Disneyland 2016

2 days before Christmas while mingling at my work Christmas party with Jeff and my boss, my boss mentioned that he had a few tickets left of his 2016 allotment of 1-day Disneyland Park Hopper Passes. (He's a Club 33 member which gives him some pretty amazing Disneyland perks!) 

He proceeded to tell us we should take the kids before the end of the year with his tickets!

What?! Seriously? You wanna GIVE us FIVE tickets to Disneyland?! 

Umm...no-brainer right?!

Well, for me...it's a no-brainer.

Jeff...well he's much more of a planner...

"What are we going to do with the dogs?"

"Where are we going to stay?"

(This is why I keep him around.)

So we figured out all the details and the Wednesday after Christmas we surprised the kids with a little trip...

I really couldn't tell you of the 3 who was the most excited!

Here's our first pic of the trip. Poor Dominic wasn't feeling so well that morning.

The plan:

Wednesday: Drive down.

Thursday: Spend as much time at the parks as possible.

Friday: Drive home.

SUPER QUICK.

SUPER CRAZY.

SUPER FUN!

Wednesday after checking into our hotel, The Marriot Embassy Suites Maingate, we took a shuttle to Downtown Disney for dinner and some pre-Disney shopping.

Btw...This hotel was pretty good. I would stay there again.

It's no Disney hotel but it included continental breakfast every morning and it was super clean. 

They also provided a shuttle to and from the parks but at a price. *Ergh*

Here's Emma Kate and Emma at the Lego store...

This was Emmy's first time at Disneyland and I was a little disappointed that she wasn't going to be able to do all the fun princess-y stuff that she would've been able to do if we had planned ahead and gotten reservations for certain events, etc... but something is better than NOTHING right?!

The boys playing around in the Rain Forest Cafe gift shop...

We ate at Tortilla Joe's. Yum!! It was such a fun time together!

And we were feeling very silly waiting for the shuttle to take us back to our hotel!

We thought it was hilarious that we had so much energy and were bouncing around laughing while the others around us were WIPED OUT from being at the parks all day.

We joked, "That's totally us tomorrow!"

*And it was. lol*

We were at the park by 7:15 to pick up our tickets and my boss met me in the lobby of the Grand California Hotel to give me his 24 restriction-free-Fast Passes to help navigate the CRAZY CROWDS that we would encounter that day. The crowds were pretty insane but we ended up riding quite a few rides, the first of which was It's a Small World.

We made the mistake when Connor was 5 of taking him on some pretty major rides right away and freaking him out. So we started easy with Emmers.

I've never been to the park at Christmas time...

The tree on Main Street and all the Christmas decor was so pretty!

We had a private meet and greet with Chewy!

*Love.*

And Connor finally overcame his fears of the rides!

When we asked him at the end of the day what his favorite thing was, 

he responded, "I overcame all my fears today."

Be still my heart!

(Hyper Space Mountain.)

My poor hubby has "Plantar" something something...(I have no idea how to spell his condition!) going on with his foot and he was in so much pain being on his feet all day. 

But when on the rides...

Emma Kate got her first set of Mickey ears!

And met Daisy Duck.

1st time for Connor and Emmy in Cars Land. 

Family picture....!

Did I mention how pretty the park is at Christmas time?!

We usually don't watch parades and shows but we took a break for a parade in the evening.

The kids sat down below us in the front and we got to enjoy watching them watch the parade.

Disney never disappoints!

(Except for the fact that they're closing The Tower of Terror to replace it with Guardians of the Galaxy. THAT is disappointing! But we did get to ride it before it closed.)

Here's little Emmy as she watched the princesses in lights...

And at about 9:00 she we all (except Dominic) were pretty much toast!

We gave Dominic the rest of our Fast Passes and we called it a night.

Dom closed the park down at midnight.

In that time he rode Indiana Jones twice, Haunted Mansion twice, and Pirates again.

Not too bad!

It was definitely a magical day! It was so awesome to take off as a family, ALL FIVE OF US, without the distractions of home or Christmas or holiday cleanup. The kids have finally reached the ages where they have become awesome travelers and the long hours in the car were even pleasant!

This trip was definitely the highlight of our holiday time together!

*Already trying to plan our next adventure to Disneyland. 

Maybe we'll even go back to Disneyworld instead!*

Avila Getaway

Since Jeff and I were going to celebrate our 10 year anniversary in June we really wanted to take a trip...alone. We had long envisioned a week's stay revisiting our honeymoon destination: Hawaii.

But as my parents began planning a Summer trip to Alaska, we quickly realized that a whole week for Jeff's parents to have the kids was probably not going to happen.

 

Meanwhile, Dominic had two camps planned back-to-back and needed to get home from one of the camps a day early...a 5 hour drive one way.

 

So Jeff and I began our search for an anniversary destination that could coordinate with picking up Dom at the end of our trip.

Finally we decided on a cute little town on the coast down by San Luis Obispo...

Avila Beach.

We had taken the kids to Avila last Summer while visiting Jeff's aunt and uncle, and we all loved it!

And thanks to Jeff's parents we were able to get away for 3 full nights!

With three kids at home, and barely being able to talk for 10 minutes without being interrupted, 3 nights feels like heaven!

 

The beach at Avila is amazing!

It's shaped like a C and actually faces South, so the sun sets over the hills...which is kinda weird.

But the beach is also really protected so there are no giant waves to contend with, which makes it perfect for the family.

Thanks to TripAdvisor we found a very romantic place to stay: The Avila LaFonda Hotel. 

We loved everything about this place...except the bed.

Aside from the amazing service, they had fresh baked chocolate croissants and coffee every morning (which we grabbed for breakfast on the beach,) nacho bar in the afternoon (which we never made it to,) and a wine reception every evening!

Fresh baked cookies and milk at midnight too!

(OK...one night that happened!)

 

And if you know me...you know I love myself a good hot bath...

Here is the tub in our room...! 

Can I just say how good it was to reconnect with my hubby?!

Sometimes we wonder with all the craziness of the kids and daily life...

Do we still have it?

And the answer is a resounding...YES!

We talked so much...and yes, a lot of it was about the kids.

But we decided that's ok...we created those kids together!

And we decided we still like each other too.

Good thing!

We enjoyed sunsets and yummy meals. 

One evening we drove to Morro Bay and met Jeff's aunt, uncle, and cousins for dinner.

And the next day we headed to The Dolphin Bay Resort at Pismo Beach for a couple's massage.

(Jeff's first massage ever. And he tried to get out of it. He was glad he didn't!) 

The resort is amazing! The grounds, amenities, and weather felt like Hawaii!!

And because we enjoyed a massage there, we had access to all the amenities for the rest of the day. 

So we soaked in the sun, consumed some beer and wine, and took a dip.

Heaven! 

On our way back to Avila we stopped by The Avila Fruit Barn.

So cute!!!

All the fresh fruit, produce, and flowers you could imagine!

Cute gifts.

Fresh baked pies.

Tractor rides.

Farm animals that the kids could pet and feed.

And an ice cream shop.

Perfect for families! 

Yes, there were a couple times that we thought,

"The kids would LOVE this!"

But then as we enjoyed treats like this, we remembered that we didn't have to share! 

On our way across the valley and up to the mountains to pick up Dominic,

we rehashed the last 10 years...

How much we've accomplished.

How much we've "survived."

And how much more in love we are today than the day we married. 

Life has a way of quickly throwing you back into parenting and the daily routine,

but it was so nice to reconnect, enjoy my hubby, and well...

just sleep in!

Making Memories: Lake Francis Edition

For the last weekend of our August vacation we headed to Lake Francis in Dobbins, CA.

My friend, Heidi, had recommended the Family Camp Special here to me...actually a couple years ago.

So here are the details of the Family Camp Special:

Arrive at 4:00 Friday.

Deluxe 2 Bedroom Cabin for a family of 4.

Enjoy all of the ammenities,

including

Beach Volleyball

Soccer fields

Basketball courts

Playground

Lake with swimming and boat rentals

Ping Pong

Pool table

Swimming pool. (Which we never made it to.)

ALL of our meals included!

(You know what that means?!?! NO COOKING ALL WEEKEND!)

Leave by 11am Sunday.

All of this for $350 "Out the Door!"

(Additional family members are an exra cost of $80 per person, but we got EK in for

free since she's only two-years-old and still eats like a bird.)

 

The sign is right...this place rocks!

This clan had no idea what fun they were in for!

Upon arriving we got wrist bands and coupons for meals, etc...

And went to check out our cabin.

We were so pleasantly surprised as to the cleanliness of the cabin.

It had a nice balcony out front, 2 bedrooms at either end, divided by bathroom, kitchen, and living space.

Each bedroom had 2 sets of bunk beds, one of which had a double bed on the bottom.

Side Note: we almost cancelled this trip due to Emma Kate's lack of sleep while we were gone on our first trip of the week. But after much prayer and a purchase of an airbed with side wings, she actually slept! After coming to the conclusion that she is just too long for the Pack n Play we knew that we had to figure something else out. We put the airbed on top of the double mattress and she never even realized that she could get down. Thank the Lord!

Here's EK and J getting familiar with the sleeping arrangements.

Jeff and I slept on separate twin beds and Dom got his own room!

Here's a pic of the "square" surrounded by the restaurant, store, creamery, and game room.

(It was over 100 degrees, but we got to enjoy breakfast outside both mornings before it got hot.)

Friday night we walked over to the lake, which is right across the road, to check it out.

It was beautiful!

So beautiful that Emma couldn't contain herself!

Later we enjoyed the sports area...

We took our own equipment, but come to find out...they have everything available for borrowing!

 

We also brought games for playing in the evening... 

The cabin had air conditioning too!

But it's a wall unit in the family room.

It's very loud, which is actually nice white noise for sleeping.

But is super cold when you're sitting at the table playing games.

An extra layer was definitely necessary...

These guys are so crazy!

(We would've just turned off the air, but it was still pretty warm in the bedrooms.)

 

Saturday morning we rented a row boat for an hour (included in our package is a one hour kayak, canoe, row boat or paddle boat rental.)

We thought getting out early would help us beat the heat.

Nope!

One spin around the main part of the lake and we were done!

So was Emma.

She whined the whole time:(

Dom rowed the whole way.

Thanks Dom! 

But the lake was the PERFECT temp for cooling off.

One of the great things about this lake is that there are no motorized boats.

Which means no big waves.

And we could take our rafts all the way out to the middle without being worried.

After a long day at the water we played some ping pong. 

And ate ice cream. 

And we threw the kids in jail! 

We even saw Heidi's parents who came to the restaurant for dinner!

 

We closed the day playing out on the basketball court and soccer field in the dark with a ton of glow sticks/bracelets/necklaces. We threw them in the air, made jewelry, and elaborate designs. It was an awesome way to finish up the day!

 

The best part about the weekend was that we got to spend some amazing family time together.

So much of the time we go do things with other family or friends.

Barely ever do we get out, just the 5 of us.

ALL 5 of us.

It makes me sad to think about how much I miss out on with all the business of everyday life.

How many times I tell the kids, "Not right now" when they ask me to play, because I'm cooking or doing laundry, or vaccuuming.

How quickly they are growing.

As we look toward the beginning of another school year, I am forced to come to the realization that I only have 2 short years before Dominic starts his first year of college!

Connor is about to start his first year of being in school all day.

And Emma will be starting pre-school next Fall.

 

But for this one weekend we were able to shut out all of that stuff, make time stand still, while we enjoyed each other, right where we're at;

and Make Some Memories to last a lifetime.