California

For the past few years Gordon and I have wanted to take the girls to Disneyland during Halloween. With the job change for Gordon at the beginning of October we had to change plans. I convinced Alyson to go with me! We really wanted to go see Lawni and her new house, and a day trip to Disneyland was definitely enticing. I'm so glad we went and it was an awesome trip!

We left Monday after school. I was really dreading the long drive but I knew we needed to do it without stopping since our stay wasn't very long. We didn't get off until about 4:00pm and we pulled into Lawni's driveway around 2:00am. It was great. It went by very quickly, and the girls were amazing. It was extra nice when they were all asleep, and Alyson was a great navigator! I was worried that the girls would be wired when we woke then up to take them inside but I had warned them that everyone would be asleep and they could see Brielle and Bryce in the morning. Thankfully they went right to sleep. We visited with Lawni shortly before going to bed, we were tired!

 Tuesday we took a tour of Lawni's house, hung out with the kids during the morning, went and found Taeya a new pair of shoes and got the girls all ready for Disneyland. We had bought tickets to Mickey's Halloween party. The party was from 6:00pm til 11:00pm but you can get entrance into the park at 3:00. Unfortunately the tickets were sold out so Lawni wasn't planning on going with us. At the last minute she found 2 tickets on Craig's list and Lawni, Brielle, and Cade joined us. We were so happy!

Here is the whole gang before loading up in the car.  The girls all wanted to be lalaloopsys.  So we have Anastyn as Sugar Cookie Crumbs, Bryce (who wanted orange hair), Brielle (who went with pink hair), Taeya as Marina Anchors, Brynn and Bea Spells Alot, Alayna as Mittens, and Kira as Rosy Bumps and Bruises. Don't they all look so cute?!

We finally made it into the park!

First ride - Haunted Mansion, the line was pretty long and I was a little worried but as it got the park got less crowded and it was so great!  My cute lalaloopsys.

Taeya in Minnie's house.

Anastyn - I love how her pink hair turned out!

After the haunted mansion we hopped on the train and learned that Toon Town would be closing at 6:00 so we spent all the time there that we could.

Goofy's roller coaster was definitely one of Anastyn's favorites - she really wanted to go again but they closed the line.:(

So happy in Toone Town.

After toone town we went in one of the trick or treat lines and got a ton of candy then went on "It's a small world."

Alayna and Anastyn - such happy girls!

Yay, Lawni made it!  Little Cade is so darn cute!

Brielle added strawberry shortcake to the lalaloopsy mix, isn't she adorable!

Anastyn's always happy on the Merry Going Round.

Anastyn, Brielle, Brynn, Taeya, and Kira - Alayna and Cade were snoozing in the strollers.  We really should've taken pictures earlier - these girls are in front of the castle but it was way to dark, and it was about 11:30pm (which is 12:30am our time).  They were still pretty happy and still looking cute!

Silly faces!

Me and the girls in front of the castle - Anastyn's pretty done now!:)

Brielle and Taeya

Our last stop was for a little shopping - each of the girls picked out a little gift for being so good on the drive!

So overall Disneyland was awesome! We had so much fun. We would've loved a few more hours of course. The girls were so good and we all loved it. Wednesday had the best weather forecast so we decided we better hit the beach! This turned out to be another great day. We went to Doheny Park beach and the kids enjoyed the sand, sun, and water. The water was way too cold for my liking and I never even took off my swim suit coverup. The kids played and played and loved every second.

Love, Love this shot of Anastyn.

Kira, Taeya, Brielle, Brynn, and Bryce - getting soaked!

What's not to love about the beach.

Anastyn and Alayna playing in the sand - Bryce was braver than these two and played more in the water.

Taeya is just like her daddy - she is happiest in the water.

Brynn and Taeya

Brielle and Taeya

After the beach we went back to Lawni's and had a yummy dinner. Got the kids to bed and we talked, laughed, ate ice cream, and watched a movie (don't remember which one right now!) Thursday we let the kids play in the morning and they loved that! Brynn is so awesome to keep the kids going constantly. That afternoon we went to the Irvine Spectrum for a little shopping and more fun! We spent way too much time in Old Navy. We got the girls matching shirts but never took a picture of them on together. The kids only survived the store with the purchase of bouncy balls, but I think the employees didn't like us so much. Let's just say they were happy to have us out of there!

Making a wish in the fountain.

Happy, cute girls.

We sent the big girls on the ferris wheel, we bribed the little ones with ice cream to not go!  Aren't we cheap??!

Look at those happy faces - we did let all the kids go on the Merry Going Round.

She's obviously very happy!

Friday we spent the morning just hanging out at Lawni's house and I even got to go for a run. Her neighborhood is awesome and it was so great to enjoy some warm air. That afternoon we pool hopped in her neighborhood. The first pool was way too cold, so we found the pool that was heated and had a nice big hot tub and that's where we spent the rest of the day. The evening was more ice cream, laughing, talking, and coloring Lawni's hair.

The girls playing around.

This is the slide the girls created on the stairs. So much fun, especially to clean up!

These silly girls enjoyed bathing themselves and being crazy, I guess it's opposite day??!

We sure miss Brielle - don't you love all the underwear?!

She's so darn cute, even with a mouthful!

All good things have to come to an end:( We had to leave early Saturday morning so we could make it to Daylen's baptism in St. George. It was so hard to say goodbye. We really miss Lawni and her sweet family. She is the perfect host, and we loved it. Thanks Lawni, we had such a great time!