Last Thursday afternoon we SURPRISED Parker! Watch this:
He had NO idea...haha! We went to California with my family and had a FANTASIC trip!
We left last Thursday and got back this Thursday. We drove with my parents, so we pretty much did everything with them and then we did things with my sister's and thier families too. We went to San Diego first and spent two nights there. We got there on Friday and on Saturday we went to SEA WORLD. We had a really good time there seeing the spectacular shows, the dolphins, whales, Baluga whales, and lots of other wonderfully beautiful creatures. It was great!
Then on Sunday, before church I had sat Parker up in the corner of the couch with some toys, I turned around to grab something and next thing I knew, Parker had taken a dive off the couch and hit his head on the carpet, making a nasty rugburn on his forehead. I felt SO bad-still do-he has a huge scab :(. Just goes to show that we need to watch him a lot more closely now that he's a bit more mobile... Church in San Diego was good- I love how the gospel is the same everywhere you go-different people, but the same wonderful truth of the gospel. After church, we went to the beach with the Cindy and Heidi's families. The beach was a little chili, but Parker of course loved playing in the sand for the first time. He was in heaven. Darrin took him out to the ocean water and held his little hands and let him walk. He walked right into the freezing ocean up to his chin! Granted, we were in a bay, so the waves weren't crashing in, but still-he was fearless!
After the beach, we headed to Anaheim. We stayed in a Super 8. The room was actually pretty updated with a flatscreen and all :). It was about "8" minutes walking distance from Disneyland, and it included breakfast. We also ended up being really close to the pool and hot-tub which was nice. Overall, I think the hotel was good for the price-although, the breakfast lady was SUPER stingy, she was watching your every move and you had to ask for your milk and spoons from her-which she didn't seem happy to give them up...BUT overall I thought it was pretty "SUPER" for the price.
On Monday, we spent the day at California Adventure. Darrin had never been there so it was really fun being on the rides with him for his first time. My parents were REALLY awesome to help watch Parker and switch off taking turns on rides. At the end of the night, when Parker fell asleep, my wonderful parents took him back to the hotel and we got to stay and do more-baby free! At 10:15, the WORLD OF COLOR show, it was FINAMONAL!!!! The most AMAZING man-made thing that I've seen-Darrin agreed. Wow.
On Tuesday, we headed over to Disneyland and spent the day. We had a really good time. Darrin and my dad worked everything out so that we were doing fast-passes and we hardly spent anytime in lines which was really great. We did pretty much everything we wanted to in both parks. And at the end of the day in Disneyland, we saw FANTASMIC which was also INCREDIBLE, which was followed by the FIREWORK SHOW. PURE MAGIC it was!
Wednesday, my AWESOME parents babysat Parker all day while Darrin and I went to SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN! They have set a ton of records as far as highest, fastest, longest drops etc. I've never been to anything like it-SO MUCH FUN!It wasn't all that crowded at all which was awesome! We went on EVERY big ride in the park except for the river rafting one because 1) it was a coldish day and 2) we had already been on two just like it at sea world and california adventure. We went on most rides twice, some three times and my favorite ride, DEJAVUE, four times!!! It was so much fun! We really had a blast-although I got a bit nauseated a few times, but all in all=AWESOME! And it was a really nice date day with my sweetheart :).
Going back in time a bit, on Monday morning, Darrin and I were telling Parker that we were going to go to DISNEYLAND and we said, "CLAP hands! We're going to Disneyland!" And we clapped our hands. To our SURPRISE, SO DID PARKER!!! We've been trying to teach him that for what seems like forever and he FINALLY did it, ironically on the day we were going to Disneyland!!! He hasn't stopped clapping since :), we'll be watching a movie and he'll start clapping for something, or watching a show at Disney and he'd clap, or, my favorite, he woke up at 1 or so in the morning one night, and he was crying. I sat there, waiting for a minute to see if it was a bad dream or something and I hear him stop crying and start clapping! YAY for Parker!!
Parker has also been really good for the trip-just loving being outside, being involved and seeing all kinds of new things! Of course he wont remember it, but we have pictures and they are great. Plus, seeing his face with a big grin, experiencing rides with him for the first time, and seeing him "clap hands" has been such a wonderful time in our new adventure as parents. Our first family vacation was a success!
It wouldn't have been nearly as great without my parents! They were such a HUGE help to us! Thanks Mom and Pops!
WARNING! OVERLOADS OF PICTURES DUE NO INABILITY TO CHOOSE:
Parker LOVED swimming and he loved his new swimming float-I completely forgot to get a picture of him actually swimming with it but he loved it and he loves the water!
In San Diego at Luigi's Pizza Place. We ordered a HUMONGUS Pizza as you can see:
SEA WORLD!:
SAN DIEGO PICS:
DISNEY!!!:
MAGIC MOUNTAIN:
If you have not seen the World of Color or Fantasmic, PLEASE, GO NOW! MUST SEE! :) It was a magical vacation!
