Trucks, Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse & the Making of a Genuis

While we're really enjoying our new apartment, there's one - make that two - little details about it's location that make it less than ideal. First, we're right up against the 405. Looking at the picture below, if you were to extend it back about 10 feet, you'd see the freeway. It's terrible. I'm pretty sure my lifespan will be cut by 10 years because of all the extra car fumes I'm breathing in. Second, we are also right next to the garbage area where we are constantly woken up at 6 a.m. by the garbage truck. However, though this is a negative for Ryan and me, it's one of Westin's favorite new activities. As soon as he hears the garbage truck pull up, he goes running to our bedroom window and will watch the entire process. The other morning, this nifty truck pulled up and kept Westin's attention for a good 15 minutes.

Later in the week, I got wind that Yo Gabba Gabba would be performing at The Grove for FREE. While it was a Friday night, and traffic would be horrendous, I decided we had to take Westin. We got there about half an hour early, and it was already packed. We nudged our way through the crowd and actually ended up with a decent view. After 45 minutes of driving and another 45 minutes of waiting at the park, YGG finally came out. The kids were going nuts. Even Westin was dancing and getting excited. Unfortunately, YGG only performed TWO FREAKIN' songs. No joke. They started at 5:15 and ended at 5:20! As they ended, someone announced that YGG would be at Barnes and Noble at 6:00 for a meet and greet. Ha! Yeah right I'm going to go wait another 45 minutes for what would have likely been another disappointment. I'm still ticked about it. They were supposed to do a concert. Apparently I was wrong for thinking a concert would have lasted at least 30 minutes. Oh well... at least we have a couple pictures to prove to Westin that we were awesome parents.

Luckily, Westin had a birthday party to attend on Saturday to make up for the lame Friday night he had to endure :)

So Saturday was Charlie's 2nd birthday. It feels like yesterday when we went to his Brown Bear birthday party where Westin was the Blue Horse (check archives from August 2009 for pictures). This year, Charlie had a Mickey Mouse birthday party... which I couldn't have been more excited about because I really want Westin to get to know MM (I have high hopes of getting season passes and I think I almost have Ryan convinced!). On the drive over, Westin learned to say "happy birthday" and by the end of the party, he couldn't stop saying "Mickey Mouse."

Snacking with the little ones

Climbing rocks with Zoe

Pretending to be a seal (ok, not really, but this pose totally reminds me of all the seals at Fisherman's Wharf in SF)

Emily's awesome Mickey Mouse ice cream cake

The MM pinata

And check out the Mickey ears Emily made from black balloons. Westin actually kept them on the entire party and the entire ride home. Disneyland, here we come!

And finally, the making of a genuis. I captured this picture while we were at Ryan's parents house and forgot to post it with our vacation pictures. Westin had grabbed this crossword puzzle, set it down on the ground, grabbed the pencil and started filling it out! Ok, not really. But as he was coloring the crossword puzzle, it totally looked like he was intently trying to solve it. A mother can dream...