Happy 2nd Birthday William

William had lots of visitors for is birthday. William’s uncles Arthur and Daniel visited him first and wheeled April around the LA Zoo in a wheelchair for her first weekend off bedrest. William did his best primate impersonation.

We also squeezed in a couple of Disneyland trips.

William’s grandma, grandpa, aunt and, uncle were able to come down to celebrate his birthday with him.

He was pretty exited for his presents.

We had perfect beach and fruit picking weather.

Staycation

We have AMAZING staycations in SoCal. If all of our family and friends lived down here, we would probably never go on a real vacation again. Two weeks ago we were at the zoo, last Saturday was a trip to the beach, and the rest of the week was pure bliss.

Liam and I started off the week by taking a trip to Disneyland with our Rancho friends Leo and Mollie.

It wasn’t busy, so we hit up Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Toon Town.

We only had a 10 minute wait for Mickey Mouse, so we had to take advantage of that opportunity for the boys’ sake.

.

On Saturday, we hit up the LA County Fair. Opening Day was only $1, and we were able to find free parking so we had a cheap family outing. There was something for everyone, but mostly a lot for William.

A dinosaur and shark exhibit, for the boys,

the sweetest, smallest little lamb in the world. It probably was half the size of my dog. William would “sing” “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” every time he saw one. *melt*

A madhouse-like zoo for mom and son, complete with cows and llamas.

No joke, you walked in and were swarmed by goats. After what happened with the zoo incident, we weren’t expecting a love of goats. The second I put him down near a goat, William would say “all done” and ask to be held. Funny enough, he knew the difference between the sheep and goats and was fine with the “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, though he kinda warmed up to the goats by the end.

We didn’t get a picture, but William found a hay bale maze that he ran around in for 30 minutes. He LOVED it!

Of course, we had to find a dog on a boat. Took forever to pry Silly Billy away.

and a frosting shot for me (unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling so great and had to share it with my son).

Since we got parking free, we didn’t feel bad about splurging and got a late lunch at Tijuana Tacos---home of the best tortas ever. We are forever indebted to Lisa Anderson for her restaurant tip when we first moved here.

Sunday was spent at Dave and Mary Lou’s in Reseda (sorry, no photos), but rest assured, we had a great time.

But we obviously still had stamina left, as the last day of our Staycation was a full day at Disneyland.

We started off with the Bodes (who had to leave early since Scott had just gotten off work a few hours before we met up).

Then we all met up with the Maucotels,

and ended the day with the Andersons/Larkins.

The bonus of meeting up friends at Disneyland, was that we all got to take turns and go on the best rides. We hit up Star Tours twice, and also managed to sneak in Indiana Jones and Soarin’ as well.

By Liam’s request, much of the day was spent on boats (the current favorite word). As Grandpa Garff says, “It’s in the Garff genes.”

We’d never been on the canoes, riverboat, or Little Mermaid, so this was a good excuse to try something new.We used Silly Billy’s fascination will all things water and motors (some of his other current favorite words are drive, ride, water, and lawn mower) to hit up the fish carousel and Autotopia also. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let our little boy drive, but we all still had fun.

And of course, the obligitory fuzzy character picture. Liam’s life would not be complete without these characters (though truth be told, he was a little less sure about Brer Fox and Brer Bear).

Thanks to Silly Billy for taking a 1 1/2 hr nap in the stroller to make our day even better. We were there for over 12 hours, so I guess you could say we got our money’s worth.

Though we’re hoping to make next time a grown-ups only date night. Can’t wait!

Disneyland Days and other Recent Adventures

The worst thing about Disneyland, is that we can’t be there all the time. Our Disneyland annual pass expired this week. Due to the current state of limbo in our lives, we decided not to renew. It was a very sad, difficult decision. Luckily, we were able to spend lots of time at Disneyland the last few weeks.

Last Thursday, Steven didn’t have to work until 1, so I left the boys at home and went to Disneyland all by myself. It was an extremely interesting experience. I got to bypass the lines and use the single-rider option* (only available on certain rides) and could go at my own pace.

It was loads of fun. I would highly recommend it.

This week, Liam and I took advantage of the one day it didn’t rain to spend the day at Disneyland with Rebecca, Gwen, and Audrey Bode, and Rebecca’s brother Greg. It was crowded, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Gwen and Liam have really gotten to be good friends. Liam just loves to laugh and play with her, and Gwen is always very sweet to him.

The highlight of the trip was getting to see Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends. I’d never waited in line for the characters since I didn’t think Liam would be interested.

Gwen loves all things Pooh-bear, so we decided to brave the wait. It was worth it.

There were a few rough spots during the 30 minute wait, but Tigger and Eeyore thought Liam was so cute they came over to visit and cheered him up. Liam immediately gave Tigger a hug (unfortunately, we were unable to get the camera out fast enough) and the crowd let out a huge “awwww”.

When it was finally Liam’s turn, he went right up to Pooh and gave him the biggest hug.

Again, the crowd was awe-stricken. It was that cute.

Eeyore and Tigger were no exception to the love.

But none of them got quite the reception as our good friend Winnie, so I gave in and got Liam a souvenir of his choosing to commemorate our final Disney Days.

Gwen also ended up with a souvenier Minnie, which perfectly coordinated with Liam’s Mickey (from our first time to Disneyland).But the fun didn’t stop there---Rebecca had made cute little owl hats for all the kids. Trying to get a picture with all of them in it was complicated. And we weren’t successful. At least they enjoyed it.And of course, the obligatory matchy-matchy photo since Father and Son happened to dress alike that day.Wednesday was our last day at Disneyland. Even though it had been raining all week, the weather had been good that day, and we took a chance. It started pouring as soon as we pulled of the freeway about 4 pm and didn’t stop until we left the park around 8. We had fun anyway. No lines! Liam was even able to chase the ducks.

And get caged.The best part, however, was Toon Town. I had never really taken Liam to see it, and now that he’s walking, he had a blast. I regret not doing it sooner.

After too long, William got sick of posing for pictures and just wanted to play.

The real highlight of the day was getting to meet Mickey. Liam has loved his Mickey doll since he was 3 months old and seeing the real thing was a treat for everyone.

We will miss Disneyland. Hope to go back soon!

One nice thing about not having a Disneyland pass, is that we have more time. Our life is crazy busy right now. I’m busy as a personal trainer at Bally Total Fitness so Steve and William have to help out around the house more.

They do a pretty good job. Besides, I need all the help I can get some days. :)