Good Times in So Cal

I don't think we could have possibly asked for a better family vacation. I will spare you most of the details, but prepare yourself for a super long post with a ton of pictures! I'm not good at editing when there is so much to share.

Last week we packed up (basically the whole house when traveling with 3 kids) and headed down to So Cal. We stopped in Hurricane Friday night so I could get in a good run in the morning and so we could have lunch with all my fam there to celebrate GG and Ali's bdays.

Sunday was church with Tim and my aunt's, who are both in the same ward in San Diego, and then dinner and swimming at my Aunt Gail's with my cousin's Heather and Elisa and their cute families and my Grandma and Grandpa Ehorn, otherwise known as the "gum king".


Monday I got up for another good run in the humidity, but I survived. ( I have to keep my training up!) We headed up to OC for the Childeren's Discovery Museum in Santa Ana. Very cute! Way fun for us and the kids!







We got checked into our condo in Anaheim and headed to Newport Beach to have dinner with Jeff and Paige. Seriously, one of the highlights of the whole trip for me. I was Paige's nanny for a very long time and saw her for the first time in almost 5 years last summer. We have kept in touch throughout this past year and it was so good to see her again. She has just grown up so much and she and my kids got along great. They just loved each other.

Jeff and Paige were so great to Brooklyn. They got her a cake and a tiara and sang happy birthday while we were there with them. They are some of the nicest people I know and I hope we continue to see them more often.


Tuesday was the beach. It was perfect! Not crowded at all and although the water was cold, the outside temp couldn't have been better. The kids loved it of course but were totally shocked when we got back to the hotel to clean up to find out how many places sand can go!

(A quick little plug for Rubys. This is the original Rubys in So Cal right on the pier. How awesome is that?! You have to go get their cinnamon roll french toast! It's to die for! Just don't plan on eating anything the rest of the day. That meal has way more than your daily allowance of calories!)

We got all cleaned up and took the kids up to Mission Viejo so my good friend, Andrea, could watch the kids while Tim and I went out for a few hours on our own to celebrate our anniversary. 8 years! I still can't believe all that we have been through in the past 8 years. I couldn't get through a day without Tim. He is perfect for me. I love you, babe!

Brooklyn was born the day after our 2nd anniversary, so naturally, we celebrated Brooklyn's 6th birthday at Disneyland!

Sorry about Tallan's red eyes, Keslie's crazy face, and half of my head cut off, but this was the craziest thing. It was a 4D movie about Bug's Life. I HATE bugs, spiders, etc, so I honestly still get the chills thinking about this. Way scary! Don't ever go see it if you hate bugs too! Brooklyn and I almost ran out of there!

Brooklyn got in free since it was her bday and they gave her a little button to wear so everywhere we went, people were telling her happy birthday and calling her a princess, making sure her day was going well, etc. It was way too cute at the end of the day when she finally said, "mom! why is everyone telling me happy birthday all day! I'm tired of it because then I have to say thank you so many times!" We were all a little tired at the end of the day, but got some good rest and something made us do it all over again.

Keslie couldn't get enough of the carousel. We had to go on it over and over again. Her face was just too cute the whole time. She couldn't contain her excitement.

Brooklyn was on cloud 9 after talking with Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping Beauty told Brooklyn that she looked just like her when she was a little girl and they could probably be sisters. She told Brooklyn that she was beautiful. Every 6 year old girl's dream, right?!

It was a perfect time to go to Disneyland. We didn't wait more than 10 minutes for any ride. It was hot, but we all survived and everyone had so much fun. It's great that Brooklyn is tall enough to go on just about every ride, so I made sure she tried all of them. She wasn't a fan of Splash Mountain or Pirates, and lucky for her the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain were closed. Next year! I do have to say though, that men in their 30s and 40s should stop wearing Mickey Mouse t-shirts. Something about that just didn't sit right. Tim and I couldn't get over some of the things people wear these days! Guess we have been in sheltered Lehi for a little too long now.

Had to get pics of Keslie's first In N Out experience. She's hooked!





We had such a good time as a family on this trip. We are so lucky to be able to do such fun things together! I am really excited for more family vacations to come as the kids get older!