Aside from a few minor hiccups - forgetting my $100 Hertz rental car voucher, the San Diego Petting Zoo being a bust, and Rosco’s great nephew Mighty Mouse finding shelter in our hotel cupboards - our first official family vacation(vacation being at trip with a purpose other than visiting family) was perfect. I can’t imagine anything that could have made it better aside from more time!
William didn’t feel the need to nap on the flight there or home, but entertaining a toddler on the plane is MUCH easier with two people. He was very happy to just be there with us and behaved like an angel. We just wished we ALL could have napped. When we got to our hotel William instantly discovered the patio and for the next 4 days he chanted “outside, outside, outside” until someone opened the door for him. Good thing the weather there is manageable!!! Thursday we just unpacked, got settled, had dinner at Fuddruckers, and relaxed in our room. William really seemed to notice that we were in a new, special place and he soaked it all in. He loved being there! He stayed up late, slept in late, and barely napped the entire vacation – despite mommy’s best efforts.
Friday we spent the morning at the outlet mall on the Mexico border. Literally. We were trying to find new sandals for Austin and possibly new (bigger) elmo shoes for William, but apparently size 6 elmo shoes are a hot commodity. Of the 4 places we saw the shoes, none of them had size 6. We did find new shoes for Austin, but our shopping trip didn’t last too long as we didn’t really enjoy hearing more Spanish than English, and we didn’t really have any purpose to walk around a mall all day. After lunch and nap time we headed down to the beach. Unfortunately it was our only trip to the beach. See note above about more time needed. As we drove to the beach William enjoyed watching the “wawee” under the bridge, but when he thought we had passed all of the water he started crying “wawee wawee wawee” We tried explaining that there was more to come, but that was a lesson he needed to learn on his own I guess.
He was timid with the water, but he was very interested in exploring. He just wanted a little help. Austin went first and William was getting acclimated well until he got TOO wet(I wasn’t watching but I envision Austin and some dunking action) so then it was time for sand castle building. He had a blast throwing sand around (helping daddy dig, I mean) while Austin built a fort. We dug a hole behind the fort and filled it with water, which William splashed in until a big wave came and knocked the castle, myself, and William over. Good job watching mommy! After we salvaged our bags and things from the wreckage I took William into the water and we jumped over waves which he thought was hilarious. As a wave came I’d count to 3 then jump over it, and when we landed he’d say “pff pff pff” He really liked big waves – but my thighs sure didn’t!!! Jumping in sand and water while holding a 25 pound weight can wear your muscles out…in case you were looking for a new form of exercise. We played and played until it seemed like William was tired. And the proof: he didn’t cry “wawee” once as we walked away.
Austin’s buddy Rick is stationed in California now and by a joke that started on facebook we ended up arranging to see him for the weekend. Austin and Rick were stationed at Fort Hood together in their early army days, then reconnected here at Buckley for a few years, so they are old buddies. He drove down Friday after work and he came to Sea World and the zoo with us. Saturday was Sea World and William enjoyed it FAR more than I thought he would. I wasn’t really sure if he’d get it. But he did! When we first walked in there was a Sesame Street Bay at Play so we let him run around and play there for a little while. There were water sprayers which, naturally, were hilarious and there was a photo booth to take pictures with elmo and friends. We stood in line behind about 5 other families and William kept trying to cut in line, pointing at Elmo and shouting “elBOW”. When we got up there he touched Elmo’s hand, so I thought he was ok but when I set him in Elmo’s lap he was not happy. So I sat down and let him sit in my lap for the picture. Then as we walked away he all of a sudden realized Elmo wasn’t so bad and for the rest of the time at the Bay at Play he tried to escape back over to Elmo’s lap.
We tried to make it to the dolphin show but on our way there they announced it was full, so we headed to the 3:00 shamu show. When William saw the big tank full of bright blue water, though, I thought the next hour may be torturous. We got there at 2:30 to get good seats, and he spent the first 10 minutes screaming bloody murder for the wawee. We finally thought to distract him with his fisher price iPhone games and Rick bought him a bubble blower gun, so he calmed down and sort of forgot about the water. Until shamu came out. He was enthralled. He was laughing, screaming, pointing and smiling the entire time. During the 30 second break when they were switching whales he even did his baby sign language for “more”. He loved it! He clapped when it was over and he enjoyed the entire half hour show. We walked around looking at all the different animal exhibits before we thought we’d close out back at the sesame street park. That was until we realized that the crowd had nearly tripled and Austin and I both contemplated pummeling a woman who ran into William’s stroller. So, we called it a day and headed back to our hotel.
Sunday was zoo day which was the most anticipated day for me (hello, PANDA BEARS) but after Sea World’s excitement I wasn’t so sure the zoo could top it. We saw the monkeys first and there were 2 larger monkeys that were having a ball swinging in the trees and climbing the ropes. William got a kick out of that. He also liked the giraffes and looking at the water animals. He slept through the bears, tigers, and a lot of the other misc animals but Austin, Rick and I had fun. And whenever he was awake, he just kept pointing at the animals and talking. I just wish I knew what he was saying!
Sunday evening Austin and I tag-teamed who entertained William while the other lay in a comatose state on the couch. Two days of walking around parks in the heat had taken its toll on us and we had never wished for family nap time more. But William apparently had a relaxing 2 days in his stroller, so he was geared up for more suitcase pushing, sticker sticking, marker drawing, couch climbing, patio walking fun. He may have been entertained by those things the entire weekend if we’d let him! We took him to Benihana’s for dinner that night where we learned he likes shrimp (or likes to eat from chopsticks, who knows) and enjoys knife throwing chefs. Too bad he won’t be getting either one of those at home for the next 3 months. I do encourage him to eat foods I don’t like when we’re NOT at home, but I don’t plan to cook shrimp at the house. We’ll save that for daddy!
This may have been more of a play-by-play than anyone really cares to hear about, but I really wrote it for my own memory keeping sake. Eventually…someday…in the next 18 years…I would like to add this trip to William’s scrapbook and I want to remember all the fun details. But as I re-read this, I realize I didn’t even capture the fun. I didn’t capture the times we were driving down the freeway laughing hysterically as William mimicked Austin’s laughs or screamed mom-MEEEEEE or el-BOOWWWW or all other words pronounced like that. I didn’t capture the fun we had reading books or walking with William willingly holding each of our hands. He gained so much confidence and had the biggest grin when he had both of our hands in his. He was the king of the world. I didn’t, and can’t, capture the comfort I felt by being away from home, stress, and real-life with my two favorite people in the entire world. I used to want 4 kids, and if God were to bless me with 4 kids I know I’d be overflowing with thankfulness. But I learned this week that if God decided our family was complete with the birth of William, I’d be as richly blessed as a mom of 2 (or 4 or 19). I am so happy and in love with my family, and I couldn’t be more thankful for this life. It has its struggles, and in roughly 70 hours I’ll be right back in the thick of it. But our first family vacation brought me enough joy to overcome the next 95 days. I just might need to remind myself from time to time.
**pictures at a later date
- manda
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