Week in a Nuttshell!

We had an amazing week in Southern California! It was such an awesome blessing to have a relaxing, fun filled week as a family after our turmoil filled summer. I wanted to give everyone a little re-cap of the trip. After our first day spent on the beach we decided to see what southern CA was all about....

We headed out on a whale watching excursion on the open Pacific ocean. It was a three hour tour! Jeff found out in a hurry that he gets very sea sick. The girls and I however had a great time checking out all the marine life. We saw Harbor seals, Sea Lions and hundreds of dolphins jumping at the bow of the boat, but no Whales, maybe next time!

Our next day we drove all the way down the Pacific Coast highway to Newport Beach. It is a fun high class town on the coast. We went to Fashion Island which was a fun outdoor southern CA mall. The girls loved the Koi pond and we got some fun photos of them playing with the fish.
We stayed for a week at the Hampton Inn in Seal Beach CA and Margot became quite the expert at working all the buttons in the elevator. Even the one that looks like a bell and makes a loud alarm noise! I am sure that they were sad to see us leave.

Disneyland was on the schedule for the next day. It was all decked out for Halloween which was fun. The kids loved all the rides. Molly's favorite was the Storybook boat ride where you get to see all the characters homes in miniature. It was one of the original rides and they do not have it in Orlando. Marogt however, she liked the teacups. She is a fast ride kind of girl. Above are Mommy and Margot ready to take on the the teacups, Margot fared better than mommy I have to admit!
Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach was great! Molly and mommy pet the sharks and the sting rays. Daddy was not willing to put his hand in the water. We also checked out all the cool fish in the tanks and got our picture taken when we found Nemo! Molly also fed the Lorikeets. They were colorful little birds that drank nectar right our of your hand and they landed on my head and Jeff was too scared to help me get it off. We ran out of there pretty quickly!
We did the California version of Tanner's orchard. It was a temporary pumpkin patch set up in a parking lot with lots of fun rides and a petting zoo. It was perfect for our kids and they loved it. This was a fun ride kind of like the flying Dumbos at Disney!
San Diego Zoo was out next stop. We went on a fun double decker bus tour of the whole zoo and got to see the pandas hanging out on the trees. Then Molly had a highlight of the trip getting to feed the giraffes! It really is an amazing place and so beautiful!
Molly and Margot also became very fond of riding on the luggage cart at the hotel. One morning Margot was even pushing Jeff down the sidewalk on the luggage cart. They were quite a sight and Molly got the bell hop to give her a ride one morning!

What is a trip to southern CA without a little Hollywood. We checked out Hollywood Blvd and the walk of the stars, the Kodak theater where the Oscars take place (which is a mall on its off day, who knew) and Growman's Oriental Theater where many movies have premiered. Margot loved putting her little hand in all the stars hand prints at Growmans.
Why did we go to southern California you may be asking yourself?? You are looking at it! Tyler Reback and his mommy Amy! My cousin Amy lives in Belmont Shore outside LA and we wanted to meet little Tyler before he was all grown-up. Amy was a great tour guide. Her office was just across our hotel parking lot so we met her most mornings for coffee and then we would meet for dinner each night! It was fun to have Amy, Dan and Tyler all to ourselves cause when they visit the Midwest we have to share them with the rest of the family. We will miss seeing them everyday. Margot is still talking about going to Amy's work!

Our final stop was the Santa Monica pier and famous southern CA destination. It was a beautiful place and the girls had a great time on the beach and playing in the surf.
Our plane ride home was long. It is amazing that it can take 15 hours of traveling to come home but the girls were troopers and my mom, Nanu, was a huge help. Nanu and Margot enjoyed watching the direct TV on the flight. I think at this point they were watching Maury, anything to pass the time.

All and all I have to say we had a great time. We were sad to leave but at the same time glad to be home sleeping in our own beds and cribs!