Before we headed to OC, Landon ate lunch. At least, I guess you could call it lunch. It amounted to about four blueberries, a quarter slice of cheese and a huge mess on the carpet. In hindsight, I should have tried to get him to eat more, but since his appetite is getting smaller, I didn't really think anything of it.
Once we got to OC, we had to drive and drive and drive in our grand expedition for parking. Have you ever driven and backtracked and searched for parking with a frustrated, bored toddler in the back? And have you ever done that while driving your huge truck, making it even harder to find parking? If not, I don't suggest it. We hadn't even gotten out of the truck, and I was ready to turn around.
I gave up trying to find free parking and settled for a $10 lot. We *finally* got on the boardwalk. Landon leaned back in his stroller and just took in the sights - the seagulls, the people, the kites, the ocean, the para-sailor, and the shops. As we walked towards the end of the boardwalk, Landon started getting restless, fussing and throwing his cup on the ground every six steps. (Side note: you'd think that this time, I would think back on his itty-bitty lunch and think, "Hmm, I wonder if my baby is hungry." No, I didn't do that. Time would show that to be a mistake.)
We finally made our way down to the amusement park. Landon stared at the rides, pointed at the Thomas the Tank Engine train making its way around, oohed and ahhed at the other kids and pointed at the dump truck ride and said, "Car!" While we waited for the kid in the "car" to finish her ride, Landon started fussing again, squirming against Brian and trying to break free. (Again, you'd think I make the connection and realize the poor kid was hungry. Nope!) We finally got him on the ride, and he enjoyed it for a few minutes, before trying to escape.
After his ride, Landon ran to the stroller, fussing all the way and pulled out his yogurt snacks. He started wailing as soon as I took the snacks again from him. We finally put it together, and headed to the food court, where the little stinker ate an entire hot dog, drank most of our lemonade and pilfered our french fries. But at least his tummy was full and his disposition improved.
We finally made our way to one the best shops on the Boardwalk - the Beachcomber. It has some great beach-themed gifts, as well as household items and other fun stuff. Landon surveyed the store while Brian and I looked at wall art for the dining room. Suddenly, Landon's face lit up and he screeched, "KITTY"while pointing indiscriminately around the store. I took him off to investigate and he lead me to the huge pile of stuffed animals, at which point he started pulling them off the shelves, hugging them, and exclaiming, "KITTY" as he assessed each one. The one that attracted his attention was a HUGE, round stuffed whale - and at $26, he wasn't going to get it. I showed him a smaller (and cheaper) one, and said that if he wanted it, he had to ask Daddy. I didn't think he'd understand, but his eye brightened, and he turned away from me and hollered, "Da-da! Dada! DADA!!!" Brian came running, and of course we told King Penguin he could have his toy. I set it in the stroller, and he immediately started putting the rest of the stuffed animals in, continuing his mantra of "Kitty! Kitty!" I told him to pick one "kitty" and, of course, he just looked at me. While his back was turned, I kept one "kitty" (it was actually a penguin), shoved the rest back in their places and high-tailed it out of the stuffed animal section.
We finally made it home, "kitty" in tow. And a few days later, the baby is still exhausted for his adventure at the shore.
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