We Heart San Diego

Over Spring Break, we tagged along on a biz trip with Corey and had a blast in San Diego. We happened to go last Spring too, and I would not be the least bit averse to doing it every year. That place is the best! I flew out with the boys and we met Corey at the airport when his flight arrived. The first couple of days we stayed in the Gaslamp Quarter and Corey attended a class for work, so me and the boys hit the city sans Daddy. I only got lost once while driving around. I tried to keep a calm facade, but I was FREAKING out inside, especially when I ended up on a road I couldn't get off of that was going directly to the freeway. I wanted to avoid the California freeway at all costs, because without a GPS or a good map, I was going to be in big trouble. Speaking of...maybe it's time to finally get a GPS, eh? We made it back to the hotel flustered, but alive and well. Phew!

My travel buddies(at the airport).

We went to the San Diego Zoo, and saw as much as we could possibly see in a day(next time we are totally doing the bus tour...I didn't figure that one out til after we left!) Everyone's favorite was the Panda, which we had been talking about to the kids for at least a month before the trip. A close second for me was a quail type bird that did this insane mating dance for us...coolest thing ever! I thought I had video of it, but was so caught up in watching it, I later realized I never hit the record button at all. Beckett took a nice long nap in his stroller in the afternoon while Ash and I hoofed it up and down all the steep hills and saw the animals. What a great zoo!

Yep, that's the panda's back end:)

This skyride had me panicking inside. I was so afraid one of the kids was going to fall out that I didn't enjoy it AT ALL. Ash loved every second.

Me and the boys also hit Balboa Park and went to the Science Museum. They dedicated half of the upper level to a children's area, and the kids absolutely loved it and played hard for a few hours. The park was beautiful to stroll around and I think next time we'll have to check out some more of that area. Gorgeous!

The Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center in Old Town came highly recommended by a few of our good friends, and it didn't disappoint. The tour was both entertaining and well done, and I actually learned a lot. Asher didn't want to leave his post as 'water boy'. He manned the pump as long as he could before we finally made him stop so we could go.

The remainder of our trip was spent in Carlsbad. We rented a little bungalow about a block up from the beach, making it easy for us to walk down with the kids. We went to Legoland, and the Sea Life aquarium with the boys and they had a great time. My favorite part was all the incredible things that were made of legos! Amazing! The kids loved all the rides, of course.

Lovin' me some Hagrid.

Ah, the beach...

We were a little worried we wouldn't get a good day at the beach because of a storm that passed through during our stay, but we did get one beautiful, warm-ish day at Carlsbad beach. Me and the boys played in the sand, and Corey helped the boys get really wet and sandy jumping waves. What a way to spend an afternoon.

Seriously, San Diego has fast become one of our fave destinations for our family. There's just so much to do...shop, eat, beach, zoo, theme parks...love it! And I think I've vanquished my fear of flying solo with the boys. Sitting between them, and being fully stocked with movies, treats and books, we made it without a glitch:)

Try This On....

This boy.  Loves. To try things on...shoes in particular.  It doesn't matter whose, or what type, he loves to strut his stuff in all kinds of shoes.  These are some various pictures I've taken recently, capturing him snagging someone else's shoes. Too funny.  Beckett also has a new mitt that, as you can see, he just can't part with.  Seriously, this kid has to take naps with it on.  It's SO DARN CUTE.  

 

I remember posting about Asher doing this a few years back, and low and behold, here is his little bro...following in his (dare I say it?) footsteps:)

 

 

 

 

 

P.S.  These few pictures of the boys roller skating are from a recent day out, giving it a go:)  It was...interesting!  They had fun, but only after getting some much needed help from some of the teachers (no parents allowed during kid sessions).  Even Beckett wanted to give it a try!

 

 

 

 

Partners in crime(fighting).

Asher and Beckett are partners in crime. Asher loves to come running up to me, bursting with news of Beckett getting into some sort of trouble or making some sort of mess. The most recent case and point: "Mooooom, Beckett cracked some eggs on the floor, ...and on himself!" All this is relayed to me with a HUGE grin on his face. My reply, "What happened? And wipe that grin off your face." Asher tried as hard as he could with his hands to make the smile go away, but failed miserably. Yes, there was such a mess awaiting me on the kitchen floor. Ah, well....

The times that I do happen to hear part of what is happening before Asher tells me, I hear Ash chiding Beckett on, and giggling like crazy as Beckett (for example) flings toilet paper off the roll as fast as he can, or rips out as many wipies as possible leaving the floor more white than not. Yes, they seem to 'help' each other out plenty. Sometimes(definitely NOT always) I have to try to wipe the smile off my face too, before I have to go and show some authority:)

And they are oh, so cute with their matching super hero capes on. Crime-fighters to the end...getting all the 'bad guys'. (Thanks again to Auntie Danna for her mad sewing skills and creativity!)

I love it when they do things together, or help one another out. If only those moments lasted a titch longer, but I'm not expecting a miracle. After all, what goes around comes around, right? Here are a few of those 'makin' me smile' moments I wanted to snap.

Packing for our trip to San Diego...they were tryin' out the headphones while I threw clothes into suitcases.

These two love their trains, and playing outside together.

Garbage day.

Oh, I love it when Ash wants to read to his little bro:)

No, this doesn't last long. Within the first 5 minutes there's usually a scuffle.
That, and they barely fit. But they're sure cute all squished in there together.

B is TWO!

Yeppers. Our Beckett has turned the big 2. This kiddo has proven to be full of spunk and rascal-ness just like his brother, maybe even more so! We celebrated Elmo style with all the decorations (as always, at Corey's insistence). He is a big Elmo fan, so we thought it fitting. Aaron and the girls came over to help us celebrate with noisemakers, pizza(oh, how Beckett loves pizza), and cupcakes. Fun!

Here are a few fun tidbits about our fun little guy:

• His little blue bunny,"Bubba" is still his favorite buddy, hands down. I'm not sure he could sleep without him. I smile especially big when he insists that Bubba needs hugs and kisses at night too. Of course he does!
  

• He can be a bit destructive. For example, he's torn keys off of our computer's keyboard (just try having a broken backspace key!), thrown wads and wads of toilet paper into a (recently occupied) toilet, broken a few DVD's (I finally bought a child lock good enough to keep him out), Oh, and he just loves to pump handsoap into the toilet. For each of the afforementioned offenses, he stops, tosses whatever is in his hands and runs away fast. Yeah, he knows better.
  

• If you ask him what a horsee says, his reply will be, "YEE-HAW!"
  

• He loves his naps. Most days around noon, he actually says, "mom, I want bed."(I can't really complain about that one:) He's a boy who knows what he wants.
  

• He gets mad when I push his sleeves up. In fact, he's been known to try to pull down his short sleeves too...oh, does that make him mad!

• He's such a little smartie, and is constantly surprising me with what he knows. One day I was reading him a counting book, pausing after every couple of numbers, to which he surprised me by knowing every one that came next. Who knew?!
  

• He loves to jump! Asher was always a runner, and now Beckett is my jumper. He occasionally adds a loud "ribbit" to his hop.
  

• He is such sweet snuggly boy. He always has been, and I am thrilled that it's continued!

• His favorite way to fall asleep is all tucked up, laying on his stomach with his little bum in the air.
  

• He is quite a talker and is good at letting us know exactly what he wants....both a blessing and a curse!

• He just loves his brother. I sometimes wonder if he hits Asher just so he can give him a big hug afterward and offer his very convincing, "sowwy, Ash." It is hard to resist and mostly convincing.
  

His birthday was fun, and he enjoyed every second. You could tell that he knew it was all just for him, which was really cute. He was giddy with excitement(literally) when he saw the pizza on his plate, ate the better part of four cupcakes, leaving a pile of cupcake carnage off to the side, and ran from new toy to new toy all night, saying, "mines! There was no doubt that he understood that it was HIS day.

We sure do love our Beckett, and can't believe how much he's grown and learned! Especially considering his coming into our lives at only 33 weeks...what a little trooper. This kid's got energy, volume and love to share and are so grateful for our adorable, smart lil' boy!