California- Huntington Beach

Originally, I had wanted to go to the Santa Monica beach and pier. It was too far away, and we had to wait for Andy's training to be over. Andy did some searching online and found out that Huntington Beach was actually pretty close to where we were staying. It doesn't have a pier like Santa Monica, but it was still fun. Brayden pulled the same trick that he did at Disneyland and wasn't happy at first. It was my fault because I took him straight to the water and it was colder than I thought it would be. He cheered up though once he dried off.

Good with the bad- Here's proof of his beach sadness.

And proof that he started to cheer up as he dried off.



Here's proof Andy was on this trip too.

I prefer mountains to the beach, but I admit sunsets at the beach are pretty awesome.

California- Disneyland

Side note: I just realized I never posted about the rest of my California trip! I'll keep these up at the current date for a couple days then move them to May where they belong!

Disneyland- I know Brayden won't remember his first trip to Disneyland. It's probably better that way since Adam wasn't with us. I had so much fun though. I'll admit to a bit of a rough start since Brayden was very cranky while we were in line for our first ride (Finding Nemo). In fact, I nursed him while in the submarine, mostly just to keep him from crying and bothering everyone else. After that, it was better. We went on a good mix of rides everyone could go on and rides only the adults and Jackson got to go on. Adam's brother John who lives in Southern California went with us. I felt a little guilty getting to see Adam's brother when Adam had not seen him since Christmas, but I didn't feel guilty for long. Jackson loved having him around, and it helped to have an equal adult-to-child ratio. Here's some photographic evidence of our trip to Disneyland:

 

California- Kidspace Museum

The drive to California wasn't too bad. We left at the crazy hour of 4:30 AM. Leaving that early and gaining the hour when we got into the pacific time zone made it so we actually beat my brother-in-law, Andy, to the hotel. We didn't do much that first night, although we did go to Trader Joe's. My first time there and I so wish we had one here.

On Tuesday, we got up and had the hotel breakfast. It was AWESOME. They had a waffle machine where you could make your own Belgian waffles, then they had fruit toppings, chocolate chips, whipped cream and syrup. My favorite was chocolate chips with whipped cream.  Nicki and I decided we would check out the Kidspace Children's Museum. We got there 20 minutes before they open, but no worries- there was a park on the grounds. The museum was great. Amazing for older kids, like my nephew Jack. Brayden had fun too, though, it's just based for older kids. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you've heard this already- we met Julie Bowen today. AKA Claire Dunphy on Modern Family. AKA the coolest mom on television (well, tied with Gloria and Cam). I was so excited! She has a 4 year old and two year old twins (and she even showed a picture of her breastfeeding the twins last year on the George Lopez show). She was so nice even though I was totally awkward. I was trying to slyly get a picture of her, and at one point Brayden and one of her twins were playing at the same exhibit. The Brayden walked away though, and she bent over to help her son... so yeah. Still took a picture, just to laugh about it, but I won't post it.

Brayden crawling out of the ant hole

One of a few different climbing structures in the museum

Jackson playing the drums with water

Jackson and Brayden playing in the splash fountain



SLC- St. George- Las Vegas- St. George- SLC

As I mentioned in a 365 post, we spontaneously took a trip to St. George and Las Vegas a few weeks ago. Adam's grandparents have a condo in St. George and so it's our easy and cheap vacation spot. We headed down on Tuesday night and got there around midnight. We decided the next morning to head down to Las Vegas. We went to the Bellagio first. I love to see the gardens there, and I've now seen it at least 5 times. They had it decorated for Chinese New Year this time around.

After seeing the gardens, we headed towards Caesar's Palace. To be more specific, the Forum Shops. I love walking through the walkway. It's so gaudy, so Vegas. And all of the stores are super expensive, of course. I had two places in mind though, H&M and Max Brenner. H&M didn't live up to its hype, but my mom did get Brayden a cute hat. Have you heard about Max Brenner? Take a minute and go drool over their menu. They're based in NYC but have opened up a restaurant in Vegas. I was pleased with my choice... chocolate eggrolls. Jack and Brayden enjoyed the aqaurium in the Forum Shops, and then we headed over to MGM Grand. Adam lost his gambling money with 10 minutes, of course. We saw the lions for the kids and headed over to the M&M shop and the Coke shop. We saw a cute and free 3-D movie in the M&M store. Brayden's first 3-D movie, and it was hilarious! He kept trying to grab the 3-D images! Then he headed over to the far other end of the Strip... to go to a pawn store. A specific pawn shop that is featured in the History Channel's Pawn Stars. Yes, we're geeks. It's an interesting show, I promise!

On Thursday and Friday, we visited some family and did some outlet shopping. And played. A playground is now a necessity on vacation. On Thursday night, Brayden was really sick between 2-6AM. We had to wash the sheets multiple times. And after got home on Saturday, Nicki, Jack, Sophie and I got sick too.
It was such a nice break from regular life, even if we didn't do anything super exciting.



Pictures were taken mostly by Andy or Nicki, because our DSLR is broken and our point and shoot isn't very good.

365

2/14- Brayden sure had fun outside today. And he gave me a taste of the laundry I'll have to endure over the next 17 years.

2/15- We had our Valentine's Day date today and went to see No Strings Attached. It was fun, just your typical rom-com. When we got home, however, the day got interesting. Adam called into Domino's to see what days they wanted him to work since he had the next three days off from Walmart. They said they didn't need him, so we decided to go down to St. George and left two hours later!

2/16- I love the Bellagio. We always go there because I love the see the gardens. I love the glass flowers in the lobby too.

2/17- Nicki took this picture of Jackson, Brayden and Sophie all playing in the sand. I love it.

2/18- I'll be honest here. Technically I'm cheating because this was taken the other day while we were getting gas to head to Vegas for the day. We didn't really take any today because we just hung out and the girls went shopping at the outlets. But we'll just pretend I took it today. I'm so glad my mom came with us, and Brayden sure liked having company in the backseat with all the driving we were doing.

2/19- I snapped this on our way out of town.

2/20- Brayden got sick the last day of the vacation, and then he passed it along to me, and to my sister's family. Since I wasn't feeling so good, I pulled out a toy I was saving for his birthday and gave it to him today. I know it looks a little like he's cringing, but I can assure you he's not.

2/21- Oh man, this picture honestly melts my heart. I love this grin.

2/22- No explanation needed.

2/23- Brayden's first tweet! He got ahold of my iPod while Twitter was open and I was busy.

2/24- Brayden has been enjoying playing with empty toilet paper rolls. I decided to experiment and take a picture through one.

2/25- Oh, how I love my boys! So, so much.

2/26- We took Brayden and Jackson to the Safe Kids Fair and B.A.C.A. was there. This is Brayden's first fake tattoo. Aww!

2/27- This is James Franco hosting the Oscars. I loved the opening video and Franco and Anne Hathway as hosts. I'm a sucker for awards shows, especially now that I'm on Twitter (it's pretty funny to read what people are writing as the show is happening).

Spring Break '09

-Changing our minds yet again and deciding to go last minute at 5 p.m. on Saturday night

-Getting 10+ onesies and outfits from The Children's Place outlet in St. George, all for $1.99 each

-Listening and singing along to Katy Perry's CD

-Adam jumping into a cold outdoor pool at 9:30 p.m. on a dare to get more money for gambling in Vegas

-Seeing Bellagio's awesome spring garden, and as always, their amazing fountain show

-Going to the Hoover Dam and making all sorts of "dam" jokes

-Getting an idea of what June and July might feel like for me (I realize I will be bigger, but I also won't be walking around as much as I did the day we went to the Dam and Vegas)

-Spending tons of time with Nicki, Andy, and especially Jackson

-Jackson saying he wants a drink for his birthday next week (Dude, you're turning 4, not 21!) :)

-Eating at Panera Bread (I love their Asian salad)

-Watching Arrested Development and reading two awesome books- The Hunger Games and Baby Catcher

What I Did on Fall Break

-went on a quick trip up to Idaho with my mom, sister, and nephew to see my mom's cousin Peggy and some of her family- I always love visiting them and it was especially great to see Becky's (my third cousin) baby Eric who is just a few weeks old.

-saw my brother Sheldon compete in his second bodybuilding competition- He did great, placing 4th in novice and 4th in overall.

-went on a double date with Karen and Steve, saw City of Ember, ate at Hong Kong Tea House, and browsed at Barnes and Noble

-got to see Kimberly for the first time in six months- I'm so excited she's moved back... we went to La Luna for lunch and had a good time catching up.

-had lunch with Stephanie, a friend and fellow English major- She let me vent about some family issues, which was nice. She's also a senior, we both grduate in May, so we also vented about how we are gettin burned out with school.

-read Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan and saw the movie on a double date with Nicki and Andy- I really liked both the book and the movie. The book had some great writing- I was highlighting passage throughout the whole novel. I reall like Michael Cera, so I enjoyed the movie too.

-re-read a book called Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal- This book reminds me that every life, including mine, is special, even if it may seem ordinary.

-watched Life is Beautiful- a wonderful movie about the Holocaust

-watched a documentary called Why We Fight- This explores our counry's military actions, our building of a military-industrial complex. One thing that scared me is how much we as average citizens don't know about why our leaders decide to go into war.

-watched General Colin Powell, a man I respected even after my political beliefs started leaning more left, endorse Barack Obama in such an eloquent way

-laughed a lot listening to the candidate's speeches at the Alfred E. Smith memorial dinner

-went to Keys on Main with some tourists we met on the Trax- very fun!

St. George and Las Vegas trip

Highlights of the trip

-hanging out with Adam's brother John and getting to meet his new girlfriend Christyn

-going to the Shakespearean Festival

-seeing Cirque de Soleil's Mystere

-eating some great food at the Bellagio buffet and the Top of the World restaurant at the Stratosphere

-going on Insanity (the ride on top of the Stratosphere)

-swimming at the condo and getting somewhat tan

-random tv watching (Get Smart, VH1's I Love the New Millenium, America's Next Top Model)

-having no homework to worry about and being able to just relax