Other Things in Irvine

Since we flew in on Christmas Eve, we had a few days after Christmas planned in Irvine, and we took full advantage of them with everyone. One of the main things we had planned was to go to the Discovery Science Center to go to their temporary THOMAS THE TRAIN exhibit. My mom found out that it was going to be there while we were there, so she'd bought tickets ahead of time and it was so cute. Basically half of it was just a bunch of train tables--including a GIANT train table. We walked into the museum and Dane was entertained by some of the exhibits, but as soon as he saw the giant Thomas he immediately wriggled down from Tommy's shoulders and RAN into the exhibit and we couldn't peel him away from the train tables for the next while. He was so, so happy (except when a kid took away the Thomas he was playing with). It was adorable!

Giving me a ticket to the Island of Sodor.

After a long time, we brought him to some of the other exhibits at the museum, including a cookie decorating area. He loved all of it! It was adorable.

Bethany had several basketball games while we were there, and we were able to go to one on the night after Christmas. I was nervous to bring Dane with us, thinking he'd scream and run away or fall through the bleachers or something, but he was actually enthralled with the game and watched the first full quarter. He has been talking about "Buhbuh" playing basketball for a while now and I think he LOVED seeing a real game. He was also perfectly happy just wandering around the bleachers for the rest of the game--we never even had to pull out the Kindle.

Buh (Dane's new abbreviated nickname for Bethany) was not pleased to see that we brought Liam, her life-sized cut-out from One Direction, to the game to cheer her on. Tommy had the idea to put a NHS jersey on Liam and put him in the stands, but Bee was really embarrassed! I can't imagine why. We all had a great laugh at Liam being there to cheer NHS on, though.

Another day, we went to the beach. It was supposed to be really chilly, but it was actually pretty nice! No one wanted to get in the water--except Dane--but we parked ourselves behind a large sand dune so he couldn't see the water for a while and he was super happy. For some reason he remembered going to the beach over the summer and he'd been asking to go to the beach all week before coming to CA, so I was happy to oblige him with that.

Dane running after the seagulls with Austin. He was chasing the birds the whole time we were there--it was so cute.

 Right before we were going to leave, Dane ran in and fell in the water and got soaking wet. Shocking! I had unfortunately not brought him a change of clothes so he had to hang out in a diaper while we cleaned up and had a picnic lunch.

Still chasing after the birds.

We got some delicious tacos from a Mexican place near the Balboa pier, and it was a FANTASTIC lunch.

And we had to get a family picture at the beach before leaving--I'm so glad we did!

We flew out on Monday evening, so we had the morning to do something fun too before Dane's nap. We decided not to go too far and went to the Irvine Regional Park--like we've done basically every time we've visited there since Dane was little, haha. As we were driving in, we drove past the little train and the horse rides, and I said, "Dane, do you remember going on a horsie last time we were here?" and he said, "Yes, I ride on Echo." That was his horse's name--from when we visited in JUNE. I didn't even remember that--and we have definitely not talked about it for MONTHS, at least. That boy has a mind like a steel trap, I swear!

We first went to the little zoo there--it's only $2 and the perfect size for a toddler--and then we rode on the train, and we were back home in time for lunch. Perfect outing for a little guy!

 Checking out the mountain lions.

Dane was totally terrified of the petting zoo and goats over the summer, but he LOVED it this time! He ran around petting and brushing all the goats, and even was brave enough to feed the goats out of his hand. It was super cute!

Train ride--no trip to Irvine is complete without it (apparently!).

 Of course, like I said--the best part of being with family is all the bonding time. Dane got a lot of that.

They got these enormous smiles out of Dane by saying, "Dane, don't smile! DON'T smile!" And of course--voila!

Some of Dane's BIGGEST fans.

Thinking about Dallin with our Dominican flag in front of the house!

Saying good-bye at the airport. Dane was convinced that Austin and Cole were going to come with us. Next time, buddy!