Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Welcome to California

After another great night, we got up this morning and grabbed some breakfast at the hotel. We had the breakfast buffet, and CJ was allowed to "eat for free" off of our plates. The waiter was even nice enough to sneak us a small "to-go" container so we could take some fruit with us for the road! We said goodbye to Las Vegas, Nevada!!
Do any of y'all watch that TV show "Pawn Stars"? We got hooked on it at Christmastime after my family introduced JT and me to it! We considered stopping at their shop, but when we saw the line wrapped around the block we were quickly satisfied with a picture of the outside instead! Ha ha!
The four hour drive from Las Vegas to Anaheim, California where we are now was pretty much NOTHING...just one huge desert!!
We arrived in California today! Our new "home-state" for a while! :) While driving, I called to schedule the delivery of our household goods. It was kinda comical because the phone numbers that we were given in the email letting us know that our goods had arrived in CA and are being held in storage, didn't work. Four phone calls later (typical) our move in date will be July 19 (soonest available date). So, we have two more weeks of living out of suitcases before we will be moved in to our new "home".
CJ took a GREAT nap in the car today!! 2 hours!! Yay!! :) JT and I had lots of time to talk during that time. One thing we were talking about how it is weird not having a "home" right now. For example earlier today I was telling JT about something and said "like the one we have at home" and then said "well, I mean, the one in our household goods storage". And JT told me that when he thinks about going "home" he is still envisioning us in our old Ann Arbor house. I don't think that the full emotional impact of the move will really hit until we are back in a normal routine at the new house...right now since we are in "vacation mode" we are staying busy and having fun!

Speaking of fun...our little CJ is so FUNNY!! Remember the cowboy hat that he got with his meal at The Big Texan in Texas?! Well, it was in the backseat behind his car seat (because everything has its "place" in the car, so that #1) everything fits perfectly like a puzzle, #2) we always know where everything is!). He must have been able to reach the string or something, because somehow he got ahold of his hat! We're riding down the road, and I turned around to check on him and see he is wearing his cowboy hat (while watching none-other-than Cars). Hard to see in the picture, but I had to try to get the shot quickly while I was strapped in the front seat! HA HA!! Our boy LOVES hats!!!
We jumped out for a quick picture with the "World's Tallest Thermometer" in Baker, California. It was SOOOOOO SOOOOO hot!!! It was 108 degrees!! Needless to say, that is WAY hotter than we are used to after living in Michigan for the past 3 years!!!
CJ managed to pull his snack cup apart and decided that it would make a great anklet. Have I mentioned what a MESS he is?!
We arrived in Anaheim this afternoon, and decided to go to Downtown Disney for dinner. JT and I LOVE all things Disney (multiple vacations to Disney, engaged at Disney, honeymooned at Disney) so we are really hoping our son will inherit (or learn to, or be forced to-kidding, sort of) love for Disney too!!
Our bellman at the hotel gave us a coupon for a free kids meal at the Rainforest Cafe, so we thought we would go there for dinner! Look at the pretty picture CJ drew with the blue crayon. Funny story, he was coloring so hard with the blue crayon that it broke in half. He looked so sad, and he took the two pieces and tried to "put them back together" like you would with building blocks. He got frustrated and just couldn't understand that he couldn't fix it. So cute!!
He has grown increasingly more independent during these couple of weeks we've been on the road. He doesn't really want us to feed him anymore. He wants to DO IT HIMSELF! And makes that really known (as in vocally) to our dismay at restaurants. He is trying hard to use the spoon to feed himself, but still has trouble getting the food on it but really gets mad when we try to help. Tonight at dinner, his free kids meal was spaghetti, but as soon as Dada's fajitas came out, he wanted JT's rice!! The plate was really hot, but of course "you need to wait, because you are going to burn yourself" means nothing to a toddler, so that was a small hissy fit. After the plate cooled, he really enjoyed helping himself to the rice (aka making a royal mess and getting one or two grains of rice in his mouth at a time).
After dinner, we decided to walk around Downtown Disney, just a little bit to check it out. Mr. Independent CJ took off right away toward what he wanted to check out...
There is a movie theater and they had giant Cars 2 posters. CJ saw his best friends Mater & Lightning McQueen, and ran up to them pointing and passionately yelling "vroom vroom". HA HA!!!! Maybe we will take him to see Cars 2 if time permits while we are here?? (Our first attempt at taking him to a movie at this age was a bust, but perhaps since he LOVES Cars so much this time would be more successful?)
Having fun at Downtown Disney. I think he looks like such a big boy in this picture!!
When we got back to our hotel tonight, we made sure that they had the Disney channel (I sure hoped so seeing as how we are at Disney and all...). As if you weren't sure if Vegas was a "kid friendly" town (ha ha ha!!) they didn't have the Disney channel at our hotel! So the past two mornings, CJ has been missing his Disney Junior shows. Scooby Do just wasn't cutting it for him!

One more story, and then off to bed...

Have you ever noticed how a lot of hotels have mirrors in their elevators (as in every wall is a mirror)? Well, these are the sort of things I have noticed "living" in various hotels. Anyhow, every time we get in the elevator with CJ, I always ask him "do you see the baby in the mirror?" and then commence to point him out in each mirror "oh there's another baby!" And then I tell him "that baby is you!" So, this has been going on for about two weeks now...and then this morning, he pointed to himself in the mirror and said "Bay Bay". ("Baby", in an adorable little southern accent). SOOOO cute!! He is so "busy" right now, I really have to soak up these sweet moments when I can!! :)

Taking him to Disneyland tomorrow. Not sure how he'll like it, but I have a feeling if there are any Cars he is going to love them. Ha ha! Night y'all!

2 comments:

Kim at Polka Dot Thought said...

What a fantastic and busy day you guys had! That is so cool you saw the Pawn Stars place--JD LOVES that show! Does CJ still sit rear facing--thought I noticed that :) Loved his outfit--perfect for Disney! I was cracking up that he ran towards the Cars posters seeing how his road trip has been complete with watching the Cars movie! Can't wait to read more! Love ya!

Kendra said...

SO glad you guys have made it safely to California!!!

I think you've got a Disney lover in training =)