We spent this past weekend in San Diego. My cousin got married on Friday and then we decided to make a weekend of it. We were lucky enough to stay at the Hotel del Coronado (it was across the street from the wedding), which was super family friendly and really gave us no reason to leave the grounds. So nice when you've brought along half your house, plus your two little children.
BUT, before we made it to San Diego, I was solo with the kids for a few days. Carmen was in New York and North Carolina Tuesday to Friday - and he actually flew from New York to San Diego on Friday.
Baby girl trying on her new shoes. She did not like them, but she's trying so hard to walk these days, I figured she needed some good soft-soled shoes to support her. She'll never wear them at daycare, but at least she can practice on the weekends, maybe.
Jayden got this headband from school. I think he looks so adorable wearing it. AND it gives him super powers. Who knew?!? He can fly, and do something else that I can't remember now but is not something I would have considered a super power.
Playing around with the settings on the camera on my phone. Jayden loves doing "cartoon" photos of him and Dakota.
I took two hours to myself Friday morning (which really was a 30 minute run, a 20 minute conference call and dropping the dog off at the vet, but at least I wasn't dragging two kids along) while the kids went to daycare, then I gathered them before lunch and headed down to San Diego. Lucky for me, Dakota passed out five minutes after we got in the car and Jayden was super patient the whole way. And there was very little traffic, so we made it down in 1-1/2 hours. I must have done something good last week to deserve such good luck!
We got there in time to do some relaxing before the wedding, which was necessary since Jayden refused to nap. So he and Gramma played a competitive game of Uno in the hotel room.
The wedding was really beautiful, and actually quite a bit of fun with the kids. Both kids were pretty good during the ceremony, and then had a great time with the music.
Ceremony setting.
Carmen and I passed Dakota back and forth during the ceremony to keep her occupied and quiet. She finally found the buttons on my granddad's (her great-granddad's!) sleeve and started playing with those. It was very sweet.
"Smiling" and clapping during the cocktail hour with Gramma (and eating 23 cheese quesadillas).
Being silly. This is a common pose for Dakota - arching her neck so she can get a better view of her silly brother. On my worst days, the two of them entertaining each other, even at this age where Dakota can't do a whole lot, just really confirms that they need each other and they will be so much better with each other in their lives. Just like I am with my lizzle. :)
The boys. Being all handsome and stuff.
Mama/daughter.
Saturday we made it to the San Diego Zoo, one of my favorite zoos ever. I love the polar bears, and all the other animals too. Jayden was tired, so probably didn't enjoy it as much as he would have, and Dakota was dead tired, and slept through 85% of the animals. Oh well! The grown ups learned a lot, including never to go to Russia for fear of encountering the 400 pound eagle we saw.
Flamingos.
Okapi. I love this animal; I think the stripes are just beautiful.
Mama and kids.
Swimming polar bear!
A polar bear being cute through the scratched up glass. The bear was playing with a ball in the water and kept doing somersaults and tossing the ball in the air. It was adorable.
Family photo, with Dakota still asleep.
Kiddos in a helicopter.
The double stroller turned out to be mostly useless, except for the last 20 yards or so. Oh well. They were awfully cute for the ten minutes that they used it. Dakota loved it. A new perspective for her.
Mama duck and her babies. Quack quack!
After the zoo, we went back to the hotel and enjoyed some pool time. Mostly relaxing.
With some cold kiddos. And Grampa looking on in the background.
Jayden got to have a shirley temple. With SIX cherries. Best. Day. Ever.
The view from dinner. The hotel at night. Classic California.
Dinner was hard. Jayden had an accident. And was suuuuuper tired. And Dakota was tired. And it was late. I tried. I really tried. But it was just so much. So finally I just took Dakota to the room and put her to bed. Gramma/Daddy and Jayden came in a little later and we did get them to bed. I had asked Carmen to bring my wine back to the room, but by the time they were both down, I couldn't do anything but just lay down, so my wine just went to waste. So sad.
Sunday morning everyone was still tired. Jayden was determined to make it to the beach, so after breakfast we headed down to the sand. Dakota was ready for naptime, so I walked the boardwalk with her for an hour or so to keep her asleep while the rest of the family splashed in the waves. I did get to jump in the waves with Jayden for a few minutes before lunch, which helped clear my head a bit. But I had hit a low point and Sunday was hard. I tried, really hard, to pull myself out, but just couldn't quite get there.
The beach that is literally steps from the hotel. Not a bad place to have a weekend getaway.
Also not a bad place to nap.
And then Sunday we were home. Everyone was happy to be home - the kids were exhausted, and actually the parents were too. And there was the week to get ready for. I had planned to take a vacation/sick day on Monday, but had meetings come up so had to go to work. Oh well. Now it's almost Thursday and we've almost made it to the next weekend. Thank goodness!
There has been a whole bunch of drama at work - two more people are leaving (maybe three, I learned today), and it's just so clear that management cannot understand that there is a problem. It's making it difficult for those of us still there, especially since I've been there so long and through so many versions of staff. It makes me wonder why I've stayed so long and whether I'm the fool. For now, I believe in the people I work with and I'm going to stick it out for them. But there are other opportunities here and there, and I'm also going to keep my options open. We'll see. It's going to be an interesting upcoming few months.
The NFL draft is next week, so everyone keep your fingers crossed for Carmen's people. And then wish him a happy birthday on Friday!!! I can't believe he's going to be 34 again. So incredible. ;) Unfortunately Carmen will be gone not only for his birthday, but really for the weekend of his birthday so we won't get to celebrate with him until maybe Sunday night. At least it gives Jayden and me some time to make his special cake (stay tuned - it's going to be exciting!).
A quick update, since it's late and I can't believe it's only Tuesday.
Dakota is TEN months tonight. TEN months. We made it! And we're actually doing pretty well. Dakota is growing and learning and changing, and becoming more and more like a little person. She also has got to be about the most cheerful little girl you've ever met. Yesterday she napped for a total of 1-1/2 hours, from 10:15-11:45 am. And didn't sleep again until she went to bed, and she was so incredibly cheerful when I picked her up. Amazing. I don't know how she does it, but it's awesome.
And now for some pictures:
On Saturday we went to Bubblefest at the Discovery Science Center. They have a whole exhibit where you can play in the bubbles, but they also have a bubble laser show. The show was awesome. The guy is basically a magician with bubbles. There were literally bubbles everywhere, even all over us, and we were in the far upper right corner. We went with Maxwell and his mom, and the boys were just enthralled. And actually, the grown ups were pretty impressed too. And Dakota just kept clapping!
Jayden, with all the bubbles in the background. I'm kind of obsessed with his profile.
Jayden IN a bubble. Bear with me, you'll understand in a minute.
Yup, that's right. He was IN a bubble, in a little pool of water. It was hilarious.
Jayden and Maxwell, blowing a giant bubble.
Soccer class on Sunday. Because an hour of playing soccer in the rain wasn't enough, Kylie and Jayden decided they'd run a few sprints to finish up class also. These two are so cute together - sort of a mismatched pair, but they get along so well.
Jayden helped me make breakfast for dinner on Sunday night, so clearly we ended up with green eggs and ham. I mean, why not?!?
This week at preschool is the Week of the Young Child. Monday was crazy hat/hair day. Jayden picked out these hats for him and Dakota. Sorry for the light - I forgot to take a picture at home and was rushing through drop off to get to a 9 am call. And of course Dakota had a dirty diaper that I got to change in the back of the car when I got to preschool. Of course.
Dakota in her hat. Everyone thought it was her birthday. But nope, just a regular ol' Monday.
Monday night I had a board meeting for work and then ran to the grocery store by myself. Carmen actually skipped Dancing with the Stars (sort of - he was happily set up on the couch watching the recorded show when I got home).
This was one of those "you know you're a mom when..." moments - I realized that my board meeting (where I had to present) and the solo trip to the grocery store was a "night out." Pretty sad.
Official ten month photo! I don't do the fancy photos with blocks and all that. I tried doing pieces of paper with Jayden, and he just kept eating or tearing the paper. And they rarely showed up in the photo. So now we just make sure a decent photo is taken on the right day and that's considered a success.
Of course if I'm taking a picture of Dakota, Jayden needs a picture too. :)
Today, Tuesday, was sports day - so the kids played all kinds of sports this morning (obstacle course, tug-of-war, basketball, bowling, football, etc.) and wore their favorite sports team clothing. Of course Jayden was all Duke-d out. And Dakota too.
Tomorrow is "what do you want to be when you grow up" day. I am curious to see what Jayden decides. I asked him tonight and he said "I already know. I'm thinking about it. I'll decide in the morning." But he and I have never talked about what he's going to be when he grows up. Mostly we talk about the things he can do when he grows up, or when he'll be a "big kid," or if he'll ever stop growing, just for a minute, so I don't have to buy new pants and new shoes again!
I'll let you all know once he decides. :)
And one final video. Dakota is all over the place these days. Still not crawling, but pretty good at scooting, and trying to stand up EVERYWHERE. Except when she does stand up, she does this crazy movement that pretty much just causes her to sit back down again. It's, well, it is what it is. Enjoy.
This past week has included a couple of rough days and a couple of pretty good days. I'm doing my best to remember the good days better than the bad days - and I think the fact that I take way too many pictures on the good days helps! Plus, you guys get the benefit.
First, I forgot to post this video from our impromptu dance party in line while getting dinner a week ago Friday. Jayden dancing is one of the best things in our little family life.
And now for the pictures from the week:
Jayden "smiling" in his Adidas outfit. He needed new pants (his other ones were ankle-high), so I bought him 7X. He's four and a half. Clearly, they're a little long, but at least it means I won't have to buy pants again for hopefully six months.
Dakota is pulling herself up everywhere. She can't get higher than her knees usually. Except for of course tonight, in the bathtub (only one of the more dangerous places she could fall), when she managed to stand up on her own. She is really super proud of herself, though, and she gets that smile on her face when she pops her little head above a barrier.
But of course Jayden wanted in on the photo. They were both moving, so this is blurry. But you get the idea. This is bedtime, by the way. I love their purple pajamas.
I had last Thursday off (a holiday in California), so I went to get the kids early and watched Jayden's dance class. The class itself is a little funny, but Jayden loves it. And he has been dying for me to go watch. So I was so very grateful that I had Thursday off, because it's just so hard to coordinate to leave my office at 2:30 pm.
Some "action" shots. I think that was my hesitation about the class - it didn't feel like the kids were really getting to move. But I guess it does teach them movement and rhythm and whatnot.
Jayden's dance moves are . . . I don't know the right word. They're awesome, I guess. Awesome.
Friday the kids' school was closed, so I took a vacation day. And I really took a vacation day. I barely looked at work email, except when the kids were sleeping. We hit up Target in the morning to get the presents and cards that we needed, and of course a few other things that I saw as I was walking the aisles... Aren't these two cute? I told Carmen, Dakota is probably a little young to be sitting in the cart like this, but she did fine, and I strapped her in carefully.
Our next stop was the Orange County Great Park. They have a ton of space - soccer fields, grassy areas, bike paths, etc. They also have a carousel and a hot air balloon that goes 400 feet up in the air. We drive past the hot air balloon all the time. And Jayden had decided he wanted to go, so that was our big adventure on Friday. This is the balloon as we were on our way to board. SO high!
A little more up close.
And then, Dakota slept through the whole ride...
...and Jayden sat on the floor.
Turns out I wasn't really scared at all - it's way better than a ferris wheel. The views were incredible as well.
This is how much fun Jayden was having. And I couldn't get him to take this picture until we were maybe twenty feet off the ground.
Jayden has rediscovered his bike and rode his bike all over the place. His seat was way too low, but Carmen fixed that this weekend. I let him ride all over while I sat and nursed Dakota and he kept asking me "is it okay if I go this far, Mom?" It was very sweet. But this park is awesome - I could see him for miles, so he actually got to go pretty far while I sat on a bench and watched.
And then Friday night, sort of last minute, Carmen and I were invited to a surprise birthday party for one of his friends. AND we actually could get a babysitter. So off we went to a party. It was fun - and nice to be out. But I had four glasses of wine and did not feel so good the next day. My tolerance is nothing. Oh well!
Saturday morning we were back at swim class, as usual. No Maxwell, so Jayden got a solo lesson. He worked hard. And this is a happy face for Dakota, believe it or not. She LOVES to stand up. It's actually hard because she can't do it on her own, so she literally wants to be touching you at all times because she needs one of us to hold her up. And by "one of us, "clearly I mean me.
And then we had a 2+ hour drive to San Diego for Seena's fourth birthday. It was a unicorn and rainbows birthday party, which you might be able to tell from Seena's outfit. And this is the toned down outfit - it originally included a rainbow tutu and a unicorn horn on her head. She was adorable.
I felt like this looked like a photo shoot picture. In an outfit Jayden picked all on his own - red long-sleeve shirt, neon orange shorts, white Nike knee-high socks and purple Adidas, of course.
Jayden and Kian had a blast playing basketball in the driveway. They were adorable. I think Jayden brought out a little aggression in Kian, which Bardis said was a good thing! And they were both really good natured with each other. I was impressed.
A beautiful SoCal sunset over the Pacific on the drive home.
Some party favors from the party - magical unicorn dust and a rainbow sparkly bracelet. Of course Dakota kept grabbing Jayden's bracelet and Jayden kept complaining. But we worked through it.
And one more video, because I haven't put one up of Jayden playing soccer recently. This is from soccer class today.
I, of course, woke up with a fever and chills this morning, but left the kids with Carmen and slept for an hour or so (except for the 10 minutes where Carmen "lost" Jayden and he and I ran around the house panicking for a few minutes until Carmen found him in the theater room... If anyone ever wonders why I don't just take a weekend away and leave Carmen home with the kids - that happened in 45 minutes! Can you imagine what would happen in a whole weekend?!???). After the rest I felt much better, and have been okay today. I'm still not 100%, but I'm functional, which is what I need. These next couple of weeks are busy, so everybody needs to be healthy!
