When they got home from school on Friday there were 3 shirts turned down on the couch. I told them that mom and dad decided to invite them on our date and if they turned their shirts over it would give them a clue where we were going on our date. They all started lifting the shirts they were wearing instead of the ones that were on the couch. haha. When they turned them over, they were Minnie and Mickey t-shirts. We were off to California.
We drove the entire way down on Friday. The kids did so good. We got a bunch of movies and took their workbooks I bought from Costco that they love doing. We stopped for 2 bathroom breaks and for dinner in Las Vegas. When we stopped in Barstow they all fell asleep for most the rest of the trip so it was great.
We stayed at Christy's house and they are always so good to let us stay there. They clear their kids out of 2 of the 3 kids bedrooms and let us take over the place. They give us their bathroom, beach towels, food, etc. and no one ever complains that another family has just taken over their house.
Saturday morning we went and got doughnuts. Yum, I love doughnuts in California. Nothing like them in Utah. Then we headed to Newport beach. It was coldish. Warmer than Utah but still pretty chilly at the beach. The kids didn't care. They played in the water, built sand castles, collected sea shells and had a blast. We brought our lunch and enjoyed it on the beach.
After lunch we went and drove our car across the Balboa Ferry. The kids thought it was so cool that we got to drive our car onto a boat. Then we met Christy's family at the Corona Del Mar tide pools. My kids LOVED it there. We stayed for hours just exploring. They held hermit crabs, put their fingers in Sea Anemones and even saw a huge black sea slug. The pictures don't show just how big these sea slugs were.
After that we went and got Chocolate Malted Crunch ice cream from Rite Aid (aka Thrifty's) and then that night Brett, Christy, Shane and I all went out to dinner to some yummy Mexican while the Brian girls babysat. Yay!
Sunday we went to Church with the Brians. The girls went to class with Emmy and Jaron was brave and went to his class by himself. After church the kids just played and played with their cousins. They went to the park, collected pine cones, and Mia showed them how to make Origami hopping frogs. Meanwhile, Christy and I spent most the afternoon finding a pot roast recipe for her instant pot and then cooking it. It took forever and was not instant but the roast turned out really yummy. Konstantina also came down Sunday evening and hung out with us. It was fun to see her and catch up.
Jaron has a new love in his life...his cousin Emmy. When Emmy woke up Sunday morning Jaron snuggled right up to her, laying his head on her shoulder. When I told him to give her a little space since she just woke up, he reached over and held her arm during the entire show they were watching. When we were at Disneyland the next day, he asked me several times if Emmy was home and if he would see her when we got home. Now he talks about her almost every day since we've been home. #cousinlove
Monday we went to Disneyland. We had a great day. It was different then that last 2 times as the kids weren't as into the characters as they used to be but were so excited to ride the roller coasters and big kid rides. Aria is my little roller coaster girl. During Thunder Mountain, Aria had her arms up the whole time yelling 'OH yeah, I love this' Jaron loved Autopia and thought he was so big that he got to steer the car. We went on Star Tours, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, etc.
I convinced all the kids to go on Space Mountain. I told them it was all in the dark and they were all ok with it except Siena but she was still brave and went. Siena insisted on sitting with Shane and Jaron couldn't sit by himself so I asked Aria if we sat in front of her and Shane and Siena in back if she would be ok to sit on a row by herself. She didn't even hesitate and said ok. The only bad part was when we got the picture they take on the ride, Aria was no where to be seen and I had covered her up. I felt bad since she was so brave to sit by herself so I took a picture of just her outside the ride to show she went by herself.
We did the cute rides too...Winnie the Pooh, Teacups, Alice, Pinocchio, etc. The kids loved the Buzz Lightyear ride that I had never been on before. On Pirates the kids were so curious if everyone was really fake. I kept telling them they were but it was hard to believe me apparently. They loved It's a Small World (yay) and we sang the song through the ride. Our night ended watching Fantasmic, which I had never seen so it was fun and cute, and a close replacement to not having a parade cuz Main Street is closed (Boo!) The kids did so good all day and we didn't have any meltdowns. I loved that they were older, understood more and were more excited about each ride. We were all exhausted by the time we got to the car and fell right asleep. When we got home I couldn't even wake Jaron up to get him in his PJ's.
We got up early the next day and drove all the way home. We stopped in Las Vegas for lunch and then of course had to stop and do our traditional pictures of Aria in front of the Aria hotel. This was the first time she knew what we were doing and understood that the hotel was also her name and could read it so she thought it was pretty cool.
It was really a whirlwind of a trip and so fast but I'm so glad we decided to do it and had such a great time. And besides Jaron complaining he was hungry the last 1/2 of the trip home even though I was feeding him constantly, the kids were really good and did great on 2 long drives. And it was fun doing a last minute trip that wasn't that planned out but turned out great. Thanks again to the Brian's for letting us crash at your house last minute.
