Happy Birthday George

On our fourth day of vacation we woke up and showered George with hugs, kisses, songs, and presents. He just loved it too. He really is two now - wow!


Some of the things George likes right now include:
music
grapefruit
cereal bars (especially larabars and TJ bars)
animals (stuffed and real)
being outside
getting dirty
playing with legos
salt and vinegar chips
spicy Indian food
orange peels
almost anything with a very strong flavor

The birthday boy holding one of his presents from Aunt Stephanie

The tissue paper and wrapping was just as interesting and entertaining as the actual presents


Some stuffed dogs (one is life size - as big as George!). He loved them.


Samuel was trying to help George hold up two fingers to show how old he is


We knew we would be going to Disneyland sometime during this vacation so we planned it so that we would be there on George's birthday.

Here he is getting a birthday phone call from Goofy:

George was given two badges to wear and the rest of us were also given badges to wear. Samuel received an extra special badge the day before because he helped pick up trash and gave it to the Disneyland worker. He thought that was pretty special. George kept his badges on for a very short time and then he just wanted to tear them off and play with the pokey pin part. The badges ended up on the stroller.

The classic picture in front of the castle
We had a delicious lunch at the Blue Bayou to celebrate George's birthday.

They even brought out a special birthday treat with a candle in it for George to blow out.

Most kids will blow the candle out with air - George doesn't. He goes right in with his fingers and pinches that flame right out.
After the initial sting wore off he was able to enjoy a few bites of his treat.
Jim wasn't feeling the best as the afternoon went on, so we took an extra long train ride around the park. The boys didn't seem to mind. Samuel still had a big smile on his face.

George was so tired by the afternoon, but he kept fighting off a nap. He finally fell asleep in his stroller for a little bit. Jim sat with him while Stephanie, Samuel, and I wandered around Toon Town.
Unfortunately George was still sleeping when it was time to meet Mickey. At least we have a picture to show him that he did meet Mickey
Or course Samuel was super excited to get a picture with Mickey Mouse
Stephanie and Samuel on the Jungle Cruise. Check out that huge crocodile behind them - yikes.This was one of the last rides we went on before we headed back to Stephanie's home. What a fun couple of days we had! It was a special treat to have Stephanie there with us to have fun and celebrate George's birthday!

Disney's California Adventure Park

On the fourth day of our vacation we woke up, had a yummy breakfast at the hotel and then headed over to California Adventure Park. The weather was perfect with the sun out, but not shining right on us. There was also a slight breeze. These weather conditions along with not too many people in the park made for a fun, relaxing day. The first ride we went on was Soaring Over California - which happens to be one of our favorites. We thought Samuel might like it. He liked parts of it, but I think we would have to really convince him to go on it again (maybe when he is older he will like it more). It did make us miss California a little though.

The first picture of the day - and with Lightning McQueen no less!

Typical Samuel - whistling. I guess he was enjoying this ride.

George liked it too.

Samuel had fun "driving" the bumper bugs - or something like that.

The spinning ladybug ride was not for me but I think they all enjoyed it. In fact I think George and Jim went on it twice.

I literally had to carry Samuel onto this ride. He loved this ride three years ago when we came but he wanted nothing to do with it this time. The negotiating:

Samuel is in there you just can't see him. Who chose this ride to go on anyway? Yuck!

I think I am going to be sick!

All ready to go into the 3D bug show.



We didn't get many pictures of Stephanie because she was usually the one taking the picture.


Another 3D thing. This was the Toy Story ride and it was a lot of fun! It was really the only ride we had to wait in line for and even it wasn't too long. Worth the small wait.

Samuel was super excited to meet Chip and Dale - they were so cute with him too!
Waiting for the character parade to start. It was a lot of fun to see all the different animated characters. I think Samuel had a smile on his face for the entire 20 minutes or so.

Fun in the gift shop (one of many) trying on the hats.
The Sorcerer Samuel
Samuel saw this little Wall-E stuffed toy when we first went into the gift shop. We made him look all around but he still insisted that he wanted the Wall-E toy. So of all the things he could have chosen to buy as a souvenir he chose this.
The kids did really well for the most part. They were definitely exhausted by the end of the day (so was I). Samuel walked almost the entire day so we let him have a turn in the stroller. They thought it was pretty fun to ride in it together.
This is not the best picture, but it shows that we were there! What a fun day!

California Here We Come

A week or so ago we had the opportunity to take a little (much needed) family vacation. We took a road trip to Southern California to visit friends (including Mickey and Minnie) and enjoy some quality time together.

We took our time driving there. It was a pretty drive. One of the stops that we made was to change George's diaper. When we pulled him out of his car seat he was soaking wet so we tag teamed. We stripped him down and Jim was holding George close to him because it was super windy. Just as Jim said, "George you better not pee on me" George started peeing down the front of Jim's shirt. So instead of changing one set of clothes, two had to be changed. It was funny and we laughed about it for a while.

We arrived at Stephanie's on a Saturday night. She had everything all ready for us and it was such a nice welcome. It felt like home! We woke up the next morning and attended church at our old ward in Redlands. It was so fun to see and talk to some of our friends that we haven't seen for a little while. After church we went to our friend's (The Adling's) house. It was so fun catching up with them and just hanging out like we use to. Samuel had a blast playing with Drake and Drew building with an infinite amount of legos and Makenna was so cute with George. We wish she lived here to babysit for us! The time there flew by so fast.

George thought it was pretty cool that he got to play with the big boys and small legos.




Makenna being so cute with George


Monday we woke up and got everything ready to go to the beach and then on to Anaheim to stay in the Candy Cane Inn right next to Disneyland. We of course had to stop at Trader Joe's to get some snacks for the beach. We just love going to TJs -maybe it is "absence makes the heart grow fonder" or something like that.


Jim decided he wanted to go to Crystal Cove State Park. Stephanie was with us and it was the most beautiful day - it really could not have been any nicer. We all had such a great time there. On the way to the beach Samuel created a list of the things that he wanted to see there. It included things like snails, crabs (of various types), shrimp, etc.

We took it with us and he was able to check off some of the things that he found.

We didn't plan on getting wet (I should have known better) so we weren't in "getting wet clothes". It didn't matter to George.




I love this picture of my boys enjoying the beach


I tried to keep George dry, but finally gave up. He ended up in water up to his knees with soaking wet shoes, socks ,pants, and diaper. He just loved it. Samuel found a little pool in the tide pools that he kept calling his "wet pool".
Here he is playing in his "wet pool"



He found all sorts of treasures (thank goodness this place was a nature preserve so he couldn't bring anything home). This was his typical pose for pictures on this day:


Here is half of a crab. Samuel would not let go of his treasures. He just kept adding to them. His hands were so full by the time we were ready to leave. It was gross and hysterical.

It took several tries to get a (fairly) decent picture of the four of us:

Samuel had fun writing in the sand. First he spelled his name

then he wrote DVD (I guess maybe he has seen a few videos lately)

and then he totally threw us for a loop when he wrote this:

I have no idea where he learned how to write BYU. I know I certainly didn't teach him and I am pretty sure Jim didn't. He thought it was pretty funny though.

Another picture of Samuel with a treasure - this time a seaweed boa

Eventually we had to leave this beautiful place. George was completely wet. We stripped him down to his diaper and Jim wrapped his sweater around him. Initially George was kicking and screaming (he did NOT want to leave) but calmed down enough to take this picture:
The boys were rinsed off and changed into dry clothes.

What a great Monday it was! Wonderful photographs courtesy of wonderful Stephanie! Thank you!