Happiest Place on Earth

I almost forgot to post about our CA vacation! Hel-LO! It's only the biggest vacation we've taken since our honeymoon (not to mention Emmett's first flight, first time at the beach, and first time at Disneyland)!

We had a blast, and Emmett did fantastic with everything! He travelled well, LOVED the beach, LOVED Disneyland, and was his usual, happy self the whole time. I think this baby may have born with some California blood... :-)

Here we are at the beginning of our trip (and by we I just mean Emmett because I'm behind the camera of course). Jared did the drive with his family, but luckily Jareds sister and her husband were on the plane with us. At this point I was feeling much more confident, having checked the carseat, made it through security, and bought Emmett some warmed milk from Starbucks. We timed the flight just right and he ended up sleeping pretty much the whole time.

After flying in, our first stop was the beach. We met up with the rest of the Erickson clan at Newport. Here's some shots our adventures.

The next day we hit up the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was neat, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it with as large a group as we had, or with young children in strollers. The streets are PACKED and people move quickly, so it's hard to stay together (And to get your stroller to move).

 Finally the day arrived that we went to DISNEYLAND!! Jareds sisters put lots of work into making an itinerary for us to follow to accomplish all that we wanted to in the 2 days we had. (There's all kinds of apps, schedulers, and fastpass loopholes out there, so if you're going soon and want the info let me know!) We really appreciate them planning that cause we were able to do pretty much everything (and barely waited for anything) even though it was Memorial Day weekend. We arrived at the park about half an hour before it opened, then made a beeline to fantasyland where we rode every ride in the first 30 mins!

Emmett was in heaven in "It's a Small World" (which turns out was my favorite ride when I was little too. Cute right?) He was bouncing, and dancing, and pointing, and clapping...

He even loved the line!

Don't worry, my camera died soon after this, so there's not too many more pictures!

Emmett Loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I was SO excited to take him through Mickey's house, and see how he reacted when he got to meet him. As luck would have it though... he picked that exact moment  to take a nap. I figured I'd come all that way, we were getting a picture whether he was awake or not! (He can look back when he's older and see how hard his Mom tried!)

 Then of course as soon as we walked out, he woke up.

But at least we got some awake pictures with Minnie!

                              Kisses from Minnie! Aww

                                                        
                                                                        AND Frozone

(That's Uncle Jake, his bud)

 Alright so that brings us to the end of our trip! We had so much fun, I can't wait go back already!  I highly recommend the show World of Color if you get the chance!

I decided a few things on this trip:

1. Disneyland is even MORE fun when you bring your own kids!
2. Disneyland is a lot smaller than I remember it ( I was just there a few years ago!), and it's starting to show its age a little. STILL wonderful and magical however!
3. Contrary to what I believed as a kid, it IS worth it to take a break from rides and watch the parades and shows!
4. Space Mountain is still the best, no matter how many new, hi-tech rides they build.
5. World of Color puts the Bellagio Fountains to shame.
6. California Screamin' was five ten times better when it played Red Hot Chili Peppers . Check it out here! (Give the sound a minute, it gets better)
7. Captain E.O. still rocks

Just throwin those out there!

Summer Lovin'

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Love Love Summer?? It's what I wait for all year long! I kind of feel like some type of lizard, I just want to lay out on a warm rock and soak up its warmth for hours (which I pretty much do, minus the rock).

We are having such a blast everyday. Tuesday night, my little brother's baseball team got to run out on the field with the Orem Owlz (the local pro team) and do the national anthem with the players out on the field. It was so cute haha.

There's Caysen in the middle, gettin his anthem on.

I love this pic of him talking with the player.

Emmett met a special friend too.

That's Holly the Owl (Not to be confused with her boyfriend, Hooter)

Yesterday we went to Storytime at the Library, which is a really cool (and free!) activity they offer for kids. They read a book, then do a puppet show, and do little song and dance activites. 

Love this picture! Haha. Emmett was really getting into the little song and dance :-)

I had a picture that shows the cool little "ampi-theatre" they have in the childrens wing, but Emmett deleted it. Haha.

Here's another shot that cracks me up.

The other day we at Seven Peaks (yes, we live there) and I got out of the wave pool to check my phone and see if Jared had called. Emmett climbed into his raft and just kicked back like it was his LazyBoy. I offered him his snacks while he was just chillin there, and he gladly snatched them.

It's supposed to be mid-nineties today for the first time this year and I'm so excited! (Jared thinks I'm crazy). Well time to get ready for today's adventures! Until next time!





"I'm 1 Year Old!" pics (Part 2)

Here are the additional pictures I received yesterday. So hard to pick a favorite!

Sun Worshippers

Wondering where I've been these past few weeks? Not home! We have been out enjoying the elusive Utah sun every. single. day. And before that, we were spending our time basking in the California sun *sigh* (post of that to come soon!)

Our venue of choice has been Seven Peaks waterpark, where we are lucky enough to have season passes! (Emmett even has his own "Tadpole Pass" which I think is the cutest thing ever! Haha first official I.D!

I've never seen a happier baby, he is content to stay there for hours, and never complains!

He loves this raft! (If you can't tell by the cheeser grin on his face)

He walks up and down the beach making new friends (surprise, surprise) Who is this lady he's sharing a raft with, you ask? No idea. That's just how Emmett rolls.

There will be more of this to come!



Night at the Museum

A couple months ago my cousin and his wife came and visited. They have a little boy, Kale, who is only about a year older than Emmett and we thought it would be a good opportunity to check out the Dinosaur Museum. It was awesome, and both boys had a blast. They had so many neat activities/exhibits geared specifically towards kids (Emmett was a little young to do them, but he still loved watching all the other kids).

Turns out the largest dinosaur found to date was discovered here in Utah by BYU students! It's called the Supersaurus and it was hum-on-gous. I had to take multiple pictures to try to capture it.

There's the head.. wayyyy down there

There's little us standing under it's body

I could have sworn I took one of it's tail too. But it's tail stretched about equally long as its neck and went clear to the other side of the room (which had to be almost the length of a football field!)

This area had Jared so excited he was just about skipping. It was a replica that showed how land naturally forms as a result of the water (Dams, springs, etc).  In fact in the picture above he was just mid-sentence in telling me "See Cassie, and this right here is what engineers are for". He got a little bashful afterward because he didn't know I was snapping a picture. haha!

And I just couldn't help but snap a picture of this... Some historian must have got a little bored and decided to add a little excitement to the place!

Thank goodness for good waiting rooms

Emmett had his first trip to the Dentist today. He did really good through his x-rays and the Dentist looking in his mouth (no tears!) Wahoo!
We had to wait quite a while, so I was incredibly grateful for the myriad of child entertainment that was provided through the waiting room! Emmett is such a little busybody, he just wandered all over exploring every nook, cranny, toy, and person. I had to grab him a few times when he ran down the hall to the patient areas (when he had finished exploring the wait room to his satisfaction).

Here's a little storyboard of what was probably the best hour of Emmett's day. haha

                                                    Had fun in the little playhouse with friend #1

                             Observing and contemplating if this little girl is worthy of becoming friend #2

                                                        Testing out the "Emmett size" chair

Exploring the Lego Table

About this time he decided the aforementioned "Emmett size" chair needed to

 take a trip (or two, or three...) around the perimeter of the waiting area

He made a pit stop to check out the big aquarium

Next it was off to the video game area

where once he started...

he wouldn't stop! In fact my arms got too tired from holding him up

so eventually I just pushed up this little bench and let him have at it

And lastly, here is friend #3 (there were many others I didn't photograph), but he was Emmett's favorite. He followed him like a shadow all through the room. And I don't blame him the kid was pretty P-I-M-P if I say so myself. Check out that Volcom getup and hat, and he may or may not be wearing a chain around his neck... To top it off, the kids name was Justice. Legit right?

So that is where our adventure at the Dentist ends... at least for the next 6 months. But I'm sure Emmett will be counting the days.