The boy loves bread.

I wonder where the kid gets his love for bread?


 

Get this thing off!

We've been anxiously waiting for Kyle to be 'of age' to use the bike chariot.  Well, he turned 14 months this weekend, so with no delay, we put the trailer together and took him for a stroll.  Needless to say, he HATED the helmet but loved the ride.  It's too bad there was a ton of drama with the helmet.

 

 

Parker Days

Tonight, we went to the Parker Days Festival.  We enjoyed meandering through the fairgrounds (I swear some of the carnies working the fair were operating rides when I was a kid!), watching the mini-circus, eating incredibly expensive fair food, and petting the animals.  Kyle had fun clapping for the circus performers and touching the petting zoo animals.


Grandma and Kyle watching the circus acts.

They wouldn't allow those under 3 in the Petting Zoo, but that didn't stop Kyle from locating a soft bunny to pet

It seemed all the animals were congregating around Kyle.  He was enjoying himself so much! 

Life's A Beach

Our friends Scott and Marisa invited us to go enjoy some beach time with them this afternoon.  Beautiful day at a state park with a nice lake and beach a mile from home?  Yes, please (no brainer!).  It was actually pretty hot out (high 80s) but the water was still very cold.  Those who know me know that I'm a huge wimp with cold water.  Well, apparently Kyle has inherited that from me.  Or it could just be that his little body isn't quite great at regulating body temp yet.  In any event, he was NOT a fan.  We'll keep trying though, of course.

 

Matson also didn't take to the water, although he gave it a much more honest effort.  It helps that he can walk, but I don't think he enjoyed the lifevest restrictions or the temperature.  

 

The boys DID enjoy playing in the sand.  And eating it.  :)  

 

Despite Kyle's reservations, you know we'll be back.

Lil Monkey

Today was a busy day.  After an afternoon at gymnastics, Kyle took a nap, ate dinner, and we headed off to  Family Night at Lil' Monkey Bizness.  This has got to be Kyle's favorite place to play.  He was more adventurous this visit and tried EVERY piece of equipment.  His favorites?  See below:


Playing tic-tac-toe

Rocking in the boat

Giggling at a girl who would toss the hanging cylinders at him. 

Getting stuck climbing inside on the "seatbelt ramps" (the material of these weaves is just like that of a seatbelt)

Slides.  Every single slide in the play area. 

Even the blow-up house slide.  This was especially fun and fast.

Enjoying a "birds-eye" view using the "parallel bars" to walk 

Drop In Gymnastics

Kyle LOVES gymnastics.  And you really can't beat $4 drop-in gymnastics.  No structured lesson, just open play-time.  Here are pictures from today's session with Kyle's good bud Matson:

 

 

 

Pools and Legos - Our Final Day

Our flight didn't leave until 6 pm our final day, so we enjoyed the day at the pool and at Downtown Disney.


Swimming lessons paid off as Kyle enjoyed splashing around in the pool.  (You might recall his reaction to the outdoor pools last summer...)

 

He and daddy had a great time cruising around the kiddy pool. 

 

 

We killed a couple hours before our flight strolling around Downtown Disney buying souvenirs and playing with Legos.  

 

At the end of a very fun and exhausting vacation, Kyle took a nice nap in his stroller while we enjoyed a nice lunch in peace.  Because I want to end our vacation journal on a high note, we won't discuss how the flight back went.  :)

 

Disneyland (3 of 3)

Uncle Mike and Kim drove up from San Diego to meet us for dinner in downtown Disney.  We enjoyed a nice meal at the Rainforest Cafe.  Mike taught his nephew a new trick: to raise his hands when he exclaims 'touchdown.'  [He's now completely mastered this trick and does it all the time!].

 

We had a great time strolling the shops with Mike and Kim afterwards.  We're so glad they came up to see us and so glad Kim got to meet Kyle!  

We still had a few hours left before the park closed on our last night there.  There were still a ton of rides to see and it was the perfect time to do so as Fantasmic and Fireworks were going on making lines incredibly short (we had seen both in the previous nights). 

 

Kyle enjoyed the classic Carousel and the neon colors on the Winnie the Pooh ride.

 

One of our vacation highlights was our final ride: the Tiki Room.  Despite it being 11 pm, Kyle had a blast singing, dancing, jumping, and clapping to the animotronic birds.  I'm not sure anyone in the room was actually paying attention to the singing birds; they were all watching Kyle enjoy himself.  Several people came up to us afterwards to comment on how adorable he was jumping up and down to the birds.  I can't even explain how much joy it brought us to see Disney through his eyes.  I already want to plan a trip back! 

Disneyland (2 of 3)!

There were really only 2 rides Kyle didn't enjoy (of the dozens and dozens he went on with us).  The first was Pirates of the Caribbean.  While he loved the sudden falls the boat went down, he got a bit scared with some of the smoke.  He jumped out of Dave's lap and into my arms where he cuddled and fell asleep on my chest.  It was hands-down my favorite moment of our trip.  He rarely cuddles us anymore and it was just precious holding him. I didn't want the ride to end!

 

 

We spent a half day in the California Adventure Park where we enjoyed Bugs Land (Kyle had a great time on the flyers and caterpillar coaster).  It was here that Kyle experienced his least favorite attraction: the 3D It's Tough To Be A Bug show.  He did NOT appreciate the smoke, water spraying, and spiders tankling in his face.  It was really the only ride to which he had such an adverse reaction (and can you blame him?  I didn't like bugs crawling on my back and hanging in my face either!). 

 

Mommy got soaked on Grizzly River Run (and I mean DRENCHED) and looks rather silly in our family picture with Pluto.  While Kyle napped, we took turns using the FastPass and RiderSwap combo to go on the Tower Of Terror, Soarin' over CA and California Screamin'.  

 

 

 

After lunch, some time at the arcade (where daddy won Kyle a giant "Bullseye"), meeting Buzz and Jesse, and a quick ride on Goofy's Sky School, it was back to the Disneyland park. 

We enjoyed the Parade and Toontown where Kyle got to meet Mickey.  Toontown was a toddler's paradise.  Quite fun.