CALIFORNIA FAMILY VACATION!

My little family. Tobe, Beau, and Scarlett at the beach in San Diego. We just returned from a week vacation with the kids. They absolutely loved the beach. Beau had a seashell collection. He loved searching for new shells. At the hotel he would wash his new finds and dry each one separately. One day he even had them all lined up and covered under a towel, like they were resting! too funny... The rest of the trip all he wanted to do was return to the beach to add to his growing collection. Scarlett was a little hesitant about the sand and water at first. The water was cold and the sand felt funny on her little toes. Scarlett and Beau would get into the ocean, then when a wave would come they would run as fast as they could away. It was fun watching them.

"Where Dreams Come True"... Disney Land

These are 2 of my favorite picture of the kids from the trip.

I thought since I had so many pictures I should do a slide show, but this way I can write about what I see. These are from the first day at the beach. Even though we were tired from traveling, we still had fun. Scarlett was so funny when she saw me laying out on a towel. She decided to try it for about 2 seconds. The ocean was relaxing as I remember. It was a perfect day.

These are just pictures around the hotel. The one on the bottom is the hotel. It was so nice! We got a large suite and had a ocean view balcony. The kids loved the huge jetted tub. When we arrived at our next hotel 3 days later in Anaheim, Beau said he wanted to go back to the other one! San Diego was one of our favorite parts of the trip.

I took the kids back down to the beach to see the sunset, while Tobe worked out. Beau wanted to do more seashell collecting. I tried to take a mental picture of this moment with my kids. It sounds cheesy, but it was one memory I will never forget. The sunset was gorgeous and the kids precious.

SEA WORLD...It was a lot of fun. We were there all day. I was surprised at how many things they have there. There is even a polar bear there. Beau loved this huge splash ride he went on with Tobe. When he was done he wanted to go again with me, but there was another lady who said he wasn't tall enough. He was not happy about that.

It was perfect weather and not too crowded. I think the kids liked the dolphin show the best. Beau's favorite was touching the manta rays. He wanted to stay there all day. I think Scarlett liked touching the starfish. Tobe probably liked the killer whales and also the bratwurst sausage!

Half way through the killer whale performance Beau wanted to leave and go back to the beach! I think he just doesn't like to sit in one place for so long when there was so much to see. We will for sure be back.

San Diego ZOO... Every animal you could ever want to see is here. The kids favorites were the elephants and the large monkeys. They thought it was pretty funny watching the elephants pee and poop. I liked the koalas, panda bears, and gorillas. It was cool to see animals I have never seen. The top middle picture is of a panda bear climbing down a huge tree.

We were in a little garden with a koi pond and a duck flew over Beau's head. He had to duck for it to miss him! It was funny and we saw the biggest koi fish ever. I didn't know they could be that big. I'm sure they weighed more than Scarlett.

The only down side to the day was it was a bit chilly. Especially when we were riding on the double decker bus around the park. As Beau would say, it was a good adventure.

DISNEY LAND!!! Mickey Mouse was a hit with the kids. Beau got a little upset when we didn't want to wait in line to meet Minnie too. Scarlett would say "Mik-Mouse".

Everyone loved her smocked snow white dress from mimi. (And also her Ariel outfit.)

We picked a great time to go to Disney land with the good weather (80's) and relatively shorter lines.

Beau had this thing with a magical coin we had gotten in our Disney package. He kept saying things were happening because of his magical coin. Tobe played along well. Things would appear in our hotel because of the coin, etc. It was funny.

Scarlett loved the teacups, since she loves her tea parties. She also went on a fast roller coaster in Toon Town that she was too small to be on. When we got off she kept saying, "Not Scared." This went on after we went in the Large Haunted Mansion also. She kept saying, "Not scared". Beau got scared, but he loves that kind of thing. The other phrase Scarlett started saying recently is, "not crying". If Beau is throwing a fit or crying she'll say, "I not crying". It is funny! She did this a lot on our trip when Beau wouldn't want to leave, etc. she would pipe in, "Not crying". I guess she wanted us to know she was being good. The kids were pretty good the whole trip, despite being so tired, etc.

Tobe and Beau rode a lot of big rides while Scarlett and I met all of the princesses at the castle. She loved that! She hugged them and did her happy shy faces. She wanted to get a baby minnie mouse that she carried everywhere. When we were watching the parade a chipmunk came up and took her Minnie away and gave it to a princess on a float. The princess kissed it and then returned it to a surprised Scarlett. You should have seen the look on her face!

I was impressed with the parades. We also saw one at California Adventure with Beau's favorite Monster's Inc., Bug's Life, Etc. At Cali. Adventure we took the kids on this huge Ferris wheel ride with gondolas that you ride in. Scarlett would crack up laughing every time we would swing back and forth and it would take her tummy.

Beau's favorite rides were Space Mountain and Finding Nemo Submarine. He rode every fast, big ride he was tall enough to ride. He also really like the Pirate ride and got a pirate sword he carried everywhere also.

Tobe and I quickly got sick of the bad, expensive food and where ready to go. The kids had fun and I'm glad they got to go get their Mickey ears!

Next we were off to visit my sister Mackenzie and her husband Johnathan. They live in Manhattan Beach and the kids really love them.

Scarlett and Beau had fun playing at the beach again and going to the pier. I loved the fresh seafood. I was impressed that Beau tried a raw oyster. He spit it out quickly though!

Beau said that he liked California better than Idaho. With real estate prices and traffic in Cali. we love Idaho!

The Brandon's took us to some great restaurants and showed us some beautiful houses on the beach. We even saw the old Beverly Hills 90201 house. Thanks Mackenzie and Johnathan! We can't wait to meet your baby boy.

I love this picture. Scarlett was so funny on our trip. Every time she would see a bird she would start saying, "Teet, teet, teet" in an extremely high pitched voice. We were in a restaurant outside and she started tweeting and everyone was cracking up at her. It was very cute.

"Goodbye Beach! We will see you next year," the kids said. We will for sure be back soon! Next time we are staying at the beach all week long and going in August when the water is warm.

Last but not least, our family temple picture. I think this is the most beautiful temple ever. The San Diego, or as Scarlett called it the princess castle. I was so happy we were able to stop at the temple on our way to Anaheim. The grounds were also gorgeous. This reminds me of what our journey and our family here is all about.