Whirlwind Trip

We were so happy to have Mimi, Opa, and Jake visit, we were talking about it for weeks.  Jake is our resident Star Wars expert and the boys couldn't wait to talk all about it, watch the movies and eat pizza, and take him on Star Tours at Disneyland.  We were also happy the boys have real beds so we could accommodate some guests (but little did we know our shower would be out of order)!

They got in monday night while I was at school, and the boys could not settle down to sleep.  They just wanted to get going!  

The first day we did Disneyland.  We had so much fun on all the rides, and loved having lunch at the Golden Horseshoe (my fave place to eat and be entertained).  The highlight was the boys being able to go on Star Tours twice in under 20 minutes!

The next day we went to Manhattan Beach and had a perfect beach day.  It was sunny but not too hot, we got Cafe Rio on the way and ate it on the beach, and the boys had a blast playing in the waves.  We ended the day with some yummy ice cream. 

The next morning we stopped at Julienne's for some amazing breakfast and ambiance, then they were on their way up north.

The trip was short but sweet.  We can't wait to be together again this summer!

Crazy Fun Day

Last week we had a fun marathon day. It worked out that our preschool field trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach and our friends Dyan and Chris were at Disneyland for one last day. I gathered all my courage and tried to figure out the best way to maneuver ourselves for one day of insanity. I figured it was so crazy it just might work.... Either that, or it could go terribly wrong!

We left the house, well stocked, and headed down to the aquarium.

There was a huge crowd of us, but the kids loved playing with all their friends and running around like lunatics.
We really have the movie "Finding Nemo" to thank for the interest the children took in the marine animals. We spent most of our time looking for Dori, Nemo (Kiki's fave), Crush, Mr. Ray (Ryker's fave), etc.

Ethan and Nicholas buddied up for some fun, and loved being silly.

After a decent amount of time there we headed back to the car, and ate lunch on our laps on our way to Disneyland. Ryker fell asleep en route, what a relief, and Nicholas was having a good day. We parked at downtown Disney (3 free hrs!) and rushed in to meet our pals.

Nicholas and Logan picked up right where they left off, as seemless as could be, and began some little game. I loved catching up and remembering how much I missed Dyan!

The poor Perez-Youngs were tired out from their trip and headed out after one last ride, Winnie the Pooh. On our way walking them out the boys just joined hands and got a conversation going. Most adorable thing ever :)
Naturally, being at disneyland, we had to hit a few more favorites before we headed out. As we got off Pirates I realized we had 15 minutes until our parking expiration and we bolted out. I made it one minute short but the man was nice and let us go free. (Those who know disneyland know that Pirates to downtown Disney parking lot in 15 min is no small feat!!)

At the end of the day we were totally exhausted, sweaty, smelly, and done with having fun.

Mimi's Visit

Our month of fun continued with a visit from my mom, known to the boys as Mimi.

She was nice enough to share her half-century birthday with us, and carried on the "birthday donut" tradition.


I had planned a surprise lunch with my nearby great-aunt, her granddaughter and baby, plus a drop-in visit from my aunt (Mom's sister) from Vegas. My aunt ended up rolling her car as she was leaving and, understandably, couldn't make it. We were sad to miss her, but mostly just grateful she was ok!

The two little ones were very engaged in their iPhones, begging the question, what did parents do at restaurants before now?!


We were also happy to oblige a trip to Disneyland. I think she was concerned the kids would be sick of it by now, but that is definitely not the case! We had another good time and were happy to share all our favorites.
Her trip was not complete without a trip to the Griddle Cafe for breakfast. We ate until we could eat no longer, then sent her off back home.

(Don't mind the ugly facade- its amazing)

We had so much fun with Mimi and were sad to see her go. Even still Ryker wants to call her multiple times a day on the phone just to chat.

Back

Now that the week without sleep is over, I am back in commission and we are having fun again. So far this week we went to the Natural History Museum (really, so fun), and then have been entertaining Aunt Kenzie with trips to the Grove, Santa Monica Pier, and Target, of course.

Windy sunset on the pier

Nicholas has already decided she is his buddy/slave/train track repairman.

The little boys with some dinosaur bones at the museum

My favorite exhibit

Opa visit

Just this last week my dad was able to visit. His name is Opa, (sounds like"Apa") and he started saying it right away.

(Yes, we are all about creative names... Mostly because giving everyone their own individual name makes it easier for Nicholas to remember.)

He loved the company, and would sit at his feet while he was on his laptop. Unfortunately he had many of his own plans, but we were able to meet him in the city one afternoon, eat out, and hang out a bit on the side.

Thanks for visiting us, Opa!