Craig Park is right down the street from Grandma and Grandpa B’s house.  It is huge!  This was our second time there, and Erik says we only explored a small part of it.  We saw ducks in the pond, walked some horse trails, climbed a few hills and a tree, crossed a bridge, followed a couple paths, and played at two different play grounds.

Owen had his first official swing.  Uh, Mom, what are you doing?

Oh I see!  Well, I think I might like this . . .

 

Yep! Yep, I definitely like this!

Then Owen fell asleep.  And Sam got dirty.  Two sure signs of a day well spent.

One of our days before Christmas in California we took a trip to the aquarium.  The Mutters came along, too.  We followed them tandem and Samuel spent the entire drive asking, “When are we going to see my cousins?”  We had a great time seeing all the different animals.  We saw all sorts of fish, a few divers, sea lions, frogs, jelly fish, a sea turtle, spider crabs, and rays, to name a few.  But Samuel wasn’t appeased until we saw the BIG SCARY SHARKS WITH ALL THESE SHARP TEETH!    Owen was a great sport just along for the ride.  He took his first ride sitting in the stroller, and loved his view.  After a while, I carried him around and he fell asleep for the rest of the time.  We spent the whole day there and left Long Beach with happy (and tired) faces.

Before I forget what even happened . . . here is a run down of the best California trip ever.

It rained lots, but that didn’t stop us from getting outside.  Rain in 60 degrees is certainly manageable.  Samuel, surprise, loved the puddles.  Especially when we gave up on trying to keep him out of them.

On the way to one of the parks.

Showing Dad some of his gymnastics skills.

Another playground and more puddles.

The big part of our trip was Disneyland!!  I’ve only been one other time, so we learned a lot of how to do it better next time.  Minus a couple hitches, Sam had a ball.  For not having a nap, he was so amazing and such a good sport.  My biggest consolation for not doing as much as I had first envisioned was that we will for sure be back another time! 

Samuel is a total observer.  You’re going to see the same look on his face in a lot of these pictures.  Don’t le the serious expression fool you!  He was fully in awe, and trying to take it all in.  On the tram; part of the 90 minute process just to get IN the park!!

Waiting in their first line.

I should’ve known better.  Sam doesn’t like being forced into new situations without a good prep period.

Autopia went over much better.  Definitely Sam’s favorite of the day.  He was thrilled beyond thrilled to be in the driver’s seat!  This time Sam got sad when it was over, “More cars!  Cars back, go drive!!”

The view from my car.

Our first character meeting of the day . . . Look it’s the big green ogre, Shrek!

Oh, nevermind.  It’s just big green preggo, Al.

While waiting for the Nemo submarine ride, Sam couldn’t take his eyes off the cotton candy.  He had no idea what it really was, but he knew he wanted it.  So Erik went over the line to get some for us.  “No candy Sammers, Mommy try.”

Looking for Nemo.  This was before it went pitch black, the giant angler fish opened it’s scary mouth right in front of us, we were swallowed by a whale, and Sam screamed the whole rest of the ride.

Mickey’s Toon Town.  Another favorite and must-do for toddlers.  Sam was so excited to be able to just run around and play without having to wait in line.  He was also pretty excited to meet Mickey Mouse . . . until we were standing right next to him.  Start the hysterics.  As soon as we stepped away, Sam was over it, and made sure to wave goodbye.  “Bye see ya, Mickey!”

Dinner time!  We were pretty proud to walk away from Disneyland having spent only $100; and that included buying dinner in the park.  Samuel was being soooooo silly.  What a goober.

Riding Casey Jr’s Train.  Our only family picture from the whole entire trip.  Sad sad sad.

So a little background.  Sam has a pretty significant fascination with Buzz and Toy Story 2.  In fact, we can go ahead and call it an obsession.  We got Sam a little Buzz toy as a treat on the 10 hours drive down.  During those 10 hours, Samuel also learned to say, To infinity and beyond; which sounds more like “To ah-bin-dah-dee and be-YAR!” but still.  Here is a video of Sam watching the movie and being “Lightyear Buzz.”

So of course at Disneyland, we saved the best for last . . . the Buzz Lightyear blaster ride.  (I can’t remember what it’s actually called.)  You should have seen this child’s face when we turned the corner and there was a life-sized Buzz.  Sam was so excited helping Erik blast things, and just about jumped out of his seat when we got to the part where Buzz is standing there fighting Zurg.  The ride stops, and Buzz asks for your help in destroying the Evil Emperor Zurg.  “Kapow kapow kapow!!  Go Buzz, catch Zurg!!” 

Time to head back!  It was almost 9, and all three of us were done.  Sam was so so good all day.  You would never know he woke up at 7 and went the entire day without a nap . . . well, until Sam was buckled up in his car seat and on his way home.

Did you notice?  Even sound asleep, Buzz was still grasped tightly in Sam’s little hand.  Ah, what an excellent day.  The happiest place on earth!  For sure!!

Remember when . . . ?  We went to California for Thanksgiving.  We took Samuel to the beach for the first time.  This child was in H.E.A.V.E.N.  Sam got so excited when he first saw the ocean.  Then he realized we weren’t going to stop him from getting in it!  Boy was he thrilled!!  It was in the mid 70s, so nothing roasting warm, but warm enough for us to feel ok about letting Sam put his toes in.  We brought changes of clothes just in case.  About 1 minute in, Sam experience his first wave.  It knocked him right off his feet.  Erik pulled him right back up, Sam looked around in surprise, and GRINNED.  A big, huge, oh-my-this-is-the-most-fun-I’ve-ever-had grin.

 

It didn’t take long for Samuel to be soaked completely to the skin.  He shivered and shivered, but I kept checking to make sure his hands were still warm, so we thought it was ok to let him keep playing while they were.  Samuel had a blast climbing the rocks, watching the waves crash, chasing the seagulls, and playing with some little hermit crabs.

We suggested to Samuel a few times that we needed to get ready to go, and he would cry and cry.  So, suckers that we are, we let him continue playing since his hands and cheeks were surprisingly still not cold.  After a while, Sam did start to get cold.  And you know what?  He had Erik pick him up, and said, “Bye birds, bye sand, bye crab, bye water!”

 

I think we will have to go to the beach every time we go to California.  Or maybe just move to one.  I’m sick of the snow.