Sunny California...

We got back a week ago from a delightful trip to sunny California. It was 80 and gorgeous! And, the beautiful weather almost convinced me to move back to California. Ha! Like that is happening anytime soon. Anyways, we drove down Thursday afternoon. Got there late Thursday night. Woke up early Friday morning, and spent the best day ever at Disneyland. I have never seen better lines at Disneyland in my life. We spent about 10 hours there and were able to do everything for the adults and everything for the kids that we wanted. It was great!

Tyler is tall enough to ride most of the rides now (Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to take him on them all! He would never want to go back if we took him on Space Mountain or Tower of Terror). We did, however, take him on Big Thunder Mountain--definitely a favorite--and Soarin' over California. We even took both kids on the Matterhorn. I seriously can't believe Disney's height requirements. The Matterhorn is a pretty serious roller coaster for a 2 year old. Susie wasn't sure about it while we were on it, but kept telling me it was fun after the ride. Both kids loved Autopia. Tyler was the driver of Kevin's car. I was even brave enough to let Susie drive the entire time. However, you can only imagine how well she drove by looking at the picture of us. All you can see poking out of the top of the car is her little pony tail. She definitely didn't have a clear view of the road. And if she did, it probably wouldn't have mattered. We bounced back and forth the entire time. It was a wild ride!

The longest line we waited in was to see the Disney Princesses. Forty-five minutes was killer, but definitely worth it for Susie's reaction. At first I didn't want to stand in the line, so I let Susie run into the exit of the "Princess Fantasy Faire" and I chased after her pretending to "rebuke" her for running away from me. She ran right up to Cinderella, who was busy talking to another girl, and I grabbed her away and said, "Susie! You saw Cinderella! Was that so much fun?" I thought she would be all smiles, but instead said with big pouty lip, "I want to talk to the princesses." So, we waited. She was so excited to see Belle and Ariel. Unfortunately by the time it was our turn, Cinderella was gone and a new princess was in her place. This was very dissapointing to Susie who loves Cinderella. She cried and cried as we walked out of the Fantasy Faire, but we have since convinced her that she already saw Cinderella and she now has happy memories of the Princess Fantasy Faire.

On Saturday, we drove to Leo Carillo Beach--which is supposed to be full of tide pools. We got there a little late in the day (noon), but were still able to see what was left of the tide pools. The kids saw and touched a star fish. And, we saw lots of hermit crabs and dug for tons of sand crabs. We didn't bring our swimsuits (assuming January was going to be way too cold for the beach--which it normally is even in California). But, because the weather was so nice and we couldn't seem to keep the kids out of the water, we ended up stripping them down to their undies. It was a blast!

Later that afternoon we went and explored the UCLA campus and bookstore. We stuck around for Sunday and spent a little time outside at the park enjoying the beautiful weather. Then, we bid California goodbye on Monday morning and headed back to cold, snow-covered Utah. So, if any of you are getting the winter blues, head to California. It will atleast cheer you up while you are there. But, beware, you may not want to return home if you hate the snow as much as me!