The Happiest Place on Earth

Last Friday Mimi, Brett, Max and I packed up the diaper bag and headed to Disneyland. The reason for this trip was that extended family (Julie, Emily, Pam, Kelly and family) were going to be there. (Jared was unable to join us as he had a seminar in Palm Springs.) Mimi, Brett and I all got season passes. And until Max turns 3 or 4 he's free. We went on a myriad of rides including Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie-the-Pooh, Jungle Cruise, Mr. Toad's Wild ride, The Haunted Mansion. The Haunted Mansion was fabulous as it was all done up in The Nightmare Before Christmas regalia. Max did surprisingly well on all the rides. He didn't cry at all. He preferred to sit facing me and we got yelled at by some lady on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, "Sit the child facing forward Mam." I don't see what the big deal was, he's still small. It was no different than him being in a baby carrier (ie. Snugglie, Bjorn, Ergo) and I saw plenty of mom's with babies in those get on and off numerous rides without getting harassed. I think I will put him in the carrier next time.

We ended up meeting up with family for lunch and Brett and I got to ride a few big rides while Mimi watched Max nap. Max enjoyed seeing Pooh and Tigger, but the highlight of his trip was Mickey's House in Toon Town. I let him walk around and he thought he was the coolest kid in the park. Everything was his size and he could touch and slobber on everything without me picking him up or pulling it out of his mouth. It was funny how he would try to squeeze himself into small places. At one point he got stuck behind a door, here's a funny picture of him squirming his way out.

I ended up getting Max mouse ears for his souvenir. Jared thinks he looks real special in this pic.

Max had a really fun time as did the rest of us. It was nice to get to spend time with Mimi and Brett and get to see our extended family also. Oh...I really wanted a clam chowder bread bowl (they are the best!). But after waiting in line for 15 minutes and not taking one step forward I got tired of waiting and ended up getting a crappy $10.00 burrito. That was the low point of the trip. Mimi and Brett stayed until Sat afternoon...we were sad to see them go :(

So all in all it was a wonderful weekend. In 2009 Disneyland is going to be giving people free admission to the park on their birthday. In order to take advantage of this you need to register prior. Here is the link http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/disneyparks/en_US/WhatWillYouCelebrate/disneyland/index?name=CelebrationsDLRFreeOnYourBirthdayPage

Max...the real boy

Max climbing through a tunnel at Gymboree

Max eating his marshmallow ice cream cone

(It was in the goodie bag from the mom's group activity)

So my baby is less of a baby and more of a boy lately. It makes me sad that he is getting big so quickly. Although, this is my favorite age thus far. He walks, plays with people and toys, babbles, displays a wide range of emotion and is starting to communicate with us. Yesterday morning he brought his bottles to me wanting me to feed him. This is a really fun age, he loves people, laughs all the time and his smile still melts my heart...I don't think that will ever change. This past week was really busy. Here's a little run down.

My car got a new battery and some much needed love from the mechanic. We went to Fernando's Auto Care here in Riverside and were really impressed with their service. It looks like we have found our mechanic, a mechanic we can trust. So Max and I went with Jared to Needles to keep him company. Ah...Needles, where do I begin. Not much going on there. We had reserved a room at a small motel via Expedia. However, when we arrived no one was at the counter, mind you it's only 11:30 pm. We rang the bell, knocked, called Expedia who called the motel manager. He was supposedly on his way, I don't know where he was exactly but he couldn't make his way to the front desk within 10 minutes. I was so mad, Max had woken up at this point, Expedia tried to tell me I would still get charged if we went to another hotel. After requesting to speak to a supervisor and being placed on hold I was told I would not be charged. We ended up staying at Best Western and everything worked out.

After Jared finished with court we headed to see the London Bridge at Lake Havasu before taking the 3 1/2 hour drive home. It was hot outside, we saw the bridge, Max chased some pigeons, we ate pizza and sat in on a timeshare presentation. It would be nice to get a timeshare, but we figured we ought to acquire a permanent residence first. We spent our $100 certificate in the resort lobby on a cute shirt for Max, candy, magazines and random things like sunscreen and Dramamine. On the drive home Max slept and we drove through a lovely lightning storm. How I wish it were stormy more often here...wishful thinking I know.

We went to a mom's group function Saturday morning. Max had a fun time, still loving the swings. He also discovered push toys/walkers. Someone from the group brought one and it was like a black hole sucking Max in. It had many buttons and made many sounds, it was quite exciting. In the afternoon we drove to Gilda's and hung out. Max made yet another discovery...his tongue. He kept sticking it out and pinching it with his fingers, he continued doing this today but also tried to grab and bite our tongues. He is so silly!




Gilda was kind enough to watch Max while Jared and I went to watch his friend's (Eric) band play. It was nice to get out sans Max. We hadn't seen Eric in a while. Eric is one of Jared's best buds. We had a great time!

My Outdoor Boy

Max fell into Bumbo and thought it was pretty funny

Finally the weather has cooled down. Yesterday, when I took Max outside for our walk it was actually kind of chilly. I had to run back inside and grab a jacket and blanket for him. It was all overcast and so lovely. I love the fall and am thrilled that it is finally here. It will be so nice to be able to take Max outside during the day (instead of just in the morning).

Max is an outdoor boy. He loves going outside whether it's to the park or just walking around the apartment complex. When we come back inside he cries. He also loves people and for the most part is not shy. He will walk right up to strangers and try to make friends or flirt. Yesterday he followed an older man in our complex, who suffered a stroke, all the way to the mailbox. The man was very cute, telling Max to "Come on." and saying he would wait for him. I don't think he realized Max was trying to steal his cane. I had to hold Max back a couple times or he would have grabbed it too.

Here are some pictures from Labor Day weekend at the park. Max loves the swings!

Mmmmm...spaghetti