Sea World

Aren't they beautiful? Ella and I ran over to this dolphin tank together. We were totally unsuspecting visitors and the dolphins knew it. They like to get right up close and then launch the most massive amount of water out of the tank with their tails. Ella and I got soaked. It was salt water. Ask me how I know...

 We watched a great dolphin show and a funny sea lion show. It's amazing what these animals can do. Kimball was really limping around today. The kids went with Amber and Alyssa on the Journey to Atlantis ride which they loved. We also watched a funny dog show and went inside the shark exhibit which was really cool. But the big show is always Shamu. They are just incredible and huge! We had a great day!

Pool Day

 We had a relaxing pool day at Angie's beautiful house. We are so grateful for her to invite us down for such a nice vacation. It was a beautiful, relaxing day.

Kimball's back was feeling better until he wrenched it getting into this ball, but it was still fun to run and spin it and Will had a lot of fun with it, too.

Snack Time!

Beach Day

This is a mega post about our day at the beach. We were exhausted from traveling and Disneyland, but the kids really enjoyed it and I think it stayed in their minds for a long time. Ian was scared of the water, but then wanted to chase the waves allll the way in! As long as he had someone with him he wanted to keep going!

 Alex had the time of his life going in and out of the waves. It was sheer delight and joy for the longest time. Then, one knocked him down and he refused to go back. I guess it was fun while it lasted.

Will worked on this massive fort for the longest time. He is such an engineer!  Ian helped, too!

Aunt Amber and Cousin Alyssa tried out boogie boarding. They did awesome! (They were burned and sore the next day, but it was totally worth it!)

Ella, on the other hand, hated the seaweed in the waves. She stayed sand-side the whole day.

The best part of the day was probably the yummy treats! Flavored popcorn and cookies made it nice and relaxing.

Hooray! Ella finally found something fun to do. She started collecting all the seashells she could find. Brings back memories. 

Disneyland Day 2

Will got his picture with Mickey! The day before he chose to travel with his Aunts Angie and Amber and cousin Alyssa and missed Mickey. Mickey was great, totally joking around with Will, then we got a great picture!

Look at these innocent little faces... So angelic, truly gentle. Little did I know the torture they were soon to unleash. And little did I know how not-able I am to handle the teacups anymore! Major motion sickness and slight migraine to follow. I actually had to squeeze my eyes shut for the majority of this ride, but right before I did, I snapped these cute pics. At least they were having fun!

I think this was right before Alice in Wonderland and slushies! Yum! Kimball walked Ian around for a bit to take a short nap while we did some of these rides. Unfortunately, sometime around when we were packing to go on vacation, Kimball hurt his back. It hurt really bad this second day which made even walking difficult, let alone holding Ian. It was a little stressful, but by the end of the day Angie, Alyssa, and Amber came to the rescue so we could have some more fun.

The kids discovered Thunder Mountain Railroad this afternoon. They had a blast and went on it 2 or 3 times. Ian discovered a petting zoo with goats and almost chased a goat into its pen! Angie, Amber, and Alyssa joined up with us to do the carousel and Casey Jr. train. They let us have some time to go on rides by ourselves! Woohoo! With fast-passes, we got to go on Indiana Jones at the end of the night while the kids did It's a Small World. We watched fireworks from the parking lot as we left. It was a fun day.

Disneyland

We made it! Mickey was so fun with the kids. We were all eager to get going and have some fun!

We went on Peter Pan's flight first because there's always a long wait for it. Of course, the ride broke down while we were waiting. Then, Ian got freaked out because it was dark, so he refused to ride the carousel. I can't remember where Kimball was but at one point I think I lost one of the kids. It was hectic. 

We finally regrouped and ate lunch while waiting in line to meet Rapunzel. Now, I'm not a big advocate of waiting for characters, but it worked out well and they actually spent some time talking with the kids! They were really funny, too! Totally worth it. 

Awesome droids!

The kids loved the Buzz Lightyear ride. Ian totally got into it! It was so cute!

Will and Ella tried Space Mountain for the first time and as freaked out as they were, they loved it!

At the end of the day we watched a terrific parade and had dinner. It was a beautiful day.

Boys

We are on our way to California for a fun vacation. 

I had to snap this photo of my boys at one of our pit stops. 

To Be Little

I will never get tired of kid in the laundry basket photos. They look so tiny in there! One day, he won't be able to fit inside anymore, but for now, it's a pretty fun hang-out spot.