Sea World

Brandon and I have been looking forward to taking Rylie to Sea World for a couple of years since we had so much fun when the two of us went. She absolutely loved it! The day was great (well, it was a bit hot actually. Apparently we picked the day to go where they had record heat in San Diego). I think her favorite part was feeding the sea lions and seeing Shamu up close at the under water viewing spot.

Playing in Sesame Street Land.

She loved watching and feeding the sea lions!

It took Brandon quite awhile to convince her to touch and hold the sea stars, but once she did she thought it was pretty cool.

This was my favorite part! I loved watching the whales up close and how the interacted with the crowd. Rylie was pretty mesmerized and just stared at them for quite awhile!

Waiting for the pet show.

Grayson was pretty content in his Moby wrap for quite a long time.

Looking at the Beluga whales.

Napping!

He loved his Shamu from Mimi.

Rylie with her Shamu trainer Barbie she picked out. :)

We ended our day at the Shamu show!

To San Diego we go!

We decided to take a little detour on our last trip to California and head to San Diego before going up to Brandon's Mom's house in Fullerton. My 30th (!!) birthday was coming up, so it was a fun start to the celebration. Helen and Brandon planned everything (which, let's be honest, is every mother's dream...go on a vacation and not have to really plan a bit of it) and we headed out on Thursday night. I can't say the trip got off to the best start due to the face that Grayson screamed (literally...like bloody murder, like he was dying, at the top of his lungs...you get the picture) just about the entire drive. Yes, over 5 hours. Needless to say, it was very nice to see the hotel with Mimi waiting for us. :)

We drove through a crazy (but quick) haboob on the way there!

We stayed at a beautiful hotel right on Mission Bay across the street from Sea World. Helen surprised me with my first birthday set up right when we got there.

He was very happy to be out of the car (along with the rest of us, thanks to him!).

Helen got me my favorite almond champagne from a winery in Temecula!

Apparently crying hysterically for 5 hours will tire a little guy out! He slept amazing that first night (unfortunately, his sleeping pattern went down hill from there, but hey, I'll take one good night whenever I can get it!).

Happy Boy!

Grayson has been a little bit hard lately. He simply loves to be held...all of the time. If I put him down, he pretty much screams his head off; if I hold him, he is pretty content. I have learned that I can do a lot of things one handed and my left arm will probably be pretty strong when this phase passes! Even with the challenges, his little smile will still make our day!

Now I See It!

So a lot of people have told us that they think that Grayson looks like Rylie and I just can't see it...until this picture. :) While I still don't think they look super alike, there are a bunch of similarities here!

A Fun New Toy at Mimi's

Helen bought Rylie this adorable little blow up pool for her backyard. We spent the whole afternoon outside enjoying the beautiful weather and playing with her new toy.

A Day in Venice

My cousins, Scotty and Bre, live in Venice Beach. We headed out there to spend the day with them and to experience all of the fun stuff Venice has to offer. After a crazy time finding parking, we headed to a fun restaurant right by the crazy part of the beach. After that, we walked through some of the amazing canals and headed to do some shopping. That night, the whole family went out to dinner to celebrate Sarah's birthday. We all had a blast seeing the sites of Venice!

So serious watching a street show with Scotty.

If you know me, you know that I love Toms shoes. Well, they just opened a flagship store and coffee shop in Venice! Obviously, that was one stop on our trip!

A quick stop for street tacos!

Grayson's First Day at the Beach

We headed out to California for a weekend trip with a few plans to visit my cousin's in Venice and take Rylie to the beach...which would also be Grayson's first visit to the beach. We decided to go to Newport (it is the closest beach to Helen's house) and after driving around to find parking (gotta love the beach!), we headed out to the sand! Rylie was a little hesitant at first about the ocean, but it didn't take her long to warm up to it. :) Grayson wasn't a huge fan of the whole experience, but he did ok.

Building sandcastles with Mimi.

How Grayson and Mommy spent a lot of the time. :)

Heading into the water with Daddy.

Snack time!

Grayson's true feelings about the ocean. :)

I know this is gross, but it was pretty funny! Right after crying over the ocean, he managed to spit up all over himself, literally, even almost into his eye!

The beach thing is tiring! Grayson could not keep his eyes open at dinner. :)