California!

We left Thursday morning about 8:30. I of course was packed several days in advance and was ready to load the car up.  I borrowed my sisters mattress for the pack n play so it'd be more comfortable, packed up the cooler with lots of treats and drinks, got McDonalds, and headed on our way! I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep Wednesday night because I was so anxious about the car ride, but Aiden did so well! He got fussy about 10:30 ish and Preston climbed in the back and was able to get him to sleep (which I'm pretty sure has never happened in the car before!)  He slept until we got to St. George where we stopped for gas, lunch, and to let him stretch his legs.

We made it to Vegas and had so much fun! We stayed at the Monte Carlo and the first place we went was the pool - Aiden was loving the wave pool and lazy river.  Afterwards we walked around the strip to the M&M shop and the Bellagio fountains, then had dinner at Pampas Brazilian Steakhouse.  Man that place is so delicious! We counted it as an early anniversary dinner.  That night Aiden slept in his pack n play until around 1 and was crying so I just put him in bed with us.

The next day we drove straight to La Jolla beach.  Once again Aiden did really great and took another 2 hour nap (hallelujah!!) We actually stopped first at Target once we got to San Diego because I needed to get some beach towels and sandwich stuff.  He was getting sick of being in the car but luckily it was only 20 more minutes to the beach.  We drove along the La Jolla coast for a bit looking for a parking spot.. Friday afternoon I thought for sure we wouldn't get one, but I turned the corner to go up a street and found a parking spot right there, I was really close to the car behind me and about an inch or two over the red line, but Preston said we were fine.  I had to facetime Patty to make sure it was within California standards (ha ha!) and she said go for it!  We went to children's cove and let Aiden loose.  He was having a blast.  It was hilarious to see him walk on the sand for the first time, it was like he was taking his first steps all over again, he kept losing his balance and falling over.  Once I got out the bucket and shovel he was in absolute Heaven.

We played on the beach then went in the water, it was a little chilly so we didn't play in it much, Aiden was cautious about the waves, which is a good thing.  We took a bunch of pictures and hung out for a bit before checking into our hotel. It was only 15 ish minutes away and so so nice.  It's a smaller hotel but really modern and I got a king suite which was super nice, it was just basically double the size of a normal room, with a couch and second tv area.  I liked having the extra space for Aiden to run around, the main reason I booked it was because it had a free full breakfast, which was delicious and saved us SO much money! We set up the pack n play - which Aiden didn't sleep in ONCE. Thanks so much... oh well. It really wasn't too bad having him in our bed, but he'd want to nurse most of the night so by the end of the trip I was SO DONE.

Saturday we made the drive to LEGOLAND, which was such a let down! I was so bummed.  Aiden was still sick of the car, and it was a little overcast.  I got the tickets through Costco, which were still $200 (Aiden is free) and parking was another $15.. First we went to the little aquarium they had there, Aiden loved running around to all of the different tanks and looking at the fish.  He wasn't too sure about the touch pools, but was still intrigued. Next we headed to the waterpark, Aiden was tired so we set up our spot, let him play in the pool for a bit, then I nursed him to sleep and he took a pretty good nap.  It was nice to lay out and relax, even though it was still overcast.  Of course when he woke up the sun came out and it got hot! So we wandered around to check out the slides.  He couldn't sit on our lap for any slides and there was only one in the kiddie area he could go down.  They were strict about the tubes in the lazy river and said he had to sit on one without one of us holding him, and we couldn't hold him in the water... I was so over it. We waited in the forever long line to change back into our clothes and started walking around the park.  If you know me, you know I research.. a lot.  I planned every detail for this trip. There are tons of advertisements for "what to do when you are under 2" on their website. I kind of figured it'd be like lagoon.. where they'd have a kiddie area of little rides he could ride on or we could ride with him... NOPE. Every "little kid" area was basically a park with lego people.. slides, swings, typical playground stuff. Literally the only ride he could go on in the whole park was the merry go round.  Which is NOT worth $200+!!! Aiden was hot, fussy, and wanted to run around and ride everything.  SO I left him and Preston to play with some giant legos while I went to customer service.  They were really nice but said since I got my tickets through Costco they wouldn't be able to refund them 100%, but they gave me $120 back.  So basically we spent $100 to walk around, go to a little aquarium, and lay by the pool for an hour.  What a let down!! Oh well, what do you do.

When we left we stopped at a random beach on the way back, I don't remember the name of it but it was a dog beach.  At first when we walked to it from our car I thought oh no I don't want to be at a dog beach... but It was our favorite one out of the three different ones we went to!! It wasn't crowded, it was clean, and it was right by a bridge with a river running into the ocean so it was really calm. There was a little "beach" about 20 feet out that we walked to and let Aiden play on, it was so much fun and so cool!  He loved seeing the occasional dog and they were all so friendly, he pet almost every one he saw ha ha. 

Sunday we ate breakfast, hung out at the pool, and when Aiden went down for a nap I went to Trader Joes to get some snacks and food for the beach.  I love that place, seriously.  I went shopping at a few other places while he and Preston slept and enjoyed the peace and quiet.  When he woke up we headed to Pier Beach. I didn't like it near as much as the dog beach, It was so crowded (we totally lucked out finding close parking at a cheap pay lot, winning!) but the beach had tons of seaweed and crap all over it and in the water, plus it seemed way colder.  Aiden still had fun as always, but wanted to spend more time on the beach than in the water.  That night when we came back to the hotel we were playing in the pool and I wanted to get him used to going completely underwater.  I was so nervous at first but he didn't seem to mind at all, he'd start kicking his legs like crazy to bring himself back to the surface and would just laugh and giggle, then point to the edge of the pool to jump in again.  He is such a mamas boy, natural born swimmer! I am so proud!

Monday we went to SeaWorld! It was only about 3 miles from our hotel but still took 15 minutes to get there. We went right when they opened so we could park close and it would still be overcast.  Aiden loved it!  We went to a couple of shows, those were difficult to get him to sit and watch, I am glad they were short! We couldn't go on any rides with him, and the wait time was over an hour for every one, so Preston didn't care enough to go by himself.  We did go on the skytower one and Aiden loved seeing the view, I thought he'd be afraid but he wasn't at all, he was just mesmerized!  I was able to nurse him and get him to sleep again, I put him in the stroller (which every time I've tried it before he's woken up) but I left my baby carrier in the car and didn't want to just pack him, he stayed asleep for over an hour in the stroller. It was so nice to just walk around and not have to be chasing somebody! Ha ha.  He loved the kiddie area, and we went on every ride 3 or 4 times.  There is this giant mat that has air blowing underneath it and foam blocks, he was having a blast running around with the other kids.  There was a little girl probably his same age who took a liking to him and it was so hilarious!! First she'd sit on a block next to him, then she was hugging him so hard they'd both tip over. I was dying!! They chased each other around for a good ten min or so then she gave him a kiss and ran back to her mom, oh man!

Tuesday was a hot hot day.  We went to the zoo, which looking back now was a bad idea because we'd done so much walking at SeaWorld we were just kind of over it.  The first thing we did was the tour bus, which was fun and a lot of the animals were very active which was cool.  This zoo is HUGE.  We didn't walk around everywhere because it is so giant and we were able to see most everything on the bus ride, but we did walk around to our top priority places.  Aiden liked the kid area where they could go in the pen with little goats.  He loved to walk around with them and pet them, I had to remind him to be soft though a few times ha ha.  We got lunch there, which I had planned for but it was so expensive for the kind of food we got, which was a bit of a let down.  Once again Aiden took a good nap in the stroller and we wandered until he woke up and headed home.

Wednesday was just a relaxing day, we headed back to the dog beach again and lounged there most of the morning/afternoon.  I got so sunburnt on the back/side of my legs because I was on my side nursing Aiden to sleep in the beach tent and didn't think to put any sunscreen back there. Ha ha oops!! Preston wandered around catching Pokémon most of the morning, and we all played when Aiden woke up.  We buried him in the sand and he thought it was hilarious.  We pulled him out and he wanted to be buried again!  He made a little friend while we were there and they spent a good 45 minutes chasing each other around and playing, it was darling. We hung out at the hotel pool that evening and got ready to head home the next morning.

We left Thursday morning and headed to St. George.  Aiden did good on the trip, it seemed like such a longer drive for some reason though, maybe just because we were all tired.  We stayed at the Wyndham hotel and it was SO nice. We (of course) went to the pool to hang out, it seemed cold because it was right in the middle of the hotel and another building so the sun wasn't hitting it at all, but Aiden quite enjoyed himself.  We showered and headed to the Pizza Pie Café for dinner.  Aiden was so exhausted and fell right to sleep when we got back to the hotel.  The next morning we headed for home and I couldn't wait to get there!  Aiden did really good until we got to about Provo and he started getting fussy, poor thing had had enough!  We got home just after 1 and Sophie and Emma were there to greet us, Aiden missed them you could tell! He ran around and played while we (I) unpacked and started laundry. 

Overall it was such a fun trip and I'm glad we went! Everything was so much fun (except the LEGOLAND let down, but oh well) and I am glad we took Aiden so he could experience everything with us.  It is always so good to be home after a vacation and to sleep in your own bed though!  The next vacation I am planning is going to involve leaving him at home though so It's more of a relaxing vacation ;)