Another Awesome Vacation - Day 3

Disneyland really took it out of us, so Day 3 was dedicated to relaxing. We slept in, then we went to the beach. This was the first time Casey had been to a beach on the West Coast and the first time that Carmen had been to a beach at all. Don't worry, we showed them the ropes.

We played in the waves......and Grandma showed the kids how to make a sand castle......and we buried ourselves in the sand......and we just plain old relaxed.(I think I have a picture of my dad sleeping at the beach for every time he has visited us in California. I may have to make a collage for him!)

We ate at a great burger joint and played a new card game that my parents recently found, Dominion. I have now asked for that game for Christmas because it's just that much fun to play.

Thanks, Alison and Casey and Carmen, for spending your first California vacation with us. I'm really glad I was here for the first visits to Disneyland and the beach. And thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for joining us on this vacation. It was magical.

And Grandpa is and always will be the girls favorite.

Another Awesome Vacation - Day 2

Day 2 was spent at the place where your dreams come true.
(You know, I don't think I have a single picture of my family where somebody isn't making some kind of silly face. This is the best shot we had.) Anyway, back to dreams - the kids focused on all their dreams, while the adults had so much fun watching their dreams.

A1's biggest dream right now is to be a fairy or a princess or, if possible, a fairy princess. So we let the girls wear princess dresses for an hour or so while we stood in line. I have never seen two happier girls! A2, on the other hand, couldn't care less about princesses. He loves trains and animals. So we fulfilled his dream by becoming animals on the circus train. (See what I mean about the silly faces?)Carmen wants to be able to drive, so off we went to Autopia.And A1 had to ride with Grandpa, of course. He's her favorite.Grandma's dream is to be as worshipped as Grandpa is by the grandkids. While we couldn't quite fulfill that dream (at least in quantity - A1 and Carmen simply love Grandpa too much), we did make up for it. A2 loves Grandma and prefers her over Grandpa.
It is my dream to not throw up at Disneyland. I'm proud to say that I have fulfilled that dream every time we go. But to do so has deprived A1 and A2 the opportunity to ride the Tea Cups. So Grandma took them with her so they wouldn't be deprived any longer.
Now that they've had a taste of the Tea Cups, they beg to go on that ride whenever we are at Disneyland. I may no longer be able to live my dream of not throwing up. Thanks a lot, Grandma!

It got quite hot while we were there, so the adults cooled off with a ride on Splash Mountain. Don't they look much cooler now?We had so much fun at Disneyland on Day 2. We got there at opening (8am) and stayed until closing (midnight). The kids were really tired, but we fulfilled Casey's and Carmen's dreams of going to Disneyland and riding all the rides.

And, of course, we had to get souvenirs

Another Awesome Vacation - Day 1

If you look back at posts from the past, I have invited all of you to visit us in California, as it is one of the greatest places to visit! My sister and her husband and their little girl finally saved up enough money and vacation days from work to come visit us. They dragged my parents along with them so that we could really turn it into a family outing.

They could only stay for three days before getting back to the daily grind, so we stuffed as much vacationing as possible into those three days. Day 1 consisted of California Adventure and meeting as many characters as possible at Disneyland.

California Adventure was perfect for our first day, as we could get to everything there without killing ourselves on a day when the parks closed early.

The kids loved being together, and A1 and A2 couldn't wait to show Cousin Carmen all the best things about the Happiest Place on Earth. We went on all the rides, with the kids going on the Bug's Land rides at least three times each. It was exhausting, so the kids forced Grandpa to take a rest with them (or was it the other way around?). These three love their Grandpa more than anything in the world.
While the adults took turns riding all the "big-kid" rides (the California Screaming roller coaster is the best roller coaster EVER!!!), the kids played in Bear Country. It's like a gigantic playground with ropes to climb, slides to go down, and lots of areas to explore. Their favorite was the slides - they would slide down then giggle and run madly to do it again, all the while with me trailing behind begging them to wait for me. This is the closest I could get to taking a picture of them standing still. They couldn't stop their fun for a lousy photo!
We also met lots and lots of characters, 12 to be exact: Woody and Jessie, Tiana, Ariel, Belle, Pooh and Eeyore, Pluto, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and Silvermist and Tinkerbell. Alison (my sister) made the cutest personalized autograph books for the girls, and they had a blast asking the characters to sign their books. This will truly be a great memory keepsake. Thanks, Alison!

Just one picture of meeting the characters:

Did we have fun? Oh, yes, we did! Time to go home and rest up for Day 2.