shred it: California Adventure- Day 2

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Whew- we all felt so much better after a good night of sleep!! Jon and I woke up at 6:00am and got the boys up at 7:00am. By 7:30 we had eaten breakfast and were on the road. But not before a very emotional moment for this mama. For their entire lives- all 33 months- the boys have been rear facing in their car seats. Extended rear facing was something that was very important to Jon and I and despite the fact that their little legs have been quite squished for the last year, our goal was to keep them rear facing until they were at least 3 years old. But sadly we were ALL a bit squished in the Focus we rented, so we made the decision to turn them around- at least while we are in California. I had no idea it would be so emotional for me! It was a bit too much of a reminder that they are growing up oh so quickly, but I also felt like I lost a teeny tiny piece of who I am as a mother because I have always been so proud that we've kept them rear facing as long as we have. But... the boys loved to see the world coming at them so we hit the road!!!

We decided to head down to Santa Monica. It was a bit too cold to swim, but the boys have been so excited about just digging in the sand! So we took our new buckets and shovels and we were practically the only people on the beach at 8:00 in the morning. It was unbelievable! Jon and I set out two towels and just sat back while the boys played in the sand for almost an hour and a half... they were in HEAVEN! There were a few surfers a ways out and a special little visitor who ran by- you can thank Jon for the photo that he took because he wanted to share it with all of you! But other than that, it was just us and the waves and sand :) When the boys finally decided to move on, we walked up the beach where there as all this gym equipment! The boys swung on the p-bars, walked the balance beams, and climbed the ropes- it was totally their kind of park!!! Then we hit a skate shop in Santa Monica where the guy pointed us in the direction of a great skate park and after a picnic lunch we were on our way. The boys first LA skate park experience was Stoner Skate Park- awesome parenting, right?! LOL! I wish you could have seen their eyes... they were AMAZED! It was quite busy, but luckily there was a little place off to the side where the boys were able to skate without getting in any one's way. They were by far the youngest skaters there by goodness knows how many years, but they were skating with the big kids and they couldn't have been more proud of themselves!!!! Although we had to convince them that none of the African American or Hispanic guys there were Nyjah Huston... it took a little while but I think by the 100th time we told them, they got it and finally stopped shouting "It's Nyjah!" everytime someone skated by :)

After that it was naptime in the car while we we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway and then back up through the mountains on Malibu Canyon Road- amazing! When we got home we had to convince the boys that the shower in our condo had a firefighter hose in it. There isn't a tub here so they've got to take showers and they weren't too keen on it until they got to spray the "fire hose"... Sometimes life just takes a little creativity! Once we were all squeaky clean it was time for our meeting with the boys' agent. We are so unbelievably lucky that our manager arranged for the boys to be represented by a wonderful agent here in LA. One at a time, the boys had to go in alone to meet with "Miss Jackie" and they did such a great job... we could hear them in there talking and laughing... trying to explain skateboarding to someone who probably had no idea that two two year olds actually did spend the day at a skate park! LOL! But I think my favorite part was when I heard her ask Matthew if he had a girlfriend and he said yes... when she asked who his girlfriend was, without missing a beat my little Matty said "Mama!!!" Gotta love that Oedipus complex in action :)

Caleb's first forward facing ride