Vacation!!

   Way back at the new year, Cara and Wyatt and I took a vaycay to cali. Something I learned while vaycaying in cali: only posers call it "cali" and only girls call it "vaycay." The three of us flew to San Jose, rented a car and made stops and stays in Monterey, Big Sur, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and ... um ... Riverside.

   Now you're thinking "wait how did I not know this?! Someone spending time in California is required to absolutely blow up my instagram, facebook, twitter, and send me postcards so that the whole world knows!! Well, I wanted to play it cool because a) that's what this blog is for, and b) IF I ANNOUNCE TO THE WORLD THAT I AM GONE WHILE I AM GONE THEN EVERYONE WILL COME ROB ME!!! And I don't want to lose my Pokemon cards, because I have a killer deck that my brother could never beat because I made him trade me that Venusaur for a Charmeleon when he was like seven and what a sucker. I think he's learned from that experience though.

There's a real fun aquariam in Monterey that everyone says you have to visit. This was a big tank with sharks and turtles and sadly nothing eathing anything else. It's located inside the Mystery Science 2000 Leagues Under The Sea Theater. It turns out that when you've seen Free Willy in person, a little hammerhead isn't so impressive.

There was also a clam that made Cara uncomfortably happy. Like, I was uncomfortable. Wy wasn't too sure either.

In Monterey, there is a place where thousands of Monarch butterflies are supposed to converge. I don't know why this is exciting. Do they taste good or something? Anyways, the wife really wanted to check it out, and on the way we found this awesome park bench. I was so relieved to finally learn that the legacy did not in fact die, but was continuing very, very far from Colorado.

(we saw like 4 butterflies).

Big Sur was nice, although not a great place to go with a 2 year old. Wyatt napped at all the wrong times (hikes) and wanted to play at all the wrong times (in the car). Here was a waterfall that we just "had to see" according to everyone, and apparently Big Sur doesn't realize that these little suckers litter every highway in Oregon. I learned that Big Sur is not a place where dudes go to surf.

There were, however, lots of really awesome views. This is where we thought we'd find Peter Pan as the mermaids try to drown Wendy. Cara thought I was a little too excited at the idea of seeing a mermaid, but I kept telling her that I've seen topless fish hundreds of times. In fact I don't even get excited by it anymore.

   This is the mission in Santa Barbara. I wasn't sure why we were making a point to see it once I learned it wasn't like a famous restaurant or anything. I'd show you pictures of the inside, but you care less than I do so let's move on.

   We had a wonderful time in Santa Barbara. I was hoping to bump into the guys from Psych, and hung around all the crime scenes I could find, but alas. The thing we liked most about SB is it's where we spent the longest time crashed on the beach. Wyatt loved the beach. Like, I think it might now be his favorite thing in the world besides his dad and fussing. I will have a separate post about our beach adventures, but hopefully this will ... tide ... you over.

My mood: ready for another vaycay - dang it! I mean vacation!!
Wyatt's mood: looking for a single missing car
Listening to: Kings of Leon on repeat for like 7 days.

Self Entertaining!!

Car-cars and George-Georges

   Whoa, guys, Wyatt has gotten really good at playing with himself. Wait, I mean, let me rephrase that. Wyatt's gotten really good at playing by himself. He's at this adorable, precious little point where he will drive his cars everywhere, say a bunch of gibberish, and then have a big exclamation. Like this.

   Just so you know, this video is like 50 seconds long and is not 100% action, which means it will feel like it's four years long in internet time. However, the main reason I have this blog is NOT to entertain you and NOT so that I can get attention for myself, but so that I can have a place to come and look at videos and pictures and stories of me Wyatt for years to come. Also, odds are pretty good that you are my grandma and want to see this anyways, so, you probably don't care.

   Are you curious about what he is thinking, saying, or acting out? Well, pretty much all we watch is the Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drifts in our household, so, odds are pretty good it's that.

A few things to notice about my parenting techniques:

1. I have a "dog-bowl" style feeding system. There's a big vat of food, eat it if you want.
2. Dirty hands are not bad hands. Go ahead and touch that cute little stationery your Aunt gave your mom. In fact, touch every page just a little.
3. Do you see how he plays around the laptop?! He knows he shouldn't touch it, but what can he possibly due if that George and George George head in the computers direction?
4. I have to ignore Wyatt for about 10 minutes for him to play like this. Once he gets the point, he'll play. He'll bug his mom ALL DAY, however, so she has it harder.

   Here's a bit more of the same, a few minutes later (I edited out some gripping footage of him slowly walking to the couch to get a couple more car-cars.) I always have the same thought: What triggers him to do what he does? Why does he decide to drive to the banana and play with it for a second? Why, all of a sudden, does he grab more tomato sauce? What on earth is going on in that head of is, and holy cow I wish I knew what he thought he was saying.

   He will do this for hours. I mean, hours. I'm pretty sure that I could go to the store and back and he'd still be doing his Vin Diesel on the floor. He even does it as he's falling asleep. (This video's like 12 seconds long so chill out!!)

  Sure is cute and sure is fun!! We'll see how long he is able to self entertain, and hopefully it lasts through the long, wet winter.

My mood: kind of left out, actually
Wy's mood: Car crash george george!!
Listening to: Jake and the Never Land Pilots. Oh, wait, Pirates, they're pirates.