Cali Vacay 4: End of 2012

Just Hanging Out

                                                                                     Devouring a candy bar.

                    Chatting it up on the phone.                       Sitting on Grandma Jones' chair.

 

 Max loved this gift to my mom from my brother and his wife so much, that he ended up shattering it. I felt so so so so bad!!!!!!!!!

 Uncle Derek got this for Max, but instead of pulling it around himself, he insisted on someone else chasing him with it.

 Admiring Abuela's necklace.

     Max finally learned to fall asleep in               A day at the park with Grandpa and Abuela

   the car on this trip!                                        Simonds while Bryan works on moving and
                                                                          cleaning his parent's house.

 San Diego Wild Animal Park...I mean, San Diego Safari Park
That's still taking getting some used to! I guess I didn't take very many pictures. I started raining shortly after we got there and didn't stop. Max still had a great time, but he's still too young to really care about the actual animals. Though he does like to feed the ducks.

 Max wasn't really a fan of the carousel.

We Like to Hang

 On top of Papa and Grandma Jones' bed.         Max's car seat did a lot of transferring from one                                                                              car to another, so he thought he'd make
                                                                            use of it.

  Meeting Brydan, the dog Bryan's parents got to replace Bryan and his brother, Daniel, while they were both on their missions.

Sea World, San Diego

 This trip included lots of visits to San Diego. We spent New Year's Eve at Sea World with Papa and Grandma Jones. I hadn't been there since I was a little kid! I was so excited to go! Luckily, it wasn't crowded at all.

 Grandma Jones and Max.

 We went through the shark tunnel, but all Max cared about was riding the moving walkway.

 Bryan and Papa Jones held Max up on the penguin moving walkway so he could see.

 Can you spot the beluga whale? I think they may be my new favorite animal. They are seriously the whitest creatures I have ever seen!

 The polar bear was sleeping.

 It was just two beluga whales for a while, then they opened a door and released three young ones. It looked like a baby (hidden in the shadows) and two kids. Soooo cute! The kids had a blast swimming around while the baby stayed in the shadow behind the mama and dada whales.

 I though Max looked hilarious walking around stark naked with socks on.

Last picture of 2012!!

A Very Cali Christmas - 3

Boy, what a Christmas we had! It's really something special to be able to spend the holiday with both of our families, instead of having to choose one or the other. Bryan and I are so blessed to have been from the same city. Since Bryan's family does Christmas so early (7:00am was always their wake-up time on Christmas day - not so hard now that I have a baby), we spent the morning opening presents at the Jones house. Max was their only grandchild this year and boy was he spoiled!

 

 A rare moment: Max smiling for the camera. So cute!

 

 He got tons are "Cars" stuff, which he loves.

 Bath time and a quick rearranging of the furniture before heading over to the Simonds household.

And on to the Simonds'. All four of the grandchildren were able to be here for Christmas. Such a blessing! The only person missing this year was my brother, Derek. It was so sad to spend Christmas without him this year! We Skyped with him while opening all the gifts he sent for the kids.

 Cousin Henry. Henry definitely had his ups and downs with Max. He would always start out in love with him and wanting to play, then Max would do something baby-ish and Henry would start telling him he was naughty and that he was getting coal next year. He just didn't quite grasp the concept that Max was too young for most things. I can't wait till Max is old enough for them to really play together.

 Max started complaining and I looked over to find him in this stool thing. I pulled him out and turned it over so he could sit on it properly, then he immediately turned it back upside down and tried getting back in it this way.

 Pulled some presents out of this box and instantly hopped in.

 At my house we try and take turns opening gifts, but there were so many of us this year, that it got quite difficult. I looked over and Max had started opening one of his gifts all by himself. It was the cutest thing to see!

 My sister-in-law, Deborah, found this necklace on etsy where you can get a date inscribed on a letter, so we all pitched in and got my mom this necklace with the first letter of her grandchildren's names (Henry, Max, Dorothea, and Apollo) and their birth dates inscribed on them.

 Brother, Johann, sister-in-law, Deborah and niece, Thea.

 My dad got Bryan's book, Immune! (My dad recently had cataract surgery and had to wears these sunglasses for a bit).

 Henry told us he knew what that present was because he could tell by the way it felt when it was wrapped.

 My dad burned me all of the Beatles CDs!!!!!

 Deborah, Thea and me :). I love my little niece!

 Brothers, Johann and Kaleb, sister-in-law, Kailee, and baby Apollo. Both Thea and Apollo are such pleasant babies! Thea was always so quiet when she was over and wouldn't even care if she was left sitting in a room by herself (which didn't happen much, just saying). Apollo only ever cried when he was hungry and he has such a soft, sweet cry. He was always happy just chillin like a villain.

 Kailee, Apollo and me :)

It took a long time to get Max to actually stand on the scooter properly. We would put one foot on and he would take the other off.

 Max always waited patiently at the edge of the deck for someone to help him down. Eventually he got brave enough and coordinated enough that he could get down himself.

 My Aunt Anne. Max started crying shortly after this picture.

                                                                                              Max would start yelling every time Kaleb

                                                                                              would stop spinning the chair.