San Diego

When we had Beckett we decided to make a family tradition of taking a vacation together every year.  It’s just something we want to make a priority in terms of effort and money—to carve out time to do something together just us, and have new experiences and make memories.  When Beckett was a baby we went to Chicago, then when he was a year old we went to spring training, and this summer we decided to take the boys to San Diego!

I had snagged us an amazing deal on flights but the catch was a 7am departure time. So our alarm clock went off dark and early but we made it to the airport and on to San Diego in high spirits.

We headed straight to the San Diego Zoo and made it there right after it opened.  It was a fun day!

We saw the pandas and so loved watching Beckett run around and enjoy all the animals.  He said the tigers were his favorite.  Samuel was the best little stroller passenger and had a blast because it takes nothing to make that kid happy.

 Beckett loves I Spy books so the reptile house was a big hit because he got to look for the snake, lizard, spider, etc. in each window.  It was a highlight of the day.

We rented a 2 bedroom house (from vrbo.com) and it was perfect!  We got a really good deal on it so it wasn't more than a decent hotel room but gave us a lot more flexibility.  The boys had room to play and it had a kitchen (eating out with little kids isn't exactly a picnic, so we packed lunches and cooked easy meals), a laundry room and a ton of beach toys.

Day 2 was all about taking our sandbox-loving boy to the beach for the first time!

It was love at first sight.  

 Little dude was also a big fan!  He loved grabbing fistfuls of sand.  And ate a fair share as well.

 We even saw some dolphins. 

 That night we went to a Padres game and had a blast.

They have a lawn behind center field which this handsome devil sure enjoyed.

Day 3 we went to Balboa Park.  Where we played some baseball....

Went to a puppet show...

And visited the Air and Space Museum.

Day 4 was SEA WORLD!  It was seriously amazing.  We all had so much fun.

 Ever since I was a kid I've been afraid of whales (I just looked it up and it actually has a name: megalohydrothalassophobia- fear of big things underwater).  The things we do for our kids ;)

 Looks like Beckett totally gets it-- never turn your back to a whale, buddy.

 Samuel was a big fan though!

Beckett really wanted to touch a dolphin, but one never came close enough.  Womp, womp.

 But he did get to touch a tiny shark!

Samuel loved all the aquariums.  So much to see!

Beckett's favorite exhibit was the polar bears.

 Brothers!

Filled with so much wonder :)

A highlight of the day (and trip, actually) was that Beckett got to meet Elmo and Cookie Monster at the Sesame Street themed kids area.  Beckett's not all that into Sesame Street but we really tried to hype it up because he developed a fear of people dressed up in costumes (mascots, etc.) ever since Kolby took the boys to the aquarium over his spring break and they had a group of Mayan dancers that really freaked him out, then around that same time we went to a couple of college basketball games and he seemed suspicious of the mascots.  It was actually a bigger deal than it sounds because the poor little guy couldn't really process his feelings (he didn't cry when he saw them but was just very, very interested in keeping track of where they were at all times) and had trouble sleeping and worst of all--a couple times he asked if "those guys" (the Mayan dancers) were going to come into his room.  Anyway, kids universally love Elmo so we tried to use the opportunity to get him past his fear.  We really talked up how cool it will be to meet Elmo and his friends and sure enough, Beckett greeted them happily and was so excited and even seemed proud of himself.

 (I'm not even joking when I say this picture above makes me so proud of him.  Facing his fears and even HUGGING a giant mascot.)

Anytime he seems reserved about a mascot we talk about meeting Elmo and his friends and how mascots are fun and friendly yada yada.  It really has helped.

Day 5 (our last day) we went to La Jolla to see the seals and spend some more time at the beach.

Beach baby!

My explorers.

I absolutely love vacation.  Everything about it.  I love planning it, looking forward to it, even packing for it.  And of course the vacation itself.  Now that we have kids, I especially love the chance to get away with them and just enjoy hanging out and having fun with them without anything else in the way.

And this is probably my favorite picture from the whole trip.  What a crew!

We went into this thinking that taking a vacation with a toddler and a baby is going to be tiring and stressful and crazy but that the good will hopefully outweigh the bad.  For my own memory's sake I want to say for the record that this trip was shockingly very nearly all good.  The boys were amazing.  All the things that could have spelled disaster--like Samuel not ever getting in a nap, or Beckett having meltdowns, either of them not sleeping well at night, or someone getting sick--all actually worked out wonderfully and the boys were so cooperative in every way which is really not a given at their ages.  We had so much fun and I'm so glad we did this.  Even though our next vacation may be a nightmare to make up for how we lucked out on this one :)

[Let me stick these in here at the end.  Beckett sure knows how to vacation!]

Beckett's Last Day of Preschool 2015

Beckett had the.best.time at preschool this year.  And by preschool I mean a Mother's Day Out program at a nearby church that he goes to from 9-2 three days a week while I work (so not so much mother's day OUT...).  He loved his teachers and especially loved music class.  He loved playing with his classmates but I don't think he's quite in the "make a friend" stage yet since he didn't talk about his friends much.  But he'd go on and on about his day and what all he got to do.  I'm actually thankful that me working gives him an opportunity to go to school because I think it is so good for him.

Let me share this email his teacher sent us at the end of the year:

Beckett is very bright! I could always count on him to give me the answer, whether it was what color or shape something was or in music class identifying the sound we were listening to. Beckett enjoyed interacted with the other kids in class. At this point kids are still doing mostly side by side play and aren't playing together much. So they didn't really play cooperatively yet, but Beckett loved being silly and laughing with his friends!

Two things that I have been working on with Beckett are sharing and being gentle, both are very typical hurdles for kids his age. For example, sometimes another child would be playing with a toy and rather than wait his turn, Beckett would just take the toy away. So I had been working with Beckett to ask to play with the toy when the other child was finished and then waiting his turn. With regards to being gentle, Beckett would see someone sitting down or laying on a pillow and then go lay on top of them. Most of the time this was not appreciated by the other child and I would tell Beckett that we don't lay on our friends they might get hurt. These are the two main things that I worked on with Beckett.

Y'all, I died laughing when I read the part about him laying on the other kids (or according to Beckett, "tackling them").  Oh, parenthood.

I saw this idea somewhere to dress your kid in the same outfit for the first and last day of school so you can really see how much they grew.  Get ready for this....

Can you even believe that?!?!?  Oh my.  I would be beaten up about how much he's grown if it weren't' for the fact that he's turning into the coolest kid ever.  But looking at how his legs doubled in length does make me want to curl up in a ball and cry for a bit.  What a big boy!