let's fly a kite

I love kite flying.

It reminds me of my brother. He always took Brooke and I kite flying in the spring. Always right around his birthday too.

It's been on my spring docket this year but we really don't get much wind round here.

As soon as kites made it to wal-mart I bought one for us.

Then just about everyday for weeks I'd watch the trees for some kind of branch movement.

Finally one day I was pulling into the neighborhood and saw 4 or 5 kites flying at our park. 

It was a now or never thing so as soon as we pulled in I loaded Brig and the kite in the stroller.

It was hilarious.

Like I said it was a spur of the moment, we're never going to get wind again kind of outing which means I ventured out in a dress and flats and a big ole' 31-ish week belly.

Getting our kite up wasn't to difficult Brig threw it good enough for our wind to pick her up.

But Brig getting the fact that we hold on to the string and don't let go was another story.

I must have looked hilarious chasing after that dumb kite countless times after Brig just let go.

The worst part of me chasing after the kite?

Well Brig thought it was part of the kite flying experience, and the funniest part at that.

So I chased the dang kite in my terrible flats and dress.

We flew our kite for a good 30 min and Brig did finally get that we hold onto the string.

Once we got the kite to the proper Brig altitude it was bliss for him.

He kept trying to run it over to the big kids flying their kites though.

Best part is we checked another box off our pre-baby, spring docket :)

Disneyland!

I'm gonna try whip this blog into shape before I really put down how I feel about things.

So first things first.

We took Brig to Disneyland in February (superbowl weekend to be exact)

I've been dying and dying to do this trip. Nate has been a firm "not before he's 3" advocate. 

BUT sometime in November Natey's tune changed when he sent me an email with a trip booked to Disneyland in February.

Really, he booked the ideal trip for us. Fly our of Santa Rosa friday 6 am, arrive at Disneyland around 10 am, check-in at the Grand Californian for friday and saturday night, leave for Santa Rosa Sunday evening. 

Flying out of Santa Rosa means we took a commuter jet to LAX.

Which means you walk out to the plane and up the stairs, and your plane has propellers.

Brig thought it was fantastic.

He couldn't be more thrilled about having his own bag. He's been obsessed with our luggage since we got back from our trip to Utah in December so I really wanted to get him his own rolling bag for this trip. Unfortunately, the Thomas variety was readily available

The classic picture.

Sigh.. if only I was patient enough to wait in the line to have the whole fam in the picture.

The first ride we hit up was Snow White.

There was no line and it was a terrible idea. It's probably the scariest ride in fantasyland.

King Arthurs carousel soothed that mistake a bit and Brig was pumped to be by daddy.

Then we did casey jr.

Our whole plan of action for Disneyland was fantastic with a just under 2 year old. We pretty much avoided any lines and when we got tired we went back to the hotel to put brig down for a nap.

The one and only long line we waited in. 

Dumbo.

But Brig had mickey suckers and a fence to keep him distracted. And then when all else failed, he laid down on the concrete and tried to go to sleep.

No better place to view Disneyland :)

We did breakfast the next day at the Critter Cafe.

And for some reason, Rafiki is considered a critter.

We sat down and Rafiki was at the next table.

Then Rafiki looked Brig's way.

And  walked closer.

And the remainder of breakfast was spent on my lap.

But Brig did get Mickey waffles

and they made it almost worth scary Rafiki

It was funny, because while he was terrified of any creature coming close to him, he was fascinated and couldn't take his eyes off them. Brig did let his dad take him to see the singing and dancing.

And finally at the end of breakfast, Chip (or Dale?) made some headway.

How you ask?

With the assistance of Woody and Jesse of course!

And then I guess the overpriced breakfast was worth it... or something

Oh and here is a visual of our best purchase in Disneyland.

We officially entered the realm of "guys" at Disneyland and all 10 that came in the pack travelled throughout Disneyland with us. Brig would load them in the bottom of the stroller pick the two that were lucky enough to hold and was ready to go (usually that was either Buzz and Woody, or Buzz and Jesse)

Monsters Inc. was Brig's favorite show at the time of departure so we were so excited to visit California Adventure for the ride and the parade.

Turns out Sully is really scary in real life for a Brig

And turns out California Adventure is a total bust right now.

Don't waste your money on a park-hopper pass cause NOTHING was open in California Adventure.

After our disappointing visit to California Adventure and a failed nap time, we decided to hit up the pool.

We haven't been swimming since September and it's amazing what 5 months does to a little man and swimming.

He was a crazy man and luckily he was swimming with his daddy and not his big old momma.

All the loungers were just laughing at his fearlessness running in and out of the pool.

And he had the biggest smiles of the trip for our little afternoon at the pool.

Dumbo round 2

It really is a fun ride :)

And the train of course.

It was so fun being at Disneyland and seeing it all from a new boy persepective. I'm wired to fantasyland and castles being the magical part of disneyland. For brig, the surplus of trains was exceptional. I had never been on casey jr and I never even heard of the monorail. We frequented both for a thrilled Briggers.

Oh, look who has their guys?

And lastly of course, a family shot with Mickey.

OVERALL:

-Nate was right, 2 is too young for Disneyland to be magical

-Disneyland is a fantastic place for families

-We could not possibly have had better weather

-Brig's favorite ride was "It's a small world." Why you ask? Why because it's a giant music box and no one likes music boxes like my Brig.

- Disneyland and 30 weeks of pregnancy is tough

-Most rides at Disneyland are quite accommodating for big pregnant ladies.

- Disneyland in the off-season is a bit of a bust. If this had been our family vacation we'd been planning and saving for years for, I would have been pissed. So much was closed.

-Flying out of Santa Rosa is bomb.

-MY husband, did not watch the super bowl. He loves his family :)

And now moving forward.