California Trip!
Kevin and I surprised the kids by getting Phantom tickets. We sat on the front row of the balcony. We had seen this same production in the Venetian in April 2010 and loved it so much we wanted to see it again. This time we had a different vantage point. Emily saw the Phantom double climb into the chandelier for one of the scenes. We enjoyed the beautiful theater.
The next day we got breakfast at McDonald's on The Strip. (Before our trip, James and I ran into a neighbor at Target. James excitedly told them we were going to eat at McDonald's in Vegas). We drove through the ugly desert to the town of Barstow, CA, and continued on through the desert and mountains into Riverside County. My phone has a GPS and maps on it, so we used that as our guide. Our destination was to Westminster, CA to visit with the family of Marie Como. Marie is Kevin's God Mother and lifelong family friend of Hank and Rene. She died the week before and her memorial service happened to be on the day we were to arrive in CA. We had fun visiting with Angel and other family members in the same home Kevin spent so much time in as a child. Our kids had fun outside and with the dog. We later heard that they were very well behaved and very cute kids.
From there, we drove about 5 miles to the Pacific Coast Highway, where we got our first glimpse of the ocean. We knew a different route would get us to our destination faster, but we wanted to enjoy the scenic and historic highway. We drove through Newport where we saw lots of expensive cars and had a close call. Kevin nearly hit a Bentley. He hit the brakes hard enough to lock our seatbelts and scare us.
Our destination that evening was Oceanside, where my parents had rented a beach house. We followed the directions which took us to Pacific Street, where we saw the ocean again. We arrived just as the sun was setting and I snapped a picture of the sunset with my phone. We found the beach house and my dad directed us in.
The beach house is one my mom found through a vacation rental website. It had two levels, 2 kitchens, 2 bathrooms, and slept 10. We had the upstairs and they had the downstairs. The house was probably built in the 50s but had some remodeling done. The back yard had some grass, then sand (fire pit, lounge chairs, tables, etc). then the beach! It was literally in the back yard. It was night but we enjoyed the sounds of the ocean.
The next morning was Saturday. Kevin, the kids, and I went to San Diego Zoo Safari park. We took a tram tour and saw several animals. The kids particularly liked the baby elephant we saw after the tram ride. The park was nice, but it was hard to find our way around. We were there about 3 hours total.
The kids wanted to get to the beach house and play at the beach. It was very nice weather--in the 70s or low 80s. Of course the water was cold, but we enjoyed in nonetheless. This was James's first time at the ocean, and Emily was too small to remember (she was 3 months when we went to San Diego and 15 months when we went to Seal Beach in Orange County). They were thrilled! They loved running in and out of the waves, carrying buckets of sand and water, collecting rocks and shells, and having fun. Kevin and I had fun watching the kids and had fun ourselves lying on the beach. We all took a walk a mile away to the pier and back. There were lots of people on the beach enjoying the day.
When the sun went down, it got cold. We went inside and got showered. We had dinner with my parents.
Sunday, we had took some pictures on the beach. We went to Sacrament Meeting at an Oceanside ward. The kids just wanted to get back to the beach to play. We first went to San Diego where we went to Old Town. We ate at a good Mexican restaurant outdoors and enjoyed the Latino music and dancing there in the square. We left to get to the beach before the sun went down. We played for a couple hours then went inside.
The next morning, we went to Sea World. We got there right as it opened at 10am. My parents met us there later. We saw the Shamu show twice, a dolphin show, and a pet show. We rode the Shipwreck Rapids ride, which James declared he did not like--as it was over. Sea World closed at 5 so there wasn't a lot of time to do much.
Tuesday morning was the time Kevin was most looking forward to: Disneyland! We drove (with my phone's navigation) to Anaheim and checked into Hotel Menage. We walked on Harbor Blvd. to the Magic Kingdom. We kept in the tradition of riding Pirates of the Caribbean very first. We all rode Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain (both the kids' first time), Thunder Mountain Railroad, Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, Finding Nemo Submarines, etc. We also went to Disney's California Adventure for my favorite ride (Soarin' Over California), Grizzly River Rapids, and our new favorite, Toy Story Mania (we liked this in Florida too!). At night we saw "World of Color" which is in DCA. It is a show akin to "Fantasmic" at Disneyland, but different.
Wednesday was another Disney day. This time, my parents met us there. They had not been to Disneyland since 1995 when my brother Rob was 9. Ours were the first grandkids they have enjoyed Disneyland with. We did many of the same rides we could all do together, and we got Grandpa on Indiana Jones and Thunder Mountain Railroad (his hat blew off and someone caught it!). We rode the train and saw Asimo the robot. The crowds were light and the weather was nice.
James got chosen to be a part of the Jedi Training Academy in Tomorrowland. Kevin and James went to watch it while Emily and I did something else. From a distance, we could see him jumping up and down with his arms in the air, wanting to get chosen from the crowd with other kids. He got a light saber and a jedi robe. Along with other little kids, he got to be trained as a jedi and even got to fight Darth Vader. He was thrilled.
My parents went back to Oceanside that night. They were flying out Friday morning.
Thursday 1/28 we made our way to Universal Studios in Hollywood. We passed the famous Hollywood sign and LA skyline. Universal is a park Kevin and I visited on our honeymoon, but not since. The highlights of this visit were the tram tour (twice), Jurassic Park (which we waited in line for 2-3 hours in 1996), The Simpsons ride, and seeing the views. The tram tour was fun because we got to see the new King Kong 3D attraction. It is a 3D experience while on the tram, with a movie screen surrounding the tram. Kevin loved it; James did not.
Our last day of the vacation was Friday, when we went back to Disneyland for one last hurrah. This day, James was sick, so he and I didn't get there till around noon. Kevin's friend, Cory Wilkin, and his wife and two daughters met us there. We spent the afternoon with them. Kevin took Emily on Tower of Terror this day. We finished our day in the gift shop, getting Mickey Mouse earrings for Emily.
Saturday morning we packed up and checked out. We ate at Mimi's Cafe then made the boring drive to Las Vegas. We once again stayed in the Excalibur Hotel. We went to a nice outdoor mall south of the strip where we did a little shopping and ate a nice Italian dinner. During dinner, Emily said she didn't feel well. When we were walking to our car, she threw up in the bushes.
Emily got sick during this trip. She had a fever and cough. It would come at night and in the morning, but she managed to keep it away during the day. Kevin made a few different trips to local stores to get medicines. Later in the week, James got sick also, with croup and a fever. He did OK and had fun anyway.
Sunday we headed toward St. George and ultimately home. We stopped at my parents' first to attend their setting apart for their mission. They left on February 1 to drive to Washington, D.C. The whole family was there (minus Craig and family, who live in Kentucky). We were tired, but it was nice to be with our family for this occasion. We got home around 9pm.
The next day it was windy and snowy. It was kind of a shock to come home to cold temperatures after being in sunshine and warmth for 11 days.
All in all, our vacation was great. We loved being away and in the warm sunshine. It was a great time of year to go--after Christmas and in the dead of winter. We are grateful to my parents for sharing the beach house with us. We got City Passes at Costco, which allowed us to have 6 days of park admissions for a low price.
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