Our Weekend: UCI, Hiking, and Venice

Ez at UCI fountain: 5 months, 11 months, & 22 months

This weekend was officially summer in these parts. Over 90 degrees both days...why??! Of course we decided to spend the entire weekend outside. We're crazy like that ;) 

On Saturday we wandered around UC Irvine's campus, where Ez got some cool anteater gear (all he cared about was the mini foam football) and he made some friends with a pair of ducks. Despite the heat, he loved chasing his football around, and he got himself thoroughly soaked splashing his duck friends. Oh to be a kid and want to splash in all bodies of water without thinking about how dirty and disgusting it looks...

After our parking passes ran out, and we couldn't take the heat anymore, we headed across the street to one of our favorite Vegan restaurants. Somehow they kept messing up Ez's order and he wound up with two quesadillas, which he wound up barely touching. All he wanted to eat were his oranges and ketchup fries. 

Next stop was Fashion Island, an outdoor mall, where we got a ton of baby/toddler clothes for a steal. Those shirts we bought Ez came in handy because after we exited Macy's there were three water fountains that were just too enticing to pass up. Ez was soaked by the time we finally dragged him away. It's not a true toddler outing without at least three outfit changes, amIright?? I would say that fountain was easily the highlight of his week.

On Sunday this crazy pregnant lady agreed to go on a hike. I'm definitely at the stage of pregnancy where it doesn't take much at all to make me winded. Let me tell you, 90+ degrees and leisurely rock hunting don't go together. Sorry, Ez. Joe carried Ez in his hiking backpack all the way up, and then we let Ez out to roam around a little. Thankfully several parts of the trails were shaded, at which point we would pause and let Ez inspect all the rocks looking for the perfect one dozen to throw into the bushes. Happy toddler = happy parents. His mind was also blown when several horses passed by us. We stopped to let them by and his eyes were glued to each one as it went past. Toddlers are a constant reminder to stop and enjoy the simple things in life. Rocks? Check. Sticks? Check. Horses? Whoa! Best.day.ever.

Our original post-hike plan was to grab some lunch then let Ez take a car nap while we headed to the Thomas the Train exhibit at the new Discovery Cube in Los Angeles. The LA marathon had other plans for us. We kept getting re-routed and herded further away from our destination until we eventually found ourselves in Venice. Did I mention we had one very distraught toddler in the backseat as we were trying to navigate the crazy traffic and all the road closures? Fun times. Once we were in Venice, we decided to make the best of it, save Thomas for another day, and cross #5 off this Top 13 Outdoor LA Dates list that Joe found. Three down, ten to go! 

We started at Lemonade on Abbott Kinney, and then we walked to the canals (from the list). Both of those areas have so much character, and it's kinda crazy that out of all the times I've been to Venice, I've never explored there before. Ez slept through the whole thing, so he missed out on Gelato. Sorry, kid. 

Since we were close to the beach we decided to walk along there for a bit. Ez woke up when a firetruck trying to make its way through a crowd of people honked a few feet away from us. Thankfully the firetruck was almost a welcome distraction from sleep, so he wasn't too distraught. We got him some watermelon and let him watch the skate boarders at the park on the beach for awhile. He thought that was the best thing ever. He could not take his eyes off these people zooming all over the place, flying up in the air, and occasionally falling. All I kept thinking was, "Why are none of these kids wearing helmets??" - something I never would have noticed pre-kids.

We capped off our weekend with some Walking Dead, House of Cards, and, of course, playing cars on Mommy's leg. The essentials ;)