Cali Catch Up

It has been almost two months since my family went to California, but it's never too late for a little catch up, right?!? Here's a little run down of our amazing family vacation...

First Stop: LAS VEGAS!Michelle and I and our cousins Ruthanne and Cammy left a day earlier than the rest of the family and spent a fun day in Vegas with our friends Devin and Andrew. We went to the Bodies Exhibit at the Luxor which was amazing! Andrew works there so he got us in for free, which made it even better! :) After going to Bodies we went to a tepanyaki restaurant and enjoyed some yummy Japanese food. I'm so proud of Cammy and Ruthanne for trying sushi for the first time! Devin works as a masseuse at the Encore hotel (the new sister hotel to the Winn) so he gave us a tour of the Encore and specifically the spa after dinner. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. Someday I want to have a spa day in that amazing place. First I need to have lots of money!!The next day (which was Easter) was spent with the rest of the family. Mom, Dad, Landon, Haley and the kids drove down Sunday morning and we had a fun Easter egg hunt at the hotel for Easton and then went to the strip. We saw the lions at MGM (which Easton loved, of course!), went to an all-you-can-eat buffet and spent an hour just watching the fountains at the Bellagio. Fun day.

Up Next: Orange and Huntington Beach, CaliforniaThe next day we finished the drive to California. It wasn't a bad drive at all. We checked into our hotel and then got ready for the beach! It was so fun to take the kids to the beach for the first time. Huntington is my favorite, but unfortunately it was pretty cold that day. The cold sure didn't stop Landon, Easton and Grandpa from playing in the water though. The girls just enjoyed hanging out and playing with Averie. :)

Then: 3 days at Disneyland!I don't really have very many good pictures of Disneyland (I let Mom take most of the pictures) but we had a blast! We went on pretty much every ride and Easton even went on almost all of them. The only ones that he wasn't tall enough for were California Screamin' and Indiana Jones. He was so brave and went on every ride that he could big and small. He loved Buzz Lightyear, Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Carribbean. The only ride that he said he didn't like was Space Mountain. He also loved seeing all the characters and being able to be one of the kids chosen for the Jedi Training show. It is so much fun to go with kids! Also: Dad's 50th Birthday!!
I need to get the pictures from Mom of Dad's birthday and all the festivities. On his actual birthday, April 15th, we left the kids with Ruthanne and Cammy and the six of us went to The Price is Right! It ended up being a really long day and wait to get into the show, but we had a blast. Mom made these bright yellow (as in glow-in-the-dark yellow) t-shirts for all of us to wear and everyone knew who we were. We had lots of fans. :) Unfortunately, none of us were called to contestants row, but we had a great time being there together. When we got back to Orange, we went to an amazing restaurant with everyone and really missed Kyle because the food was so incredible and beautiful. I'm assuming they don't get many babies in that restaurant because all of the waiters were totally smitten with Averie. But then again, who isn't?? We went back to our hotel and had cake and ice cream and went swimming to end a great day.


Finally: Going home :(
We spent our last day in California at the beach trying to wear the kids out before we started the long drive back home. The beach was much nicer that day and none of us wanted to leave. The drive home was LOOOONNNGG! We drove all night and were doing ok until we got just north of St. George when one of the tires blew on the van. Not fun. We did eventually all make it home safely and were so ready to be out of the cars.


It was so great to spend a whole uninterrupted week with the family! Of course we missed Kyle, but we will definitely go on a fun family vaca when he gets home!! Thanks Mom & Dad for spoiling us rotten!