Disneyland!

In June we flew to Los Angeles to spend some time with Josh's Grandpa, Papa or Great Papa to Eli. His health had been getting progressively worse and we wanted to be able to spend some time with him before he passed. We saw Papa at his house right after we got into LA and he was not doing well. By that afternoon he was admitted into the hospital. He was in the hospital for the duration of our stay, but by the time we left he seemed like he was doing quite a bit better and would be released soon. As it turns out, he was released from the hospital but passed away later that summer, in August. We are so grateful that we were able to make the trip down to see him one last time.

We were in LA for about a week, and though we visited Papa in the hospital almost every day, there was still a lot of time to have some fun. We spent one day at Disneyland, which was extra special because it was Eli's first time. Josh, Eli, and Josh's dad (who Eli calls Papa) went on a fishing trip, and we spent a day or two at the beach.

Ready for our day at Disney to begin!

We met up with our sweet friend, Siosiana. She was kind enough to get 3 of us in for free. It was amazing and unexpected. I guess that is one of the perks of her husband being a Disney employee. 

We did not break Eli in slowly. The first ride we took him on was Space Mountain. He said he liked it, but that he didn't want to do it again. Josh's sister, Lauren, came too. It was so great to spend the day with her!

Eli did not want to meet any of the characters until we saw the crew from Winnie-the-Pooh. It was odd that those were the characters he wanted to see, because he has had almost no exposure to Winnie-the-Pooh. He sure enjoyed meeting them though. 

Our gang with Eeyore. 

Splash Mountain was Eli's favorite ride. 

Waiting to ride Big Thunder Mountain.

Dumbo with Aunt Lauren 

That is the face of a little boy who just had one of the best days of his life. 

We had two beach days while we were there. We played Frisbee and played in the water, and Eli rolled around in the sand.

Sandy from head to toe.

Papa, Eli, and Josh at Redondo Beach.

The boys got up early one morning to take the boat out fishing. This boat has been in the family since Papa was a kid. Josh has a lot of memories of fishing trips on that boat with his dad and Grandpa, and it was fun for Eli to start making some memories of his own. 

Getting ready to unload the boat.

Out on the ocean. At some point in the trip, Eli got motion sick and threw up. But when he got home he mentioned that he threw up but said he had a great time. What's a little motion sickness when you get to have an adventure with your dad and grandpa? 

My boys. 

We were so grateful for the chance to spend some time with Josh's family, especially his grandpa.