Cali - 5: Rounding Out Our Trip

New Years
New Year's Day my parents had a little get together at their house with extended family and Bryan's parents came over too. It just got hotter and hotter by the end of the trip and I only brought a couple pairs of shorts for Max, so he wore mismatched clothes basically every day.

 Max liked to use the spa as a trampoline.

My niece, Thea, was swinging on this with some help from Max and she looked so serene and almost fell asleep on it.

 Every time we went to into the backyard, Max would pick a lemon from the tree and carry it around with him or throw it into a puddle of water.

 She was playing peek-a-boo with me over the rail.

Beach Trip
For our last activity we went to the beach with my parents and my brother's family. The water was pretty cold, but the weather was perfect. Only my brother, Johann, and Henry were brave enough to actually go into the water. Max seemed excited about it at first and went in, until a wave rushed up on him and then he was too scared to go in anymore. However, later I went in - just up to my ankles - and Max saw me, came all the way down from our sitting area, went into the water, and grabbed my hand to pull me out. I guess he wanted to protect me! Silly boy. Anyway, we had stopped to get some food from Chronic Taco and ate it on the beach. Max didn't eat his food as usual, so I fed it to the seagulls, which was so awesome! At first I would just throw it on the ground, but I quickly found out that they were very proficient at catching it in mid-air! You could seriously pick out a seagull that was hovering, toss it a piece of food, and it would catch it. Max had so much fun with the birds too! There were just TONS of them and he would run through them, making them fly into the air. Max loved playing in the sand too! Oh, the group next to us had a pretty good radio station playing really loudly that we all enjoyed reaping the benefits of.

 Max enjoyed jumping into this whole that someone had dug.

Henry was pulling this and Max tried to sit on it as he was doing so. Henry was so excited and wanted to pull Max all the way across the sand back to the cars, and he did! Max loved it too!

Saying Goodbye

 Saying goodbye to Kilika one last time.

 I've been begging my brother, Kaleb, to send me a fresh picture of he and Apollo for Max's photo album and he wasn't doing it, so I had to take advantage while I could!

 This kid is guaranteed to pass out instantly on the second plane.

California - 4

 My poor dog, Kilika, I'm sure was well overfed while we were there. He would get a handful of dog food and drop it down to her, and do this over and over again, every single day until we had to make him stop. He had the most fun every time, and the dog loves to eat, so she didn't mind either.

 That thing on the bench is made of yarn and Max would take it over to the piano and strum it like a guitar, while playing the piano.

 Max was terrified of dogs before we came down, but got used to mine and my in-law's dogs pretty quickly. Now he's back to being terrified again though.

 Max wearing my dad's Dodger hat.

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium & Ports O'Call

Bryan had gotten terribly sick with the flu for 3 days while we were down there so this activity was sans him. Max and I went with my parents to an aquarium in LA. Max was really enjoying it a lot while we were outside, but as soon as we tried to go inside where all the fish are, he started freaking out and wouldn't stop! Also, the whole time we were in California, if we were on an outing Max absolutely refused to be alone with anyone unless Bryan or I were with him. So my mom tried taking him out so I could see the fish, but he just wouldn't stop screaming until I went out with him. So that part of the trip didn't last long. We went to Ports O'Call and the San Pedro fish market, where my parents got me the best shrimp fajita dish that exists on the planet! While waiting, Max managed to spill his entire cup of water all over he and I. When the food came, I managed to take maybe 3 bites, when my mom then spilled my cup of water into the whole dish...That part of the trip didn't last long either.

 We tried to take a picture of the Jones side cousins, but they weren't really having any of it.

 During the first night in California, Max learned pretty quickly that Bryan and I were sleeping in the same room. So every night he would fall asleep on our bed, then when I came to bed, I would pick him up and move him to his crib, then around 1:00am like clockwork, he would wake up and rejoin me in the bed.

 Free cat if anyone wants her! (Really!)

Cheeseball! That's the best way to describe this kid.

Mission Inn
We went to the Mission Inn with Grandma and Papa Jones when then to Olivia's Mexican Restaurant after. Leave it to Max to find all the trains...

San Diego Zoo
Grandma and Papa Jones took us to the zoo while we were down. I couldn't wait to take Max to see all the animals from his books in real life. Of course, he mostly just enjoyed running around, but he seemed to really notice and enjoy the lions. He fell asleep before we could make it to the petting zoo. Oh! He loved the monkeys!

 The hippos were sleeping right on the glass!

 I think he bumped his head on the way up. This little area represents a polar bear's caves and it has some small tunnels that you have to crawl through. Last year Max was terrified when we tried to get him to go in. This year, it took a bit of a push, but once he went inside he didn't want to come out!

There was a helicopter you could sit in. There was a huge line of people waiting with their kids for this thing so Max could only stay in it long enough to take some pictures. He loved it though and kept asking to go back until it was out of sight.

 This jaguar was eating a bone right behind the glass! Awesome!

 Max had fun dropping rocks onto the light...and I may not have stopped him...and I may not have removed the rocks...I can't remember...it was nearing the end of a long day.

 We stopped at In N Out on the way home. Yum.