Goodbye California

 Admiring Laguna Beach and EXPLORING; What we do best.

 Of course, we found some tasty snacks and a great Thai restaurant along the way.

Lucy collecting her last souvenirs just hours before the trip home. Deac's funny face cracks me up in the picture below; I love it.

To California: I love your warmer weather and your beautiful oceans.  I love all your little whimsical shops lined along the beach side streets.

My skin loves your humid air and my body and mind, the sunlight. I like your palm trees. 

Mostly, I love exploring here with my family. 

So Cali, until we meet again...But I must warn you. Next time we meet we might NOT be inviting Disneyland to come along. Maybe next time we will explore more of what you have to offer instead. Or maybe we will just see you as we pass by on our way to see Hawaii.

Sincerely, your friend,

Annie

BEACH Day With Cousins and More Disney

Eating burgers at Ruby's Shake Shack near the coast.

Lucy and Grandpa DaWayne. I swear I have seen another picture of him just like this. I will always remember him with his pants rolled up while walking the beach.

Lexi and Skipper having a mud/sand fight.

  Lucy, Damon, and Jacqueline.

Alex, Grandma-Ma, and Becky.

 Waiting in life for Bug's Life.

Crazy with Dad.

   

 In line for Buzz Lightyear ride.

 Being crazy on the train ride back to the front gates.

 Skipped out on Disneyland early and went to Kopan Ramen with Alex, his kids, and Jahde. Only the best ramen place I've ever been to! Well worth it.

Seeing Anna at Disneyland

 Meeting up with cousins at Disneyland. Jaxon and Deac were so excited to see each other. Kandus and Chloey.

Watching the parade through Disneyland. The highlight was when we saw Anna on a float and Damon started waving dramatically and sarcastically yelled out, completely out his of character, "Anna!! It's Anna you guys!! Annnnnaaaa!!" We got lots of attention.

It was so funny but also really embarrassing. Anna just smiled and waved back.

Later on Damon took off with the big boys to ride some "scary" rides, Kandus took off with Lexi, and the other two hung out with me. They didn't want anything to do with anything scary and I was having a hard time standing up so we decided on It's a small world. It was very relaxing that's for sure. Also, very much the same as I remember only lonnnger.

A few pictures while waiting to meet up with Kandus at the front gates. Ready for SLEEP. I fell asleep on the way home in the car and almost immediately after laying in bed.

The GRAND Hotel and The Beach

We loved our hotel. Dae got a a really nice place for us about 20 minutes away from Disneyland, which was fine with me. It was the nicest hotel I've ever been to. It was close to the beach and had lots of extra fun things for the kids.

 

Including amazing outdoor pools and a giant chess board.

Walking around different towns and finding lots of cool places to eat.

We love the beach. While we were at Disneyland the two younger kids kept asking when we could go, especially Deac. He couldn't care less about the rides. Give him a rock and a stick to throw in water and he is the happiest kid on earth. 

Being free, exploring, away from crowds of people and long lines is happiness to me. Beach days are my favorite days in California. So relaxing and beautiful. Although, we are unfamiliar with the ocean and have learned we need to be a little more careful around it. While we were playing here by this little cove, the water started getting swift. A nice man came up to us and warned us that the tide was coming and we needed to be careful so we didn't get smashed against the rocks and carried back into the ocean. We talked for a bit with him and he told us that he and his wife never got the chance to have kids and that he was envious...I love my family.

Disneyland, Here We Come!!

We had to get up a 4 a.m. this morning. For some reason someone(me) booked the flight at 6:30 a.m. We barely made the flight and would have missed it if it weren't for the fast family security line, because it was plenty crowded. The kids looking tired at the airport.

 On the plane...we are off!!

Our first day at Disneyland later that day, which happened to be on a Sunday. We wanted to try out the crowds on a Sunday hoping they would be toned down from a usual week day and it was, somewhat. Our kids finally got to see what Splash Mountain was all about. Deacon and Lucy were both terrified when they first saw other people going down the hill into the brier patch and we couldn't convince them to go on it until the end of the day. Lucy kind of liked it after trying it twice but Deac was still as terrified as ever. Check out his face expression. That was my absolute favorite ride as a teen.