The Big Visit

As many of you know we have just spent the better part of the last week or so in California visiting friends. So, if you've never traveled with a 2 1/2 year old on an adventure involving plane rides, bus rides, lllooonnnggg car rides and many parks/zoos/beaches/restaurants, let me just tell you...it was SO MUCH FUN!!!

We left on Friday, the 20th, and flew into Ontario airport with a quick stop in Vegas (Lanie wanted to try her luck on the slot machines). We were a bit worried about how she would do with flying and everything...especially since we're in the middle of learning how to go potty...but she was really amazing. She LOVED the planes, and enjoyed looking out of the window over Mommy/Daddy most of the time. If she wasn't doing that, she was watching her princesses on the DVD player (preparing for Disneyland!) or making Daddy take her to the bathroom.

We arrived in CA around 8:00 or so (10:00 our time), and got to our friends' Jim and Carolina's house (beautiful by the way!) just in time for an evening tour, and to help Lanie crash on our family bed for the week.

Saturday, 3/22: The 6 of us (Carolina's cousin Cata was also visiting--she soon became Lanie's best buddy...I don't think she even cared that Mommy and Daddy were there!) went to the San Diego Zoo...Very fun! Although from that point on, everything on our trip was going to see "An-mals! An-mals!" Luckily, we were going to Sea World on Wed., or Lanie might not have recovered!

Sunday, 3/23: An afternoon visit to Laguna Beach, to "swim" (just our toes) in some very cold water, make a sandcastle, eat yummy Mexican food, and attempt to clean up our youngest swimmer in the beach showers...Fun, fun!

Monday, 3/24: Mommy, Daddy and Lanie headed to Disneyland, arriving around lunchtime, and immediately spending 1 1/2 hours in line to see princesses. Thank goodness she enjoyed it, otherwise, I think Daddy was going to kill someone:)! We got to visit with Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Princess Jasmine (pictures to come later!) After that, we headed to Toon Town for lunch, visited some character houses, and had our pictures taken with Goofy.
During the day, we also saw Tigger, Eyeore, and the one and only Mickey Mouse--he actually got a hug from Little Bits!
We did get to go on some rides: Jungle Cruise--I think the fish scared Mommy and Daddy more!, The Tiki Room--not really a ride, but fun!, Winnie the Pooh, Pinnochio--Lanie screamed on this one, and the Nemo Submarine Voyage...I think that was it...if I remember some others, I'l add them!
While we really wanted to wait for the fireworks, it was a long day already, and Lanie was a super trooper! So, we hit the souvenir shop, and headed to the car. Lanie was not letting me carry her, so we have some pretty funny footage of her "sleepwalking" out of the park! We did get to see the fireworks from the car as we were leaving, which apparently was enough, b/c someone fell asleep in her seat right after that...that's my Disney girl!

Tuesday, 3/25: Not too much today...we decided to "take a break" and head over to the new Bass Pro Shop for some store wondering and lunch at their restaurant. Then, the 3 non-CA (us!) residents ventured to the local grocery store to get the essentials for an awesome bar-b-que dinner with our friends: carne asada (Jim risked his life for us to get this...sort of), grilled corn on the cob, guacamole and chips...yummy! I think this was the only day Lanie slept during her "real" nap time...

Wednesday, 3/26: Sea World...one word...AWESOME!! Oh my gosh, it was so much fun!! We got there around 10:00, b/c we had breakfast reservations with Elmo and Friends...very cool! We took pictures, had food, danced, and got some autographs for Lanie's new autograph book. We also got to see some whales, polar bears, walruses, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, freshwater and ocean fish (including pirahna), seals and otters. We also got to TOUCH starfish and bat rays...so cool!
We saw the Shamu show, which was so neat and amazing...and yes, I was the super-geek that videotaped the whole show...let me know if you want to watch the video--my sister already had to sit through it:)!
Before we left, we stopped by Shamu's underwater viewing tank and got some AMAZING pictures of the whales...some with a whale right next to Lanie!! Then, again, we hit the souvenir shop for a t-shirt for Lanie and the traditional shot glass for Kev:)--if you've seen his collection, you know it's a must have! Lanie actually fell asleep walking out of the park this time.

Thursday, 3/27: Time to leave :( ...our friend Jim took this day off and helped us with the little details, like returning the rental van, packing his car, playing Madden 06...wait a minute...oh yeah! That's what the guys were doing while Lanie was "sleeping". Then, we headed to the airport for our flight home, via Phoenix...we pulled into our driveway a little after 2 am...yikes! Lanie actually did really well this time too. She was happy watching "Cinderella" the first leg of the trip, and fell asleep during take-off from Phoenix to St. Louis...with a couple of "Where the heck am I?" and "I'm so tired...just get me to my bed!!" crying freakouts on the plane. But, then we got home, kept Missy up for about a half hour, and everyone slept in until 10:).

It was an awesome trip!!! We got to see some great friends, go to very fun places, and just be together as a family. Lanie LOVED being with Jim and Carolina, and really took to them: holding their hands, coloring with them, giving big hugs goodnight...it's good practice, right guys:)?!
Thanks for the great visit, Jim and Carolina!! We love you!