Santa Cruz...we STILL love you!

Back in November I bought a Living Social deal for a place in Santa Cruz. So Friday...we loaded up the car...

 

and headed to...

 

 

 

Chad and Landry quickly made themselves at home on our balcony...

 

 

that faced this...

 

 

Totally amazing! After getting settled in our room we headed to the beach.

Landry really wanted to "coop da sand up."

 

 

After some fun in the sand we headed to the wharf for a delicious dinner. Growing up my family always ate at Stagnaro's...so it was time to share the deliciousness! :)

 

Landry was soon in heaven! They have a GIANT aquarium right at the entrance and luckily we were seated next to it. He loved watching the fish...especially when he discovered...

 

Nemo...and...

 

Dori!

 

 

When we were done eating the sun was setting so we had to get some pictures...and I LOVE them!

 

 

The next day it was time to head to the...

 

 

We walked the Boardwalk 3-4 times in the morning. It was FREEZING and Landry was having nothing to do with it. So we grabbed some lunch, headed back to our room, napped...and tried again. This time it was much warmer...thankfully...but Landry...still wasn't having ANY of it.

 

Here he is watching the train. We hung out and watched it for 15-20 minutes before I had him talked into possibly riding it. :)



Can you tell that he is starting to get a bit nervous?

 



 

 

He did a great job...had maybe a little bit of fun...and we were proud of him.

Next up...ice cream!!!!

 

 

After ice cream I was really hoping that he would be willing to ride the carousel. If you remember this post from last year...Landry is NOT  a fan of carousels. We tried the same strategy that we used with the train. We watched, and watched, and watched, and watched, and even bribed, but the answer was a resounding...NO!

 

Part of our Living Social deal was a gift certificate for dinner at the inn's bistro. Unfortunately the bistro was closed for remodeling so they gave us a gift certificate to their sister property...a German restaurant...in Ben Lamond! Not exactly what we paid for but...it was an experience. We headed out and had one of the most interesting meals...ever. The food was pretty good but the environment was...well...eclectic to say the least! Here are some pictures I found from Google.

 

The next morning we woke up to this beautiful view...

 

and enjoyed our breakfast on the balcony!

 

After breakfast it was time to walk the beach and look for shells!

 

I just have to comment on the Santa striped jammy pants, Converse shoes, shades, fleece jacket...and of course...the hotel ice bucket...all standard sea shell gathering gear! :)

 

Landry was a bit hesitant at first. He was VERY worried that we were going to get in the water or that the water was going to get us. :)

 

This last picture cracks me up...he had just told Chad and I, "Yet's go guys. Yet's go back to our room!" Apparently he was over the sea shell hunting. :)

 

 

It was a wonderful weekend away! If you haven't purchased any Groupon or Living Social getaway deals...I highly recommend it. Seriously! I have done it twice and am so thankful. We are all so busy and always say we are going to take the time to get out of town...but unless you have already purchased it...and it has an expiration date...it isn't very likely to happen. :)

 

In unrelated news...we went the whole weekend...never had an "accident"...and I'm pretty sure I saw every restroom from here to Santa Cruz! Yes, he takes after his mama when she was his age, and likes to visit every restroom he comes to. :)

 

 



Potty time...excellent!

Potty training. What more can a parent say? People always tell you how hard the first few weeks of parenthood are. Have these people forgotten about potty training?

 

We have attempted this feat several times before.

Several.

Like...a lot of times.

 It always went like this,

"Landry, let's wear underwear today and learn how to go potty on the toilet."

"No. I don't want to."

"C'mon. Lets sit on the potty and try."

Cue the tears. Massive crocodile tears. Lots of tears.

 

I read every tip I could find.

We tried candy treats, toy treats, going to the store to buy the underwear, standing, sitting, sinking Cheerios, everything.

 

I continued to search Pinterest. One day I came across this link and it just seemed to click. I read it and thought, "This is it. This is totally Landry!"

 

So, when we bought our last box of diapers at Costco we told Landry, "This is it. This is the last box of diapers. Once we run out...it is underwear time!" I was really hoping the box would get us to Spring Break...but it didn't.

 

Friday morning we pulled out the last diaper!

That was it...the last one.

We told Landry that Friday was the lst day for diapers.

Saturday would be potty day!

 

Saturday morning Landry got up and off came the diaper...on went the underwear! I followed the advice from the link and the first thing we did was make a list of everyone we know that wears underwear!

 

 

Making the list cracked Chad and I up! He thought of all the names on his own. His name was first, then Chad, me, and so on.

 

Then I showed him the "Potty Treats" on the shelf in the bathroom. He would get some treats every time he was able to keep his underwear dry and use the potty.

 

Within the first 10 minutes or so we had our first accident. But that was ok. Pretty soon...and after one more accident...and 9,867 "false alarm" dashes to the bathroom...we had this!

 

 

So proud of himself! Time for his treats!

 

 

I have to add in here...this morning he decided...and told me,

"I just tay here. Den when I actuawy go pee...I get M&Ms!"

The child cracks me up...and he did sit on the potty for at least 45 minutes...waiting! :)

 

We are so proud of him...and he is SOOOOO proud of himself!

 

I know that we are only 2 days in...and the true test is tomorrow at daycare...but so far, so good! I am skeptically optimistic since it has been quite easy so far.

 

 

Fingers crossed...we can keep this going!

 

 

Have I mentioned how much I love this little cheeseball?

LOVE HIM!!!!!

 

Chalk Time!

Awhile back I found this fabulous idea on Pinterest...

http://www.projectdenneler.com/2011/05/plein-air-artists.html

 

One of Landry's favorite things to do outside is play with his sidewalk chalk. So, I knew this project would be a hit! I had an extra piece of wood in the garage so all I had to do was get some chalkboard paint.

 

After a coat of paint, some help from the hubby attaching it to the fence, we had...

 

 

Love it! More importantly...so did he!

 

 

I see many hours outside, lots of chalk dust, and many masterpieces!

 

 

Bring on the sunshine and warm weather!

 

 

One little tip...if you are going to do this project I highly recommend the brush on chalkboard paint and not the spray version. I used the spray on a different project and it is more of a piece of wood painted black as opposed to a chalkboard. :)