Wonder where I've been for the last two weeks? Well, for half of the time the answer would be: Cali! That's right - just returned from a 7 day sojourn in the sunshine state. Trying to get over the crushing depression from having to come home....the only downside!
Thanks to the generosity of my parents, we were able to stay at the beautiful Newport Coast Villas by Marriott with a view of the ocean from our balcony. We arrived last Thursday to cloudy but warm weather and immediately headed to my dad's favorite haunt - In N' Out Burger. Little known fact about my father: he could literally eat there for two meals a day every day. I had to fight tooth and nail to get him to take us somewhere else to eat! Don't get me wrong, I love the burger - but I can't eat a burger and fries every meal!
After a good night's rest we headed for San Diego on Friday to go to see Shamu and friends at Sea World. The day was good - with a rainy morning the weather miraculously cleared and we even had enough heat to remove our jackets for most of the day! Emma's experience was only thwarted by her frustration with having the sun in her eyes! She enjoyed watching Shamu, but her favorite part of the park was the Sesame Street themed kiddie area and the fun she had with her Dad on the ropes course. I would have liked it better had someone warned me about that bar! By the end of the day we were ravenously hungry and pretty tired - so we got some pizza, ate it with a gorgeous view of the San Diego Temple, and drove back to Newport.
Saturday was spent on the beach at the Crystal Cove State Park. The weather was a little chilly, so only Abbi dared wearing a swimming suit. Emma was immediately frustrated by the fact that her pants got wet and she was a little bit afraid of the waves.
It took a lot of work on her Dad's part to get her to enjoy running from them, but I think she had fun by the end of our time in the sand. We ate lunch at Ruby's Shake Shack, which was exceptional and then went back to the hotel in hopes of really being able to swim. However sunny it was, the chill was just to prevalent and so we only braved the hot tub.
Easter Sunday was fun. We had a little visit from the Easter Bunny - he even finds you on vacation! and tried to participate in the hotel's Easter Egg hunt, with little success. We went to church with the Corona del Mar ward and spent the afternoon relaxing at the hotel. Emma loved their little playground and the toddler room in their activities center. Matt spend a lot of this day in bed with a sinus infection - not fun - but he was just trying to prepare himself for:
DISNEY!
We spent the next three days in the parks. Monday was spent entirely at Disneyland, Tuesday we went to California Adventure for most of the day with the exception of Breakfast in the Park with Minnie and Friends, and Wednesday we hit the highlights at both parks. Some favorite moments include Emma meeting Minnie at the Breakfast - she couldn't stay away from her! - the Breakfast in the park in general
(Matt eating 7 plates of food trying to make it worth the money and then realizing it was worth the money when he saw Emma with Minnie), Tigger being very cute with little Lucy, 
Emma riding the rollercoaster in Toon Town and proclaiming "I like rollercoasters!", Emma riding Small World for the first time and marveling at the wonder that is Disney, eating the best Corn Dog I have ever eaten, just all of the magic of Disney. I have decided that when you are a kid Disney amazes with the magic of it all, and when you are an adult Disney amazes with the grandeur of it all. I still feel it is truly awesome - even after all these years!
We had a great time. Lucy was incredibly good for a teething six month old - we were very grateful for that...
and Emma, though slightly trepidatious on any ride involving being in the dark (which is, like, every ride in the park) was really enjoying herself by day three (once she figured it all out!). Matt was the picture of "being a trooper" perfection and I think enjoyed himself overall. As for me, well, I am pretty easy to please when it comes to Disney and loved every minute of it!!! We had fun and now we are home....back to real life!
Sarah
Thanks to the generosity of my parents, we were able to stay at the beautiful Newport Coast Villas by Marriott with a view of the ocean from our balcony. We arrived last Thursday to cloudy but warm weather and immediately headed to my dad's favorite haunt - In N' Out Burger. Little known fact about my father: he could literally eat there for two meals a day every day. I had to fight tooth and nail to get him to take us somewhere else to eat! Don't get me wrong, I love the burger - but I can't eat a burger and fries every meal!
After a good night's rest we headed for San Diego on Friday to go to see Shamu and friends at Sea World. The day was good - with a rainy morning the weather miraculously cleared and we even had enough heat to remove our jackets for most of the day! Emma's experience was only thwarted by her frustration with having the sun in her eyes! She enjoyed watching Shamu, but her favorite part of the park was the Sesame Street themed kiddie area and the fun she had with her Dad on the ropes course. I would have liked it better had someone warned me about that bar! By the end of the day we were ravenously hungry and pretty tired - so we got some pizza, ate it with a gorgeous view of the San Diego Temple, and drove back to Newport.
Saturday was spent on the beach at the Crystal Cove State Park. The weather was a little chilly, so only Abbi dared wearing a swimming suit. Emma was immediately frustrated by the fact that her pants got wet and she was a little bit afraid of the waves.
It took a lot of work on her Dad's part to get her to enjoy running from them, but I think she had fun by the end of our time in the sand. We ate lunch at Ruby's Shake Shack, which was exceptional and then went back to the hotel in hopes of really being able to swim. However sunny it was, the chill was just to prevalent and so we only braved the hot tub.Easter Sunday was fun. We had a little visit from the Easter Bunny - he even finds you on vacation! and tried to participate in the hotel's Easter Egg hunt, with little success. We went to church with the Corona del Mar ward and spent the afternoon relaxing at the hotel. Emma loved their little playground and the toddler room in their activities center. Matt spend a lot of this day in bed with a sinus infection - not fun - but he was just trying to prepare himself for:
DISNEY!
We spent the next three days in the parks. Monday was spent entirely at Disneyland, Tuesday we went to California Adventure for most of the day with the exception of Breakfast in the Park with Minnie and Friends, and Wednesday we hit the highlights at both parks. Some favorite moments include Emma meeting Minnie at the Breakfast - she couldn't stay away from her! - the Breakfast in the park in general
(Matt eating 7 plates of food trying to make it worth the money and then realizing it was worth the money when he saw Emma with Minnie), Tigger being very cute with little Lucy, Emma riding the rollercoaster in Toon Town and proclaiming "I like rollercoasters!", Emma riding Small World for the first time and marveling at the wonder that is Disney, eating the best Corn Dog I have ever eaten, just all of the magic of Disney. I have decided that when you are a kid Disney amazes with the magic of it all, and when you are an adult Disney amazes with the grandeur of it all. I still feel it is truly awesome - even after all these years!We had a great time. Lucy was incredibly good for a teething six month old - we were very grateful for that...
and Emma, though slightly trepidatious on any ride involving being in the dark (which is, like, every ride in the park) was really enjoying herself by day three (once she figured it all out!). Matt was the picture of "being a trooper" perfection and I think enjoyed himself overall. As for me, well, I am pretty easy to please when it comes to Disney and loved every minute of it!!! We had fun and now we are home....back to real life!Sarah
So next on the agenda was a good old romp around the go-kart track at Winner's Motorsports Park. If only we'd remembered our head socks, we could have been spared a five dollar per person charge to look like this: 
We had a great time and I think the boys were pleased. 
So...Happy Birthday honey - I love you and I hope it showed!