Zoo, Aquarium, and Proof of Pilot!

We also spent an afternoon at the L.A. Zoo, (we're waiting to brave the San Diego for when our kids walk a little further without whining) and the SeaLife Aquarium by Legoland and just all around staying busy. Plus, I needed to include proof that Pilot and I were there, too!

Eating lunch at the zoo.

Pilot at the Zoo.

Dash has the parking money and boy, is he happy about it!

At the aquarium, totally fascinated by the Lego submarine. Sharks? What sharks?

Proof that Pilot and I were there, too!

As Good as Disneyland

Some of the adventures of just getting to and from California were just as exciting for the boys as being there.

They could hardly wait to get on the escalator and get going our first morning.

Their new carry on suitcase filled up all their airport time easily.

They thought the hotel was fantastic.

Dashell fell in love with our rented "lili-van". Sorry, buddy. Mom's not switching cars for you.

And they ended every day completely exhausted and happy!

Legoland

Before everyone arrived, we spent a few days further south in Carlsbad and went to Legoland for a day. Stratton has been asking to go to Legoland for more than 6 months, so it was a dream come true for him.

Stratton was so funny during the 3-D show...he kept reaching out to grab things and almost grabbing the people in front of him! At the end of teh day, we were getting ready to leave and I was trying to make sure that the boys knew that once we left, we wouldn't be coming back so they needed to be sure that they were REALLY done. Stratton looked at me and said in all seriousness, " We're ready to go home, Mom. I think we've had enough excitement for one day." He can be such a funny kid sometimes. When we were packing for the trip he kept getting worked up over what I might forget. At one point in came running in panicked because he wasn't sure how we would pack dishes to eat off for our meals. We are still working on letting him leave the worrying to Mom and Dad.

The Beach

No trip to California would be complete without a few trips to the beach. We met Hailey's family there briefly our first day in the middle of a storm blowing in and the kids stayed pretty bundled up, but after that we were able to enjoy a couple of sunny beach trips to play in the sand and water, but still mostly the sand.

Getting in a little beach yoga.

With Coley Ruth

Running from the waves

After catching a wave in the face while washing his hands. Poor kid has parents who laugh when this happens.

Meeting Grandma at the beach

The Ears

These Ears definitely deserve their own post. Dashell managed to pick out the single ugliest hat produced at Disneyland...a strange hybrid of Mater and Goofy with added Cars and Disneyland stickers on the mouse ears and lovely buck teeth up front. That is one classy boy! Somehow wearing the ugliest ears available only got him more attention and comments on what a cute boy he is...oh to be 2 and have terrible taste!

Disneyland

We went to California for Thanksgiving to spend some time with the Neibaur family. Of course we had to go to Disneyland 2 days, and I don't think the boys will ever be the same. And I'm not sure that's how we will ever spend Thanksgiving day again. Most of the pictures we took don't have any kids looking because they were way too excited about everything else they got to look at. I will say that the boys were at a great age to go. The magic was still very real for them and I still get to hear about what a hurry Mary Poppins was in when we saw her on Main Street and meeting Mickey and Woody.

Here are the older cousins waiting for "It's a Small World", a definite classic. I hadn't been to Disneyland in 15 years or so and I had never been around the holidays, so it was a surprise to find out how many rides they give Christmas themes during November and December...even the Haunted House was Nightmare Before Christmas and "It's a Small World" threw in a few Christmas carols and lots of Christmas trees.

Dashell was so funny about meeting Mickey Mouse. He was sooo excited and kept hugging him and giving him high 5s. It's a good thing he liked it as much as he did, because that was one deceptive line to meet him! I still have a few questions about the people who waited in the line to meet Mickey even though they didn't have kids.

They also got to see Woody and Jessie by chance when we were walking to meet up with everybody else, and it was definitely another highlight, although after Dash started to cry because he only got a hug from Jessie and not a hug from Woody, too.

Stratton tried to pick up pieces of the pirate treasure for a good 5 minutes. We had to literally tear him away from trying to find some treasure that would come loose for him to take home.

We promised the boys that they could get mouse ears at Disneyland, so Brigg took them while we were waiting for the parade on day and let them choose whatever pair they wanted, and this is what we ended up with.

Still Cute at 3 Months

Winter is finally here

We welcome all skiing companions.

Halloween

One small pirate, sword and all.

The return of the chicken.

The whole line up.

Paging Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

We have been listening to the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books in the car lately and the boys love them. Last week when Dashell was having a tantrum Stratton came to get me and said, " Mom, I think we need to send Dashell to Mrs. Piggle Wiggle." I would if I could some days, that's for sure! This is Stratton's owl punpkin that he created at preschool this year. I love the green wings and blue beak!

Don't Try and Boss THIS Kid Around....

I think that we just got a surefire sign that we have been encouraging potty training entirely too much for this 2 year old's taste. He has been walking around the house singing his very own song that goes like this...." I love diapers, I LOOOOVE diapers..." Maybe it's time to give it a rest for a couple weeks.

The Face of 5

This is what 5 looks like at our house. A little more sass, even more independence, and one big preview of what kind of teenager is headed our way in a few years. He is still our sweet Stratton and still makes us laugh, but this face pretty much sums up how things have changed at our house since he hit the big 5!