Beach/ Legoland

Day 3 was set aside to recover from Disneyland. We did some shopping in downtown Laguna, then met my Mom's cousin Janie and her husband George, and my Aunt Bonnie and all of her kids down at the beach for a BBQ. It was awesome, a perfect night.


My Aunt Bonnie and her youngest grand- daughter Shel.


The next day we went to Legoland in Carlsbad. I had heard a lot of good things about it and we were all really excited. We were a little bit disappointed at the beginning. the lines for the rides were really long, and none of them were super spectacular, so it felt like kind of a waste. The Lego demonstrations were cool but needed some care. Most had lots of cob webs and were faded from the sun. By the end of the day the crowds had thinned out and we were able to get on a lot of rides. MaryEllen had a great time, but we probably wont go back any time soon.
Henry was so proud of this tower!

Some of the vegies in this garden were real, some were Legos.







one of the more lame rides.

These 2 were pretty cool, both were made entirely of Legos- the light Sabres too!



We stopped for pizza on the way back to our house. Henry fell asleep sitting up with a full mouth of pizza!


The family in front of the beach house.


Thank Heaven for all of the ipods we've won over the years. We loaded them up with kids shows and gave each kid a set of headphones. They kept quiet for most of the drive there and back!


Well that's finally the end of our vacation! It was so fun, but it was great to get back home and back to a routine!

Day 2: Disneyland!!!

The next day we went to Disneyland and had a magical time. It was all of the kids first trip and we were able to meet Brian's whole family there and spend some time with them. In the interest of saving $ we decided to only go for one day, but at the end of the day we agree that if we could have done it over we would have bought 2 or 3 day passes. There is just SO much to do! We were so glad we had my mom there, she helped take care of Emmett and Henry when there were rides they weren't big enough for, and was a great help!




A man and his map: Its a beautiful thing.



























The end of the night.

I am totally bummed, because my favorite picture from the day seems to have been erased. (Henry has recently taken an interest in the camera, or as he calls it, "the cheese" and I think he must have erased it.) It was MaryEllen asleep in the stroller with Minnie Mouse standing next to her. She had wanted to see Minnie all day and couldn't find her. We had a stuffed autograph dog we had bought for the trip to get signed by characters, but as anyone who has been to Disneyland on a busy day knows, meeting a character means waiting in a very long line! Anyway, we were headed out the gate with only 2 autographs on MaryEllen's dog when I saw Minnie Mouse! I thought I would have her sign it as a surprise while ME slept, but of course, Minnie's escort told me she was just going on break. I told her my sob story and she said if I gave her the dog she would take it backstage and get all of the characterts to sign it!!! 10 minutes Later Minnie came back and hand delivered the dog COVERED IN AUTOGRAPHS! MaryEllen was so thrilled when she woke up and it totally made our day! I just wish I had the picture so MaryEllen can have that memory also!

1st Vacation post

We had an awesome trip to southern California last week! We did so much, there's no way I could fit it all in one post, so I'll be doing one day of the vacation at a time. Here goes day 1...

Well, day 1 was really driving, but day 2 we got to experience waking up to the beautiful view out the big front window at my Great Aunt and Uncle's beach house in Laguna Beach. Since it was Sunday, we tried to go to church at the Laguna beach ward. DENIED!!!! I have never seen such a tiny overstuffed chapel in my life!! We couldn't even get in to stand in the foyer! We decided if we hurried we could still take the Sacrament at the Mission Viejo building a short drive away. We got there with 5 minutes to spare and were just settling into our seats when we noticed we were the only blonde heads in the house. My mom asked a missionary if we happened to be at the spanish branch, which of course, we were. Oh well, we couldn't understand a word, but we at least got to take the Sacrament.

After church we sinned and spent the rest of the day at the beach. (Hey, it was a vacation, right?) The house we stayed in is part of the 3 Arch Bay community, so we got to go to the private beach. (We didn't spot LC or Kristen Cavallari there, but that is the beach that was featured on the show.) Lots of cute pics to follow.

The view. (Even more awesome without the haze.)


This was the first and last time they used my Great- Uncle Carl's Binoculars. Henry dropped his pair shortly after this and they were both banned from then on.


I neglected to add that this was also MaryEllen's birthday. She doesn't like cake, so here she is blowing out her 5 candles in her birthday doughnut!


Emmett Chillin' beachside.



Silly, pasty Henry.


I tried to crop myself out of this one. Unfortunately it was impossible.












I didn't get any pics of the stairs, but you have to climb down about 150 to get down that cliff face. (Well worth it!)