Adventures In So Cal, Part 1

Last year our family heard about another family who saved together for each member of their family to go to Disneyland.  This sounded like so much fun, and we have never taken our kids to Disneyland.  Our kids are currently at just the right ages to enjoy it and possibly remember it (Dustin went as a young child, can't remember it at all, and didn't want to pay for our kids to have no memories of it).  So we have been saving since last October and we finished saving just in time to go the week after school got out!  Here we all are at the top (at Disneyland).

School got out on Thursday, and we left for California on Friday!

We stayed at my parent's on Friday night and got up bright and early Saturday morning to finish out the long voyage.  About an hour outside of Vegas we broke out these bad boys:

 Seriously, one of the best dollars I spent in preparation for this trip.  I created a little "bored bag" for the drive, with surprises inside.  We pulled something out every hour or two, to give us some new entertainment.  It was very effective.  Some of the other stuff I had in there was ring pops, new coloring books, bubble gum for bubble blowing contests (we never actually used that one), birthday party blower things, games and sticker books.  And, of course, there were lots of snacks and treats.  We also listened to a few books on CD and Disney soundtracks, from the library.  Over all, the drive in both directions went great!  Nobody threw up or had an accident (myself included), and the kids stayed relatively happy, even toward the end of the long day.

We headed straight to Santa Monica Pier on Saturday night, and met Dustin's family there.  It ended up that Dustin's whole family came to California at the same time as us.  His niece was graduating that week, so it was a good excuse to have a little family reunion.

 I wish I could describe the pure joy my kids had experiencing the ocean for the first time.  Screaming, laughing, running, playing in it.  It was such a fun parenting moment!  

They were so excited by the feel of the sand going out from under their feet with each wave.  The water felt warmer than the air around us!

  But, of course, someone had to "slip on some seaweed" and get soaked.  Actually, two someones.  Ryan and Grant both were wet and cold, so Dustin took them back to the car to change, while the girls and I watched the sunset over the ocean.  And nearly froze to death.

 We finally met up with Dustin's family as the sun went down, so we wandered the pier a little bit and then left for his brother, Arie's house, about an hour away.

Sunday was church, and palm tree admiring.

That night Briana graduated from Seminary.

The next morning we got up early and drove to San Diego to go to the Zoo.  It was pretty cool to see a panda bear (well, kind of see).

 Some of our family's favorites were the polar bears, orangutans and koalas.

 We loved riding the Sky Tram.

 We picked the perfect time to go to see baby animals!  There was a baby giraffe, orangutan and koala.  So cute!

 Another trip on the Sky Tram!

On the way home we stopped to admire the San Diego Temple.  It is beautiful.

We got home just in time for the kids to swim in Arie's and Isabel's pool, in the dark.  They were just as excited for this as they were for anything else we had planned!