I love the vibrant contrasting colors of the bright blue sky, hot yellow sun and lively green palm trees.
I learned I have two fishes for children…to say they love swimming couldn’t quite capture their exact feelings for it. Jacob cried whenever I pulled him out of the water and Alayna just begged for “One more minute…please Mommy!” 
The ocean. I simply love it. I love the sounds of the crashing waves, the warm sand, the cold water, and the salty air. Each time I go to the ocean I hate to say goodbye.
Jacob loves the ocean. He in fact learned to crawl at the beach in Oceanside California. He played for hours in the sand, just rubbing it in between his fingers. He even sampled a little bit!
I learned my baby only sleeps 12 hours in his own crib at home! I did not get ONE entire sleep longer than 4 to 5 hours. No joke.
Teething for some babies is truly a real painful experience…This I’m sure was part of our sleepless nights.
On vacation you need three things to make it feel like home…a Worldmark (My parent’s timeshare), a Costco and a LDS church.
My son eats a TON of food. I brought between 6 - 8 jars of baby food for each day for 21 days. Yes, he ate all 120 - 160 jars of baby food. This caused me to buy more at the grocery store. This didn’t even count all the packages of applesauce he ate too! What do I have to look forward too? I’m really not used to a baby who enjoys and wants to eat food!! Wow.
I could return to Disneyland five days in a row…Not only me, but Alayna wouldn’t miss a day either.
At Disneyland it is impossible to see Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck. Two of which are Alayna’s favorites.
Did you know that in California people really have fruit trees growing in their back yard? No idea…But it is true. It is delicious!
Little girls have a real love for Disney Princesses…Alayna was standing gazing at Cinderella and Snow White…I took a few pictures with her standing as close as you could without having to wait in the ridiculous line. After a few minutes of her being mesmerized by their beuty I told her it was time to go…she said in a deep sigh, “Oh…Mommy do I have to look away?”
It was a flashback to college years…our dear friends Stevo and Johnson (as we call them!) were so great to let us stay the weekend with them. We ate treats, cooked, and did so many fun things, Sea World and San Diego Zoo. It was a blast. But for the parents our highlight was our nightly ritual of Ticket to Ride Europe. We are so competitive and we have at it! Our late nights lasted until 2:00AM, night after night. Each morning was ridiculous because our kids woke up at 6:00AM (California time…so Utah time 7AM). We should have learned our lesson, but we have too much fun to ever say NO.
My baby slept in odd places in his car seat…closets, a pantry, a car, a stroller, my bed, the floor…Yes it is true. One night we had to escape from our condo where three other babies and four adults were trying sleeping. I took Jake for a walk at 1AM and finally Jared finished off the night in his car with Jake till 6AM. Where else do you go on vacation? What a joke!
I learned it really is possible to have church canceled in Utah because of too much snow! Good thing I missed that storm.
I finally have begun the Twilight books. I learned I really read too slowly though. Some say that’s good, because then the story will last longer. I am 250 pages in and I hope they are right!
I am the ranking champion of an old time favorite game…Heads Up - Thumbs Up! Who knew it could cause tons of laughter and competition?
It is possible for 33 people to sleep in one house. We even managed to shower and arrive on time to church on Sunday…by 10am. Now that was record breaking. We stayed with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Wade in Temecula, California. Their family of three boys, my grandparents (Lucy & Carmen Perry, along with my Dad & Mom, my four sisters, our husbands, our 9 kids between us, our Uncle Alan & Laurie their two kids Alicia & James, their older son Jeffrey & his wife Shelly and their 3 kids. I think we did a final head count at 33! It was so much fun…we were so sad to say goodbye. Luckily, they all joined us for two days in Disneyland! What a great memory.
I am capable of driving the entire drive to California by myself and with my two children. I think I just might come back every February…with or without others! We loved the sunshine.Don’t believe internet pictures of places to stay in Anaheim. We picked a vacation house from the internet! This turned out to be a bad mistake. The house named The Storybook house quickly was referred to as the House of Horror! Let’s just say we would rather spend money on eating out of this house than cooking to save money! That says a lot for our family. I can’t even begin to explain the old style, clutter, random art work, cobwebs, filth, Brady Bunch style blue bath tub, scary towels, carpet you didn’t dare walk on without flip flops, no rugs, no clean dishes, refrigerated goodies left from previous vacationers, yucky tasting water…the list goes on and on. The only positive thing I am willing to admit was the delicious mandarin orange tree in the back yard! So far we haven’t got sick from eating them. After these three days, we were glad to say hello to our favorite Worldmark condo’s or our “vacation houses” as the grandkids call it!
On of my favorite moments in Indio was to know Jacob was sleeping and Alayna playing outside. So I placed a sleeping bag on the green grass with a book (Twilight) and some ice cream! Talk about indulgence. But the best part was that my Mom joined me with her book (Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley – I have a way to grow and mature!) and her ice cream. Then slowly, one by one we all gathered around. Kids, adults just laughing and talking for hours. We lost track of time enjoying this great family experience that it was dark and the sprinklers turned on! We all scrambled to jump up, gathered our books, games, etc. And we were wet. All our fellow condo neighbors were laughing at this huge family of 12 adults and 9 kids screaming and running from the sprinklers. It was a great memory.
Family traditions…taste testing. We’ve done Macaroni and Cheese, Hot Dogs, Frozen Pizza’s and this time it was Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. We set up our taste testing bowls, labeled secretly, and then switched around for it to be a secret for all. Did you know that the ranking order was 1st Dreyers ½ the fat, 2nd Breyers, 3rd Private Selection and 4th Deluxe. We try to get random brands from the other states, but California had very similar brands to Utah. But we were shocked that the ½ the fat was the award winning ice cream! This left TONS of left over ice cream for us all.Friendships never end…I visited with my dear friend Janet. It had been nearly three years since we have even spoken, besides emails. We served together in a Relief Society Presidency where we learned so much from each other. She's the brain...engineer... and I'm the young young girl who soaked in all the knowledge and experience from these "older" ladies! (sorry Janet and Amy!) We couldn't be more different but so alike in so many ways. I've often referred to our friendship as a breath of fresh air because we are so different. But that's what is so great about Janet and I remaining friends over the years. We visited an entire day. It was hard to say goodbye. I left her house having a euphoric friendship high. I just smiled, knowing that these dear friends are so important to me. I loved our discussions on spiritual topics, church, motherhood, kids, politics and living life. It was a treasured visit for me I will always remember.
Top ranking ideas at Disneyland…Fast passing…saves time – no lines. Bring a baby, you get a baby swap pass…this saves time and you get to ride twice! Bring grandparents who help so much with all the grandkids. We had 4 “big” grandkids and “5” babies who enjoyed a few rides and were great in their strollers. Next, don’t try to out think Disney…there is a reason you pay for a locker…your cooler will be disposed of! We thought we had it made. It worked one day stashing our cooler in the bushes…the next day – No such luck. It went missing!) Space Mountain is still my very favorite.
California freeways are fun to drive on. I managed to drive from Utah to Vegas to San Clemente, CA then to San Diego, then to Oceanside, then to Long Beach, then to Anaheim, then to La Brea, then to Mission Beach, then to Temecula, back to Anaheim, then down to Indio, then to St. George and finally home to Herriman, Utah. It was great!
Being away from my husband for three weeks I thought I missed him…but I managed. But when I saw him and spent our first few hours with him I realized how I truly missed him so very much. Its amazing how capable we are and how we can adapt to any situation no matter how hard. I was quickly reminded of our love and desire to be with each other. We talked and smiled and hugged a lot. I think my favorite moment was when Alayna was bouncing within her little body as we knelt down to have family prayer together. She could not contain her excitement. Once it was finished she wrapped her arms around Jared and said, “Finally, our family is back together forever…I love our family!” It was so sweet to see her share in our excitement and joy of being all together again.
My mom’s quote came true… “You know a vacation is over when it seems easier to live life at home!” This came true on our last night…we were thinking of extending the trip through the rest of the week, but after one last sleepless night…of Jacob waking up at 2am, 3am, 4am and 5 am…I had had enough! Bring me back to my home where he loves his bed! I want one long nights sleep! Please...
We are back!
*Jared will be arriving back home this Saturday…we only have two more days with out him! Yeah. It’s amazing how time really does fly…when your having fun!
