Diary of a Trip

So we decided to take the kids to Disneyland, California Adventure, and Sea World for the very first time. It was sort of my first time, I went once before when I was small but I don't remember much. I was laughing with a friend about how, with little ones, it's hard to call it a vacation, more like a "trip." Lots of fun and fatigue. It was wonderful, we had a great time. We stayed with my cousin Lucero and her husband Ryan in Irvine. Saturday, while driving, Ash randomly used the expression, "son of a motherless goat" in conversation. He swears this is from a movie. Can anyone verify this???
Sunday we attended church and the ward bldg is right next to the Newport Beach temple. Ash's company built this temple, and he did the financial estimating on it, so it was great for us to see it in person.
Ah, the reverence.

I thought this temple had the coolest landscaping.
This beach was called Crystal Cove.

I love this photo because this was the first time that Micah remembers being at the beach. He's been there before, but as an infant. He stopped and just stared when we reached the sand.

So Monday was our first day at Disneyland. The highlight was convincing Eliza to go on Splash Mountain with me. Am I a bad parent for subjecting my child to such sheer terror? After Splash Mountain. I know it looks bad, but the next day she said it was her favorite ride. :) Go Liza!
They had cool 3-D movies.

We spent Tuesday at Sea World in San Diego.

I just love this photo of Sarah. She always has that hair sticking up back there, because she has two little whirls right next to each other. I guess it's time for me to learn how to fix hair.

We spent Wednesday at California Adventure and got to see a neat Pixar parade. This next photo is how Sarah got her naps all week. It was funny because we don't use that carrier much, so if he couldn't see Sarah, Micah would look around for her in random places, like a bag.

We ate at Ariel's Grotto, this fun restaurant where all the princesses come around and visit each table. Micah was too shy for this, but the girls ate it up.
We lost this hat and I was kind of attached to it since Eliza wore it as well. Sarah usually chucked it after about 3 seconds.
Thursday, back to Disneyland. This is the Nemo submarine ride. Those legs and feet you see extending down into the submarine behind that man's head: those are not part of a mannequin operator. DO NOT GRAB HIM. He is a real person. I learned this the hard way.

Riding in the nose of the Monorail.
Our little pirate.
The kids thought the tram was one of the Disneyland rides; they loved it.


Sarah and Shamu.

Laguna Beach. Lucero took us here because it has great shells and Eliza wanted to start a collection.
By Friday, Ellie and Micah said they didn't want to go to Disneyland; they wanted to stay home and take a nap. Poor Micah; we could almost predict every day when his mid-afternoon meltdown would be.
Friday night we went out to dinner with Lucero and Ryan. The kids miss them already and they were such wonderful hosts. At night we got to soak in the hot tub while they sat at the apartment with our sleeping kids. Thanks for everything, guys!