California-2: Disneyland!!

We were so so very lucky to be able to go to Disneyland on our trip to California this year. Max loved absolutely every minute of it! I thought he was going to fall asleep late afternoon from so much activity, but he refused to fall asleep and was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the entire time we were there.

Both parks opened and closed at the same time so we started out in California Adventure.

First ride! Max's face before the ride started...

And during! He was nervous at first. but loved it once it got started!

When you ask Max what his favorite ride at Disneyland was he will say "tractor tipping".

Meeting Mater. Max wasn't really a fan. I feel like maybe he likes Lightening McQueen more, but it seems he just doesn't like character meets. When we headed into Disneyland, Mickey was there near the entrance and Max spotted him. I asked Max if he wanted to see Mickey and take a picture with him, but he said no.

Max may say Mater's Junkyard Jamboree was his favorite ride, but I think it was Toy Story Midway Mania. He kept the glasses on the entire ride (though I would have to adjust them constantly because they kept falling down). After the ride was over, Max didn't want to get up and said with such a happy face that he wanted to ride it again. The line was super long though so we didn't do it, but I felt bad after and still do!

Max loves carousels.

Radiator Springs Racers! So the height for most of the big rides is 40" and with some stretching, Max could just barely make it to that height. He was able to reach it for this ride. We tried to go on Big Thunder Mountian and he made the height limit at the beginning of the line, but not at the end. Max didn't understand what was going on when they told us we couldn't ride and he was very disappointed and embarrassed when they had us walk through the train and get right off on the other side. We didn't attempt another big ride after that.

Anyway, he seemed to like this ride enough. He talked throughout it about how "we're racing!" and stuff, but his face would go from happy to nervous and back again. I wanted to take a picture of this to show how tiny Max looks in that car!

Max insisted on crossing the bridge, but I didn't understand what he was talking about until we reached the top of Tarzan's Treehouse.

Cousins from Uruguay! Leo, Rosana and their daughters Sofia and Lisset.

Max was totally prepared to ride Dumbo by himself! He got on and I wanted to take a picture so I didn't get on right away, but Max sat in the middle and buckled himself right in! I had to unbuckle and make him scoot over for me!

My brother, Kaleb, and my mom.

He loved being able to control Dumbo. "We go up! And we go down!..."

I told you he loves carousels!

Disneyland closed at 8 and by the end of the night we were just all of a sudden running out of time! We had to scramble to find dinner for Max and were lucky to find a place not only still serving food, but food that Max would eat. After dinner I changed him into his pajamas (best advice I've ever been given) and he passed out pretty quickly in the stroller. I also, very unintelligently, saved souvenir purchasing for the end of the night and had to practically run through all the shops to find something for Bryan, Max and I. In the end, I wasn't very happy with what I got for Max (especially since Max couldn't help me pick out what he wanted!), but since I wasn't going back to Disneyland, I couldn't exchange it another day. It's growing on me. I seriously love Disneyland. We went at a great time. Though I felt like we didn't have enough time to do everything I wanted, the park wasn't very crowded and Max love every minute, which is what matters most to me.

California-1!!!

This was our first Christmas that Bryan's and my parents were living in different states. It's such a bummer that we now have to completely split up our holidays and vacations, only being able to be with one family for the duration. It was technically supposed to be my parents' turn to have us for Christmas, but Bryan had to work, so we were unable to go down to California for the first year EVER! It was a pretty tough Christmas for me, I have to admit. My parents were having family from Uruguay visiting throughout the month of January and I really wanted to see them, so lucky for me and especially lucky for Max, my parents and Bryan convinced me to go to California, just me and Max. It was hard being without Bryan for two weeks, but Max loved absolutely every minute of it and it was great to see my Uruguay family that I very rarely get to see.
Flying to California!
What was supposed to be a super exciting day, turned into one long miserable day. The ultimate thing that pushed me to go to California without Bryan was hearing about this cheaply priced airline that flies out of Provo (I never knew!). We were supposed to fly out at 8am, but due to severe fog, we didn't end up flying out until 8pm!! Max and I were at the airport, waiting, waiting, already using up all my airplane distractions, when we finally get notification that our plane that was supposed to fly in, was circling and couldn't land due to the fog, so it turned around and flew back to Arizona. After the second delay, we were allowed to leave the airport, so Bryan came to pick us up. We went back to the house for a couple hours and headed back to the airport. We get there, a third delay. We leave to the mall. We get back, a fourth delay. We hung around the lobby for a long time. A fifth delay. We went to dinner at Arbys. Finally when we get back to the airport, our plane is set to actually land and we are able to get on and take off! This wasn't our intended plane and was much bigger, so Max and I were able to get a row to ourselves. Small consolation?

Orange Empire Railway Museum
This is just going to have to be a California tradition for us. Max loves loves loves this place! We went during the week so the only way we could see most of the trains was by taking free tour. The guy let us in all the buildings and told us all about the trains. Max soaked it all in, showing off his own knowledge about all the trains and their parts.

 Max's cousin Apollo (Pahwo, according to Max) and my brother, Kaleb's, son. Instant. Best. Friends. Apollo is a whole year younger than Max, but is pretty much the same size. They barely spent a minute apart.

 Max asked me to take a picture of him.

 The guy let Max step on this thing that made the bell ding.

 My mom (Abuela), Tia Marta, cousin Gaby, brother Kaleb, nephew Apollo, and my cutie Max.

 Adorbs. Apollo basically followed Max everywhere when they were together and did everything Max did.

 This is the type of locomotive that Walt Disney modeled his Disneyland trains on.

 This is the oldest engine they have. It is over 100 years old!

Max's prize.

Grampa and Abuela's House

For the first few days, when I would tell Max we needed to get dressed to go bye-bye, he would freak out, refusing, saying, "No! I stay here at Boila's (Abuela's) house!" And it took a few days of convincing for him to realize we were going to be there for a while. Also, every morning for a few days as well, Max would wake up smiling and exclaim, "I staying at Boila's house!" Oh, also, I got a new camera! It's an Olympus XZ-2 and is what's called a bridge camera. Not as good as an SLR, but so much better than a point-and-shoot. I got it for my birthday and am still learning how to best use it. The auto setting isn't as great as I wish it would be, so I have to use the manual controls to get the best shots and there is a lot to learn. The rest of the pictures from here on out are taken with me new camera :)

 These are my second cousins Sofia and Lisset. They loved playing with Max and Max loved having someone to always play with him.

 Max and I shared a bed, which was fine for the first few nights, but then he decided he would much prefer sleeping with his feet in my back, no matter which way he was facing. It was quite painful for me and I would have to move him away throughout the night.

 Kilika.

 Max desparately wanted to go out into Kilika's area, but she can be accidentally aggressive. She just gets so excited and can't tell the different between a small child and full grown adult. Right after this pictures, she knocked Max over and scrathed his arm. I felt so bad!

 But he loves her anyway.

 Soooo windy!!

 My cousin Gaby.

 My mom has orange, tangerine and lemon trees that Max loved picking from and eating from all day long.

 He also enjoyed jumping on and hanging out on the spa.

 Max kept asking to eat a lemon, so after much convincing, I peeled one for him and gave him a piece. He knew we were trying to take a picture of his sour face, so attempted to smile anyway!

 Second piece, again trying to smile and say cheese.

 Third piece and he finally wasn't able to hold it back any longer. He didn't want anymore pieces after that.

 Happy that it's over!

One of the art settings on my camera which are pretty cool!