Saturday, August 01, 2009

THEY'RE GONE

I am sitting here writing this in a VERY quiet house.......all of our house guests have headed home -- and I already want them back!!!

Bonnie and Katherine flew back to Seattle on Thursday. Mike, Stacy, Megan and Alex are in the air flying back to Seattle as I type and dad is in his car driving back to Vegas.

It was a FUN week full of a lot of late nights, yummy junk food, long - hot days, long - slow lines, fast - dark & scary rides, a sandy beach, a refreshing pool and LOTS and LOTS of smiles and laughter!!!!

Here's a look at our week:

Day #1 - THE BEACH

We loaded up in 2 cars and headed to the beach with enough gear to keep everyone happy for the afternoon.

After the beach we went back to our place and dad & Bonnie supplied us all with a great dinner from Costco!

Day #2 - UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

We got up early Sunday morning and made the 2 hour drive North to Universal Studios. Peggy, Gimi and Scott met us there and we had a fun, full day. We all stuck together for most of the day, but for a little while dad, Bonnie, the kids and I broke off to do "younger" type rides while the "big kids" went on the bigger, faster, scary rides.

Megan, Alex, Cameron, Kate and Rena.

Day #3 - DISNEYLAND - The happiest place on earth!

We spent the night Sunday night in a hotel just a few miles away from Disneyland so we were up and moving and at Disneyland first thing Monday morning. Gimi didn't stay in the hotel with us, but we still had Peggy, Scott, Dad, Bonnie, Katherine, Mike, Stacy, Megan, Alex, Me, Cameron, Rena and Maleah. (Jeff had to work.) Again, we spent most of the day together but did split off for awhile to do some different things. This time Peggy spent some time with the kids and I in Toontown while the bigger kids did some big rides.

Cameron lasted until about 11pm but couldn't keep his eyes open any longer while he was waiting for Mike, Stacy, Megan, Kate, Peggy and I to get off of the Space Mountain ride!

Day #2 - BACK AT DISNEYLAND

We spent another night in the hotel and were back at Disneyland first thing in the morning for another day at "the happiest place on earth" - (Stacy kept reminding us that's where we were!).

Cameron and Alex got to build themselves new light sabers at the Star Wars gift shop inside of Disneyland. It was Cameron's birthday present from The McCullough's and he loves it!!!

Maleah with a very dirty face, but a BIG smile after she just finished off a big round sucker!

Cameron really wanted to ride in the horse drawn street car - so here we are ready for our ride!

We stood in-line for almost 2 hours to meet the princesses!! Actually, Bonnie & Kate stood in-line for 2 full hours while Maleah napped in the stroller, I guarded the stroller with Maleah napping and Megan and Rena wandered between the line and the stroller. It was well worth the wait when they got to meet Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora.....

While the girls were waiting for the princesses Stacy & Mike took Alex and Cameron a few different places. They got to drive the cars that Cameron was dying to go on......

and they met Pluto.....

After a few hours in Disneyland we headed over to the California Adventure park.

We had some YUMMY ice-cream while we were waiting for the Electric Light Parade.....

We ended our trip to Disneyland with the Electric Light Parade and then some shopping at one of the stores in Downtown Disney. We loaded all of our tired bodies into the car at about midnight and made it back home to Carlsbad at about 1am.

Day #4 - A DAY AT HOME AND AT THE POOL

On Wednesday we hung around the house and the community pool in our neighborhood. The kids had a great time swimming while the adults had a great time visiting and watching the kids. We spent most of the afternoon up there taking advantage of the pool, the bbq, the great weather and the great company!

Day #5 - SEAWORLD

Mike, Stacy, Megan, Alex, Me, Cameron, Rena and Maleah spent Thursday at SeaWorld. Bonnie and Kate flew home that day so unfortunately they weren't able to join us. (Dad had to take them to the airport and Jeff had to work so they didn't join us either.) We had another fun day - we saw the Shamu show, the dolphin show, the sea lion show and quite a few other exhibts throughout the park.

Alex got a new polar bear and Cameron, Rena and Maleah got new penguins. They have wanted these penguins since the first time we went to SeaWorld so it was a happy time for all (eventhough it's hard to tell with the pouting Rena is doing - she was tired!) :) Megan also got some sounveniers, but not an animal!

We went on the Flying Elmo Fish ride.....

Alex, Mike and Megan got soaked during the Dolphin Show -- but that should have probably been expected since they sat in the "soak zone"!!

Day #6 - ANOTHER DAY AT THE POOL

We spent most of Friday at the pool. Peggy and my cousin Gimi and her family - Paul, Gimi, Taylor, Ryan, Haley, Scott and Taylor's boyfriend, Mark - all arrived on Friday morning. We packed up some goodies and headed to the pool to barbeque, swim and visit.

After the pool we decided to head to "Old Town San Diego" to check it out and eat dinner.

Everyone around the table - Steve, Paul, Gimi, Stefanie, Cameron, Jeff, Rena, Megan, Maleah, Ryan, Haley, Alex, Scott, Mark, Taylor, Peggy, Stacy..........and Mike was taking the picture!

The kids were alittle bit tired by the time we got done (they were actually tired before we ever left the house to go) so Rena got a piggy-back from Grandpa back to the car!

Day #7 - THE LAST DAY

(It can't really be over already, can it?)

Mike, Stacy, Megan and Alex had a flight leaving back to Seattle at 6:30pm so we just spent the morning and part of the afternoon hanging out together. The kids did some playing outside, they went swimming for a short time and then we had to say good-bye!! :( Dad drove them to the airport and then he headed home to Las Vegas.

The Herrens - Haley, Paul, Ryan, Gimi, Scott, Taylor and Mark.

Stefanie, Stacy and Gimi

Steve, Jeff, Cameron, Stefanie, Rena, Maleah, Megan, Stacy, Alex and Mike.

It was a GREAT week and I am already looking forward to the next time we all get together. I'm actually already planning everyone's next vacation for them!! :)

1 comment:

The Ayers Family said...

Looks like everyone had a great time! What a busy week! We too will make it down there one of these days!! :0)