Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Our Last Day of Vacation :(

We decided it would be fun to hang out with our friends at Seal Beach for our last day of vacation. This time the beach was beautiful and the water was still cold, but it didn't have the yucky seaweed in it. Our friends brought some body boards so we all tried them out. Asia was a natural and even caught a few waves in. Ethan tried, but he doesn't like the salt water very much. We played in the waves for a bit and played in the sand. Ethan, Mike and our friends' kids Haydn and Taylor even got burried in the sand. Asia and I were taking a nap. They thought that was pretty cool!



After playing at the beach all day, we went back to our friends' beach house, had dinner, and then took a walk on the pier and watched the sunset. What a great day at the beach.


Then it was all over and time to come home. Back to reality; and laundry! Uuugh!


Day 5 & 6

On our second last day of Disneyland, we decided to try and catch some of the shows and go on some of our favorite rides again. We split up so Mike and Ethan could go on the rollercoasters and Asia and I rode on some more kiddie rides. Mike had the camera so here they are on Screamin' again:Ethan and his favorite roller coaster in the background:

Asia and I waiting for the Aladdin show to start:

Ethan in the Aladdin theatre. The show was awesome!
Monsters Inc. We love that movie. "2319! 2319!" Ha Ha Ha!!

Then we saw an animation show and got to meet Cinderella! Asia was in heaven! Ethan said, "I don't want to meet any princesses!"
So he was all over Mickey Mouse. They both gave him the biggest hug. It was so cute!

Here's part of the Disney Celebrate parade. It was pretty lame and there were so many people there! Some guy stepped on Asia's hand it was so crowded. I had to get a little upset with him. Watch where you're going!! Grrrr! I hate crowds!


And this is kind of funny. Ethan decided it would be fun to see if he could fit his knee in this metal fence thing. Well, it fit, but he couldn't get it back out. We finally wiggled it through when Asia decided it would be fun to do the same thing! Funny! She didn't think it was very funny. I hope she learned her lesson, but probably not. She always wants to do what her brother does. That spells trouble down the road I think!

After that little fit, we decided it was time to go back to our hotel, swim, and watch the fireworks from the pool. Another fun day.

The next day, our last one at Disneyland, we got up early to get into Toontown before everyone else. It was nice not having so many people around and we could actually do and see things. Goofy, Mickey and Chip n' Dale were around for hugs and autographs but of course there were long lines for those. So we just walked around in all of the houses and went on a couple of rides.
The slide at Goofy's house:
Mickey's house:

Mickey's car:
Donald Duck's house:

The jail at Toontown:


We had to go for a ride on the Disneyland Express:


It's a Small World. Classic!

The tea cups one last time:


One of the fairies in Tinkerbell. I guess she's a water fairy, but we couldn't remember her name:
Here's Tinkerbell:


The souvenier that Ethan chose. We thought we should take a picture of it because we knew it probably wouldn't last long before it got broken. Sure enough, 3 seconds after we took the pic, he dropped it on the ground and it broke in 2! We exchanged it for a new one, but it was broken the second day we were home. At least we have a picture of it!

Asia chose a princess hair extension. She really missed her long hair after putting this in. She kept swishing it around and looking in every mirror she could find.

Then it was off to Disneyland to catch the Fantasmic show and ride some more rides. Our very last ride was Peter Pan:

One last picture before we go:
That was Disneyland in 5 days. Tons of fun and a place we will never forget.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Day 4 (Almost Done!)

Day 4 we decided to meet up with some friends from Idaho Falls and go to Corona Del Mar beach/park. It was a perfect day, but the water wasn't so perfect. It was pretty cold and the water had tons of seaweed and gunk. So the kids didn't want to swim in the water. They had more fun playing in the sand and finding sea shells and other sea creatures. Here's the beautiful view from our parking spot up on the hill. The houses were amazing! I could easily live just up from the beach in one of these mansions!
View of the beach:

Asia and her masterpiece:
Ethan with his discoveries. He even found some hermit crabs. He wanted to take them home, but decided they would have a better home at the real beach.
This is my favorite thing to do at the beach. Soak up the sun and take yummy naps. And no, I am not topless, much to Mike's chagrin. This was not that kind of beach!


More fun in the sand:
Getting ice cream cones at Ruby's and the view from there:

It was a nice break from Disneyland and a beautiful day to play at the beach. We went to our friend's beach house at Seal Beach after that and had pizza and played. Fun times.

Disneyland Day 3

On Day 3 we decided to try out California Adventure. This park has more rides that cater to older kids and adults so we didn't know how Asia would do. Ethan, of course, loved all of the rides. His favorite was the roller coaster "California Sceamin'." He went on that one 4 times I think! We had to try out the Grizzly Rapids since it was so hot. I think Asia got the most wet and she was the one who didn't want to get wet. Ooooops! This is before the ride:
Then we went to this outdoor nature park thing that had obstacle course type things and this fun zip line:


We had made reservations for lunch the day before at the Blue Bayou restaurant that I had to try. This was our Disneyland splurge of 50 bucks. The kids' menues turned into pirate hats. So fun.


Then it was off to California Adventure again to cool off in A Bug's Land:

And ride on Heimlich's back:

And Tuck and Roll's bumper cars:


The Tower of Terror was not the favorite! Even Ethan didn't want to go on that one again! Asia the fireman:
Mike on the Maliboomer with Ethan next to him getting ready to launch:

Just a cute pic:

Ethan before riding "Screamin'":


Ethan and I on Screamin'. Forgot to turn the flash off so you can't see my hilarious face, darn it!
Surfer Girl Asia:


Surfer boy Ethan:

Asia on King Triton's Carousel:




One of many meals on the go, waiting for the light parade to start:



After we got back from the park, Asia decided it was time to pull out her loose tooth. So I took a tissue and yanked it out. This was her third tooth that I pulled out for her. I wrapped up the tooth in a tissue and left it on the desk. We forgot to put it under her pillow that night and Mike, while cleaning off the desk, inadvertently threw away the tissue with her tooth in it. Whoops! Luckily the Tooth Fairy (and Asia) didn't care about the tooth not being there and left Asia with 50 whole cents the next night. Wow those Tooth Fairies have a sixth sense for figuring these types of situations out.