CA trip part 2: Antioch and Orange County

After Monterey, I headed to Antioch to hang out with my family for the week. Brady and I were both sick with a nasty cold, so it was nice to be home and have my mom around to help take care of us. Poor Brady had a fever for a few days and was pretty miserable. But even as a sick boy, he kept everyone entertained. He just loved my mom and followed her around like a little puppy. It was hard for her to get things done with him always wanting her attention, but I think she loved it.

Here's Brady helping her make some bacon for bacon cheeseburgers one night :)

 

Because we were sick, we took it easy and mostly hung around the house, but one night my brother, parents, and I went to a movie...we saw "Trouble With the Curve" with Clint Eastwood. It was ok....but it was more fun just to be out with the family. I wish my sister could have been there too but someone had to stay home with the baby. :/  Thanks Lauren!!

On Thursday, Brady and I headed to the airport to catch a flight to Orange County. We stayed at Ryan's parent's home on Balboa Island. Ryan was still away on business and would join us on Tuesday morning. For the first several days, Brady and I mostly hung around the house and walked around the island. He was still pretty sick and miserable. We did make time to walk across to Ruby's on the Balboa Pier for a milkshake. Brady of course LOVED it and didn't take his mouth off of that straw until the shake was gone! Such focus!!

He loves taking the ferry across to the pier and he also loves the ferris wheel, especially at night when it's all lit up!

On Saturday, Grandpa Neilson babysat while Arlene and I headed to a bridal shower for Jessica (Ryan's cousin). It was SO nice to get together with the girls and catch up.

all the cousins (and their babies) in attendance...I loved holding little Ellie!!

On Monday, I got together with Tiersha and her 4 week old baby Charlotte. I loved holding such a small baby again. We headed to IN N OUT for lunch. The food was great, it was great to talk to Tiersha, and it was nice to go to a restaurant with a baby that just sleeps through the meal...so much less work than taking a toddler to lunch!!

Later in the week I met up with Tiersha, Tahnee, Desiree, and Casey for a "cousin's lunch". It was fun to have more time to catch up and hold babies :)

Thursday was the highlight of the trip! My brother and his family came down from Lodi and we went to Disneyland. It was the first time for Brady and my nieces, Alice and Sierra. 

The night before though, Ryan and I woke up in the night to loud banging against the house. It was very windy out and the palms from the palm tree across the street were blowing off and hitting the house. Neighbors were up checking on things and moving cars and stuff, it was a little crazy. When we woke up, we noticed that ALL of the palms came directly onto our patio...it was a funny sight to wake up to. 

here's a little pano from my phone to get an idea of  the scene :)

After cleaning that mess up (well, Ryan and Rick did that) we headed off to Disneyland!!

Brady didn't know much about Disneyland, but I think he could sense that it was a fun place because he was SO excited to run around and look at the train as we bought our tickets. 

just checked out the train with grandpa...now he's running back in excitement

Jungle Cruise...so much to look at!

Something just caught his eye!

waiting to see Mickey with Dad

More interested in coloring than talking to Mickey

Brady snuck in a little nap

Alice just loved Brady!

She loved to help him and watch out for him the whole time!

Cousins!!

JAKE from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. I was SO excited to see him, I watch that show with Brady!! Here are the cousins with Arlene and my Sister-in-law, Vickie.

The girls also LOVED being around uncle Ryan. They both wanted to sit with him on this Bugs Life ride. I guess he's a pretty fun guy :)

Getting FLUNG around on the Mater ride in Cars Land

exhausted after a long day!

It was a long day, but it was so much fun to get back to Disneyland after 2 years away. Ryan and I had annual passes for several years before we had Brady and we've missed it!!

Brady was so excited to wake up to a little leftover magic the next morning. 

The next day Tiersha, Tahnee, and baby Charlotte came to the island for another visit. Ryan and Brady got to meet the baby.

Brady loved her and kept saying "baby"

He even gave her kisses...his trademark wide open mouth kiss :)

and of course, I snuck in some more cuddles :)

That night Ryan and I met up with our great friends Melissa and David for dinner in Orange. The food was ok...which was a disappointment for David because he had just been there and it was fantastic but they had a new chef and the quality was not the same. At least the company was good!! We headed to their house afterwards to visit until way too late, but it's always just so hard to say goodbye. We love these guys and can't wait to see them on our  next visit in March!

We spent Saturday with Kevin, Vickie and the girls. First we rescued them from the side of the road after a WRENCH on the freeway popped their tire. After dealing with that mess, we all went to my aunt and uncle O'Bryant's home to visit them and see my grandpa and my parents, who happened to be in town visiting him also. We ended the night at dinner in Newport Beach. We took the car on the ferry to get to the peninsula and the girls got a kick out of it, so that was fun. Dinner was great and it was nice to visit with them one last time before they headed home. 

Sunday was our last day on the island. We walked around a lot to soak up every last bit of the ocean air. 

We headed home on Monday morning. It was a long day of travelling, but it was SO worth it to get back home. I love visiting friends and family, but it's hard to be away from the comfort of home where we have our beds, all of our things, everything is baby proofed, etc. Even Brady seemed excited to be home. His reunion with Walle was one of the sweetest things ever. I'll have to upload the video I got of it soon :)

SO, that's our trip!