TWO: A Birthday Post In Pictures

Oh, Those Crocks.

Before we left on vacation, one of the things on my to do list was to buy Rhys some beach shoes. Something he could wear in the sand... Croc-type shoes.

We were in Payless. There were 3 pairs in his size. The first pair we tried to put on his feet where cute, navy blue with a white & red stripe. Very 'sailor-esque'. I liked them because the navy would match everything. My attempts were met with 'NeeeOOOOOO!'NO! NO!'.

The next pair, Warren's pick, was army camouflage. Very masculine. Again 'NeeeeeeOOOOOO! NO! NO!'.

I picked up the last pair. A hideous blue & white tie-dyed pair. Rhys' face lit up. 'Want to put these shoes on?" I asked sweetly. 'Kay', he said, and pointed his little toes in anticipation. Like Cinderella waiting to see if the slipper fit.

They certainly weren't my first pick, or my second, but Rhys picked them out, and for that reason, I love them, too.

A Lesson In Building Sand Castles

Action Shots!

A Healthy Balance.

I *may* be indulging in *a few* treats while on vacation, but I'm also getting a mini-workout the rest of the time, too.

He's Still Got It.

(My apologies for the slow down in blogging...our Internet wasn't working for a day or two...which was paaaaaainful).

A Conversation With Warren

Warren had just arrived back to the condo, after an evening stroll to the grocery store.

Warren: Soooo...on my way to the store, a group of girls driving by hollered at me. (A hint of pride in his voice).

Amanda: Really? Like...a Cat Call?

Warren: Yup. (An undertone of cockiness in his voice).

Amanda: Okay... so what did they say?

Warren: "I bet you have a tiny dink".

Amanda: (nearly spits out her water, and starts choking on it through her laughter). Uh...huh. (snort) And (cough, choke) you're PROUD (snort, snort, cough) of this? (tears are flowing now).

Warren: Hey. I'm forty, I live with a toddler, and I'm walking to Von's to pick up baby shampoo and juice boxes. I'll take what I can get.

The Walk Home...

...on Daddy's shoulders.

This Is Rhys. In Heaven.

Best. Park. Ever.

We found an amazing toddler outdoor play area about a 20 minute walk from our place. It was huge. Fully enclosed. Had baby swings, a slide, sand pits, 2 trains and more toy riding cars than a little boy knows what to do with. And surrounding it were tennis courts, basketball courts, a 5 years+ playground, a pottery studio and archery field.

The City of Manhattan Beach is doing something right.

Warren and I sat and ate our hot & fresh breakfast bagels, while Rhys explored in his charming deadpan way. I'm sure I'll end up with more photos of this park before our vacation ends.

Whispering to the ants:

This is it boys... we've been spotted!:

Unconventional

An unconventional way to sit on a stroller:

An unconventional way to have 'a sit down':

Mmmmm...finally.

The Beach.

Counting grains of sand:

No exaggeration, these two spent at least 45 minutes by the water, just watching the waves and surfers.

Warren got his workout doing this over, and over, and over, and over.

I was sitting far back on the beach, and I could hear Rhys' laughter over the roar of the waves.

Keeping It Real, Post #2

THE VON'S INCIDENT

The first day or two of a vacation, especially with Rhys, is spent 'settling in' and 'getting our barrings'. And the most important part of settling in, is getting food. So here we are, halfway through our first full day in Manhattan Beach, and all we've really done is go to to 2 grocery stores.

I give myself an 'F' grade on yesterday's trip to get breakfast items, because what was the one thing we forgot to buy? Coffee.

So our first task of the morning was go get a coffee. Luckily we chose this vacation rental for it's fabulous location, and we are a 10 minute walk along the beach to Starbucks. Iced Americano Misto please!

We continue on to Von's (like Safeway) which is another 2 minutes up the street. We needed lunch stuff, some dinner stuff and other odds & ends.

Cue Meltdown of Epic Proportions. Warren is traumatized by this meltdown. In fact, I think he said 'let's never speak of this again'. As I rushed around the store to get everything on our list, Warren was roaming aimlessly around the Von's parking lot with a thrashing, screaming, crying toddler, as hipsters enjoying their morning coffees in a street side cafe watched.

All I could think was 'better here than on the plane'.

Now, Rhys and Warren are napping, and I'm blogging on a chaise lounge by the window, listening to the birds.

After nap time...BEACH and 85 degrees Fahrenheit!

Keeping It Real, Post #1

THE 'PIZZA' INCIDENT

I know I painted a pretty picture of our travel day yesterday. It was a great travel day, for sure, especially considering we're travelling with a nearly two year-old. The plane ride was great. Rhys only had one melt-down when we first got to our seats. We couldn't figure out why he was freaking out so badly, until we realized he didn't want to sit on our laps, and instead wanted to sit wedged between us, where the arm rest would go (this was before we knew for certain we had the the row to ourselves). Once we decoded the tantrum, the rest of the flight was a breeze.

But I'm a fan of keeping it real on my blog. The day did not end has perfectly as it had started.

We arrived at our vacation rental, which is a 2200 sq ft 4 level split condo, steps from the beach and the ocean. We were thrilled to find a nice open main floor for Rhys to run around in, and more space than we needed everywhere else. We were on the 'we've made it!' high. Then I eventually looked at my watch and realized it was nearly 6:30pm local time, meaning it was 7:30pm our time. Back home Rhys would be in bed. But we hadn't even eaten dinner yet, and all Rhys had in his tummy was fish crackers and fruit jube jube snacks.

Warren did a quick google search for pizzerias and grocery stores. First he found a 'local family owned deli & market' with a pizza place a block from it. Perfect! That sounds charming! So off we went. The grocery store was easy to find, but turns out 'family owned market' is another term for 'moderately over priced convenience store'. But, it did the trick. We got breakfast items and beer (they sell beer EVERYWHERE in the US!). After loading the stroller, and our arms, with heavy plastic grocery bags, we continued on to find the pizzeria. Google didn't let us down. There it was, a block away. Fantastic! We order a large Hawaiian.

Then, the meltdown. 'Out! Out'! OOOOOpeeeeeen!" Rhys whined and screamed to get out of his stroller, but we were on a steep sidewalk by a busy road, with people everywhere. So I took Rhys down to the pier to distract him. Meltdown continued, the sun started to set, and a cool breeze started to come off the ocean. My arms were sore from the grocery bags hanging off them. And no sign of Warren or pizza. Then a mom and dad with two kids in these little push-car toys came whizzing by, their children squealing with delight in their toy cars, and Rhys lost it even more. 'Car! Car! Caaaaaaaaar!' Cry, cry, thrash, thrash, whine, scream. Cold wind picking up. Couples on dates starring. And no Warren or pizza.

It had been almost half an hour now. We were quoted 15 minutes. I started to panic. Did Warren misunderstand me, and think I was taking Rhys back to the condo? Maybe he's there already? But I have the key! God, could he be that STUPID? To not even CHECK the pier to see if we're there? He doesn't have a cell phone, either!

I was filling with rage. I could feel the heat rising off my face. So I pushed that heavy stroller up that steep sidewalk back to the pizzeria. And by God if Warren wasn't still in there I was going to LOSE MY MIND. I storm up to the door in a fury, only to see Warren sitting inside. He looks up to see me, and raises his hands and holds up two fingers.

Being a woman is complicated. You would think my rage would melt away, knowing my husband DIDN'T go back to the condo without us. But no, my rage simply transferred to the fact that our pizza still wasn't ready, and this was somehow Warren's fault.

Finally Warren comes out with a big pizza box. I calm down. We walk back to the condo. We open the pizza box that reads 'Best Pizza in Los Angeles!'. To see the most pathetic pizza I have ever seen in my life. Limp, thin crust, with hardly any toppings. It was the kind of pizza you fold up and eat like a taco.

All we could do was laugh and say 'Wow, Americans have terrible taste in pizza'.

The silver lining on this terrible quest for a quick & easy dinner, is that as I changed Rhys into his PJ's at 8:30pm local time (9:30pm our time), he pointed to his pack n play and whispered 'bed...bed...bed'. "You want to go to bed?", "Yeah". And he was out for the night.

Arriving in Lalaland

"Rhys, you're going on an AIRPLANE today!", is what we kept telling our deadpan son, in an attempt to stir up some excitement. The toy plane he got from his Uncle James yesterday helped too.

We got to the airport nice & early, as my husband always insists we do. And our plane was an hour and a half late. Luckily Rhys was very content watching the 'ay-panes' and the 'tucks'. Considering he'd only had a 10 minute cat nap in the car, instead of his regular 2hr sleep, we were thrilled with our little pilot in training.

We knew he'd be excited to be on the plane, but we weren't sure how he'd react to the loud rumblings of take off. Well, turns out that take-off went as well as it could have in my most naive dreams. He fell asleep. 30 minute cat nap ensued.

Then, some fish crackers and a Madagascar DVD did the trick (and the empty middle seat between us didn't hurt):

"Look Ma, a lion!":

Landing was the next unknown. Would it freak him out? Nope. After the wheels hit the ground, he squealed " Again! AGAIN!".

While waiting for our luggage, I took a photo of Rhys beside our $5 baggage cart. Oh, LAX. A free baggage cart would have been nicer.

Though travelling can be gruelling, even when it goes smoothly, this is why we do it. The destination is worth it.

Heads Up!

This is just a heads up, for anyone out there who may still be popping in here once in a while to see if I'm still alive...

We're leaving on a plane tomorrow and heading off on a week long get away, and I plan to post photos and stuff. Figure, on vacation I should have the time & motivation to blog. I really like reading back on well documented vacations...so, please don't give up on me!

Cheerio for now.