Mall Rat

We spend a lot of time at the mall.  There are places for Liam to run around and things for him to explore.  And, well, there's air conditioning.

A lot of that time is spent in Nordstrom and it's become one of Liam's favorite places to hang out.

He contemplated the umbrella on the Bugaboo.  Sorry dude, that's not happening.

He waits patiently while Mama looks around.  

Then he goes a little crazy when it all becomes too much.  But then, that's what the chaise is for, right?

Sometimes we head over to Windward Mall because they've really got a better set-up for kids.

They've got cushy mushrooms to climb over and give Mama a heart attack,

and Thomas the Train to hang out in.

Then we rode in the real train that runs around the mall.  He was having a good time, I swear it.

California Conclusion

The rest of our trip to California was much less hectic.  The day after Disneyland, we were exhausted, so we decided to take it easy.  Our biggest trip was to a restaurant in Claremont called Espiaus.  I used to go there as child, when it was still in Pomona, and it was so great to take Liam and Mikey there too.  Besides, they have my favorite salad...

This is called the Mexican salad.  Believe it or not, there's lettuce beneath all that glorious cheese.  And they give you an entire squeeze bottle of dressing.  Of course, Mickey had to come to dinner, too.

Liam liked the cheese too, so we got him a plate.  Of course, he also had other plans for the cheese...

...and was not sorry about it, either.

After dinner, Liam and Dad went for a drive.

The next day we drove to San Marino to visit one of Mikey's college friends and his family.  We had lunch together and had so much fun, we forgot to take pictures!  We then went to South Pasadena to visit one of my oldest friends.  

Liam played in the sand with some borrowed equipment.  He even made friends!

We took a quick picture right at the end.  

On our way back to Ontario, we stopped at Donut Man in Glendora so Mikey could eat the famous strawberry donut.  Of course, I had a little bite too...

The following day we decided to visit the San Diego Zoo.  I thought Liam would enjoy the zoo more than Disneyland.  Boy was I wrong.

At first, he just watched the clock.

Then he figured he'd take a look at the map.

The hats were nice.

But in the end, the only thing he really enjoyed was the sky tram.  At least there was that.

Then it was time to head back home.  We had a great trip.  Thanks for the golden visit California!

Meetin' the Mouse

Against my better judgement (which, incidentally, turned out to be wrong) we spent one of our vacation days at Disneyland.  A good portion of my family went and while I'm fairly certain Liam will have little recollection of his first trip to meet the Mouse, he had a good time while we were there.

The obligatory entrance photo.

While we waited for everyone to get organized, Liam played tickle with Tutu.

Tutu bought Liam an autograph book, so we took pictures with some of the characters we saw.  Liam was unimpressed with Goofy, but Aunty Danielle was having a good time!

Liam's first ride was Pirates of Caribbean.  Probably not the most logical choice, but he took it in stride.  When he got scared, he didn't scream or cry, he just closed his eyes--and everything scary disappeared!

We all held hands with the wheelie crew.  It was nice to see Puna flanked with love.

Liam waited circumspectly while Tigger signed his book.

I have no honey Winnie!  I gotta go!!

In a surprise move, Liam passed out in his stroller for about an hour.  Tuckered out little dude!

When he woke up, he was "so happy!!" with the gifts he got--his own set of ears from Tutu and a Mickey doll from Aunty Danielle.  His joy made Tutu happy too.

We played for a bit in Goofy's house.

Then we went to visit Minnie.  Liam is a fan of Minnie's Bowtique, but was less impressed with the gal up close.

But when we got to Mickey, after a moment's hesitation, he ran over to Mickey with a huge smile on his face and all by himself.  At this point, Liam loves Mickey and was excited to show him his little Mickey.  This was truly the highlight of Liam's entire trip.

But after all, meeting Mickey is serious business.  He's never going to wash that hand again.

We had a good time on It's a Small World.

And Puna got to ride perched up on the back of the boat like the matriarch she is.

What a great day at the Happiest Place on Earth!!

Sweet dreams, my love.

The Golden State, Part Deux

Any trip to California necessarily must involve a trip to Ikea.  It's pretty much a given.

Of course, we had the Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce.

Liam got his very own plate...

...though he's not entirely sure about these new flavor profiles!

He had much more fun hanging out in the sink!  He must of sat in the sink and played with the faucet for a good ten minutes.

Once back to the hotel, it was back to Dad Dad's phone before naptime.

That night, we made plans to meet good friends for dinner at Lucille's BBQ in Rancho Cucamonga.  We got there a bit early, so Liam hung out by the bench...

...and contemplated the fountain.

He thought Aunty Des and Aunty Emily were super cool, even if he didn't want to sit at the table the whole time.

Besides, who wants to sit still when you can be outside, howling at the moon?!

The Golden State, Part One

In September, we were finally able to visit California.  It was great seeing family and friends, and it we were so happy to introduce Liam to everyone for the first time.

We weren't certain how Liam was going to take the flight.  It was his first plane trip and two days before we left, the doctor said that he had an ear ache.  But!  He flew like a champ!  I'm certain that Mickey Mouse Club and Dora helped, along with the trusty iPad and Nexus.  Yeah, we're fans of gadgets.  Dad was engrossed too.

Liam was awake for the whole flight, but once we got into the car, he passed out.  Must have been all of the excitement.  He woke up once we got to the hotel, though.  And of course exploring meant checking out the phone.  What do you mean it doesn't come away from the wall?  And what is this cord thing?!

The next day we took it easy and went to lunch with Tutu and Puna.  I swear he had them wrapped around his little finger.  But they all had a good time.

That night, we visited some of my best friends, Rob and Catherine, and their kids Bobby and Jessica.  Although Liam took a while to warm up to these strange people, Rob soon won him over with a good game of high five and a couple of laps around this ramp.  Way to go Uncle Rob!

Pigtails and Crewcuts

Since Liam was born, I've always trimmed his hair, both because it was a cost-saving move and because I was nervous about his reaction to an actual salon.

Well, my last attempt was...shall we say...not quite as successful as I would have hoped.

A little too short and uneven to boot.  Let it never be said that a new hairstyle can't do wonders to your look.

By the time it got this long, I had made a few half-hearted attempts to trim it again, then just began justifying the long hair look.  It was good for the knights, right?

But we caved and took him to Pigtails and Crewcuts just after his second birthday.  It's a pretty neat place.  Liam got to sit in a car and watch some movies while a woman with way more patience and skill than I will ever hope to have swayed with his head turns and managed a miracle.  

Actually, he was really well behaved (except for those head turns--he just really needs to know what's going on).  He even informed them when the video wasn't working.  "Uh-oh!  It's broken!  Video no work!"

Not a crewcut, but look at that handsome man!