So, this vacation happened over two months ago and I am just barely getting around to writing about it. It's been a wild and crazy summer for me and I wasn't even in any accidents this year! (Knock on wood). We went to Southern California this year and introduced the boys to the ocean - which they loved! We stayed in the San Diego area for the first five days of our vacation, and for the last five stayed in Orange County visiting Disneyland with the Wheeler family. Here's our fun! (There are a lot of pictures because we had a lot of fun!)
FIRST FIVE DAYS:
We flew in on a Saturday and just lounged around the hotel and introduced the pool to the Astlings, which proved to be a great relationship. I think the boys swam every day!
On Sunday, after going to church services, we visited the San Diego Temple and grounds. Both were really beautiful!
For lunch time we tried to find a park near the beach and ended up driving through a very upscale neighborhood, which was a fun detour, but we ended up going to Scripps park and La Jolla cove. After eating our lunch in record time in order to keep the attacking seagulls away, we watched the sea lions for nearly an hour and the boys played in the ocean for the first time - and loved it!
This is just proof that I was actually present - and wearing my granny hat and sunglasses.
After playing at the beach we went to the Mormon Battalion Museum and learned some interesting facts about the survival of a small Mormon army who ended up not fighting at all, but helped build towns and roads and took part in California gold-mining, among other things. Spencer learned that the soldiers has to carry every thing they needed and had to be very resourceful to survive.
The three bins of Legos in our basement is proof enough of our love for the small plastic bricks. So we had to pay homage by going to Lego Land! We started out by entering the water park. Our reasoning for doing this first was because nobody was in the water park - no lines! There will be no people in the water park when it is overcast and 60 degrees. Only those tourists who want to freeze, all in the name of not waiting in line. With the help of a family dryer (by that I mean a dryer that fit our whole family) we were able to make the shaking and chills subside and move on to lego rides and creations.
There were some amazing creations, but our favorites were combinations of our two most favorite things: Legos and Star Wars. This creation of Chewbacca was just amazing - props to the Lego engineer for this wookie!
Darth Maul wasn't half bad either. Well, he really is bad, but the lego creation is really good!
Thank goodness they had a fast roller coaster for our wannabe older boys. We rode the Technic roller coaster many times!
Mark and I had a great time watching the Bionicle arm toss around Spencer and DJ like a rag doll. James and I were tossed around a bit too, but with less speed and jolt, much to his chagrin.
Legos and our next favorite thing: Harry Potter!
By the end of the day the we were so ready to rest, even the stocks seemed like a reprieve.
For a break in between theme park days we went to Coronado Island, which is where you will find Mark and I when we retire.
It was overcast, but that didn't stop us from playing in the ocean.
Sand + males=happy building diversions
Sand + males + building = inevitable destruction
Have you ever seen a grave site with the headstone as an actual head?
This head is happy he is dead.
My favorite thing to do on the beach is to find treasures.
After Coronado Island we went to the Maritime Museum which included a number of old ships of all kinds and sizes, as well as submarines. The bunks on the first ship were a happy find.
Spencer's head nearly got blown off by an old, thought to be dormant, cannon.
And James is just too tall now to walk any where around boats on a pedestal.
Astling people: any flashbacks of Grandpa Crisp? Except for maybe the earring.
We put the boys to work on the Star of India - and they STILL had plenty of energy afterward.
What's a pirate's favorite letter? RRRRRRRRRRR
Sea World is an absolute must when visiting San Diego. After taming the kids expectations of a run-of-the-mill amusement park, they settled in and enjoyed it so much, it was one of their favorite vacation events.
Waiting for Shamu - in the no-splash zone.
This picture needs no caption. It's just funny.
Feeding the seals proved to be very difficult with all the aggressive birds around, but we were able to throw a few fish and hit the target - happy seals!
James, although a great reader, picked up a star fist right by a sign that said leave the star fish in the water. Made for a good picture though!
There were two very fast and exciting rides in Sea World: one was the Manta which gave everyone but Spencer and D.J. dizziness issues and James couldn't ride it because he didn't make the cut off height. Everyone however could ride the Journey to Atlantis which we chose to get to at the end of the day so we could drive back to the hotel nice and damp. It was all worth it though - can you tell?
Other fun Astling family memories: diving for plastic duck in the hotel pool; finding parks to play on; the kids using their imaginations on ships; laughing at each other making Star Wars voices in the car; the kids trying to figure out how and what to spend their money on; getting splashed in the dolphin show; watching D.J. figure out how lego creations were made; Father's Day dinner at supposedly one of the best Mexican restaurants in the area; enjoying each other.
LAST FIVE DAYS:
We met the Wheeler clan at Newport Beach where all the cousins played for hours in the waves (which were much more forceful than our previous ocean visits) and the sand. Mark began a sand castle that was an attraction for many young eyes and hands.
Miles and Wade loved the water as well and it was as fun to watch them run up and down the beach trying to keep their swimming suits on as it was to watch other people watch them!
Jara, Jack, Mason and Sam spent a lot of time rolling in the sand, away from the water.
D.J. was a fierce opponent for the waves.
It was a Zippity Doo-Dah Day at Disneyland! One of our favorite rides was the jungle cruise full of many punny puns!
Where they all belong.
Mickey Mouse's house was a fun place for the cousins, but when we found out the wait to see Mickey was 30 minutes, we figured we could go without.
Our second day we spent at California Adventures which contained many of the characters from movies my kids were familiar with. It was the first weekend the Cars ride opened so we waited and waited and got a great ride through Radiator Springs and raced with another car to the finish line!
Striking a pose with Frozone from The Incredibles
An unexpected fun time was grooving with the cousins and a bunch of girl characters including a chicken and Goofy's girlfriend!
James got wet and sweaty which produced a nice mohawk.
We went on a few Star Tours rides and wandered through the Star Wars store a number of times. James the Jedi carries Yoda on his back for training.
While the people over 48" rode on California Screamin' Jed, Mark, Matt and other stayed with the under 48" crowd.
Other fun Disneyland memories: waiting in line for the Matterhorn with Mark, eating churros, watching fireworks; having lunch with the whole fam outsite of the Jungle Tour, engaging in a grape war; Devin's tears running down my arm as we shot up in the Tower of Terror; going on the white water raft ride with all my brothers and my sister, seeing happy Grandparent faces; watching the World of Color water show (highly recommend this); watching Wendy's hair blow straight back on California Screamin'; making lunch for 25 in the hotel room while eating breakfast; people asking where we got our shirts; watching the cousins have so much fun together!
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