I started this post on April 4th…now it’s the 11th – ahhh! (my computer is being slow and my kids obviously sense a need to have 10 minutes of alone time and come a running with requests whenever I sit down to type)!! Here is another very belated post. This time: spring break in Cali – March 18 to March 25th.

On Friday, March 18th, we woke up early early early to fly to California for Spring Break. Our good friends down the street just so happened to be flying out of the same airport around the same time (but to a different destination) so we rented a limo to the airport which cost a ton less than driving and parking all week. All of our kids (6 in total) were SO excited to start our adventure together. It made the 3:45 pick-up time a lot more fun for the adults as well.

In California, it was a week of non-stop fun!

Friday: met up with Pete, Sarah and Charlie…also Meemaw and Grandpa for a trip to the fun zone on Balboa Island. Then Meemaw and Grandpa watched all the boys so we could go to a delicious dinner with Pete and Sarah.

This is Logan giving me the eye while we share a ride on the Ferris wheel. See…I kind of forgot that I don’t like Ferris wheels until I was already on…so Logan spent the ride laughing at me, rocking our car despite my pleas to stop and saying things like, “isn’t it funny how I’m supposed to be one afraid and you’re suppose to be the brave one, but I’m brave and you’re afraid?!” ya…about as funny as Aunt Sarah laughing at the look of horror on my face every time we went around (she was standing on the ground because she was much smarter than me!). hee hee.

Charlie and Brady on the carousel mini horses – too cute!

Logan chose (begged) to spend some of his vacation allowance on the “giant rubber band thing”. Hysterical! He was laughing so hard, he actually drooled on the trampoline!

Saturday: trip to Bolsa Chica beach with Nana, Papa, uncle Mark and his boys Jake and Tanner, Pete, Sarah, Charlie, Meemaw and Grandpa. It was bit cold that day so the beach was practically deserted. Perfect for us though – lots of room to run and play. My crazy children took a dip in the ocean despite the fact that it was freezing. Chicago-born-and-raised = tough in the FREEZING water I guess

The first thing Logan did at the beach: completely soak his cloths. Funny for him, but stressful for mommy who didn’t bring a change of cloths to the beach. It was only like 60 degrees, but he was fine :)

With actual bathing attire on, all three boys played in the water and had a blast. 

Uncle Peter built a sand castle  

Daddy built a sand pyramid:

Meemaw found some kites and it was the PERFECT kite-flying day. All you had to do was let go and away they went.

Bonfire: hot dogs and s’mores for lunch!

That night, we went to Pete and Sarah’s to celebrate Logan’s late and Charlie’s early birthdays

Men of distinct style, Brian and Peter realized they were wearing the same outfit.

Sunday: Drove down to San Diego, stopped at the USS Midway aircraft carrier. I think this was Logan’s favorite part of the whole trip!

Dinner after at Hodad’s: one of the 6-ish Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives restaurants we hit on the trip (Triple D for those of you as addicted to Food Network as ourselves). Brady, Papa and Logan got to dine in this crazy converted car. 

Monday: SeaWorld! I thought the dolphin show was amazing…of course we saw Shamu (or “the Martys” because every killer whale, according to my children, is named after Logan’s pillow pet killer whale, Marty). There was also a cool pet show with cats and dogs!

The set of the “Pet’s Rule” Show – so cute! 

They even have Shamu-shaped pretzels! Um…shamu is delicious…and slightly salty. ;)

There was a big play area…Brady loved his suspended tunnel and crawled through it for at least 20 minutes while the big boys went on a ride with daddy (Brady was too short for a lot of stuff throughout the trip so me and Nana took turns hanging out with him on “Brady-sized” rides).

On Tuesday, we met up with Mark, Grace, Jake and Tanner (who was celebrating his 4th birthday) at Legoland. The boys had a blast with friends along!

Jake, Logan and Aiden playing “statue”…a game I made up to see if we could actually get them to stand still in the ride lines. I would make up a statue pose and they would see who could hold it the longest. This game didn’t last for very long :)

Everything at Legoland is made of…legos! …like this super cute owl family. I love owls!!

One of our favorite parts was the mini land. Logan said, “look mom….that’s where Auntie Denna lives!” (see Golden Gate Bridge pic below) This was totally amazing…3 giant areas covered in replicas of famous landmarks, cities and other scenes in miniature….all made of legos. the boys thought it was the coolest thing ever!

On Wednesday, we traveled from San Diego back to the Los Angeles area. The boys were left with Nana and Papa while mom and dad returned to the Laguna Beach area for a night of fancy dining and sleeping in late! We all met at Disneyland the next morning. Papa works for Disney so they have the “in” on all the coolest stuff. We just followed them around all day and had a blast! We started at California Adventure, made our way over to Disneyland and then back again for the amazing water show at night. It was a long day/night, but everyone had a blast! 

Most of us had a turn carrying the boys around on shoulders during the day….Papa and Daddy took the brunt of the work…I think we were all a bit sore the next morning! Logan wore his Lego Ninjago headband that he got at legoland the whole day. It was noticeable enough that he got called on during a little show we attended where the kids get to talk to the dad turtle, “Crush”, from Finding Nemo.

 

Once again, Brady made his own entertainment while the big boys got to go on a ride with daddy and Papa. Here he is, playing in a little nature area on a slide…that he went down at least 20 times. He doesn’t even know he’s missing anything – look at that happy face!!

The vacation was a blast – it was hard to leave and come home (especially since the laundry was a’waiting for mommy). The boys are still talking about it all weeks later (and obviously I’m still getting around to posting about it! Now I need to make a photo album!!)