San Diego according to Liam

 

Liam was way too excited for this trip. He was the main reason we chose to go to SeaWorld. On the way there, he browsed through the brochure and talked about what he wanted to do then he commenced the cliché "are we there yet?" game.

 

We checked into the hotel and he was thrilled about everything! The revolving door in the lobby, the elevator with the window, the couch, the beds, the TVs. He was ecstatic. It was very fun to watch until I remembered that any time Liam is way too excited, he kind of melts down. Like his little body can't handle so much excitement so it just kind of explodes into a whiny, crying, fit throwing mess. In his defense, I didn't really let him do what he wanted to do. Paul and I wanted to walk along the water and look at the boats and the Navy aircraft. Liam wanted to sit in the hotel and watch TV. Not because he was being a couch potato but because he was happy to be in a hotel room. Weird, I know. Anyway, he kind of drove us crazy the whole time we were away from the room but he did enjoy chasing pigeons with his sister and eating a ginormous burrito.

 

 

Don't let this innocent smile fool you.

 

Luckily, the next day was a whole different story. Liam was very excited once again but I think he was too mesmerized with everything to let it get the best of him. We arrived at SeaWorld well before they opened and he stood at the gate like this.

 

When they opened them, he ran around the entryway yelling, "SeaWorld! SeaWorld!!! It's SeaWorld!!" The rest of his day was spent pressed against glass.

 

Or hatching out of eggs.

 

Or educating his little sister.

 

We sat in the Soak Zone at the Killer Whale show even though Liam was adamant that he did not want to get wet. We were relieved that he can't read yet but we were nice enough to pick him up and move back a few rows once the splashing started.

 

Yesterday, in the bath, Liam was said he was training Brygit. I think he wants this to be his career.

 

But THIS was the highlight of his day. Definitely his favorite part.

 

 

He was so brave and even touched these huge Bat Rays.

 

And fed a ton of flamingos.

 

He was very serious but he loved every moment and I loved watching him enjoy himself.

San Diego according to Brygit

We took a little two day vacation to San Diego this week. As with any good trip, there were some rough times and some incredibly fun times. I think it's interesting how differently the members of our family experienced this trip. We have been reminiscing about it a lot because I think it's funny (and a bit surprising) to hear what their favorite parts were and what stuck out in their minds. I will start with Brygit and go from there in a different post. Prepare yourself for picture overload.

 

Brygit started the trip with a fit over a paper heart Liam brought home from school that he didn't want her to tear apart. She then focused her energy on tearing apart the flower that he picked for me which resulted in a meltdown on his part and a pollen covered nap on hers.

 

We checked into our hotel and Brygit was a champ. She even carried her own suitcase the whole way to the room.

 

Then she made herself at home.

 

We left the hotel to walk around Seaport Village a bit. Brygit had some French Fries and enjoyed chasing Pigeons. In these pictures she was telling me about how they run and then they "flap flap flap."

 

We headed back to the hotel where she enjoyed writing on every piece of paper she could find with the hotel pen.

 

We spent some time around the hotel then went to bed. The next morning Brygit made faces in the mirror before leaving for SeaWorld. This is where I have to tell you that we had a hard time deciding between SeaWorld and the Zoo. Everything Brygit said seemed to lean toward the Zoo but her brother had a more convincing argument for SeaWorld. The one animal Brygit said she wanted to see was a bunny. No joke, we walked into SeaWorld and right away there was an employee standing on a corner with a gigantic rabbit and he was letting people pet it. I didn't get a picture but Brygit is STILL talking about how she "touched a bunny on his back." She loved it. 

 

After the bunny, Liam and Paul went on a ride while I took Brygit to the Arctic exhibit. I loved being alone with her there to really take in her reaction to the whales. She laughed every time they would come up for air and when they would go back into the water she would say, "more!"

 

A close second to the bunny is probably this wall of ice they had in the Arctic area where you can feel how cold it is there. She went past it twice and was still asking to go back until we were completely out of the exhibit.

 

And this happened. Disgusting, I know.

 

We then went through a ton of other exhibits and Liam was very helpful, as usual, with showing her where to look.

 

She even hung out with some sharks.

 

Another one of Brygit's favorites was the "splashing whales" who are known for getting the audience drenched. She also loved the music in the show and, again, eating French Fries while she watched.

 

We saw dolphins super up close and this was Brygit's face.

 

That is, until Paul leaned her over to touch one and she screamed, "No!" Looking was enough for her.

 

 She then fed some flamingos,

 

and drank too much Icee.

 

And we finished the day with a stop at SeaWorld's animal ambassadors. They had a sloth there and, if you've ever seen the Croods, you know there is a Sloth who frequently sings, "dun dun duuun" when there is talk of danger. Brygit was over the moon about meeting "dun dun dun" and when the keeper came out of the habitat she asked if we had any questions and Brygit said she wanted her to talk. She wanted her to say, "dun dun duuun." The trainer said that she has worked with this Sloth for four years and has only heard her make a sound once. Which made Brygit cry. She is still talking about how, "Dun dun dun doesn't talk anymore." I love that girl.

Dress up

Brygit is such a girly girl. She loves playing dress up and she adores her babies. Her Elsa dress gets a ton of use.

But she also likes dressing like this....

Who doesn't?

Kindergarten

 

 

Kindergarten registration is here. If you followed my posts last summer then you know I fretted over Liam starting preschool and attending 2 days a week for 3 hours at a time. I was worried he wouldn't go for being dropped off and left there so I chose a school for him that had loving teachers and lots of fun. He has loved it all year and I'm totally caught off guard by the fact that he only has 3 and a half months left before summer. Then it's off to public school 5 days a week. There's so much that worries me about that. I'm worried we haven't prepared him enough academically, I'm worried about the other kids he will meet and what kind of bad habits he may pick up from them, and I'm mostly worried that he won't be as loved or taken care of when class sizes are so large. Plus, every day?! So... no more spontaneous Disneyland trips? Or play dates? Or library trips? Life is about to change, that's for sure. We have weighed other options and, for now, this is the direction we are going to try. But not without some stressed out, sleepless nights. 

But I recently read a devotional that talked about worrying over the future. It said that I need to trust in God's "faithfulness to walk by your side and navigate your heart through the valleys of life." This was directed at the reader but I realized I have a hard time trusting God to walk by Liam's side and navigate him through his life's valleys. I don't want his life to have valleys at all and when hard times do come his way I want to be there with him to fight his battles for him. It's easy to trust God with my own life but my kids? That's a tough one. But, letting go and praying and trusting more has helped to reassure me that Liam will be just fine. I will do what I can to help him, obviously, but I need to trust that God is holding Liam when I can't. Staying up at night worrying won't change anything, but I know that prayer will.

 

By the way, the above picture was taken this week when Liam finally got his wish to attend "lunch bunch" after school. I packed him his very first lunch and then snapped a picture to commemorate right as he walked in the kitchen and asked, "Why are you taking a picture of my lunch?" He must think I'm nuts.

Salesmen

 

Liam is selling chocolate for Tee Ball and he is having a blast doing so. He asks to go out "delivering chocolate" every afternoon because he says that it makes people happy. "Everyone is just so happy with their chocolate." We have a system going where Brygit rings the doorbell, Liam holds the box and asks, "Would you like to buy some chocolate for my baseball team?" and then Brygit helps hand the chocolate over while Liam collects the money. And, occasionally, they stand on the porch and scream and fight over the box while I try to break them up right as the person opens their front door. And once there was a time where a few little dogs ran out and jumped on Liam leaving him screaming and crying which resulted in a guilt induced sale.

 

I, personally, have been surprised at how nice people are. I have always been the kind of person who hides in the house when the doorbell rings or who never has cash or who at least hesitates before buying anything. So it surprises me when people respond with an "Absolutely!" or "I'll take three!" or who ask how we like our new place. Or, even better, "Here's the money but you can have my candy bar." I think I almost cried. People can be very sweet sometimes. 

More celebrating

 After Brygit's birthday party, we pretty much spent the rest of the week celebrating. I love making a big deal of my kids' birthdays. Maybe it's to mask the depression I feel with each passing year or maybe it's just because I remember what it feels like to be a kid on my birthday. Probably a mixture of both. Anyway, we celebrated with a trip to Disneyland, a Valentine's Day party with our play group where they sang Happy Birthday and ate cupcakes, dinner and ice cream at the Old Spaghetti Factory when Daddy got home from work and a special package in the mail.