Another beach vacation has come and gone. This year we went from Friday, July 24th to Thursday, July 30th. Every year for over 15 years now my family goes to the same hotel, the same beach spot, eats at the same delicious food places down by the beach and shops at the same malls... and we LOVE it!!!! This year, my older brother and his wife and their 3 kids came, my mom, dad and younger brother Mark were there plus my Grandma Ida and Ralph came from Utah and brought their grandson Jaxson. We definitely missed my sister, her husband and their 3 kids and my other younger brother Ryan... one year, we will all make it to the beach together again. The day before we were to leave, I got sick, and not just morning sickness sick (which I have had all but about 5 weeks of my pregnancy but that's a story for later). I woke up with a 102 fever, chills, a sore throat , nauseous as could be and had a killer headache. I literally was on the couch all day. I don't think I have ever been so bummed that I might not enjoy my vacation before. Luckily, with the help of some medicine and an adjustment, I woke up the morning we were supposed to leave not feeling like death so we decided to still go.
Last year we obviously had Paige with us on this annual trip but she was barely 4 months old so it wasn't that "beach magical-ness" to her yet. This year I was so excited to see her face at the beach and watch her have fun. My girl loved the water!! Which I knew she would. The first day at the beach I'm pretty sure she ate her weight in sand then she had a couple awful diaper experiences, just ask her Uncle Mark, and she learned to slow way down on eating the sand. We spent 3 days on the beach, 1 day at Disneyland then 1 more day at the beach before we drove home. Seeing as I am 6 weeks away from giving birth again, this trip WORE ME OUT! Chasing a sandy baby all over the beach, trekking around Disneyland for over 12 hours and waking up with the sun made for some long yet most memorable days with my little family, and I would do it all over again in a heart beat!
Disneyland! Tuesday, July 28th, Colton, myself, Paige and my brother went to Disneyland. Colton and I have always loved Disneyland! Before we had Paige, on multiple occasions, we went to Disneyland and spent many days there. We were kind of hardcore Disneyland adventurers. Just to get a little glimpse, we once woke up at 2am, drove straight to Disney gates and spent from 8am-11pm in Disneyland, went to our hotel and passed out, woke up and drove 6 hours home. Anyways, back to our trip, what was I thinking going to Disneyland with a 16 month old being 7 1/2 months pregnant!? haha! While my brother and Colton went off riding the "big rides" I took Paige to some kid rides. Her very first ride she ever went on was Snow White. Her favorite ride and to my slight disapproval: It's A Small World. She loves singing, dancing and bright colors so that ride was basically meant for her. Later in the day, my Grandma Ida, Ralph, their grandson Jaxson and my niece Rayleigh met up with us. We spent the rest of the day riding rides, escaping the heat and long lines and exploring. Paige did fantastic at Disneyland! The only time she cried/got grumpy was when she got tired around 12:00 and she fell right asleep for about 30 minutes and woke up ready to go again.
Below are pictures of our fun vacation. Just a warning, there are a lot of pictures so brace yourself.
She loves pictures so I made her picture books with over 200 pictures!
We left a little earlier than my family to let Paige play at the park in Yuma before we met up to have lunch and caravan the rest of the way. My mom is from Yuma so we ate at our favorite mexican food place, went and saw my grandmother and uncle's graves then headed out. I had a "mom moment" in Yuma because my little girl didn't need my help going down the slides and for some reason, that really got me sad. Silly, yes I know, but it happened.
The story behind this picture is priceless! Paige was watching Lion King and there is that one part where the hyena naws on his own leg. Well next thing I know, Paige is pulling her leg up to do the same thing as the hyena. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!
Mom fail: I forgot Paige's bottles in AZ. I have tried to get her off them before but she didn't handle those attempts very well and I was too sick and exhausted from growing another human that I would give in. Well, looks like we both just need forced weaning. I took her to the store in Cali, let her pick out the new sippy cups she wanted and told her "big girls don't use bottles anymore" and that was that. She transitioned almost too well. Sleeps like a dream and never gave us one bit of trouble switching over. Hallelujah for small miracles as parents.
She has not slept on me since our last beach trip when she was 4 months old. I was soaking it in each day when she would need a nap and fall asleep on me.
Paige and her cousin Allyson
Don't worry, Cotlon got his nap snuggles in too
Nothing is sexier than your husband holding your sleeping baby... while you relax ;)
She likes to use my baby bump as a leg rest
She obviously loves our kisses... haha!
Pointing at the airplane
Oliver and Paige playing, it was all fun and games until Oliver got super wet and this happened....
Look at that sad face!
Since nap schedules were impossible this trip, anytime we got in the car this little one pretty much went right to sleep.
Disneyland Pictures!
Yes, I made all of us get Disney shirts
Not a happy girl when the rides ended and we had to get off
Too busy looking at the ride to take pictures so this is as good as it gets.
Grumpy face when It's A Small World was over
This pictures great quality is brought to you by Mark, who has fantastic picture taking skills ;)
She was terrified of Hook, not so much Peter Pan
She cried the whole time giving Hook a high five
And this was right before her nap.... haha!
The best parents take their tiny kids on Haunted Mansion and Pirates, right?
After the Pirates ride, she loved the two little "drops" in the ride and would reach out and hold my hand with a death grip while going down saying "weeee"
Jungle Cruise
Literally the best cheesy popcorn. I get it every time I go!
For souvenirs, she picked out a Mickey and Minnie doll. Her face was priceless playing with them... hence why you are about to see like 50 of slightly different variations of the same photo.
Hugging her new friends
Mark and I were dead set on finding these. It's 2 warm churros with ice cream sandwiched in between. You will feel very sick to your stomach after eating a whole one but it was oh so worth it!
Mark, Me, Half of Paige's head, Rayleigh and Jaxson
The car ride home was eventful.. There were a couple bad accidents and we got held up a bunch.. Thank goodness for mass amounts of oreos and Care Bears
Her favorite part about being home- seeing her puppy and trying to give her continuous kisses all night
Well that's it folks. Another beach vacation has come and gone all too quickly. I'm already counting down the days until the next one! Next time, I will have a 2 1/2 year old and a 10 month old.. yikes.
The Girl Who Loves This Trip,
Erica
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