Big Boy Bed and Pretty Headband Modeling

At age 3 1/2, we decided Waylon was finally old enough to move to the big boy bed. Most of his buddies moved out of their cribs long ago, but we kept him trapped with the crib tent. The thing about Waylon is it takes him FOREVER to fall asleep. He takes at least an hour, but usually 1 1/2 to 2 hours, to fall asleep after he "goes to bed." We could not imagine what it would be like to have our high energy son "free" to roam during that time. He would have destroyed everything!

Since Waylon has calmed down A LOT, we decided he was ready for the big move. It was painless at first, but once he got over his fear of having us bring back the tent, he gets into everything. His room is barren these days, and we have to threaten to take away all of his loveys if he gets up and turns on the light.

As a side note, he found this purple headband in Avalon's room and was rocking it while getting ready for bed. I had to snap a photo for daddy, who was not home. He actually fell asleep with it on. I was loving it!

OC Fair

I absolutely love amusement parks, fairs, carnivals, etc... If a place has unsafe rides and high-caloric food, count me in! There is one problem...Aaron. He hates crowds and heat. I have tried for several years to get him to go to the OC Fair, but he has always weasled his way out. This year I was more persistent. We went after work, hoping the crowds would be less. We were wrong. It was crowded and hot, but the kids and I had a ball. I think Aaron even had some fun once he had some beer and bad food. The only downside was that I forgot the camera in the car, so the first 3 photos are with my phone.

Both kids were dying to go on the pony ride. Waylon loved it...
Avalon not so much. She was eager to go until we tried to hand her off to the carny, who was going to put her on the pony. She lost it--as seen above.

We went on the REALLY big ferris wheel, and had fun checking out the sights below.

On our way out, Waylon enjoys his churro!

Both kids slept VERY well that night!

Slip n Slide & BBQ at the Harden's

Waylon joined his "bathing trunk twin," Tanner, for some slip n slide fun in July while mom & dad enjoyed margaritas and delicious BBQ with the Hardens. Its always fun to watch Waylon and Tanner together. They are 100% boys when they are together! Avalon had a "ball" although she cant quite play with Taylor, who is 12 months younger. As its getting cold and dark very early, this blog post is making me really miss the summer. p.s. sorry for the poor quality photos, but something about the transfer of the pictures from our old computer has really distorted the quality.

A Million Apologies

I am so sorry that I have not posted anything for months. Initially I was busy (and lazy), but some time in August our computer broke down, which had 99% of the photos. We finally got all of the data from that computer uploaded to the computer that works (thanks, mom, for the hand-me-down!), and we FINALLY set up a zip drive so we can back up all of the photos. I am not sure how everything works, but at least I am starting to get caught up on posts. I only have 15 posts to go! I wish I were kidding. Although its starting to feel like Fall outside, its going to be Summer on the blog for quite awhile.

Our Big, Big Catalina Vacation

For those of you that dont have kids, or if your children are all grown up, I am going to let you in on a little secret. Traveling with kids sucks. Seriously, before I had kids I thought I would take them everywhere and teach them to adapt their schedules to our "on the go" lifestyle. We would backpack through exotic locations and never miss a beat with our travel-savvy kids. I was totally and completely off my rocker.

Going anywhere with kids takes zillions of hours of planning, gabillions of pounds of gear, and is never as easy (or fun) as staying home and keeping them on their schedule. I am exaggerating a little, but not much. All of that said, as parents we still have a desire to break up our routine and travel. We decided the best way to balance the kids needs and our own was to take our "big" vacation of the year to Catalina. We went in late July and the kids seemed to have fun, and we definitely had some good times. However, unless we can afford a full-time travel nanny on our vacations, it will be several more years before a vacation is "fun," and MANY more years before its easy.

I love this photo of my 2 white trash kids hanging out in the camping cabin. Catalina is so dusty that the second they stepped out the door they were covered in red dust from head to toe. They loved it!
Waylon and Avalon enjoyed some giggles in her pack n play (did I mention the mountain of baby gear that is needed with kids this age?)

We hosted the kids event for the weekend, which was cookie decorating. Avalon & Waylon are always fans of frosted cookies, and they were joined by two other FJYC kids.

Reading Bernstein Bears on the rocky beach is just as good as enjoying a mai tai while relaxing on a boat, right Aaron?

Grandpa & Grandma Davis were in Catalina at the same time so Waylon got to hang out with his favorite playmate...grandpa!

More baby gear...the back pack.

Avalon enjoyed gold fish crackers and water while relaxing after a long day of play.

The best part of vacations at the FJYC cabins are the early morning wake ups. You just head straight down to the porch and let Avalon wake up while starting at the boats.

Winner of the "Best Sandbox View" award.

Boating Fun in July

Aaron and Waylon, and sometimes Avalon and I, enjoyed several boating trips with Grandpa Davis in the Dana Point harbor. Here is one excursion we took on July 12, 2009. The hilight is always going to DPYC after our "cruise" for Waylon's favorite, a cheese sandwich!