Vacation Hangover

We're baaacckk!

Had a wonderful, crazy, weird time.

The original plan was to go to Disneyland for 3 days then Sea World for one day. And relax at the hotel in between.

We left early Friday morning at 3 and drove all day until 7 that night. The kids did great. Since we made such good time, and we couldn't check into our Anaheim hotel until 3 Sat, we decided to go to Universal Studios. After all, with the Citypass, it was already paid for.

It was ok. Jayce had a blast. There wasn't a whole lot to do for the little kids.
Oh, we lost Jeven for a bit. That was horrible.
Because the Jurassic Park has a height requirement, someone had to stay behind with the little kids. So, me, Judd and Jayce went on the ride first and my parents hung back with Jarrett, Josie and Jeven. Then we switched. But nobody bothered to tell Jeven that we were switching. He followed my parents to the line.
We're talking 1000s of people walking around. We seriously had security looking for him. I couldn't believe I was having to describe what he was wearing. Eventually, my mom realized that Jeven was standing in line with them and brought him back.
Not a good start to a vacation!

Our hotel in Anaheim was great. We reserved a "kid's suite" for ourselves. One room had a king bed and t.v. The other had a set of bunk beds and a sofa sleeper. Worked out perfect.

Disneyland was great. Although, I do have to say this: You could never tell in a million years the economy is so bad! There were millions of people!!
The lines for the rides were not bad. The most we waited was about 40 min. and that was only for a couple rides. It was the getting from A to B that was difficult. Trying to maneuver two strollers. Stopping for the endless bathroom breaks. And snack breaks. And then the long discussion who was going to ride and who wasn't.

Judd and I are so used to doing things our way and we get into a "groove". We know that if we allow our kids to do A, eventually it leads to Z. We don't want to get to Z so we don't do A. Having Grammie and Papa with us didn't help in this area!

I myself have regrets over the things we didn't have time to do but the kids have never been to Disneyland so they have no idea what they missed. They had a blast.

Next, was San Diego. We stayed in a super nice resort. Had our own little condo. Nice pool and game room.
We went to Sea World one day. Thankfully, it was a little less crowded.
The kids loved the whales and dolphins and seals and sea lions. Jeven's favorite was the Baby Belugas, of course.
Everyone's absolute favorite were the sting rays. They were in a huge tank swimming (duh) around and you could reach in and touch them. For a small fortune fee you could feed them. It was awesome! I had done this years ago in Texas but to experience it with my kids was wonderful. Of course, everyone will tell you about how I couldn't walk away from them, was still petting the darn things when one splashed me and I got salt water in my mouth. Salt water mixed with sting ray poop. Funny.

The kids were doing so well, being so good that we decided to squeeze in the San Diego Zoo before heading out of town Friday. It probably would have taken us 2 whole days to see everything there. We concentrated on seeing things that we couldn't see here at our home zoo. The pandas, gorillas and my husband's favorite, rare reptiles. At least they were his favorites until we got to the orangutans. They were, how do you say it? Practicing their procreation techniques. My husband thought it was the best thing he'd ever seen at the zoo. Typical.

We headed out of southern California, swine flu-less I hope,Friday afternoon and rolled into home a little before 10 Saturday night.

We slept in a tad, got up in time to make it to church (barely). It was wonderful to walk in there and be greeted so warmly by all our friends! Makes being gone worth it. Almost.

This was a huge trip for us. Physically, mentally, financially all at the same time.

I am thankful for how good my kids were. I am thankful that my husband and I were still enjoying each other's company on the last day.
Most of all, I am thankful that the Lord gave us a safe, happy trip!

I will post some pictures in the next day or two. But, for now, I am unpacking, doing laundry and relaxing . Taking a vacation from the vacation.