"The Beach Part"

Last Christmas my parents surprised us with a trip to Disneyland for our family. Scheduling a vacation for 4 families was tricky so we finally found that the best time for everyone was during fall break. So, needless to say this trip was much anticipated with a 10+ month wait. Honestly now that it is over I keep thinking "now what?" because Disneyland seemed like the end of the world to me. I hadn't planned anything much further than that. 

We were to meet up with everyone on Wednesday night (Oct 16th) but we decided to leave a little bit early and hit the beach since Haken was the only one who had been to the Pacific Ocean. We drove to my parent's house on Monday night and stayed over to get an hour out of the way and then left early Tuesday morning. It was a long 12 hour drive but the kids handled it really well. I got a little worried when we pulled the kids out of bed at 5:00 AM and Haken threw up outside the car just before getting in, but it ended up not being so bad. We brought a bowl along and he threw up two more times, luckily close to our next stop. We also had to pull over twice for emergency bathroom visits on the side of the road and Gracie threw up once after breakfast. All of this sounds worse than it really was because the ride actually went quite smoothly. I was worried Haken and Gracie would be sick the entire trip and pass it on to everyone, but it ended up being just a little upset stomach from the night before or something. Gracie I think was full from breakfast and got a bit carsick. Both of them were totally fine once we got to California. I just felt bad for them, mostly Haken, on the way there. I'm glad that it was mostly him and not one of my other children because he is seriously a trooper when it comes to getting sick. 

We made an extended stop in Barstow, CA and shopped around at the outlets for a bit. The kids really needed to stretch their legs. They didn't know that our secret plan was to make them exhausted so that they would sleep the rest of the way. It worked, mostly, until we hit traffic and had to slam on our breaks. As much as I loved our trip I'm glad I don't live in the traffic of Cali. We made it to my uncle's house in San Diego just before dinner and he had a great dinner of fajitas waiting for us. Best uncle ever! The kids loved playing with their cousins (especially their drum set). 

The next morning the kids got up bright and early ready for the beach. We headed to Oceanside pier 30 minutes away and spent the rest of the day there. It was an absolutely perfect day at the beach! Next stop....DISNEYLAND!

This was Haken the entire time, looking for treasures.

"Look at this cool shell!" We brought a whole bucket
full of "cool shells" home

Taking Jack out to boogie board. It didn't go so well.
He flipped over and that was the end of it.

Haken, on the other hand, was a natural and
LOVED it!

All the way to the shore his first time.

tiny crab in the sand

"Hang loose"

My little surfer babe

Sandcastles

Sea urchin