I Heart Vacations: Part 1, Catalina Island

Brian and I had a heckuva time trying to figure out what we wanted to do for a vacation this year. After having not so much fun flying with Austin last summer (where we swore we wouldn't fly with children until they're 18), we were even more reluctant to try that with two kiddos in tow. And tent camping with said kiddos didn't sound incredibly appealing either. And anywhere we could drive to didn't really sound all that fun. So when Brian suggested we go to Catalina for a few days, I knew that would be a good idea. It's so close and yet we totally forget it's there!

Brian had the whole week off of work and while we wanted to make the most of his time off, we didn't think spending a whole week on Catalina was a good idea. There's not that much to do with little kids and not knowing how well staying in a hotel room with two under two would go, we decided to go for just a few days. We decided to use one of the other days to take Austin to Disneyland for the first time. We scheduled a "rest day" in between Catalina & Disneyland. BEST.IDEA.EVER! Austin was able to fully enjoy both parts of vacation without being overly tired. We couldn't have planned the week better if we had tried!

As you know, I take way too many pictures, so rather than trying to squeeze them all into one post, I'm breaking it into two. So without further adieu...Catalina Island 2010...

We caught the semi-early boat to Avalon. Scooped up both kiddos still in their PJs and whisked them off. We had to be at the boat at least an hour early, so Austin ate breakfast in the terminal and then we got them both dressed there.



I wish I had taken a picture of our gear. It's amazing how much stuff it takes to go on vacation with two kids for only 3 days! And Catalina Express has the rule that you have to be able to carry it down the ramp to the boat in one trip. That's including the kids! Without them in the stroller. I think I carried Austin in the Ergo, the computer bag, my purse and pulled our large luggage, while Brian carried McKenna in the carseat, wore a backpack, pulled the small luggage and carried a duffel bag. It was comical. We looked like Sherpas. We probably didn't use everything we brought, but I can guarantee we would have needed it if I hadn't packed it!

Austin did so very good on the boat. It was so nice not having to be confined to a seat the whole time! He & Brian went exploring and when it got too cold, they came back to the seats and Austin played with his toys, ate fishies and watched Veggie Tales on the laptop.



McKenna thoroughly enjoyed the ride, as you can see.


Shout out to the Crowley Tugboat (wish we had a stake in that, but sadly we don't) and the Coasties.


It was a beautiful day with perfectly calm water.


The beautiful Casino


When we arrived in Avalon, we left our luggage at the hotel and wandered the town for a bit, then got Austin down for a nap. Then we went to dinner at Armstrong's Seafood (Yummy!) and enjoyed a beautiful evening!





Good first day!

Monday morning was spent as at the beach. Our hotel, The Hotel Metropole, was very close to the water. (Loved our hotel. Highly recommend it!)

How cute are my boys??


Austin did NOT like the water. It was relatively cold and really the only experience he's had with water was a heated pool, so I didn't blame him too much. He wanted nothing to do with it when Brian took him down and whined to be done.



So we let him play in the sand for a while. This boy dug and dug and dug. The pictures do not do justice to how much sand he moved!



Then I took him back in the water with me to get all rinsed off. He still whined, but I tried distracting him with his bucket and he did okay. Still was signing "all done" like a crazy man, but he did get some legitimate ocean time in.



McKenna enjoyed her beach day too.


Lunch was at the hamburger place at our hotel. Austin found some new friends to smile at. I love that he is such a sociable kid most of the time! It didn't hurt that they had french fries that he really really wanted!



After lunch we took a walk past the Casino but Austin fell asleep in the stroller and we figured it was a good time for naps. Brian apparently needed one too.



After naps, it was Mexican food for dinner and a walk around town. We listened to some local kids play music on the strand (they were really good!) while we munched on ice cream. Austin discovered he really likes ice cream with chocolate all over it. He was covered! But if you can't get messy on vacation, when can you?! Such another wonderful day! Austin and McKenna just happily took in the sights and were really well behaved! I was so proud of both of them!

Then it was bedtime for the kiddos. We set Austin up in our big bed for video time. He LOVED our big bed! And despite not having very good sitting up skills, McKenna did pretty good sitting up next to him. She adores Austin and you could tell she felt pretty special to be sitting next to him!





My two sweeties!


Yet another good day!

Day 3. We signed up for a submarine ride. We thought Austin would enjoy that and that would be a good way to show him some fish up close. We had considered the glass bottom boat, but figured in a submarine he'd be contained - no possibility of falling overboard! It was a fun ride. They stop twice to feed the fish. Food shoots out of the side of the sub and you can see the fish vying for some right outside your portholes. For a (exorbitant) fee, you purchase shots of food and then you have a button you push when you want to use one. Austin was in heaven. This kid loves giant red buttons! (Which makes riding in elevators always a little dicey! Why do they put emergency stop buttons near the bottom??) He didn't understand the point of rationing the food, so we had to hold him back from hitting his button too often.





After the submarine ride and some yummy lunch, we had about an hour to kill before our boat left. So we hopped on a trolley that takes you around Avalon. Austin thought it was a Choo-Choo. And since he was getting a little tired, we didn't bother to correct him. Whatever kept him happy and entertained was fine by us!



McKenna was there too. =P But she was more interested in her toys than the local scenery.


My enthusiastic little train trolley rider


One last family portrait before we left.


Austin started the boat ride out perky...


Even learning to how to honk his nose...


But before long, the excitement of the trip caught up to him.


Such a wonderful trip! I don't think I could have enjoyed Catalina anymore. Vacations aren't usually vacations for the momma - it's just the same gig, but harder, in a different location! But that wasn't the case this time. I enjoyed our vacation more than I thought I ever could!

Stay tuned for Disneyland...

Sweetly Savoring Seven

New this month...

This month was all about sleep! Or lack there of! Within a day or two of me posting that she had learned to roll, she became an expert. Unfortunately, she learned how to roll in the swaddle. I thankfully peeked in on her during a nap and she had rolled onto her stomach, but because she her arms were swaddled she couldn't hold her face out of the bed! She looked like a little beached whale, flopping around. So we had to go cold turkey on the swaddling. We spent the rest of the month relearning how to fall asleep and how to stay asleep. Swaddled, I could lay her down wide awake but now I had to go back to rocking her to sleep and laying her down out cold. And I had to go in every time she woke up and rock her again. Slowly but surely she figured it out. She's now to the spot that I can lay her down calm and drowsy, but awake and she'll go to sleep fairly easily. Sometimes she has to "fuss it out" and when she turns angry I just need to go in and reposition a binkie and she's good. She still has a few obstacles to overcome. First, it turns out she's a side/belly sleeper. Problem is that when she's on her belly, she scoots backwards...away from her blankie and binkie. Secondly, she prefers side sleeping I think. Problem is she doesn't know how to roll from front to back still. So once she's fully on her belly she's stuck. And that kinda ticks her off sometimes. Thirdly, she likes to take the binkie out but when drowsy, lacks the skills to put it back in and most of the time, she can't find it to even try to put it back in. But we are making progress and she is sleeping pretty well through Austin's bedtime routine of kicking the sheets, banging on the wall and talking to himself.

She's working her way towards crawling. I think we still have a while before she's fully mobile, but she's taking the steps towards getting there. Specifically, she's doing a bunch of rocking on her hands and knees. She will occasionally even push herself into a full push up position - on hands and feet. She does a ton of scooting backwards still. For someone that can't move forward, she sure gets around! Still scooting into (and getting stuck under) furniture, but she seems to have a little more purpose with the direction she goes.

I love watching her toy play advance! She's now in the "shake the crap" out of it stage. No fancy toys needed. Just a few linky-rings and she's a happy camper. That is until she whacks herself in the face with one. But that will entertain her for a long time. When she plays with her real toys, she's really trying to figure out how they work. She loves her bouncer/activity center. She's not much of a bouncer, but occasionally she'll get it going. She just loves to play with all the hanging toys. And of course, all of Austin's toys and puzzle pieces are much more appealing than any of her own toys. Austin is not a good sharer yet. He'll happily bring her toys to her, but does not like it if she even scoots to close to his. She'll even occasionally try to steal toys from his hands. That does not go over well at all! I figure she's just getting a jump start on the whole "Annoying Little Sister" gig.

She's following in her brother's footsteps as a miniature sized kleptomaniac. Little Miss Grabby Hands! We already have to really watch what's within her reach, because it will instantly get stuffed in her mouth, crumpled or chucked on the floor.

McKenna has a ton of hair! I'm amazed by how quickly it's growing. It's mostly on top, which gives her some good faux hawk potential. It's a gorgeous strawberry blond color still. So much more red, though, than I would have ever imagined.

We've officially started solids, in that she's getting them once a day for lunch. She is still not a fan. She's not anti-food but she is very far from an enthusiastic baby bird. I can usually squeak in about an ounce or so before she starts pursing her lips. I've tried all varieties of food and temperatures and we've tried it when she's hungry, but with very little success. The only time she was somewhat eager, she was overdue to nurse, but even then she didn't eat much. I keep telling her what I tell Austin - To be a Crowley, you gotta like food! Hopefully she'll catch on soon, cuz I'm looking forward to getting to make all sorts of yummy stuff for her. The other bummer is that her tummy isn't quite on board yet either. So we're trying only plums until things start moving along a little better.

I graduated her to the medium girl (you know...not little girl, not big girl =P) bath tub - an inflatable duck bathtub. She loves it! Splashes around a little but mostly likes the tub itself. Austin adores it and drags it out of the bathroom constantly to be used as his Quack Quack Boat.

McKenna is officially a paid actress. Kinda. She got paid to be one, even though she never got the chance to be one! She got a gig on Desperate Housewives but the other baby that got booked did really well in all the scenes and they didn't end up needing McKenna. She I was bummed. Still got paid though, which is nice! And it was fun to get to be on the set. Hopefully another gig will come up soon.

She's ticklish! Thighs and ribs mostly. She gives out the best giggles when tickled too!

She learned a few more sounds this month. Definitely becoming more vocal! She still mostly only "talks" when she's getting tired. She gives you fair warning. The starts off with some gentle raspberries/horse sounds, then some talking, then some shrieking and then eventually makes it to crying. She will tighten her fists and whole body and give this weird little screech/shriek thing. It's not in a mad way, but more of a hyper way. She also learned how to make kissing noises, which is so cute!

Good Morning Sunshine!

If only everyone woke up this happy, the world might be a better place!






(She's 4 months here)

Sprinkle Sprinkle: Amended

I meant to add this video to THIS POST but I had a hard time uploading it until now.

More Father's Day Trains

Grandpa Kevin was out of town on Father's Day, so we celebrated it later with a day at the Lomita Train Museum. As you can imagine, Austin was in little boy heaven, again!









Thanks for a great extra Father's Day, Grandpa!