The Only Cool Thing In La La Land

At the start of our California trip (or rather 6 hours into it which felt like 3 days), we landed in Los Angeles. Mike and I immediately were reminded of something....we really hate L.A. I mean absolutely no offense to the people that have fond feelings for the place (resident or visitors) but we honestly just don't get it. There's not 1 single solitary thing about the city of angels that appeals to us. The culture, the lifestyle, the traffic, the architecture...I suppose the scenery\views could be nice but you wouldn't know it with all the smog. Yep, not really place high up there on our liking it list. But saying there's absolutely nothing we like about it is not really the truth. There is one cool thing there and that's the La Brea Tar Pits. After 2 tiring days of Disney and a long day of wedding celebrations, we took a lower key pace to the day and set our sights on going to the Page Museum.

I really thought Dylan would love it. He has a thing for skeletons and, well, that's pretty much all there is at the museum. It's a collection of all the skeletal animal remains they've found when exhuming some of the tar pits. I remember going there with my family when I was 5 years old. It left an impression. On my last trip to L.A. about 13 years ago, I went there again. This time I wanted to take my boys....all of them. Mike hadn't been there either!

In the spirit of non happy kids on the trip, it continued here. It was pulling teeth to try and help Dylan be happy about anything. Cade was happy as long as you let him wander freely which we couldn't always let him do.  Joy, it was going to be yet another one of those days!

Cade was instantly fascinated by the bubbling tar.

Dylan was content to hang in the stroller.

I think Cade was only still for about 3 seconds for this photo.

Once in the museum, I got Dylan interested in this saber tooth tiger display. It showed the bones then would change to show a holographic image of the animal in tact. We'd recently been watching the Ice Age movies a lot so Dylan was fairly fascinated with the "scary Diego" (Diego being the saber in that movie). Unfortunately, he was so fascinated he wouldn't leave it. Only after lots of coaxing and promising we would come back before we left was I able to pry him away from it without him being too upset.

The Promised Picture

Once we picked up a few souvenirs, we went back outside and attempted to get a family picture in front of the museum. You won't see one here because no one was happy and we were tired of trying. Thankfully, the boys found some pigeons to chase. And they finally seemed to be having a bit of fun.

Still couldn't get them to cooperate for a family picture.
This was the best we could get.

After running in the grass and chasing birds for a while, we said good bye to the elephants and explored more of the grounds.

I don't even know what this animal is, but climbing on top of it made the boys happy.
We're no dummies...we take our shots when we can and this ended up being one of
my favorite family pictures from the trip. 

We timed the trip home perfectly....right in L.A. afternoon traffic. Ugh. It was a long, long trek home. Luckily the boys napped a bit and stayed happy watching a movie when they were awake. As for Mike and I, we didn't fare so well. We were worn out from the day and ready to get home. The highlight of the trip was seeing the Hollywood sign very, very far away. Exciting, I know.

Though Dylan didn't seem really into the museum, it did leave an impression. He asks about and talks about the elephants in the pit quite often and about the "scary Diego." So hopefully down the line, it will be remembered positively by him. I also hope, down the line, I'll look at the smiling pictures and only remember the happy moments too. Sigh.

Disneyland Take 2

After having had a few nights of adjusting to California time and recovering from travel, we had high hopes for our 2nd day of Disneyland. Our original plan was to skip the park on the weekend (and hopefully avoid longer lines) but after talking with family at the wedding on Saturday, we changed our plan. Most of them were going to the park on Sunday so we went to try and meet up and spend some more time with them.

The day had a fabulous start. After meeting Goofy a couple days prior, Cade decided this character thing was pretty awesome. As we arrived on Main Street, Mickey had just come out and didn't have a very long line. We jumped in it and waited our turn.

And then this happened:

Extreme Sweetness

This might have been the longest hug Mickey has ever gotten. We really didn't think Cade would ever leave him. I kind of felt bad for the folks waiting behind us, but Mickey seemed pretty content to stay there as long as Cade wanted to love on him.

And it was a while!

Now that is just cute!

Dylan wasn't all that into posing with the characters, but we did convince him to come with us for one family shot with the mouse.

Just across the road was Chip and Dale. Now Dylan absolutely adored them on our cruise and were the only guys he wanted to see and get a picture with on that trip in December. On this trip, Dylan was more interested in chilling in the stroller. Cade, however, was extremely happy to find his own personal life size stuffed animals.

Cade Hugging Dale

And Hugging Dale
Chip was a little jealous so he moved into group hug position.

We thought he'd never stop.

Chip and Dale just ate him up!
They were shooing the rest of the line away
clearing the way for Cade to stay there all day long.

We popped in to get our picture while Cade hugged away.

Seriously, I almost cried. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

After sitting in his stroller for 5 minutes watching Cade hug them, Dylan finally decided he wanted a picture after his opportunity had passed. So, here he is.....

Getting his picture taken from the stroller of Chip and Dale hugging a complete stranger.
Sigh.

Next up was Pluto. Cade went quickly in to give him a big hug:

After the last 2 characters getting extreme hugs, Cade was done. He was in for a hug and then took off before the rest of us could join.

And then REALLY didn't want to be there.

Squirmy Cade and Unhappy Dylan
Poor Mimaw, Pipaw and Pluto

Then it was off to make the boys happy again and ride some rides.

Finding Nemo Submarine Ride
The boys loved this. It got Dylan out of his morning funk.

Then Dylan, Mike, my Dad and I hit the Matterhorn. Dylan talked about the Yeti on that ride the rest of the day. Cade had a little nap with Mimaw. On to the ride Dylan was looking forward to - The Haunted Mansion! He loved it and we went on it twice in a row. Then we hit Splash Mountain:

If you ask Dylan if he liked this ride, he'll tell you he didn't like the waterfall part.

Then we got to do what we set out to do for a bit of the day...spend a little time with family. We met up with my cousin Neil and his family and rode Pirates of the Caribbean. It was really great to get to chat with them a little bit since I think we barely had time to say hello at the wedding the previous day. After that ride, things went downhill fast. Cade had the mother of all tantrums for the week and after trying to calm him for a quite a while, finally had to strap him in the stroller until he screamed himself to sleep. Yes, we were those parents. The ones that seem oblivious to the child they're pushing around in the stroller. What can I say, sometimes it just has to happen. We were at the point that we wouldn't have even noticed if we had judging glances thrown our way. Then, there was peace:

Of course, just after getting Cade down was when the rest of the family that was at the park that day wanted to try and get together for a ride as a group. Well, we just couldn't take the chance of anyone waking up so we had to pass and instead hit just about every store at Disneyland and got our souvenir shopping out of the way. When Cade woke up, he was a little happier but still a little punchy. Of course, always happy to see Mickey though.

                                         

When Dylan woke up not on the energetic side, we knew it was time to call it a day. We left my parents at the park and headed back to our house for dinner, jammies and a movie. Surprisingly, after some craziness that day, that night was very chill, happy and relaxed for everyone. Perhaps all the boys needed to refuel was a little downtime. 

A Fairytale Wedding

The whole reason we made a big family trek across the good ol' US of A was to be able to attend the nuptials for my cousin Moriah. Well, actually she's my cousin's daughter so I guess she's my 2nd cousin or cousin once removed or something like that. In any case, she's my cousin. We don't exactly have a huge family so it was important for us to be there to support her. The incentive of seeing Mickey made the draw even stronger.

The wedding took place in a lovely courtyard at the Disney hotel. I guess I really wasn't sure what kind of wedding it would be. I mean, I've never been to a Disney wedding before. Would the Disney characters be in the wedding party? Would Mickey do the vows? Would we be wisked away from the courtyard via roller coaster to the reception? Ok, ok....I really didn't think any of that would happen. Those things don't exactly scream "classy wedding" and it was definitely that...very classy. Of course, Disney did get woven in subtle ways into the festivities. We had adorable Mickey shaped fans (which I was extremely grateful for because the New England family was a little warm sitting in the hot sun) and at cocktail hour, there was a wonderful string quartet playing beloved Disney songs.

Due to a mix up of directions, we arrived just as the ceremony was starting so we quickly slipped into our seats to see the bridesmaids walk down the aisle. As quickly as we slipped in, Mike had to slip out with Cade. That little fella is not one for sitting still so to minimize interruptions to everyone else, they walked around.

Father of the Bride, Allen and (Obviously) the Bride, Moriah

My Handsome Lap Buddy for the Ceremony
(Cute but him on my lap made me swing the fan faster.)

Mr. and Mrs. Scott Satkin

After the ceremony, while the bridal party was taking pictures, we had some light refreshments, some good cold water and let the boys run wild.

Dylan had a great time chasing birds with cousin Brooke.

Cade was really off his game for most of this trip. I don't think the heat was helping the little crank ball. As we went into the hotel to make our way to the reception hall, a Goofy sighting saved the day and helped turn his frown upside down.

The reception was great. The boys had a great time dancing on the dance floor until the food came. After Cade ate, he was ready for his afternoon nap. So Mike had to make an early exit again with Cade to take him back to our house for nap time. While out in the parking lot with them getting car seats switched around, I missed some important stuff like the toasts. I heard Allen did a bang up job (I expect him to repeat the performance for me someday).

Applauding the Wedding Party

Clink! (It's apple juice, I promise!)

Cutting a Rug

These guys were quite the entertainment for all.
It's worth noting that this entire time, the only music available
was soft background music. The DJ wasn't doing his thing yet.

Ahhhhh!

The Sleeping Prince

Cake!

Dylan and I danced and danced and danced. It ended being me holding him and dancing quite a bit. I definitely felt like I got a great workout that day....holding a 40 pound kid and jumping up around in platform shoes is no easy feat! Dylan was so pooped out that he fell asleep in Pipaw's arms as we were saying our (long) goodbyes to the family.

It had already been a long day. The whole gang went back to the house and rested. After being hot for a good portion of the day, it was decided that it was time to check out the pool. Of course, we didn't actually get to go in the pool until evening had set in and it was getting pretty cool out. I opted to stay out of the (heated) water and let everyone else have the "fun" while I enjoyed on dry land with a jacket on.

Mimaw and Dylan
This was about the only time he strayed from the ladder. He felt more comfortable holding onto it.

Daddy and Cade
We were trying to keep his body mostly submerged (this photo being a quick exception)
because they were definitely staying warmer in the water and not out.

Silly Pipaw

Being outside of our normal home life, it was challenging just to get the normal stuff done like getting ready and doing meals. It was great to have Mimaw and Pipaw around to help with those sorts of things. Add in lots of sun, crazy activity and abnormal sleep schedules....it was exhausting to do a "normal" day. With the big excitement of the wedding, a low key night at the house definitely made everyone feel a little less rushed and a lot more relaxed.