California: Day 3

Day 3 of our California adventure found us at another beach.  We headed over to Laguna beach this time.

Trent and Sean couldn't get enough of the waves.  They were having tons of fun body surfing.

 

Sean took a break from the waves to help the kids build a sand castle.

Everyone was having tons of fun playing in the water.

 

Except Preston.  He spent a lot of time standing and watching everyone else in the water. 

 Or sitting and watching.

He also spent lots of time chasing the birds with a huge stick.

 And smashing the sand castle Sean and the kids worked so hard to build. :)

These are my personal favorite shots of the day though:

This kid cracks me up.

That night we headed over to Midieval Times for dinner and a show.

 What a crack up!  The kids  loved it... I think mostly because there is no silverware and everything they ate they got to eat with their hands.  I guess the fact that they got to watch knights sword fight and joust during the meal was a bonus as well.  :) Poor Trenton had an allergic reaction to all of the horses, hay, dust, and whatever else was floating around in the air there.  Trent left early with him to get him some Benedryl. :(  He at least got to eat his dinner and see most of the show.  Plus, we saved his dessert for him, which made him happy.

California: Day 2

Day 2 of our California trip found us at that wonderfully magical place, Disneyland.  I had been a little bit worried that Preston wouldn't be able to ride most of the rides, but he was the perfect height and age.  There were only 2 rides in the whole park he wasn't able to go on!  And Vivi was the roller coaster queen.  The wilder the ride, the more she liked it!

 The first ride of the day.  It was a perfect time of year to go.  There were hardly any lines at all, and the weather was perfect!

We went and saw Nemo on the submarine ride.

After several other rides, the boys left to ride the train while the girls waited in line to see princesses.

 

Vivi got her face painted while we were waiting.

 Towards the end of the day, we headed over to Tom Sawyer's Island.  I think the kids could have spent all day there exploring.

 Trent was having the most fun. ;)

Grandpa was especially having fun scaring the kids in the caves.

The end of the day.  By the time we left the park at 6, Preston was asleep before we even took 10 steps out of the gate.  He slept all through dinner, the whole ride back to the hotel, and kept right on sleeping through us getting him dressed in his pajamas and putting him to bed.  We wore him right out!

Such a fun day!

 

Everyone's favorite ride:

Trent: Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad

Kiffon: The Haunted Mansion (I loved the "Nightmare Before Christmas" decorations they had up)

Trenton: Splash Mountain

Colson: Splash Mountain

Vivian: Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain

Preston: Buzz Light Year and the Jungle Cruise

Grandpa Stock: Splash Mountain and the Matterhorn

Grandma Stock: Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Haunted Mansion

Sean: Thunder Mountain Railroad

Grandma Guercio: Space Mountain

California: Day 1

So back during the kids' Fall break, we decided to take a little trip over to California.  With Trent's new travel schedule, our family was in desperate need of some together time.  So we got all the grandparents and uncle Sean, hopped on a plane and had so much fun!

Our plane got in nice and early, so we checked in to the hotel, got a few groceries, and headed straight for the beach!

We went to Crystal Cove State Park, and they had some of the most amazing tide pools.

We spent hours looking and wading through them all.  This was all of my kid's first time seeing the ocean.  They were all enthralled with it.

 The guys and kids were all happy to be playing in the water... It was a little chilly for me though.

There were rocks everywhere covered top to bottom with mussels.

Sean decided to start a mud fight with the boys.  They were happy to join in.

Vivi kept her distance though.

Preston was okay until some of the mud being flung around got in his mouth.

We got him to smile again though.

It was a great first day.