a family vacation.

It was almost three years ago when I got off of work on a Friday. My fridays were half days so I got off at noon. I pull into the driveway to find that Bryce was already home, which was odd considering he didnt get off work until 5pm. I walk in the door and Bryce had one of his hats with pieces of paper in it. 

"what is this?" i asked "just pick one" Bryce said.

ooooo I love suprises! I figured he had written down a handful of places to go out to lunch. I pull out a piece of paper and written on it was..."San Diego"

He then said "go get packed..it looks like we are going to San Diego"

So I run around the house, excited as can be, and get everything packed. Bryce hopped onto Priceline, named his own price, and we got a sweet 5 star hotel room in downtown San Diego. And off we went...

Not only do I love going on vacation. I love spontaneous vacations.

This last weekend I had a family shoot cancel for Saturday. It was a three day weekend for Bryce. We had nothing going on.  So i thought, how bout a little family vacation. We have never been on a family vacation just the three of us before. I talked to Bryce and we decided to take Bens to Sea World. We booked some cheap hotels on Priceline on Thursday, and we were on our way to Sea World early Friday morning. 

We got to Sea World around 11, and there was hardly anybody there. It started out sunny and beautiful and then we got a little drizzle towards the end of the day. Benson LOVED sea world. he loved all of the animals. His favorite? I think it was a tie between the dolphins and the native san diego pigeons which he loved to chase around. 

Yes. definitely the best first family vacation ever.

Saturday and Sunday of our little vacation was spent at Newport Beach. Where we ate at all of our favorite places, road our bikes along the beach and took Bensons 18 months portraits (post below).

18 months in Newport

 I really cant believe that our little boy is 18 months. Little stinker just keeps getting bigger and bigger. We decided to take some 18 months pictures of him in Newport. Here are a few of my favorites.

Benson thinks jumping is the coolest thing to do. he swears he gets both feet off the ground.

I was talking with a family on the beach while we were taking pictures, and the first thing the mother says to me is "he is the spitting image of his dad"

how could I not agree when there are pictures like the one above where they look like stinkin twins.

and then there are pictures, like the one below, with me and my adopted blonde haired boy.

We try many tactics during a photoshoot with Benson to try and get him to smile. Things like dancing, peek a boo, jumping, laughing, running, back flips you name it... for this next series of shots Bryce held up a gummy worm next to my lens. worked like a charm. I think the middle pic is my favorite from the whole shoot.

my little valentine.

Benson has been sick the past few days. Poor kid just isn't himself. Dont get me wrong, I love the snuggle fests we are having. But there are times where he just cries and cries and there is nothing I can do but hold him and sing him a song. I finally decided to take some of my favorite childrens songs that I have been loving lately and make Benson a mix, to help him feel better. Because a good tune can always help me feel better. I burnt them onto cd and we have been listening to it all day. it seems to be lifting his spirits.

 I have come to love these few children's artists the past couple of months. Some songs are upbeat..some songs are slower. Its music that I actually enjoy and its music that is good clean fun for Benson. Its not your normal old mcdonald children's songs...and there sure isnt any kidz bop music on there either. So sit down with your kids and take a listen. Benson loves it...i love it...hope you will too.

Give me a holler if you want a copy for your little valentine.

1. You & Me - Frances England  (favorite song. makes me cry)


2. Its a Big World - Renee & Jeremy


3. Life is Sweet - Rabbit  (fun album. we like to dance to this song)


4. Miracle - Renee & Jeremy  (possibly my favorite children's artists. this song will melt your heart)


5. Best Friends - Frances England


6. Magic - Rabbit


7. Tricycle - Frances England  (because my boy loves his bikes)


8. Jellybean - Rabbit


9. Cookies & Milk - Frances England


10. Night Mantra - Renee & Jeremy  (love.)


11. Sun & Moon - Rabbit


12. Sleepyhead Mommy - Frances England


13. You are my Sunshine - Elizabeth Mitchell  (a classic. one of my favorites to sing to Bens)

You can listen to the songs below.

that time we went to mcdonalds.

Apparently I haven't been a mother long enough to know that not ALL Mcdonald's have playplaces. Really? I didnt realize there was another use for Mcdonalds if not to play. Apparently people use it as a restaurant to eat. And thats exactly what me and Bens did yesterday.

We were out running a lot of errands yesterday and benson was fed up. So I figured I would stop by McD's and let the kid play for a while. I got him out of the car and we walked in. I started walking toward the back of the restaurant when i noticed that there was no playplace. oh no. now what. I awkwardly turned around and sure enough the workers had noticed me. now I was stuck. I couldnt just leave. So we decided to stay. And I decided to make that Mcdonalds, with no playplace, as fun as it could be.

I ordered Benson a happy meal.

He got the boy toy, a cool red tonka truck.

(although im pretty sure he would have loved the my little pony as well)

He got french fries instead of apples.

He got chocolate milk instead of plain milk.

He got his own sweet and sour dipping sauce.

And I got a hot fudge sundae, just for fun.

I let him sit like a big boy in the booth across from me.

He was loving it. I was loving it.

He caught me dipping one of his fries into my icecream.

Benson now had to dip every fry into my icecream.

Maybe it wasnt as fun as it could have been. But we had fun.

We had fun that time we went to mcdonalds.