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!