Our California Trip

So, last week we went with our friends, Kalli and Joel, to California to enjoy some time off work and school, to enjoy the warm weather, and of course to have some fun.

We left Tuesday night and drove half way to Mesquite, where we stayed the night at the lovely Virgin River. We woke up early Wednesday morning, drove the second half of the drive, and arrived to our final destination for the day--- Santa Monica beach. There was so much to do--so, we spent the rest of the day wandering the beach, pier, and shops. We saw many entertaining things including dolphins playing in the ocean(right off the end of the pier) a movie (with tons of crazy teenagers running, jumping, and screaming happily down the pier)being filmed, some men in Speedos running down the beach, and much more.

That night, we went to my aunt Pam's house and had a good St. Patrick's day dinner (corned beef, cabbage, and red potatoes---YUM!) with her, my cousin and his wife, as well as their kids. Also, my little sister Andrea came a little bit later. It was fun and good to see her and everybody else! My camera deleted the first few pictures I took there, so I don't have any of those from that day...:(

Thursday we woke up, ate breakfast, then headed off to the "Happiest Place on Earth"----Disneyland! This was Ian's first time, so I was excited for him to experience it (although it is MUCH different as a child than as an adult). The weather was fantastic, the lines (thanks to the Fastpasses and Ridemax-thanks Mom)were amazing, and we all had a good LONG day there! My favorite rides are still Indiana Jones and Space Mountain---so fun! Ian's favorite----take a guess......Buzz Lightyear. Maybe because he kicked my butt when it came to our scores?!?!

We walked over 26,000 steps (equivalent to a little over 15 miles) according to the pedometer on Ian's phone, so you can imagine how tired we were and how bad our feet ached by the end of the night(except for Ian's-he said). All in all, we all had a great time and it was worth the pain! :) I am very grateful that I wore my running shoes even though they weren't the most fashionable shoes.

Had to get the two classic pictures taken! :)

Even after all the walking---Ian still managed to climb this lego in Downtown Disney. Security was NOT very happy about it when they saw him and told him to get down. They didn't need nobody cracking their head open.

It made me laugh that this kid ran under there to get his picture taken and both he and his mother were completely oblivious to Ian up above...

We spent Friday at California Adventure. We had a great time there as well. Ian was more of a fan of that place---I think because its geared towards an older crowd. The weather was nice that day as well, the lines were a little longer, but we still had a great time. Our favorite rides include: California Screamin, Soarin over California, and Tower of Terror, which are probably most people's favorites.Our only picture with characters.

Ian looking haggard (on purpose) on California Screamin.


On Tower of terror---sooo scary! The only pictures we have with Kalli and Joel are the ones on the rides---oops...I guess we forgot to get group pictures!

Saturday came too quickly, and we soon found ourselves on our way home. Ian wanted to stop at this sandstone rock formation he saw on our way down. We stopped here so Ian could climb to the top---or should I say run (cause that's what he did). We did some research when we got home (because we had no idea what this was) and found out the name of this place is the "Mormon Rocks"--because this is where the pioneers would camp after their trips across the Mojave desert. If you look close enough, you may see Ian!

We had a great time in California with Joel and Kalli. It was hard to come back home and get back to our routine, but at least we didn't come home to snow---right?