Team Robison: Huntington Beach, California

In August, Mark had a business trip to Huntington Beach, California, so we decided to pack up the kids and take a family vacation together on the government's dime. And Mark ended up only working one day during the trip, so we had plenty of time to spend together. Before we left, Mark attended the funeral of his great-uncle Bob on Saturday morning, so we decided to leave late Saturday afternoon and split the drive to California into two days. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of stopping in St. George instead of Las Vegas, and we didn't get off early enough on Sunday morning. We hit horrendous traffic getting past Las Vegas. It took us an hour to go the last ten miles in Nevada. The traffic was so terrible - and we got a bit lost - that we ended up being really late to my Uncle Mark's house, and basically missed the party they through in our honor. I did get to see my cousins Omar and April, and April's husband and kids. It was so fun to see everyone. The last time I saw April was Christmas 2003 and she was planning her wedding. I hadn't seen Omar since before his mission. It was fun to see everyone.

We couldn't check into our hotel until Monday night, so we spend the day Monday at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California. The aquarium was really neat. They had some beautiful gigantic tanks, lots of exhibits and an outdoor playground area. However, for the price, it probably wasn't worth it for my kids. They run through and see the entire place in 30 minutes and then decide they are finished. We got a government rate at a gorgeous hotel in Huntington Beach. It was right across from the beach (you can actually see it in the kite flying pictures.) It was beautiful. We walked to the beach and the pier every day. I had brought a kite, and the kids had a blast flying it on the beach. I have some pictures from their first kite-flying experience. Mark took them out a couple more times while the baby was napping in the hotel, and they had a blast. Apparently, they got really good at it. Huntington Beach was a very fun place to vacation. There is this waffle sandwich restaurant called Bruxie's that was amazing. We ended up eating there twice. There was tons of shops and restaurants by our hotel. Our hotel had beach chairs, and sand toys, towels, and umbrella rentals complimentary. They also had an indoor courtyard where you could make s'mores at night, also complimentary. Probably the nicest hotel I've ever stayed at.

The crowning jewel of our trip was a visit to Disneyland. Honestly, I never saw the appeal of taking young kids to Disneyland. The day started off rough. Hannah was super whiny as we were driving, and just as we were pulling into to Disneyland, we threw up all over herself and her carseat. it was horrible. Luckily, I had packed a spare change of clothes for each of them, so we had something to put her in. And I hadn't even gotten a picture of them in their super cute Minnie and Mickey Mouse outfits. (I did take pictures after the fact and our house.) But after that we was totally fine and we had a blast. It was so much fun. Henry was only 6 weeks old, so he didn't mind sleeping all day in the baby carrier. Hannah was still young enough to be free, so that was extremely appealing. Matthew wasn't terribly interested in riding any of the big rides, so we just skipped those and their long lines altogether. We spent the morning in Fantasyland riding the kiddie rides. I made the mistake of listening to the experts and having us wait in the line for the Peter Pan ride because it was the highest rated. It's a kiddie ride. It might be the highest rated kiddie ride, but it was still a kiddie ride. Not worth the wait. A better strategy is to pick the shortest lines and then you can ride more rides, even if they aren't the highest rated. About noon we shifted out of Fantasyland and went to Tomorrowland. We rode the Buzz Lightyear ride, where you have a laser gun and shoot at Targets. They kids loved that one.

Then Hannah fell asleep, and we debated if we should go back to our hotel, or stay a while longer and call it a day early. We finally decided to go back to the hotel, and it was a great decision. The kids got a nap, and we just chilled in our room during the afternoon. We ate dinner and then went back to the park. By this time, they were prepping for parades and fireworks and the laser light show, so the place was packed. We visited the Enchanted Tiki Room and then rode Winnie the Pooh's ride. We eventually packed into the train station to ride to the other side of the park and avoid the crowds, which was an excellent idea. We rode the go-kart ride, which I loved. It's on a track, but you can steer your car a bit. Matthew was driving and whenever we went around a curve, he steered the wrong way and we would slam into the track sending us all sliding to one side of the car. We also rode the submarine Nemo ride which is on an underwater track, and that was cool.

While waiting in line, we had a beautiful view of the fireworks, which I was not expecting. I had brought glow sticks from the dollar store, but the biggest hit were these glow wands I had also brought, just a glow stick with a plastic star on the end. But the kids loved them, and they definitely made our kids stand out. Henry also had fun staring at the glow sticks from his stroller. We rode Buzz Lightyear one more time, because it was that cool, and it was getting so late that all the children were disappearing and the park was mostly full of teenagers and adults. But our little ones were going strong. We got the second "Light the Night" parade, which was not nearly as crowded. The kids had a blast seeing all the Disney characters with their costumes all lit up. Mark and the kids rode a few more rides while I gave Henry his last bottle. All in all, we stayed until midnight and had a wonderful time.