yes. we're those people.

over this last extended weekend, emily and i became those people.

and by that, i mean we became the people who have their 1.5 yr old out and about past a reasonable hour at the casino and out on the strip. (we got a sweet deal at The Paris hotel on the strip in vegas)

needless to say, william loved it.

i had a continuing ed course to attend in LA, so we made a long weekend out of it.

on the way down, william pretty much loved the big boy at the big boy thermometer and the mad greek, both in baker, ca. and i would say he hated most everything else about the drive down.

once we got there though, he was in heaven. he LOVES his grandparents. plus, he got to meet his newest twin cousins, Annie and Parker (not pictured, but adorable), and hang out with his other cousins too, especially his buddy weston, even if that meant just picking up sticks all afternoon.

we had a pretty good time. since emily's sister lives in san diego, her parents in LA, we decided to all meet up in orange county at her brother's house. lucky for us, there was a petting zoo nearby. it seems like there is always a petting zoo nearby when we go to cali.

you probably don't remember the last time we went to the petting zoo. let's just say, it wasn't will's favorite. this time however, he followed the leader of the zoo champions, his cousin kate, and jumped right in. granted, he wasn't kissing bunnies like she was, but he was much improved this time around.

emily and i also got to relive some california traditions as well, besides the petting zoo. back during spring break the first year we were dating, we went out to LA for the week and went to little tokyo to get delicious ramen. since leaving new york (forever ago) we haven't really found a new spot for ramen (except maybe koko kitchen downtown). so we took emily's parents to go find the spot again. we got close enough and had a pretty fun night on the town in little tokyo. so much so, that emily and i went back the next morning to stock up on japanese goods, including: egg formers (pictured below), a boy's day carp kite for will, a million japanese beverages, and other finds you have to try to understand.

these egg formers will press a hard boiled egg neatly into a panda face or a bunny. pretty amazing, creepy, and hilarious all at once.

LA, as always, was fun and relaxing, and the weather was perfect. we stopped in vegas for the night on the way home to split up the drive for william. and that's when we became those people you look at funny when they're walking through the casino at 9:00 pm with their kid on their shoulders. we wanted him to sleep well that night, what can you do? and he did have a lot of fun looking at all the lights and listening to cool music though, so don't judge us too much...

viva las vegas!!

also, if you call us on the phone and you hear some extra loud babbling. it probably means william has confiscated our phone and is trying to tell you something important (or funny).