End of the Trip

Friday we spent just another day hanging out at the beach house. I thought it was too cold to be in the water but some of the manly men went and did some boogie boarding.  Ellie and I did sit in the pool and spa for a bit. Just as I was bringing her down for lunch and then a nap, my parents got out the birthday stuff. I already posted the pictures of that. She was a little surprised about the cupcake and the presents. I showed her to pull the paper out of the bags. Once she realized there were things inside, she got excited.  She was so tired by the time we gave her a cupcake, she only picked at the frosting.

After naps were over and after dinner at In and Out, we traveled back to Disneyland but this time to visit Downtown Disney. There is a lot going on down there.  Two to three bands were playing in the plaza. Most of the stores are high end stuff. Of course the main purpose of the visit was to shop the Disney store to buy souvenirs.

Enjoying dinner at In and Out

We just wandered around enjoying the night air and the music.

Saturday was spent packing and preparing to come home. Ellie and I were dropped off at the airport.  This time Ellie slept for almost the entire flight, waking just in time for me to realize that she had fallen asleep with a poopie diaper and that I needed to change her right then or wait until we had landed (which would have been another 30-40 minutes). The kind flight attendant showed me the changing table in the miniature plane bathroom and allowed me to change her. Unfortunately she still had diaper rash from sleeping in it.

Daddy was waiting by the baggage claim for us. We ended up waiting quite a long time for luggage as someone forgot to bring the cart in to be unloaded and then we didn't realize that the car seat would come in a different location. Finally we got everything packed in the car and back home. 

It was a great trip. I wish it had been a little warmer to enjoy the beach and water a little more but any time on the beach is just great with me. I love my family and are glad we can have such good times together.

California Day 6; California Adventure, DisneyLand and Ellie's birthday

Back to our California Trip (now that it has been almost a month since we were there). Of course we had to go back to Disneyland, especially because we didn't go to California Adventure the first day.  Here's the entire group before we went into the park. 

 We ended up a little more split up this time as there are so many of us and we were trying to hit as many rides as possible. We went straight to Soaring California and were there just as it opened.  We wanted to see the new show "World of Color" but the line for a fast pass (why would you have a fast pass for a show anyway) was WAY TOO long.  With the switching of the kids, Annie, Brian, my dad and I rode after everyone else while they made their way to the Tower of Terror. (By the way, Annie had a book about the Hidden Mickeys in Disneyland which Jeff carried with him but we found one on the Tower of Terror without him.) I was a little sad because they ran off with Ellie and rode some rides in A Bugs Life that I didn't see or take pictures of but that's how it goes.

 Here's a picture of 2 stick bugs. They can look so life like sometimes.

 Here's Ellie and Grandma Wendy. That button on Ellie's shirt is a birthday button. Everyone who saw it wished her a happy birthday. I am sure it would have been more fun if she really understood what a birthday was.

We went over to ride the roller coast (I think its called screamer or something). Macy loved that ride and wanted to ride it twice.  After we rode the Toys Story 3D ride. It is a shooting one like the Buss lightyear ride but this is in 3D and they are carnival games. Ellie seemed to enjoy even though they didn't have 3D glasses that would stay on her face.

Here's Calee and Ellie waiting to board the ride.  After this ride and some lunch Ellie and Braden were a little tired (imagine that). So Jeff and I walked them around the bridges and such trying to help them fall asleep while everyone else decided to get wet on the river rafts.

 There's half the group: you can see Macy, Grandma Bonnie, Grandma Wendy, Stef, and Kelsey. I think my dad has his back to us.

 This one has Calee, her husband Devin, Annie and Brian. I always love the people that wear ponchos because I have never really thought of these rides as something to do just for fun. I only tend to ride them if I want to get wet.

 Here's a better picture of Ellie's button while she grabs at the camera.

 Here's us on Thunder Mountain. I like this ride. We were using the switch rider passes so 2 people for each pass/per kid were supposed to use the fast pass line.

Somehow the employees were afraid to say something or just didn't care but 5 got on the ride.  Kelsey who doesn't quite enjoy roller coasters that much rode this one twice.  

Like I said, we kinda of split up. Calee and Devin weren't there the first day so they went with my mom, grandma, and Jeff to ride some of those rides again while Annie, Brian, my dad and Stef took the smaller kids to ride stuff for them.  I think they waited an hour and a half to ride Space Mountain.



We stopped for jackets and so Kelsey could get some mouse ears. While we were waiting to have the hat embroidered, Mickey walked past all dressed up in his halloween costume and by the time I realized he was coming out not going away, I was too late. The line to see him had grown to 30 plus people and we were crunched for time (trying not to become stuck because of a parade). I was sad. I didn't have a picture for Ellie to remember her first visit to Disneyland.

We rode Storybook land and It's a Small World (which I haven't ridden in years and both of which have had updates) and a few other rides. Then off to Toon Town.  Somewhere in the middle of it all, I received a few phone calls from family and friends to sing happy birthday to Ellie. She would just giggle as she loves talking on the phone. 

It was getting late so I changed Ellie's diaper and put her in pajama's hoping she would fall asleep soon. Half of Toon Town was shut down for maintenance or whatever but we were able to go into Goofy's house, Minnie's house and a few others.

The front gate had said that Mickey's house was closed and there was fencing all around but the door was open. So we went in and through his house. At the end was, for me that day, a blessing and grand surprise. With no line, we were escorted in to see Mickey.

 Ellie was so excited. I was a little worried about how she would react but to her he was a giant animal and she loves animals. As we approached Mickey, she just giggled. I told him it was her 1st birthday today.  He acted so excited for her and the girl taking the official pictures actually snapped 4-5 for us. As it was our turn to leave, Mickey waved and I told Ellie to blow him a kiss. Well she was close enough that she just leaned over and kissed his nose. (Sorry no picture). It was so cute and Mickey acted all shy about it.  Everyone in the room oohed and aahed at it.

We stayed at in the park until close and it was about then most of us realized with the exception of Ellie and Braden, we rode so hard we didn't really eat dinner and just snacked.  It was a great time and I can't wait to go back when Ellie is older and when Jake can come with us.

California Day 4 and 5, on the beach and Sea World

One of the best parts of visiting California is hanging out at the beach.  Although when you go in October, the weather can be hit and miss.  Unfortunately for us, the temps didn't get too warm.  Tuesday, we stayed around the beach house and played at the beach.  My dad, Stef, Jeff and I went boggey boarding for a little bit.  After catching a few waves and being beat senseless by the waves, I had to leave the water.  My hands and toes were so cold and numb it was unreal.

Laying out wasn't all the satisfying as there was a breeze and the air wasn't too warm.  Ellie wouldn't play in the water, which made me laugh because she was all for jumping in on Sunday when she wasn't in a swimsuit.  She did enjoy sitting in the dirt and trying to eat dried pieces of seaweed. After I took away the first 2, she started picking up items and then handing them to me.  If I didn't see or take it immediately, then she would eat it.

All in all, it was a fairly uneventful day.  It was nice to allow the little kids (and some of us adults) time to rest and nap.  For dinner we drove down to Huntington Beach.  There was a local farmer's market type thing going on; small vendors, fresh fruit and veggies, bands, etc. We ended up eating a little Hawaiian restaurant because the place we wanted to go had an hour and half wait.  The food was pretty good. During dinner, Calee and Devin showed up (they came down later because of work).

The next we drove down to San Diego to go to Sea World.  It has been years since I have been to Sea World.  We started by watching the Bird and Dolphin show, which also included beluga whales.

We sat way above the splash zone.  It was cloudy outside.

Next on to SHAMU!  Interestingly enough, no trainers entered the water in this show.

It was a short show that seemed centered around saving the planet and convincing little kids to study animals to become trainers.  It was still fun to see the tricks they have been trained to perform.

Ellie, Kelsey and Stef having fun inside one of the aquariums. 

After a little more aquariums, we went to watch the Seamore and Clyde show.  This "worker" was down sweeping in front of the tank.  As unsuspecting victims would walk by, he would pull his hand out of his jacket with a squirt gun and spray them when they weren't looking.  It was genius.  Everyone was laughing so hard.  Sometimes he would pretend like he would sneeze on their head or if they asked for directions, he would point with the inside hand and wait for them to notice. 

The show itself was very entertaining.  They had prepared a Halloween special where Seamore and Clyde went trick or treating on the stage and then presented some of "their" favorite Halloween moments; Thriller, Scoobie-doo, etc. 

Now instead of feeding the dolphins, you can buy fish to feed the sea lions and seals. (The dolphins you have to sign up for and pay extra to go learn to train them.) This seal was just propped up on his fins, begging like a dog. It was so funny, although not quite as funny as the sea lion on the other side the was making funny noises. I didn't get a good recording of it. Calee or my mom does. The birds were hanging out waiting to steal fish right out of peoples hands.

Of course we played at the sting ray pool for a bit. These ones came really far out of the water quite a bit. I allowed Ellie to try and touch them. I didn't see if she did or what her reaction was but the minute her fingers came out and the water and were headed towards her face, we went and washed hands.

Then we walked down through the eel cave which is creepy beyond creepy. There were tons of them.  When you exit the cave, you are placed right in front of a gift shop.  Ellie wanted to pick out a stuffed animal.  Unfortunately, she isn't very good at picking just one.

After walking so far, the parents were a little tired of pushing the kids around in the stroller.  It was their time now.

We walked through the penguin exhibit.  Sometime since I was last there, they put in a water slide.  So of the crazies in our group decided it wasn't cold enough outside and went on the ride.

While we waited, Ellie and Braden wandered all over the place.  Braden really liked "jumping off" the curb.  It was hilarious to watch because he would squat and extend but then just walk off the curb.

The crazies on the water ride. The park was closing up at this point so I grabbed Ellie some dinner and we drove home.  I think a good portion of us took at least a small nap on the hour and a half drive home.  We stopped for pizza at a small local place and way over ordered for us because everyone was so hungry.

Once Ellie was in bed, I went to relax in the spa on top of the beach house for a bit. It was a perfect way to relax at the end of the day in preparations for the next big day. 

California Day 3, Disneyland

On Monday, we went to DISNEYLAND!  I was excited because the place was all done up in the Halloween decor.  

Seriously, how fun is that.



We started the day with Buzz Lightyear ride. We are so excited, can ya tell? (FYI this was about 10 in the morning. We grabbed fast passes for Space Mountain, which had a few changes for the Holiday. Our ride time was for 5:30 pm. WOW!)

Here's Ellie and Poppy DeVon waiting in line. She was so fascinated with the moving Buzz Lightyear. She loved it.

We then moved to the submarine/Nemo ride. This is Stefanie, Braden, and Jeff keeping busy while waiting in line. Ellie was so excited to see everything in the water though she did get a little scared when one of the "balloons" exploded and the lights flashed in the submarine.

Ellie loves riding on people's shoulders.  It allows her to do hair. The adults rode Matterhorn.  One of the nice thing with having kids that can't ride, we would love 2 adults to sit with the kids and when everyone else was done, they were either on the first ride or were allowed to walk the fast pass line.

We went over into Fantasyland and rode on Alice in Wonderland. Ellie loved seeing all the moving parts.

Watch out! Crazy drivers coming through.

Here's us riding the Teacups.  Ellie danced all the way through the line.  Uncle Jeff spun us a little fast but it didn't bother Ellie or Kelsey. (Ya, we had Ellie, me, Jeff, Stef and Kelsey in our teacup.)

We rode on Pirates of the Caribbean. Nothing even startled Ellie here.  She actually loved walking through the lines although everyone, including Grandma Bonnie, loved holding her.

 We also rode on the Haunted Mansion. This ride was really amazing as the entire thing had been transformed into the Nightmare Before Christmas.  The line was quite long. We entertained ourselves with a little people watching.

Of course, Ellie decided to take just a short nap before riding.

The details that went into transforming this ride must have taken a few days, but it wouldn't be Disney if it weren't for the details.

We went on a few more rides, don't ask me to remember all of them. One was Splash Mountain. Some how I ended up in front and got all wet. We would have the picture but my brother decided to lift up his shirt (which apparently is against Disney rules) so they deleted the picture. We were a little upset because other than that it was a great shot of me, Stef, Grandma Bonnie, Macy, and Kelsey.

We also made it over to Space Mountain.  It was supposed to be a scary ride with the changes but I didn't feel the ride did the hype justice. The planets weren't lit up and there was occasionally a fiery ghost that was seen on the walls.  It appeared to follow the cars around and grab at you but I don't think it would have been worth a 3 hour line.

After a few more rides, Ellie was beat.  We stopped to watch the fireworks and presentation at the castle. Ellie slept through the whole thing. We did manage a few cool pictures of the fireworks.

Overall it was a good first trip for Ellie and I enjoyed being able to share it with her.  I was surprised at how many rides she really could go on. That was one of the best parts. 

California (days 1 and 2)

So, Ellie and I went to California...without Jake. Ha ha ha. I know its mean but he couldn't miss classes. Besides he went to Alaska without us and leaving us to move so I only felt a little bad.

My family had been planning this trip for a while.  They started driving Friday but that is a long drive for Ellie so we flew out Saturday.  Before we left, we took daddy to one of Ellie's favorite places, the indoor playground at the Cherry Creek shopping center. 



 This was Ellie's first flight and she did it like a pro.  We had planned on her sleeping the whole flight but she had other ideas. I didn't let her nap that morning to make her extra tired even. We got on the plane and took a window sheet. The flight was booked so we had some nice people sitting next to us.  Ellie loved watching us take off.  She then continued to entertain herself for the duration of the 2 hour flight.  She played with the menu and safety guidelines; mostly dropping them and then saying "OOOOO" so the asian lady next to her would pick them up.

Luckily and unluckily the pilot was in a hurry.  The flight scheduled for 2 hr and 25 min arrived at LAX 25 minute early.  I called my dad as soon as we landed to let him know.  They beach house was about 25 minutes out.  Although, Ellie had managed to over-fill her diaper on the flight so we had time to change. (FYI, I listened to the same advice my mom gave me when I left for Ecuador.  Always pack a spare pair of clothes in your carry on. It saved me then too, but that's a different story. Thanks mom!)

Next was carrying Ellie, the backpack and carryon down to baggage claim to pick up our 2 bags and the car seat for Ellie.  I managed to drag everything to the doors but got stuck there.  Luckily for me, there was this very nice man who had been on the same flight waiting for his ride.  He helped move the stuff to the curb so we could be picked up.

 The beach house was awesome. Annie and Brian stayed on the bottom floor. On the second floor was the kitchen, living and dining room as well as Kelsey and Grandma Bonnie's room. The next floor was Jeff, Ellie and I, Stef and Macy, Calee and Devin, and my parents. (There were only 3 showers.)  On the roof of the place was a pool/hot tub. At first I thought it a little weird but as the days didn't get terribly warm, it was nice especially at night. Ellie and Braden loved being on the patios; they were short enough wind didn't bother them but it was surrounded by glass so it wasn't like a cage.

There was glass stair railings, table and windows.  Almost all of them were etched with sea scenes and most of that was Little Mermaid.

We just relaxed the rest of that day.

On Sunday, we went to church and then just hung out.  I wasn't informed of plans to attend church so I hadn't packed stuff.  Ellie's outfits included skirts but I ended up wearing a lava lava and a white shirt.  It was kind of fun.

This was a small playground just down from the beach house.  As you can see, many times it was a family activity to go there. Here we have Ellie, Kelsey, Macy, and Grandma Wendy on the swings and Poppy DeVon pushing. Stef and Jeff were walking around.

Jeff and Macy started on this tetter totter but they are hard to work when one side has a lot more weight than the other.  Although Jeff, Macy and Braden weigh about the same as Kelsey, Ellie and I.

 We took Ellie on a walk to show her the beach and let her feel the waves.  She absolutely loved it, until a few days later when she actually had a swimsuit on and we tried to get her in the water.

Jeff using all the muscles in his legs trying to peddle this bike back up the beach.  He did great until he reached the soft sand.

What a gorgeous end to the day.  It was so nice and relaxing.  It really made me miss Jake to sit with this sunset and not be able to share it with him.  Maybe after Law School.