LA & Disneyland Adventure

We are home!!! Our trip was such a blast, like, I can't even properly describe how fun it was. We left {way too early} Sunday and drove to Northridge to attend a friends daughter's 1st birthday party. We all had an fantastic time hanging out and watching the babies play. Oh, you need to see Jude's outfit.

Ya, that IS a baby-tux-onesie (praise you, H&M).

So after a day of driving, epic fun and more driving, we arrived at our hotel. It wasn't by any means the nicest hotel I've been in, nor the worst, but it was convenient because it was right next to the entrance of Disneyland.

We went to bed before 9pm. That hasn't happened since....wait, has it ever happened?

The next morning we woke up. To rain. Not a fan. But, we were there and we drove 7+ hours so we were going to freaking Disneyland and we were going to have fun (even if it killed me). Luckily, it only sprinkled for maybe an hour all day and we were on rides almost the whole time, so it ended up being no biggie. Plus, we'd take a little rain in place of heat any day.

Once we got into the park (after taking a few pictures at the entrance, I mean...you have to) we saw Alice and the Mad Hatter from Wonderland. Jude and I introduced ourselves and took some pictures. Probably the cutest part of our day was when a few hours later we saw the Mad Hatter cruising by on a car with some other characters and he saw Jude and yelled, "Hi Jude!!" it was really cute. Also, I'm pretty sure there were a few jealous kids staring at him thinking, he must be famous!

Jude did surprisingly well on all the rides. His first ride was Pirates of the Caribbean and I think the first minute he was kind of looking at my like, "What the eff, Mom?!" but then once the ride actually got going it was more like, "Mom this is freaking awesome!!!"

We also went on Haunted Mansion (twice), Finding Nemo, Buzz Light year, Its a Small World, Storybook Land and Jungle Cruise. It worked out that one of our other friends from LA area was able to come meet us at the park (they have season passes, how lucky!) for a few hours so Jude got to share some of his day with his buddy Nathan too.

He only took one (very short) nap all day and did amazing considering!! He even stayed up through the parade that evening. After the parade we still had time (and somehow, energy) to go on Pirates of the Caribbean one more time AND watch Daddy go on Splash Mountain.

Here are pictures from our day :)

Lastly, here is how excited we were to get home:

Jude's First Big Trip!

Jude, Nana & I made a trip last week to Oaklahoma City to see my little brother Bobby & his gf and family. Most importantly, we were going to see Lilah my niece that was just born about 3 weeks ago. I was so nerves about the flying part of our trip but it went as smoothly as possible. Jude slept most of the time on the flights and when he was awake he was happy as can be! Let me tell you what though, I thought taking this kid to Target was hard...traveling with a baby is hard work! By the time we arrived, we were exhausted. Which kinda ended up working out because of the time difference.


Bug sleeping on the plane.

Bobby & Lilah.

The weather was beautiful while we were there, which everyone kept saying was very rare. Jude enjoyed our walk down by water when we went to Bricktown our 2nd day. My brother took us to lunch at this fun southern style restaurant called Earl's Ribs.


Bricktown.



Jude & Nana at Earl's.

That evening we had dinner at this really fun Japanese steak house that Brandi's Mom took us to. They cook all the food in front of you, like Benihana here. Jude slept through the whole thing, he was burnt out from our long walk!


Everyone minus Jude who was sleeping in his stroller at dinner.

Saturday, our third day, was also really enjoyable. We went to a fun Tex Mex restaurant that sits on a beautiful lake (man made I am guessing). Jude grabbed a tortilla chip and stuck it right in his mouth. He looked like he was enjoying it so much I didn't have the heart to take it away. After lunch we went to a huge local mall and walked around for a while because it was getting pretty windy. Jude enjoyed flirting with all the girls at the mall and hanging out with his cousin.





Sunday Jude & I were very excited because we got to go to Cracker Barrel and have lunch with our good friends Darah, Savannah & Ari(Air-ee). Baby Ari was just beautiful and had the cutest cheeks! Savannah is 7 and absolutely stunning, she reminded me a lot of my niece Ari(Ar-ee)! Darah bought Jude & Ari matcing sock monkeys, they are so adorable and cuddly.







That evening we had a little Oscar's pizza party at Bobby, Brandi & Ginger's house. Jude was very into watching the Oscars. Maybe he will be like his Dad and enjoy shopping.







Sunday Brandi & Nana had been sick :( we thought maybe it was food poisoning but when I woke up Monday morning very sick, I knew too well it was the flu. So the travel home was less than ideal. Tired, sick & traveling on a tiny plane that had turbulence 90% of the trip. It made it even better to be home after that! Jude & I were sooooooo excited to see Michael. We really missed him too much. I don't think we will ever be traveling without him again!! At least not if we can help it :)

All in all it was a great trip. The difference between Jude at 4 months and 5 is astounding. I can't wait for all that lies ahead but I really try to live in today and enjoy every second with my beautiful boy :)

Here are a few recent pictures of the little meatball:

Jude's First Playdate! (Jude & Jilly)

Today was Jude's first play date and it couldn't have been anymore fun. Jilly is 5 months old and Jude about 3.5 but you wouldn't know it by looking at them. Jilly is still quite small, lean and long. Jude looks like a giant meatball sub next to her. She is very dainty and has beautiful eyes & gorgeous long eyelashes. Jude was quite smitten, however Jilly is much more of a flirt. Thank you Krista & Jilly for such a fun day!!! Here are some highlights(more pictures to come later)...

Out to lunch:




Video of Jilly hitting on JudeVideo Here.


Shopping:


Typical that Jude slept the whole time with Jilly was all about it.





Playing after nap time:

Jude was a little jealous of Jilly's head holding and scooting skills. He kept trying so hard to hold his head up for as long as her but he couldn't so he just turned his head to the side and staring at her. He may have been overwhelmed by her cuteness.
Video: Video Here.