Southern Cali Vacation

Sunday we drove Stacey down to Dana Point. We were starting our vacation and she was hitching a ride from her friend who'd take her to San Diego. We had such a nice relaxing time. The girls LOVED the beach! And I mean LOVED it. The Doheny Beach was right across the street from our hotel, just a short walk away.

Monday we spent the morning at the beach. Camille was thrilled with the water coming at her. She literally wanted to run into the ocean. I felt bad holding her back! The look on her face was just pure delight. And Bea was afraid at first. Then she liked it and would get brave and want to walk in further but then a bigger wave would come and she'd get scared again. She is so cute and growing way too fast! We made microwave s'mores in the hotel room and she popped one in the microwave herself. I really want her to stop growing!! That evening we went to the Dana Point pier and had dinner out on the patio. Beatrice is quite the shrimp eater! We even had a lady come up to us and compliment us on how cute our family was.

Tuesday morning we went to California Adventure. I figured why not try it since we're annual pass holders. We got into the park early hit the Ariel ride before it got crazy - we literally were able to just walk in and jump on. Then did the Toy Story ride, hit the Ferris wheel - which the girls loved. Beatrice spotted a jelly fish ride that she wanted to go on so she and Izak went on that afterwards. She had to be measured to see if she was tall enough. So that was her first big kid ride!! I can't believe how fast she's growing. We grabbed some corn dogs in between. Then took Izak to the Bug's Life 3D show (since he hadn't been able to go last time we went.) The girls loved it. We were gonna ride some of the bug rides but lets face it I was loosing steam and wanted to head back to the hotel. We ended up hitting the Monster's Inc. ride then grabbing some snacks and toys for the girls and headed back to the hotel, after making a pit stop in Laguna for some African goods at the African Hut. Back at the hotel we took naps then got dressed for dinner. We drove down PCH and decided on trying out Joe's Crab Shack. It was excellent! Izak and I split the baked bean pot - which was two lobsters, clams, shrimp, a potato and corn on the cob. Bea ate my shrimp. She really didn't care about her grilled shrimp that we got her. And both girls loved the calamari. Beatrice more than Millie. Once Millie realized it wasn't chicken she lost interest in it.

Wednesday morning we went to the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. We were there for about and hour. It wasn't that fun. The girls had fun. I think I mainly didn't have fun because there were so many kids there! It was hard for the girls to stay at one station because there were so many kids - older kids at that butting in. We went back to the hotel and had lunch out on our patio and then we got suited up and headed for the beach. This time we took the PCH and headed to Newport Beach. We found a great parking spot right on the beach and we just hung out and played in the sand and water. Afterwards we had dinner at the Jolly Roger near the marina. It wasn't that good, save the calamari!

Thursday morning we got up early and braved the crowds and headed to Disney Land! Beatrice wanted to ride on Peter Pan first. (She's been on this Peter Pan kick for a while now.) Then we went to Small World. Then stood in line for Alice we were so close to the front and then the ride closed down! They said it was because of the the rain. It was barely drizzling! We were just about to leave the line and head elsewhere when one of the workers stopped us and gave everyone in line a pass to come back and ride the ride later that day! So we headed to Frontier Land to ride The Winnie the Pooh ride. On the way there we started to pass the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Beatrice said she wanted to ride it. I said: 'Are you sure? It goes really fast.' She replied: 'I like fast!' So I checked to make sure she was tall enough and of course she was and we stood in line to wait. I was so nervous for her but I didn't want to freak her out so I just played it cool. We got up to the line and the attendant wanted to measure her again to make sure, we then slid into our seats and I held on tight to her and away we went! Afterward she said she liked it but I'm not entirely sure if she'd go on it again. Back on track to Winnie, once that ride was over Winnie, Eeyore, and Tigger were out, so we stood in line to take pictures with them. Then we went back to Alice and rode that ride then headed home. Bea didn't fight it at all! Camille fell asleep right away in the car. And Bea talked and played with her new Peter Pan toys all the way home.

The girls had such a great time and they were so good! It was a nice little time away and it reminds me to make more of an effort to do more things with them on a regular basis. Not everyday but more often then usual.

Pictures to follow!