California trip!

When my brother Jason proposed to his girlfriend and they decided to have the wedding in Livermore, CA where Anne-Mari is from, it started a 9 month planning period not only for them, but for The Peters as well! At the time of their engagement Derick was still here so we planned on the three of us flying out together, well his deployment changed things and with the move to KC we were glad we'd be able to travel with my sisters. I'm very thankful we were able to has Tyson has never flown and I get a little anxious in airports and airplanes! As most of you know, I also stared my self proclaimed 'Bridesmaid Boot camp' as soon as I was asked to be in the wedding! I'm happy to report that I've lost 42lbs since January and I am very proud of myself for sticking with it and accomplishing what I set out to do!

Now for the trip...we woke up about 4:45 Thursday the 3rd to finish packing and head to the airport. It was a little early for all of us but we managed to get there and on the plane with no major issues! I was VERY concerned with how Tyson would do couped up on an airplane for 3 1/2 hours! He surprised me and was awesome! The only time on the flight out that he was upset and cried was when he was told that he had to put his seat belt on!! We explained when the seat belt light over head turned off he would be allowed to take the seat belt off. Eventually he agreed to put it on and kept it on until he saw that little light shut off! On lift off and landing he kept saying "I like this Mommy! This is fun! I like this!" I however, don't really enjoy those two aspects of flying as much and I found myself gripping his little leg tightly when we were landing! I had packed a backpack for him to carry-on with him full of new little toys to play with and surprising to me, they kept him pretty busy!
The return flight wasn't as smooth of a ride so to speak for Tyson. We were at the airport 3 hours early so we had a lot of down time and sitting. He was a bit antsy by the time to get on the plane. He was a little grouchy towards the end of the flight but he was a trooper. I was very proud of him and how well he behaved. He was asleep before we even pulled out of the parking garage at KCI!

We had a great time in California, spending time with family that flew in for the wedding! There was more down time than I anticipated so we hung out on the patio of the hotel and played out there, we napped, we ran errands and just hung out with family! It was pretty relaxing overall! The wedding was beautiful and Tyson looked ridiculously cute in his Wrangler's and cowboy boots as one of 2 ring bearers. He walked down the aisle like a champ and we pretty well behaved during the ceremony! During the reception the DJ played a pre-recorded message from Derick giving his toast. It was so good to hear his voice and it was such a nice gesture on his part to call and do that. It was pretty emotional since he wasn't able to be there with us, or stand up with Jason as planned. So many people thought it was so awesome and said his message brought them to tears and they didn't even know Derick!
Sunday after the wedding we went to Mass with the family, lunch and then us girls, Tyson and my Uncle Steve and Aunt Cindy drove to the Oakland Zoo and spent a couple of hours there. It was great to get to spend time with them! Tyson really latched on to Uncle Steve and bless his heart, Uncle Steve toted Tyson around the zoo on his shoulders most of the time we were there!


It was a great trip and we had a lot of fun! We're sad that Jason and Anne-Mari are so far away but at least they live in a beautiful place that will be fun to go visit again!

The following are some of the pictures in no particular order, of our vacation. Hope you enjoy!