California Dreamin'

That's what I'm doing this morning after returning to this miserable weather.  We had such an amazing time on our vacation.  The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast.  And I took A LOT of pictures.  710 to be exact.  I will spare you the most of them and share a few of my favorites, though it will be rough to narrow it down.  I plan to upload a few more to my facebook page. 

We picked a great time to visit.  We never waited longer than 25 minutes for a ride with the average wait time being less than that and sometimes no wait at all! 

The kids were chosen out of a group of about 100 to participate in the Star Wars Jedi Academy training.  This could not have been more perfect for them, since they are obsessed with Star Wars!  They first received group training from the Jedi Master and then were invited up on stage to individually battle Darth Vader himself!  They received their own Certificate of Completion for the program and then had perma-smiles on their faces as they came off stage! Of course I have the whole thing on video!

California Adventure was a hit as well.  A few favorite memories for me were screaming in Aaron's ear on the giant California Screamin' roller coaster pictured in the background above, as well as being stuck at the top of the Mickey Ferris Wheel where it was WAY more windy than on the ground and we were all freezing to death!

On Saturday we rented an SUV and drove to the coast.  This picture was at Huntington Beach where they were having a surfing competition.  Aaron was pretty excited to get to see that.  About five seconds after this picture was taken, a giant wave came in and took Landon out, leaving him soaked, sandy and crying on the beach.  Of course I had to take a picture of that! 

We continued down the coast and hit up Newport Beach and Laguna Beach as well.  We saw the tidepools at Crystal Cove Beach, but frankly they paled in comparison to the Washington coast tidepools. 

But it was all fine by me because those beaches are amazing. I could've spent the whole 5 days laying there!  I can't wait to go back!