California Vacation: Day 4 - Sunday

Sunday morning after breakfast, we packed up and checked out of our hotel in Carlsbad. We drove for about an hour and stopped at Downtown Disney so we could pick up our tickets at will-call. The boys got really hungry, so we bought the least expensive thing there: Wetzel's Pretzels hot dogs and pizzas. Dave ran over to the taco shop next door to grab some tacos for me and a burrito for him. We chilled in the shade, ate our lunch, and then headed back to the car. 

We drove from there to Seal Beach where my parents live. They were still at church, so we let ourselves in and I immediately turned on their A/C and began to put in a load of laundry. I had packed for only 4 days to save space in the luggage, so I had to wash most of the clothes to wear again for the rest of the week.

While I did that, Dave and the boys went out and, of course, went lizard hunting. They caught this big guy sunning on a rock. Miles really wanted to take him home to Utah but I had to tell him that the lizard needed to stay in California with his family. He understood.

Eventually, my parents got home and then Ruth's family showed up as well. Her boys had fun with the lizard as well. 

After the lizard party, we had dinner that my mom had prepared, the boys played some baseball with Papa, I snuggled babies and Baby Nate fell asleep on me and I was in heaven for a half hour. Cruise got to discuss his comic books with Fernando, and we all got to chat and catch up. It was a really nice Sabbath. 

We said goodbye to everyone and did a late check-in at the new hotel, which was also a Hampton Inn, but this was located in Cypress, which is less than 30 minutes to Disneyland. First thing we did was request a roll-away for Miles. I slept really well the rest of the trip. Well, other than the fact that the A/C was not consistent and I had to keep getting up in the middle of the night to turn it back on. But, I can't complain about the bed. So comfortable! 

And that was Day 4!

California Vacation: Day 3 - Beach Day!

Day 3 was a really nice break. Especially for my feet. Holy cow, my feet hurt. Since we were in Carlsbad and my parents and Ruth's family were further north, we decided to meet half way at Linda Lane Beach in San Clemente.

While we waited for everyone to show, the boys played at the playground and walk around finding all sorts of fun animals. Squirrels, lizards, and birds. 

After everyone showed up, we moved the party to a picnic area just up the hill from the beach. Dave, the boys, and Ruth's boys all went lizard hunting while we chatted, snuggled the twins, and set up for lunch. 

Fernando set up a small tent by the picnic table so Ruth could change Nate and Peter and let them nap. They were so adorable and I wanted to snuggle them all day.

Mom and Dad went and picked up pizza for all the boys and Subway for the adults. It was so much fun watching the boys interact with each other.

After everyone was fed and sunscreened up (I was in charge of that, and of course, forgot to slather myself), we headed down the hill to the beach. Unfortunately, there was a shark warning, so we couldn't really swim, but it was fun playing in the shallow area, feeling the sand between my toes, and building a sandcastle. The tide kept coming in further and further until it hit my backpack, our towels, and our camp chairs. But we had so much fun nonetheless. 

Dave scoured the beach for shark teeth and ended up finding a broken one, but it got lost when the tide came in too far. 

Cruise found all sorts of awesome shells and rocks. He collected them and made sure we brought them home.

Everyone except Mom, who was taking the picture.

Mikey, Fernando, Sammie, Cruise, Dave, Gabe, Jett, Me, Nate, Miles, Ruth, Peter (in the sling), and Dad/Grandpa.

Once the tide got everything wet, we decided to pack it up, say goodbye, and head back to the hotel. I got totally sunburned on my back and I got a couple sun blisters on my scalp. Not cool.

Once we got back to the hotel, we jumped into the pool and the hot tub. I started to feel kind of crappy on account of the sunburn, so we went inside, showered, and Dave went and grabbed us some dinner from Spaghetti Factory and stopped by the pharmacy to get me some aloe for my back.

We got the roll-away for Miles, finally, and I slept a little better, but the sunburn made it hard to be completely comfortable. I was really exhausted, so it still was great to just sleep, sunburn or no sunburn.

And that was Day 3!

California Vacation: Day 2 - Legoland

Day 2 we decided we would start with the waterpark since it was just slightly warmer than the day before. I was really glad we did that first because it really wasn't crowded at all. In fact, all of Legoland was not that bad and the lines weren't too bad either. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the waterpark, but everyone had a lot of fun. They had a ton of areas for Miles to play in, they had a wave pool for the older kids, a few rides, lots of slides, and a build-a-boat area. It was a blast and the kids really had so much fun. I normally do not enjoy waterparks, but I even had fun playing with the kids and watching them run around. 

We then changed our clothes and headed to grab some lunch. I had the best tuna melt sandwich I have ever had, Cruise and Jett got sandwiches, and Miles wanted a hamburger and fries, so Dave took him to get that and got himself one as well. We were all really hungry, so we spent the money. I also bought some apple fries that I heard a lot about. They were pretty good!

We once again split up and took turns with the boys riding kiddie rides and bigger, more intense rides. The majority of rides at Legoland are geared towards younger kids, so it was kind of a perfect time to go with the boys being still pretty young. I don't anticipate ever going again, however, but it still was a lot of fun for them.

Miles picked out this night light that he was pretty excited about. After he and I bought it, we met up with Dave and the other two and they all went on another ride while I rested my feet for a bit. While they were in line, Miles started getting concerned that he had lost his night light, so Dave had me text this picture to him to show him that it was safe with me.

Our tickets included the aquarium there at Legoland, so we went and did that but having been to the Living Planet Aquarium in Utah, we were not super impressed. It was still cool, but nothing compared to our local aquarium. We're spoiled. 

Dave, Cruise & Jett rode The Dragon again while Miles and I played with giant Legos. Miles decided to make a snake and spent a lot of time and patience finding all the Legos and lining them up to make his snake. Kids kept stealing the Legos, and he would just calmly replace them and keep going. Talk about persistence!

The finished snake:

We went to the gift shop to see if the boys wanted to buy anything with their money they had been saving up. Jett grabbed this mask and made his eyes all white like in the movie. Neither Cruise nor Jett bought anything and decided to save their money for Disneyland.

This is the point where we were all exhausted, fussy, and ready to leave. Miles wanted to ride the carousel, and Cruise decided to join us. Once he got on the horse, however, he felt embarrassed because he thought it was too "girly", so he had a meltdown right there on the horse, was warned by the employee twice for not sitting, and then finally covered his head with his shirt. Looking back now, it's hilarious, but I was not too happy about it at the time.

We all said goodbye to Legoland, and headed back to the hotel but not before we stopped for dinner at Noodles Inc. to stuff our faces. We were all tired, cranky and hungry. We went back to the hotel, showered, and relaxed while the boys watched The Amazing World of Gumball on Cartoon Network. I forgot to get a roll-away for Miles again, and so I didn't sleep much that night. Luckily, the next day was beach day...

And that was Day 2!