California Knows How To Party!

Quinton and I went to San Diego, last week, for the blessing of my big sister's little girl. After surviving an ice storm in Tulsa in December, a loooong winter in Chicago that just finished LAST WEEK and feeling like a domestic slave for too long, I was ready for a vacation! We arrived in San Diego on Tuesday and by Friday, I sent Matt a text message from the beach saying, "We need to move here NOW!!!!" - I wasn't joking!

It was SO fun to spend time with my mom and her husband, my big sister's family and my dad and my younger sister and her family who came out from Utah and my little brother who drove down from his busy Hollywood lifestyle in L.A. It was a great way to spend a week!

Quinton needed no introduction to the beach!

As soon as we drove up to the beach, he was struggling to get out of his car seat to run free! We hit the beach and Quinton and I felt like new people!

It was about 72 degrees and not a gray Chicago cloud in sight!

I think we spent about 5 hours on the beach, total and what a splendid 5 hours it was!

Quinton's favorite part of the beach?

He could make a mess with the sand and then run in the ocean to was himself off! What more could a kid want? Plus, all the cup-shaped sandcastles a mom can build so he could smash and stomp each one over and over and over never ceasing to forget his GLEEFUL laughter with each smashing! I love the pure and simple joy I receive from Quinton's imagination!

Color me jealous when this cute little blonde showed up and captured Quinton's attention. Quinton and his first summer love, Kylie, enjoyed playing in the sand and splashing each other. Quinton was cute because if she went too far into the water, he would try and talk her back to the sand and look for her mom to come and get her. How chivalrous!

It was one of the best days I have had in a long time to watch Quinton in the surf and make sandcastles!

Quinton fell asleep after playing on the beach for a couple of hours and a nice beach picnic. We stayed like this, me holding Q asleep under the umbrella for about and hour and a half because I was thoroughly enjoying the sun, beach and people watching. I wanted to try and remember everything about our glorious day on the beach.

That night, my sister rounded us all up for a fantastic BBQ at the beach. We grilled hot dogs and then toasted smores. I can tell you Quinton and I slept VERY well that night!

Here is my adorable nephew, James, with his friends Janie and Iliana. These three were really hamming it up as the sun went down at the beach!

Saturday, Quinton and I spent the day at Sea World. Back in December, when we were in San Diego for my mom's wedding, Matt, Quinton and I went to Sea World and with our admission that day, we received free admission to Sea World for all of 2008! What a bargain!

It was a great day to go and enjoy Sea World, even if there were lots of people. The sun was bright and it was about 72 degrees again and Quinton and I went at our own pace. Quinton LOVES the dolphins and sharks. This picture was taken at the Dolphin show and I wanted to capture Quinton's expression when the first dolphin came out and jumped in the air...classic!

At one point, we passed through a nice quiet area and Quinton founds some friends to run around with. After all of the lines we'd had to stand in, Quinton enjoyed running free.

Quinton and I enjoying the Shamu show.

It's hard to go on vacation without Matt, not just because we miss him, but there's only me to take the pictures, so I try my best to do 'self-portraits' to make sure everyone knows I was there!

During the Shamu show, Quinton tired of sitting down, so we went to this walkway where we could get a really good view of one of the whales. Quinton LOVED watching this whale and I thought we'd never leave!

Here is Quinton towards the end of the day. Do you think he's tired?

Later that evening, the adults were able to go to dinner to celebrate my little brother's birthday. My mom's husband, Tom, has this cool motorcycle with, get this, a SIDECAR!

So Tom offers to take my mom and I in the sidecar! And we went!

I told Matt it's like flying down the road on a sled with wheels because you are so low to the ground!

On the way back from dinner, I almost peed my pants laughing so hard at people's reactions to my mom and I in the sidecar. Every time we stopped at a light, I'd look at the car next to us and people would be pointing at us and then they would start asking questions. One guy couldn't believe there were TWO of us in the little sidecar...good thing my mom is a tiny woman!!!

This is my little brother. He is studying to be a comedian, can you tell?

Several of his birthday gifts were clothing items since he's a single guy and doesn't buy himself too many clothes. So as he opened his gift of TWO pairs of pants, he puts them both on over his pants - at the table - to make sure they fit!

He is such a fun brother to have! There is never a dull moment around Jeff. I'm just glad none of us bought him underwear!

Sunday was my niece's baby blessing. My brother-in-law's mother made her this gorgeous blessing gown! See, I'm excited about making a lopsided apron for a friend, so this blessing gown was beyond comprehension, to me, in time and creativity and skill that went into making it!

My dad, aka SILLY Grandpa, always lives up to his name. Quinton and his cousin, James, had the best time playing with Grandpa!

My dad and baby Charlotte, who goes by the nickname, Zuzu.

Don't you want to eat her up, she's so precious!

My sister, Alyee, is a great mom to her three kids. They have so much fun as a family and she and her husband are so creative. I always love visiting with her and her family!

My brother-in-law, Cliff, is such a great dad. He has more patience than any man I know (cause he's married to my sister!).

I won't lie, I was on vacation and after Zuzu's blessing, Quinton, my mom and I went to Disneyland and met up with my sister, Jessi and her family who drove out from Utah.

The first ride we saw when we made it through the magical Disney gates was the rocket. Quinton HAD to go on the rocket!

I admit, I was a little scared as the thing took off but it was really fun. Quinton wasn't scared a bit...he loved it. I have to say that going to Disney with Quinton made me feel like a kid again.

So the rocket didn't scare Quinton but this Buzz Lightyear ride almost had him in tears!

It was very dark inside and there was loud music, so I don't blame him.

I had to put in this picture of my mom on the Buzz Lightyear ride because it makes me laugh. You can see this big scary robot behind her and it almost looks real!

Poor mom, she never knew what hit her!

I treated our day at Disney like Brazil's Carnivale - a day when the dentist is not watching!

Quinton loved, I mean LOVED the cotton candy. The sweet sugar of it all kept him fueled for the next 5 days, I swear, but hey, were were on vacation so it's okay, right?

My lovely sister, Jessi and her adorable daughter, Sara. Quinton and Sara are so cute together. I wish Sara was Quinton's big sister because she is always so concerned about him, I love it!

Jessi is a nut.

I have no clue where she gets it from!

My mom and Quinton on the submarine Nemo ride. i think when I was a kid, this was like the 'scary octopus under the ocean' ride and now, it's all about Finding Nemo. It was a cute ride but the submarine reminded me too much about an awful glass bottom boat tour we had in Key West...bad memories!

Jessi's daughter, Sara, had this lovely hand fan to keep herself cool in the warm Calirfornia weather. Unfortunately for me, Sara was standing too close to my hair with it and my hair became entangled in the fan.

After much yanking and giggling by my sister, a kind lady offered up her pocket knife scissors and they had to CUT the fan out of my hair! NICE!

I guess it could have been worse, though...

Disney is not Disney until you go on the Dumbo ride.

THIS is why I have a kid!

As low-key as the carousel is, it was Quinton's favorite ride!

We had a great time with his cousins!

Oh and Jessi fancies herself quite the horsewoman...uh huh!

My mom and Sara look so cute!

I actually earned a new appreciation for my mom while at Disney. At one point, my sister and her husband left my mom and I with their 3 kids and I had Quinton, too. So there we are, wrangling 4 kids and I said to my mom, "I have no idea how you and dad managed to take all 5 of us kids to Disney, camping, and everything else you did. how did you do it?" My mom's answer, "We yelled a lot."

Honestly, I don't remember the yelling, I just remember my parents taking us to do fun stuff and giving us great memories. I hope I can do the same for my Quinton and any other sibling who may come along.

Quinton makes me smile! :)

My niece, Taylor, with my sister in the background making a classic Jessi face!

Monday was another day at Sea World with my dad, mom and two sistes and their kids. Too bad there is only one silly grandpa to be shared amongst all of these kids! Quinton was lucky enough to secure a spot on top!

Even now, at home, a week later, Quinton likes to chant Shamu at random times. When they chant Shamu in the show, it's as Shamu is SOAKING the crowd in the Splash Zone. That was one of Quinton's favorite parts!

I can say that more than once, the thought actually came to me, "When I grow up, I want to be a Shamu trainer like these people." - I wonder what I will do when I grow up?

Silly Grandpa in his element. Need I say more?

Here we are watching the Pets Rule! show. The kids loved it and even were able to meet a couple of ducks from the show afterwards.

Jessi and Sara at the penguin exhibit. I do have to recommend this exhibit if you ever go on a hot day. it may be a little stinky but it's dark and COOL in this place!

I love that Quinton enjoys my dad almost as much as I did when I was his age! My dad is like a big kid!

I love to see my dad smile like this, too.

Some of you might have received an email from me about a year and a half ago asking to vote for my dad in a radio contest. It was for a "Grill Makeover" - meaning a free dental makeover for the winner. My dad actually WON and $30,000 later in free dental work, he has this beautiful smile! I won't post the picture of his before cause I know people eat while they are reading blogs and I don't want to be responsible for anything bad happening to your keyboard, but this is a good "After" picture. I just love to see him smile!

And here is the end product of our fabulous trip to California!

One tired kid and a very happy mommy!

We can't wait to go back!