I have slacked off on the blog this summer. But, oh, how this summer has been lovely. Other than the boys being at really sweet ages and having lots of time to just play around, there were two glorious weekends this summer that took us coast to coast. It’s rare to pull off nearly flawless trips, and we conquered two of them this year – making a million amazing memories. I’m going to try to sum them up and be brief – which will be a very challenging task. **Also, we were joined on both trips by spectacular people, but I never know who wants to be splashed across the internet. So, I’m keeping those pictures to myself. But our friends and family on this trip were ammmmaaaaazzzzing travel companions.**
First trip: California!
When one of your college bestie’s husband asks for the roommates to reunite for her birthday at Disneyland, the only answer to say is: YES. Ten adults and two preschoolers met up for a glorious 48 hours.
Our family went a day early to catch an additional Disney day and try to meet up with an aunt (unfortunately that didn’t work out…). Ben was an excellent traveler, but by the time we took two planes and drove in LA traffic….well, he was DONE. Even the next morning, he wasn’t keen on going anywhere. However, when we took him to Disney’s California Adventure, it took him about 10 seconds to realize this was a GREAT plan.
Taking Ben to Carsland was everything I wanted it to be. As he looked around and realized that he was pretty much in the movie, it was bliss. He turned and announced, “Hey! This is the road that Lightning McQueen made!!” We were able to walk-on many rides and enjoy all the details of the area. It was so cool.
Check out this smile! It pretty much sums up the day.
After California Adventure, we met up with the friends at the hotel and the reunion began! It is a gift to pick up where we left off and still be in touch with these friends.
Friday was spent hiking, swimming, and exploring Crystal Cove State Park. I guess I didn’t really know what to expect in Southern California, but it was so gorgeous. A very tough hike (with a preschooler, anyway) led to super awesome fun time at the beach. It was Ben’s first time to the ocean and it LOVED it. He hopped the waves wearing his “sea pants” and had so much fun.
After putting the kids to bed, most of the adults went out to Downtown Disney for a dinner. And then we were ready for……..Disneyland!!
Ben was pretty pumped about a NEW Disneyland, and it exceeded expectations for all of us – perfect weather, extremely low wait times, happy kids, cheesy stage shows, characters, friends, parades, AWESOME. Ben said his favorite part was playing in Goofy’s house. He also loved the speedway cars. He would have loved the parade too, but the preschoolers were super tired by that point. After a couple hours back at the hotel to regroup, Dana and I headed back to the park for Spectromagic – which was full of super legit magic.
And then it was (thankfully) only one flight home and we were back to Iowa.
It is so sad to summarize the trip so briefly, but I have to keep moving if I want to catch up on this whole blog thing. Because after three weeks back home, it was off to Florida!
Oh, you might have missed Fred in that last trip. We decided he would have way more fun with my parents instead of three flights and three action packed days. For our Florida trip, we left BOTH boys with Jesse’s parents. Getting into our AirBNB at 1 AM, full beach days, fancy dinner, and an evening beach wedding did not seem to match the current development of our kiddos. 😉
We celebrated Jesse’s 35th birthday, relaxed on the beach, caught up with friends, and sat and read actual books. But most importantly, we celebrated the sister’s wedding. I gained a brother, 2 nieces, and a nephew. It was really a perfect weekend for the new couple!
