My "Christmas vacation" started out with watching 3 of my nieces, and of course JD, in the beginning of the week. I had 4 kids to watch, and while they were all really good (JD was probably the hardest out of the 3 of them since I was his mom) I don't think I will ever want 4 kids… Justin wants 4 kids by the way, and I was hoping he was going to be home to help me and that this would've been a "real life" scenario of what it would be like to have 4 kids. I was hoping it would scare him out of having that many. I'm not sure it would've worked since it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It was also pretty easy since I didn't have to watch them for an entire day by myself, and I didn't take them anywhere since I didn't have a car big enough to haul them around - although Kelly could probably tell you a good story about taking the 4 of them out of the house on her own.
Thursday finally rolled around, and JD and I went to pick Justin up at the airport! We were all pretty excited, and JD was done being patient, but who could blame him? Apparently, most of the service members get a two week break for Christmas, so there were a lot of guys (and girls) in uniform. Every time we saw someone in uniform come out, I got excited, and then quickly let down when it wasn't Justin. When we finally did see him come out, JD ran up to him and was just so thrilled and had a smile on his face for the longest time.
We had to get a couple of things prepped before we headed down to Anaheim, and Justin wanted to eat at Chevy's before we were on the road, and enjoyed every bite! Justin hadn't really slept the night before since they left Ft. Jackson on a bus at midnight, and then had to catch a plane at 8 am in Atlanta, Georgia, so I was a little worried about him driving, especially since he hadn't adjusted to California time yet, but we made it!!! We met with his parents, Jeff, Tammy and their girls at their hotel to watch Disney's World of Color from their balcony at the Grand Californian. It may not have been the best view, but it was pretty.
Friday was Disneyland day. JD was pretty excited and we had been getting him pumped up to see Cars Land, as well as Mickey and the gang. We have gone to Disneyland every year since JD was born, and this was the year JD probably cared the most about it so far. He loved the rides and had a grin on the entire time. He loved seeing all of the characters, and he especially loved Toontown. He is in love with playgrounds right now, so visiting Goofy, Donald, Mickey, and Chip & Dales' house was his favorite part of Disneyland.
We promised JD a back pack, and because he was good throughout the day, we rewarded him with a Lightening McQueen back pack.
He was really excited about it, I promise... but he was also lacking a nap. Notice the tired look on his face? He was starting to fall asleep on the Haunted Mansion.
On Saturday, JD asked to go back to Disneyland again, but sadly we had to tell him it wasn't going to happen. We headed down to San Diego/Coronado to check into our hotel room at the Coronado Marriott where the Larsen Family Christmas was going to be held. We checked in very early, and went to grab lunch at this amazing burger place called Burger Lounge. It was absolutely fabulous, and not to mention super crowded so we decided to walk down to a nearby park and have our burgers there. It was the perfect place to have lunch, since there was also a playground and the kids got to play afterwards.
Later in the day we toured the Mormon Battalion in San Diego, and I was impressed with how well put together it was. JD fell asleep on the way over, so he missed most of it, and Justin woke him up towards the end of the tour and he was cranky. So when the kids got to pan for gold, JD was very against it and whiny. We tried to bribe him with candy, but no such luck. After I came back from the bathroom, JD was all of a sudden in a better mood and trying out the stuff they had for the kids. We had pizza for dinner and headed back to the hotel and called it a night.
Getting comfy at the hotel
After Cafe Coyote, Kelly set up a Minute to Win it Game night. JD and his cousin Zach helped out with one of the stations called "Snowball Toss" (I think) where you had to throw marshmallows through a wreath and into a basket. They were very helpful in picking up the marshmallows after players had their turn, and neither of them were tempted to eat one off the floor. I was shocked! Although, when they were offered a clean one, they'd happily eat it (at least I know JD was).
When everyone had finished with their games, we all just kind of sat and watched JD sing the Cars song (Life is a Highway) in front of everyone, and play with his bat-the marshmallow bag, while Devon (Justin's cousin) threw him the ball-a marshmallow. Zach wanted to join in on the fun, so he picked up the "bat" while JD was on his Home Run run. As soon as JD saw that someone had touched his bat who wasn't an adult.
Monday we headed over to Sea World. This was my first time as well as JD's. JD's favorite part of Sea World were the penguins, which was the very first exhibit we went to. He didn't want to leave. He also really wanted one of the Penguin stuffed animals they had in the store and had his heart set on it. We kept telling him if he was a really good boy, he could have the Penguin at the end of the day. It worked, for the most part. JD's at the age where we can win him over with bribes... sometimes. He isn't always a sweet eater, so we can't always bribe him with candy or ice cream.
Another reward for being good throughout the day... a penguin stuffed animal.
He was so mad when we took a picture of him.
No comments:
Post a Comment