We decided this year to use some of Ben's many vacation days to do a "Staycation"! After all, look at where we live. Why would we ever need to go anywhere else? We didn't even go to Utah this summer, we stayed where it's easy breezy by the beach and had a lot of lazy fun days.
So Monday we decided to have an "sea life" day. We went to breakfast at Cafe Sunrise and then drove to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. It was so cool! Not as big as I originally thought, I think they have just as much at Sea World to look at and enjoy, or the aquarium at Legoland haha. I guess people talked it up too much. But the kids had fun and of course ran around like crazies rather than stay with us so we could make it educational. Oh well. They loved being outside on the water splash area with a pirate ship to play on. They petted stingrays, even Felicity had one graze her hand and she pulled her hand out faster than you can say slimy. We even went into the bird area which was not what I was expecting. I thought it was just an aviary display like any other. NOPE. Full on crazy birds landing on you, flying right over your head, eating nectar right out of your hand! Parker hated it, Connor pretended to be brave, and Felicity was just along for the ride. Right as we walked in one landed on Ben's shoulder even though he didn't have food! haha it was great.
We spent a little longer there, in total I think about 2-3 hours. We headed out and Connor and Felicity fell asleep in the car so we drove all the way to Newport and parked. We had to really shake Connor awake which is crazy since the kid hardly EVER falls asleep on his own. We had pizza at a little pizzeria on Newport Harbor and then boarded our boat to go whale watching! It wasn't what I expected..no dolphins swimming along the boat. Nowhere really to sit. Felicity hated not being able to walk around. All Connor wanted to do was go up and down the steps to the galley below and back to the top of the ship. Parker was probably a little tired and sea sick and just wanted a nap. It took over an hour before we saw anything at all and I was ready to cry. Finally the captain said we were near 3-4 blue whales which are the largest whale in the world. We got up there in time for Connor and Parker to see the backs of the whales come out of the water and blow their holes a few times. It was really cool but I don't think very cool to them...I'm sure they were expecting to see the full whale jump out of the water. I know Connor loved just being on the boat and said so many times. We were really glad when it was over! Haha...not the best idea with littles.
We were so sick from the boat and eating greasy food that we had dinner at Nekter and got an acai bowl for the boys and juice and smoothies for us. Then we went to look at a van for sale since ours we thought was done for. Thankfully didn't buy the van, the ac wasn't working and our van ended up not being as bad as we had thought!
Kids went to bed early, as did we. We had a big day the next day and wanted to be rested!
Day two was Disney day. After a summer of not having our passes work for blackout days, we were anxious and excited to go! And it made it even more fun that Parker was tall enough to ride most of the rides he'd never been able to go on! We started at Cars, and daddy rode Little Mermaid and the bugs land caterpillar train with Felicity while they waited for us. The boys rode Soarin over California, and we all rode Monsters Inc. We headed over to Disneyland and got fast passes for splash mountain, took the boat to the Pirate Island and played there for a bit. Got Parker to ride Splash Mountain with Connor and I...ok we tricked him. I told him we were going on a tree house that had singing animals and you ride in a tree trunk. Not all the way untrue...and honestly he was giggling after the big drop and had a blast! I'll be surprised if he rides it again though...the photos were priceless!
We rode Winnie the Pooh as well while we were over there, but Parker refused to ride Pirates. His dilemma with that ride is so ridiculous! We were hungry and headed over to the all you can eat bbq in Big Thunder Ranch! It was so delish and we got super full and enjoyed the cool air in the shade. We rode Small World next and enjoyed that cool air even more. It was definitely getting super hot by that hour. Connor was having a really hard day and I think it's partly because all the attention was on Parker and the rides he was able to ride. Every single thing we went on he said "I hate that ride". Eventually Ben just took Parker on Buzz alone since Connor was being so rude and throwing such awful tantrums. I hated it, this was supposed to be our family time!
We ended up going back to California Adventure I rode Little Mermaid with the boys while Felicity slept and Ben rode Cars with them. By then it was just so crowded, hot and almost 5:00 so we decided it was ok to go. We told the kids we could get ice cream somewhere yummy and hit up a Dairy Queen not far away. What were we thinking? The sugar rush in the car...oh man it was bad. We got home and got them to bed as fast as possible and watched a movie. So much better than a hotel!
The next day was our chill day. We needed it! Got a few things done, took care of the van that was still in the church parking lot and had it fixed. Went to the Reserve pool where they were having Relief Society activity but nobody was there so we ended up getting a key and some lunch and having the pool to ourselves for over an hour. Ben taught Connor to float and we all had a great time! Home for naps which were heavenly..then we went and had dinner at the Irvine Spectrum at Red Robin with the gift card my mom sent Ben for fun. We shopped for school clothes for Connor and called it a night around 9. Kids were bad in the car again...frozen yogurt (I forgot to mention) had gone straight to their bloodstream. I hate how crazy they get and how mean I have to be sometimes!
All in all we wore them out as good as any regular vacation, but got to sleep in our own beds at night! It was a great time and I love my little family. I hope they made good memories and know how special they are to us. I hope they know we do this for them and want them to have a happy life. I hope they realize how lucky they are to live where we do to be surrounded by all this amazing beauty and opportunity! So blessed to have my sweet family!
So after the vacation had ended and Ben went back to work I took the kids on a walk that next morning then hit the beach for a nice beach day. We spent about 3 hours there then home for naps. The boys didn't sleep, just Felicity who apparently needed it badly after our big escapades. Later on Gabby and Rusty and Caroline came over, they had been in SoCal for a a training for Rusty and they played with the kids for a bit then we had Emily come watch the kids while we went to dinner at South of Nicks! It was so yummy and fun to have visitors. It's my favorite thing when people visit! :)
The next day we went on a walk and picked up Grandma Tyrrel at the train station. She stayed with us all weekend watching the boys while I got things done, and then when we had a bridal session Friday night and wedding to photograph all day Saturday. It was nice to know they were well cared for! Today is Sunday and I'm home with Felicity while the boys are all at church. Felicity has had a little cough and runny nose and not been herself so we are hanging out keeping it nice and relaxed while those crazy boys are at primary!
Some of the funny things this week:
Parker started saying "Wait wait wait...and talking (rambling) about just anything that came to mind. The rides he rode, his legoland tickets, etc. If you tried chiming in he'd put his hands up and shut you down..."wait wait wait, Listen to me!". Not sure where he gets his attitude...(Connor. He gets it from Connor).
Felicity's vocabulary keeps growing and she now says "dah!" when you ask if she wants to do things. I asked if she wanted to go to Target and she said "dah!" (yeah). She also says nonna for Connor, copies my counting when I'm saying one...two...three..to the boys. She knows where her eyes, nose, mouth, tummy, toes and more are and names a lot of them out loud. She says thank you, starting to say I love you, and she's smart as a whip. She throws her diapers away for me, (as well as a lot of other things which is scary)..climbs on her high chair to get to stuff, loves buckling things, is totally fearless and tries to keep up with her brothers! I try cleaning up her messes and she dumps things right back out like "hey that's how I wanted this!". She is sassy, fights with Parker over things and doesn't put up with them bullying her. She calls both Ben and I daddy and when I get home from anything she runs to me "daddy daddy daddy" which I guess is ok...two other people call me mommy WAY too much.
Connor is Connor and keeps us on our toes. This week he was sneaky with food and snuck a ring pop, baby food, cookies and who knows what else into his room. His obsession with locks and keys continues, and he was SUPER proud of his new school shoes and backpack. He took all the tags off and folded everything to put it away in his closet and drawers. He has his backpack hanging on his closet all ready to go. He hates it when grandma Tyrrel calls it "Kindee-garden" and corrects anyone who says it that way. He loves riding his bike and is always looking forward to the next big adventure. Even when he's having fun he has to know what's coming next. I'm trying to teach him to live in the moment! I'm going to be glad to have the break from all three being home but will miss him in the mornings. Excited he gets to ride the bus which gives me even more of a break!
Here's to another week!
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