

Getting ready for this trip just reminds me of Riley's first plane ride.  He was about 10 months old, and we flew out to Phoenix to visit my brother.  He slept the entire flight.  I don't think we'll be so lucky this time.  He's much too busy now!  Here's a couple of pictures from that plane ride.  The first is Ryan, Riley, and me waiting to board the plane.  The second is my little bald baby completely passed out!

So, the next couple of days are going to be C-R-A-Z-Y.  I have to pack for the four of us, and I'm sure I will forget something, as I always do.  As much as I'm looking forward to being in San Diego to visit my brother and sister-in-law, I'm not looking forward to traveling with 2 young kids.  I wish we could teleport!  That would be so much easier!  I'm ready to be there, not get there.  I'm not even allowing myself to think about the trip home, yet.

But I'm sure the stress of traveling will all melt away when I see Riley's face light up at Disneyland!  Or as we're building a sand castle at the beach.  Or going to a baseball game.  Or just spending time together as a family.  We will be making memories that will never be forgotten, that we can look back on and smile.