California Knows How to Party

For Spring Break this year, we had the opportunity to visit California with my family. Being pregnant, and with Christian being so little, I was nervous about how the trip would play out. Let's be honest...

 pregnant woman + active toddler + the car for hours at a time 

 ... it sounded like a recipe for disaster. But we were pleasantly surprised. We had a blast! Other than missing out on only a few attractions, and the swollen/sore feet at the end of every day, I wouldn't have changed anything about our trip. I loved every minute of spending time with my family and especially time with Christian in the happiest place on earth, while everyone else enjoyed the rides. He was pretty much pure joy. It also gave me a chance to catch a lot of the joy and the magic on camera (hence the picture overload...)
Thomas got the lucky assignment of riding with Mark, Christian, and me and he was so helpful. He kept Christian entertained and was such a good sport as Christian made EVERYONE in the car sing nursery rhymes and primary songs. Tom also taught Christian the chorus to a song of his own, and after a lot of coaching during the drive, every time Thomas would say "who knows how to party?" Christian would reply with "California!"  (I just recently learned that the rest of the song is a rap and probably not the best song to teach a two year old...) Since then, Christian has changed the words on his own to "Mickey Mouse knows how to party" (maybe a little more appropriate for a two year old?)

California Day 1 - Temple Trip
We arrived in California on Easter Sunday, so we spent the evening walking around the L.A. temple and going to the Visitor's Center. Considering that we were away from home for the holiday, I thought it was the perfect way to celebrate. After a long drive, C loved running around the temple grounds (reverently, of course) and seeing the temple up close.

California Day 2 - The Happiest Place
It wouldn't have been right to start our week in California with anything but Disneyland...however we didn't get much further than the front gate before we got stuck taking a million pictures, which made Christian a little unsure of the whole Disneyland experience (little did he know, it was just the beginning...of the experience AND the picture taking.)

 

 But, once we made our way into the park, it was so fun to watch Christian take it all in. Our first stop, at the jungle safari ride, may have been Christian's favorite in all of Disneyland. He was fascinated by all of the animals, and needless to say, we went on the ride again.

Christian and I also visited Tarzan's Tree House while everyone else went on Indiana Jones. I thought Christian would love it, since he's seen Tarzan and knows the characters. He did love it, except for the part when I got us a little too close to the leopard and he screeched right in our faces, making me scream, and in turn, making Christian cry. Thank goodness for the pots and pans that C was able to play with to get his mind off of the horror. I'm not sure he likes Tarzan anymore.

Right after that, we took Christian on Pirates of the Caribbean...which also terrified him. By this point, he was probably thinking that Disneyland was a total nightmare. Luckily, we were able to redeem ourselves with the Winnie the Pooh and Toy Story Rides...and cookies.

Christian did pretty well in the lines, as long as there was either something to swing/hang on, or he had someones' undivided attention. Which he did, MOST of the trip.

 It was also nice to take a little break from all the lines, and people and watch some of the shows, which also helped put Christian right to sleep during nap time.

 While all of the rides were so much fun, I think one of everyone's favorite parts of our first day was, surprisingly enough, the Lego store.

We spent way too long there, waiting for the boys to build their Lego cars...and their egos. I'm still a little unclear as to who actually won the race...they all seem to have a different story.

After the Lego store, we spent the rest of the day at California Adventure, which meant a lot of waiting for the pregnant lady and the toddler, and my mom who was a good sport to keep us company. 

 But we definitely found our own, slower-paced fun.

We also ran into Donald Duck, where Christian experienced his first Character photo op. (Doesn't he look thrilled?)

 He clearly warmed up to the idea as the trip went on.

California Day 3 - Sea World

After a long day of walking at the Disney parks the day before, Sea World was the perfect place to visit next for me and my growing belly. It was a lot less walking, and a lot more sitting to enjoy the shows. Christian, however was not as fond of the sitting, so we had to break it up with other exciting things.

 C loved getting up close and personal with the sea animals.

And then it was back to sitting for me. Once again, the shows put Christian right to sleep. If only I could have snuggled up on someone's lap for a nap...

 But the napping never lasted long before we were back to much more exciting stuff.

And Christian's favorite part of Sea World you ask? ...Elmo. Yep, Elmo. What is Elmo even doing at Sea World anyway? Well, whatever is was, It made Christian's day. He loved seeing Elmo, and the longest lines we waited in all day were for the Elmo ride. But it was worth it to see the Christian's pure delight.

 California Day 4 - Where are we going? To the Beach!
For several months now, Christian has sung Dora the Explorer's song, "Where are we going? To the beach!" However he had never been to the beach, nor did he know what the beach was. To say that C loved the beach would be an understatement. This was his initial response:

We would only make it a few steps towards the water before he was on his stomach, playing in the sand. Then we'd pick him up and start walking again, only to realize that he was a ways behind us again, back on his stomach. He was in his heaven.

 He also loved braving the water, which did require some bravery considering how cold it was!

 The guys acted pretty tough though, and the water didn't even seem to phase them, or ruin their fun.

Christian and Mark's other favorite things at the beach were bird chasing, and digging for sand crabs. My favorite things were hearing Christian's excited/nervous giggles, and his tiny footprints in the sand.

 We had so much fun, and it was a much-needed relaxing afternoon.

 California Day 5 - Disney Parks
After a day at the beach, we were refreshed, and ready to hit the ground running (literally) to finish up both of the amusement parks. We loved spending the morning at California Adventure with some of the Characters from Christian's favorite movies. The fact that C was familiar with them made it so exciting and magical.

 While the rest of my family went on some of the "big kid rides", Mark and I took Christian on the easier, less intimidating rides. For future reference: Never wear a skirt on Luigi's Tire ride. They should really warn you that there are fans on the ground blowing upward air.

 Christian was the perfect height for a lot of the rides.

 Once we had seen and experienced everything in Cars Land, we moved on to a Bug's Life, and then Toy Story.

Thankfully they sell Turkey Legs at California Adventure (something the boys had been talking about all week). This made the long lines much more bearable, and the guys much more pleasant. Mark also finally got his Mickey Mouse ice cream, I think making the trip a total success in his mind.

 After a good nap, and a delicious dinner we headed back to Disney Land to celebrate our last night in California. And it was a celebration, with fireworks, and water shows and all.

 Of course our trip would not have been complete had we not seen Mickey Mouse that evening. It was perfect timing, and made for a perfect end to our trip.

California Day 6 - So Long Cali
Before starting the long drive home, we spent a few more hours soaking up the last bits of Disney Land and making sure we hadn't missed anything. Thank goodness we made it to "It's a Small World" since it was one of Christian's favorites.

We can't thank my parents enough for making this memorable trip possible. We had so much fun and are so grateful for all they did to allow our family to enjoy the experience. We know it was a lot of work! Plus a huge thank you to them, and my siblings who were so helpful with Christian and made the trip a total blast and one we will always remember! We love you guys!

 

It's true what they say, California really does know how to party...or maybe it's just my family that really knows how to have a good time!