Annual Carlsbad Vacay - Part I.

This was my 11th year going to Carlsbad, CA with Steve's family.  ELEVENTH!  Every time we go, I find myself going down memory lane once we get there.  I can't help but think about where we were at in life each summer we came.  For example, I remember the summer before I started teaching and how nervous I was, the summer before we got married and I had just gotten my hair colored and it was HORRIBLE, the summer we conceived Peyton (heh heh), then the summer when we were a family of 3 for the first time, the summer when I worked at Kid Zone, then Najafi Companies, etc.  It's crazy to think how much things do change every year!!

Anyway, we had a relaxing time as usual.  Our days consisted of the beach, pool, spa, shopping, eating, reading, and drinking!

The night before we left, Peyton took it upon himself to get inside the suit case and shut it.  He'd literally sit in there for a minute before opening it!  It was too funny!

Saturday morning (the 7th) we headed out!  Peyton slept for the last hour or so (how does that always work out?!) and the moment we arrived, we got out and headed to the beach.  Peyton's seen the beach 3 times before, but this was probably the first time he's really enjoyed it:

We then headed to our rooms and got unpacked.  Here's Peyton checking out the ocean from our balcony:

Our first full beach day!

Getting sleepy...

I handed him off to Joan and he napped on her for 1.5 hours.  :)

Up and ready to walk back to our room!

Walked to the end of the balcony and watched the sunset:

Then looked down and saw everyone grilling burgers!

Peyton loved the phone.  He kept picking it up and saying, "Hello?  Hi!" then would mumble stuff. 

One morning I rented a stroller (hence the pink!) and took a long walk down the boardwalk.  He did great for an hour and then I stopped to take a pic and he wanted OUT!

Here's a video of what happened when we stopped!

Here's a different day when Joan, Amber, and I went shopping around the village:

Checking out the beach cruisers when we returned the stroller:

This was a gorgeous beach day!  

I have a bazillion pictures of Peyton with his arms out and what he's really doing is showing me the water sign.  He would look at the ocean and cross his fingers and do it, he knew there was a ton of water!!  He was also concerned about the sand on his hands.  I showed him how to wipe it off on his shirt, so then he was pretty okay with it.  :)

Another (more cloudy) day, we hung out in the courtyard waiting for the spa to clear out.  Ryan took Peyton on the balcony, you can see him almost pulling a Michael Jackson on the 3rd floor.  ;)

You can't tell it's the ocean, but it's just beyond the palm tree...

More on our vacay to come!!!! ......