OUR CALIFORNIA VACATION

Joel and I had planned this trip with Shayne before she left on her mission when we told her we were taking the kids to Disneyland the day we were dropping her off at the MTC.  So we were all looking forward to it for quite awhile.  Plus Shayne needed to see Brad, Ashley and Henry.  So this was a great excuse!  We had gotten as far as Vegas and I said to everyone, "Don't put anything on Facebook about our trip until we get back because we are going to be gone for an entire week and we don't really want strangers to know were gone and rob our house".  The first response I got was from Shayne, "Oops, too late".  Really?  We were only in Vegas.  What in the world was there to post?  I guess if you haven't seen Vegas in a couple years you post about Vegas.  Oh brother.  This was the picture she posted.

 Shayne was also very happy to have her very own cell phone and was having fun taking pictures of everyone.

 She took a picture of the movie she was watching, Saving Mr. Banks.  We thought it was appropriate since we were going to Disneyland and because she was Australian.

 
 
Because Joel's Dad was a truck driver for a short while and knows where every Pilot gas station is from here to California and will only stop there then that is the only place where Joel know where to safely get on and off the freeway.  So we hit every one.  The kids are know so familiar with them that they don't need our help finding their way around the store.  At one of the stations there was an incredibly restored vintage VW bug.  It was decked out and Gorgeous!  The interior was white leather and everything from the luggage rack to the headlights were vintage.  The boys were trying to figure out what the thing on the passenger side window was so I jumped out to talk to the owner while the boys got a closer look.  It was an old fashioned air conditioner!  Much like a swamp cooler, you'd put cold water in it and the air going through could get cold and you'd have an instant air conditioner!  It was really cool.

Another thing they did to pass the time was make this super cute Minnie Mouse Bow for Sophie's hair.  It took them quite awhile.  But it was darling.

The first stop was the San Diego Temple.  It was GORGEOUS!  We took a family picture outside then Joel, Shayne, Sophie and Josh went in to do baptisms while Ben, David and I stayed outside and took pictures.

They took a couple selfies before they went in.

Here's Joel's selfie and a picture of the entrance of the temple. 

Then I made the boys pose for pictures.

My camera took some really cool pictures depending on which setting I put it on.  I'm not quite sure how I got this one but it's really neat.

At this point the boys were sick of starring into the sun so we went around to the back of the temple to see what we could find.  We found a gold mine of photo ops.  The sun was not quite all the way up yet so it was hitting just right on the left spire and creating all sorts of great sun spots and the shadows made the temple look more brown than white.  It was cool.

While we were back there David found a big black spider.  He thought it was awesome.  He took this picture. He tried to get a close as he could without climbing up on a wall.  We kept wandering around and got some different views of the other side.  Then we starting taking our own selfies.

And before we knew it an hour had passed and they were done.

Then we headed to our hotel.  We were able to find a super cheap one right by mission beach which was great because then we were able to get 2 rooms.  The older three stayed in one room and Joel and I and the two little boys stayed in the other.  It was nice to not have to cram everyone and everything in one spot.

When we told them that we were going to the beach  Ben and David thought it was muscle beach so they were getting ready by doing their wall climber and pull ups.  They do this on basically everything that stands still thanks to uncle Brian and American Ninja Warrior.

By the time we got here it was already getting late and the wind had kicked up.  Everyone was super excited of course, except me.  I was freezing! 

This is just of them headed to the beach.  Weirdos.  It wasn't very crowded.

She was so happy.  She had been 100 yards away from the beach for the last year and a half and unable to go there so she was loving this.

Then out into the water they went and I grabbed all the towels and curled up to try to get warm.  See the goosebumps on my legs!

The wind did die down after a minute and I actually warmed up enough to go walk along the water.  This picture should have been our Christmas card.

While they were out there I found some awesome tracks in the sand and took pictures.  

Seaweed, Tire and Seagull.

 

 Then they came back in and made a sand castle because the sun was going down and it was to late to be in the water.  Shayne picked up some shells with me and found twenty-one little ones and made the number 21 on the shore to celebrate her 21st birthday.  She said it was the best one she'd ever had. 

She also found a whole Sand Dollar!  I had found a couple broken ones but hers was little, cute and whole.

The boys got busy on the castle.

It was a beauty!

We hurried and took some pictures with the sun setting.  They turned out pretty amazing.

Melman: San Diego.
Gloria: San Diego?
Melman: White, sandy beaches; cleverly simulated natural environment;

 wide-open enclosures. I'm telling you, this could be the San Diego Zoo.

Alex: San Diego? What could be worse than San Diego?
MARTY: I don't know. This place is crackalacking!

On the way back to our hotel we passed the temple again and it was all lit up.  It was gorgeous!