California Highlights

Although we had a great week away, I'm actually glad to be home. I'm a routine kinda girl, so vacations are a nice break from reality, but a week is enough for me. That probably sounds crazy. Living out of suitcases and eating out all the time is fun for a while, but I like getting back to normal at home and feel settled again!
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Our trip started on Monday. After driving all day, we checked into our hotel and spent the evening at Downtown Disney, walking around and shopping.

Tuesday was our big day at Disneyland. It was unusually warm that day - I pitted out my shirt before we even got INto the park! The first thing we saw once we entered was Goofy, but since we knew we would see him the next day for breakfast, we made a beeline for Mickey Mouse. Even though the line behind us was long, they scooted him away just a few families after we got this picture. I was shocked that we were all smiling and facing the camera at the same time! I forgot to get my souvenir Disneyland ornament, so I'll likely put this in an ornament frame and display it on our Christmas tree every year.

That evening, we hired a babysitting service (this lady was amazing...she arrived with toys and crafts for the kids) and had a night out, just the adults. We ate dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp then headed back to Disneyland until it closed. I got my fill of Mickey-shaped turtles and our friends loaded up on Mickey candy and giant lollipops for their kids.

Wednesday was breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel. Before she went to bed the night before, Kaylin said she was going to ask Goofy to make her some eggs and when we arrived that morning, Ryan announced, "HEY! This isn't Goofy's house!!!" I should have clarified that Goofy's Kitchen wasn't actually going to be IN his kitchen. Mike got this picture of Goofy in front of the enormous buffet. I've trained him so well!!!

After breakfast, we headed down to San Diego.

We ate lunch at an awesome hole-in-the-wall Mexican place and hung out on the beach for a while.


But Thursday was our big beach day. All. Day. Long. Sand was in every nook and cranny...hair, ears, fingernails, you name it.

That night, the kids spent over an hour collecting seashells.

Friday, our friends went to Seaworld and we drove down to Seaport Village for the day. They have great little shops and a beautiful atmosphere right on the harbor.

Then Saturday, we hung out at the beach again and drove home after dinner.

Our favorite memories...
Ryan:
Getting his face painted

Playing in the waves with his friends

Kaylin:
Meeting Minnie Mouse (thank goodness we found her...we ran out of time to meet any of the princesses that Kaylin's been talking about for MONTHS)

Getting buried in the sand

Mike:
The rides - I actually caught a picture of them on Splash Mountain...I skipped that one, but went on the Indiana Jones ride, despite warnings from signs and every employees who saw me in line. Um, yeah, it was pretty rough and I now understand why it is not recommended for expectant mothers!!!

The beach - this is a picture of the guys on the patio of our friends' rented beach house. If you notice, it's right on the boardwalk which is on the other side of the beach. Next year, I think we're going to try to get a beach house near them but not as close to the water; cheaper than beach-front, yet closer and more convenient than a hotel.

This picture was taken from the same patio without a super zoom lens. Being that close to the water was amazing.

And this shows the front of the house (the yellow one on the right). Since there's very limited parking nearby, it's like having your own private beach!

Mine:
Our Anaheim date night


Going to Goofy's Kitchen - it was $100 for our family, but character breakfasts are SO worth it to me. The buffet was amazing, the kids loved spending time and dancing with the characters...I highly recommend it. We even ran into someone there; a little girl we taught this summer in Ryan's Sunday school class. Small world!