The first mistake I made when it came to our recent trip to Southern California--a trip to spend time with friends and to take Kyle to Disneyland--was to tell Kyle we were taking him to Disneyland. I have absolutely no idea WHY I did this except sometimes I make poor choices.
This was made all the worse by the fact that we arrived on Saturday morning and our day at Disneyland was Tuesday. Kyle absolutely broke the record for the number of times a three year old has asked, "Are we going to Disneyland now?" in a three-day time-span. Thankfully we had the beach, a beach house with a pool, friends and their adorable kids, pizza, ice cream, and a bunch of other consolation prizes. Still, learn from my mistake, friends! Surprise your kids with Disneyland news the morning of. Or as you are walking through the turnstile into the park. That's an even better idea.
Anyway, so California! We got to vacation there! It certainly redefines sunny, doesn't it? It's sunny the way sunny was intended to be. Not sunny that makes you want to stab things (that would be sunny in Texas) but sunny with an ocean breeze, sunny with just a slight chill at night, sunny without any stupid mosquitoes, sunny with a view. Mike has never had much interest in California, in general. Until he met me, he had no interest in ever visiting, but I slowly changed his mind (so much so that we got married at Lake Tahoe, totally his idea) and now I think he's fully in love. A few days with 80-degree temps and beachy views, and he started saying, "Yeah, we should find a way to get rich and buy a vacation home here." (I'll get right on that! My plan: either lottery rigging or straight-up bank robbing.)
California was good, very good, and my only complaint is that California isn't where I am right this moment.
Let's get to the pictures, shall we?
He hated the water, every drop of it.
Closed-eyed pre-schoolers, ruining family memories since forever.
Just a few people at the beach in California, on Labor Day.
Not bad.
He said, "What is that big blue pool?" Poor Texan.
You are shocked I enjoyed some champagne on vacation, aren't you?
It's always disappointing when you order a "large mimosa" and are brought something like this.
Oh, hey! I got to hang out with (and drink delicious drinks with) some S. California bloggers, all ladies I really really love and get to see in November at the Blathering. (Woo!)
I was a little worried Kyle would be timid with the Disney characters. He's just sort of a timid little dude in new situations. (He gets that from both parents, actually.) But he LOVED the characters and he wanted to see them all. (Pluto eluded us until the parade.)
Kyle's first rollercoaster! He loved it. That kid continues to surprise me.
MICKEY! You really can't tell--Kyle looks like he's always hanging out with Mickey, no bigs--but his mind was blown. Mickey was his top choice and when we walked into the room to see him, I could feel his excitment.
All the boys on the trip.
Kyle and his Nana.
Friends' kids holding hands. I KNOW, RIGHT?
I hope Kyle remembers the trip as I hope he remembers all his trips--an extra bright spot in an already bright life. That's exactly what they mean to me.
We miss you already, California.
(All the delicious food we ate coming next week!)