We didn't tell Brayden about our trip until the night before in case I didn't feel up to traveling. He was very excited and woke up the next morning ready to go to the airport and to build sand castles. Everything on the trip from the helicopters flying above Coronado to our red Jeep rental car to the hundreds of boats docked outside our hotel window excited Brayden or sparked his curiosity even more than it already is for an active soon-to-be three-year-old. When we went to the beach at the Del the first evening, Brayden immediately began chasing seagulls and asking Tim if they remembered him from last summer. Brayden was much faster running after them and called them "eagles" this year. He loved building sand castles and playing football on the beach with daddy.
Brayden's extra special part of the trip was the morning we drove to Anaheim to visit Radiator Springs and Cars Land, home of Lightning McQueen and Mater. Nothing says potty training like stopping along I-5 in rush hour traffic trying to find a gas station with a public restroom! Tim is a good sport though and Brayden did great with his big boy pants the entire trip so we made it just fine! It was like Cars Land was made just for Brayden. It was amazing how much Radiator Springs looked like the movie! We saw Lightning and Mater within the first few minutes and Brayden walked right up to them. It was adorable to see Brayden take it all in and even more special to see him enjoying it with Tim. They even rode Luigi's tires and Mater's tractors, Brayden's first amusement park rides. Our favorite part of the morning was when Brayden walked up for his picture with Lightning. The car hadn't made much noise for the previous kids in line but as soon as Brayden got close, Lightning revved its engine real loud and Brayden jumped as far as his little legs could take him! We took a brief walk through Disneyland to ride the train, carousel and horse drawn carriage. We'll return for the full experience once everyone is older.
In San Diego, we enjoyed the hotel pool, beach, a boat ride, yummy food and early bedtimes. My highlight was "date night" with my boys eating outside at George's on the Cove in LaJolla, my favorite restaurant. I remember being really sad three years ago when Tim and I returned home from our last weekend trip to Chicago before Brayden was born. It wasn't nearly as hard coming home this trip because I know we'll have more travel adventures with both boys soon enough. As we left, Brayden told Tim he wanted to bring his little brother to Radiator Springs someday. In fact, everywhere we went on the trip, Brayden asked if we could come back with his little brother. Very sweet!
