Another Awesome Road Trip

We drove up to Sacramento 3 weeks ago to visit my family. It's a 10 hour drive (including 3 stops) and I wasn't sure how Kayla would handle it, but she watched reruns of Yo Gabba Gabba on our laptop the whole way and didn't hardly fuss at all! My mom and other relatives knew we were coming, but we didn't tell my grandparents and it was so fun to see how surprised and happy they were when we rang the doorbell! The next morning, we had a play date with cousin Daniel at Fairytale Town (which is just a block away from my folks' house). I remember going there when I was a kid and having so much fun and now Kayla gets to enjoy it!

At first, Kayla was excited to just chase squirrels around and watch them run up the trees (something you don't see when you live in the desert)! Eventually she became interested in the attractions, but she insisted on holding her pink Care Bear figure the whole time (you'll notice it's in every picture).















Then we walked next door to Funderland!


The first time Kayla went on this fishy ride, she cried so much they had to stop the ride so we could get her off. Then she went on it again with Daniel and tolerated it, but still didn't care for it much. She liked all the other rides though.

The buggie ride was Kayla's favorite. She made us go on it 5 times!

Later that evening, we all met at the Sushi Cafe for dinner. Once the kids were done eating, they couldn't wait to get down and play together. First, the staring contest.

Then lots of hugs, jumping, and just plain sillyness.

Sunday night we all went to Auntie May's house for dinner. Kayla got to play with Daniel one last time before our long trip home the next morning.

After dinner, we gathered in the kitchen for dessert and suddenly a simple night with the family transformed into a belated Birthday party for Kayla! Wow, this time the surprise was on us! She even got to wear a Birthday crown and had her own piece of Birthday cake!

She loves to blow out the candles.

Eating cake is pretty fun too!

Of course, it wouldn't be a Birthday party without presents! Yay, thank you everyone for all the cool stuff!

Princess Daddy! Kayla got tired of wearing the crown and put it on Devin's head.

Good night Daniel. Hope to visit and play with you again soon!

Arizona Road Trip

We took a last minute road trip to Casa Grande, Arizona one weekend because Grandma Evi and Grandpa Gary flew down to babysit Trisha and Tim's kids while they went on a business trip to Hawaii. With Arizona being only a 4 hour drive, we couldn't resist the opportunity to go see them plus give Kayla a chance to play with her cousins Kendis and Mason. And since Trisha and Tim didn't leave until Monday, we all got to spend a couple of days hanging out together! As soon as we arrived, their cat Komo came up to greet us at the door and Kayla was instantly smitten.

She had so much fun playing with Kendis and Mason and all of their toys!

It was hot, a great day to go swimming and splash in the water.


Here's Kendis and Kayla enjoying frozen Go-gerts.

Once we were all done swimming, Kayla threw a fit and would not let me put her clothes back on. Then she ran off into the toy room in her diaper. After a while, I went to go check on her and I found her happily playing by herself. She was talking to Kendis's baby doll while strapping her in the car seat. It was so cute, I had to snap a picture!

The kids had so much fun together. Time for a group hug!

They took turns taking pictures with my camera. Of course they all came out blurry or off center except for this one turned out great! Kendis is quite the photographer!

Tuesday, September 7th

On Kayla's actual birthday we went out to dinner. I can't believe my little baby is already 2!

But first we took her to Toys R' Us to spend her gift card. When we got there they gave her a birthday crown and balloon. We walked through the entire store and all she was interested in was this ball. (Just great, we have a whole house full of balls and she wants another one!) Finally, I convinced her to pick out a My Little Pony too. (Actually, I picked it out because the colors matched her outfit and it has butterflies on it!)

Here we are at CPK on El Paseo waiting for dinner to come.