Spring Brak part 1 (Disneyland 1.0)

Abbi, Kacen and Jesse all got one of these spinning light toys. Jesse got Mickey Mouse, which is good, Jesse knows who he is and says it really cute. Kacen got Buzz Lightyear and Abbi got Tinkerbell, Abbi loves fairies and princesses. We got them right before heading down mainstreet in Disneyland to the fire works show, they ended up being more entertained with their hand held light show than with the fireworks being shot in to the air. It was even narrated by Julie Andrews and had a special appearance by Tinkerbell, flying overhead on a wire.

It was so cute when we asked the children what souvenirs that they wanted, Abbi's consistent response were suckers and cotton candy. Kacen and Jesse enjoyed the suckers, the rest we shared with our friends at home. Abbi got her cotton candy and the three older kids all got a stuffed Mickey or Minnie Mouse.

Wild Animal train, we were in the Animal cage. Each child tried being ferocious and decided which animal that they were. Most were Lions!

The famous Dumbo ride

Meeting Mickey Mouse, there are longer lines to meet the characters than there are for most of the rides at Disneyland. The line for Mickey was an hour, and for three of the princesses, an
hour and a half. It was great though, the kids love Mickey and there were many photo opportunities on the way from the entrance in Mickey's House all the way to the back where we got to meet him. There was also a video that the kids got to watch right before heading in to Mickeys studio for the photo session. Jesse went right up in to Mickeys arms and got a great big hug, he stayed there while the other kids gathered around for a photo and then Abbi and Anjali gave him high five's!

We met up with Paul's cousin Mara and her daughter at Disneyland on Monday. They are the ones that introduced us to character meet-ups. The children loved playing with Anjali

Kacen really wanted to share his popcorn with Anjali


He then got rewarded with a kiss. These two were so cute

TEA CUPS!!

Paul and the kids getting swallowed by Monstro on their boat ride

Helping Buzz defeat Emperor Zurg

Abbi and the Queen of Hearts

Mine, Mine, Mine
(Its at the last ten seconds)

Spring Break 2011 (Part 2-Knotsberry)

This ride is called the sidewinder, it turns all around while doing all of the same loops and fast drops and just plain awesomeness of a straight facing roller coaster. Its enough to make you go Woah! This was the first ride that we came to when we came through the gate at Knotsberry, and there was no line!
And it just so happens that the first ride that we came to wasnt the only one with no wait, every single ride after this one was just waiting for passengers,
no lines throughout the entire park!

We ran right up to the front of the line and sat right down and then immediately went and traded Paul and he rode again with Abbi, she loved it so much that she got to do it with Mom and Dad!

The themed characters at Knotsberry are Snoopy, Linus, Charlie Brown and the gang!
There were a bunch of childrens rides all grouped together and, the postcard, or the "Mailbox" ride as my children called it was my children's favorite ride when many have asked what their favorite ride on their vacation was.Its cute enough that we could make it into a real postcard to send to everyone!
Jesse getting his picture taken with Snoopy
while everyone else was riding "the skateboard" that Jesse was too short for

Race Cars!
From first glance it doesnt look so mind blowing,
but this car ride whips around those corners like no other

This was the cutest ride! It had me laughing from how cute it was to watch my children do this!
They each had to pump their little carts to make them go!
Its a self-propelled ride!! :)
Which is why the operator put Alona in the back,
because if the younger ones were lacking, she could push them along!

Ferris Wheel

The "Log Peeler"
The ride that just the smaller kids got to enjoy

Bumper Cars,
Kacen was too short for this one, but was able to enjoy the one at disney the day before.
Alona is getting big! She was tall enough to ride most of the rides by herself.
Abbi was big enough for the ride, but had to be accompanied by an adult.
Her and Dad had a real fun time

Sprink Break 2011 Part 3

I'm doing this backwards, we went to Hunington Beach the day before we left California and came back home.

Millions of seashells on shore quite a few of them were so beautiful and unique. We found a long curly one, a sand dollar, some with sea life in them and even a shell that had a hole in the middle that was shaped like a heart.

Abbi is a water lover, she really loved the Ocean and everything about it

Kacen and Abbi digging with their sticks in the sand

Digging with his shovel and bucket aka spoon and cup that we took from the hotel room to play at the beach with.

Such a stylin dude with his sunglasses,
quite a few people stopped to look at our adorable man

Daddy and Kacen, Scouring the beach in search of the perfect shells,
while Jesse and Alona dig their moat

Jesse's favorite thing to do was to go to the shoreline pick up a bunch of wet sand and let it run through his fingers back in to the water. He even took his cup that we had brought and enjoyed filling it up and slowly pouring all that he had captured in it back in to the Ocean.

Taking off

Abbi can now take off on her bike, with no training wheels!
She is getting so big. Came home from errands yesterday and she
decided to just get on her bike and go :)

Jesse didnt want to take a nap. I asked him if he wanted to lay down with daddy, uh huh
After lying him down he got right back up
Then I gave him teddy,
my dads teddy bear from when he was little
I told him Teddy was tired
asked him if he could hold Teddy and help him fall asleep
AND he DiD....