We Had A Little Vacation

Actually it wasn't little at all -- it was AMAZING!! We were gone for 8 days. I think it's the longest trip Nate and I have ever taken as a married couple. (We went on 6 week LST trips overseas in college)

First this -- what was quite possibly the happiest moment of his little life so far. See that big, cheesy smile. We got a free 5x7 of B with McQueen -- but this one was taken with my phone.

Part of our trip was mission based. We met up with the Celebrate Recovery folks half way through for the annual Summit in Lake Forrest, California. Nate went to the Summit, I babysat Brixton and another family's kiddo.

The first few days though were just the three of us and a lot of vacation fun.

On to the pictures....

We went to the beach...

Found out it's illegal to wear floaties in the ocean... seriously, it violates a county ordinance. Apparently they want people to watch their kids closely. What's up with that? kidding, I promise.

We played in the sand...

Chased "turkeys"

Built towers, marched around them, tooted our horns and then smashed them. That's his favorite Bible story right now. We do a lot of marching at our house.

Went to the Santa Monica Pier

Rode a ferris wheel. Did I mention I HATE ferris wheels, but when a two year old asks I jump, hence the "Please don't take my picture I'm scared out of my mind" look on my face.

And then came Disney California Adventure...

We met Minnie Mouse first off -- then came the reason for it all...

"Welcome to Radiator Springs, the cutest little town in Carborator County"

It.Was.AMAZING!!

Looks just like the town in the movie

Lightning McQueen even drives down the street. He and Mater switch off every couple of hours taking pictures with all the kids outside the Cozy Cone Motel.

We rode rides...

Had a few meltdowns...

Ate Lightning McQueen "popcone" (from the Cozy Cone) and had a traffic cone drink.

Watched the Pixar Parade with all our favorites...

And he insisted on riding ANOTHER ferris wheel. I stayed on the ground this time while he and Nate enjoyed themselves.

He said, "Dada, we safe in dis cage." He then stuck his finger out and said, "My finger not safe."

Silly kid.

Back to the beach for this awesome picture...

Up next... the San Diego Zoo with our friend. I won't say who or show his picture because of CR rules I don't want to break their anonymity. I actually am pretty positive they wouldn't mind, but just in case. 

We saw lots of great animals.

And had some fun with cotton candy mustaches.

I heard great things about this zoo, and while it was great I think the zoo here in OKC is pretty awesome too. In fact, I like the elephant exhibit in OKC a lot better than the one here.

We also swam at the hotel a lot and had some good rest while the rest of the crew was at the Summit.

After the Summit and before heading home was a CR group trip to Disneyland.

This time we shot aliens with Buzz Lightyear

Rode in flying spaceships

Met Mickey Mouse!!

B rode his first roller coaster. It was a little faster and higher than I thought it would be, but still fun. At the end he said, "I don't like that."

We met more characters. I don't know that he's ever watched Winnie the Pooh, so this may have been more for me and Nate, but that's OK.

Then came musical chairs with Alice and the Mad Hatter

round and round

Brixton was the first "un-winner." We expected it. However, he did NOT take it well. I think it scared him when the Mad Hatter picked him up to put him on stage.

He promptly jumped back in the game.

And Alice pleaded for the Hatter to let him play. She shared her chair with him.

This was really cool. We actually ran in to them about 45 minutes later and Alice remembered his name.

Brixton did great on the whole trip. He's an awesome traveler.

Our first night away he was a little freaked out. We told him we were just going to stay in our California home. We stayed in three different hotels/condos while there. He just called all of them our California home. We had such a great time. I hope he remembers this trip as he gets bigger. Although, the night after Disney California Adventure we asked him what his favorite part was and he said, "I rode a Lightning McQueen bus" a.k.a. the shuttle that took us to our hotel. Oh well, it was still worth it.

One great thing from our trip, before we went someone told us to go to the store here and buy a few little toys and take them with us. That was GREAT advice. Nate found some toys from the movie Cars on sale at Target for less than $3 each. We took two toys in to the park with us and gave them to him at different points throughout the day. It helped so much and saved us a few more tantrums.