9 Days

Our friends Justin, Aleanea, Bridgitt, and Parker stayed with us for 9 days and man have we been busy! They live in Northern California and decided to come visit us for their vacation and do some fun things here in Southern California. We had 8 people in our house with 4 of them being 4 and under. I was pleasantly surprised how well the kids did together! I didn't expect things to not go well but couldn't believe how great it went! It was really sweet to see them all playing with each other and just showing each other a lot of love and kindness.

Also to my surprise is how fast the 9 days went. Just when I thought they got here, they were gone. We were extremely busy and had so much fun together! We already miss them and can't wait for the next time we get to see each other!

Day 1 we hung out at our house and went to Ruby's for lunch in RSM. The kids enjoyed playing in our little pool and running through our sprinkler. It was so hot when they got here that playing in water was a fun idea! Aleanea and I ran to the store to get food for dinner. We had a mexican dinner and just had so much fun hanging out.

All 4 kids playing in the pool!

Day 2 they went to Disneyland for the day. Our passes were blocked and Dan had to work so we were unable to join them. It was a hot busy day for them at Disneyland but the kids were looking good in the clothes Aleanea made them...I am still waiting to place my order for outfits for my kids! Oh and my order for the signature books she made them!

Start with a jean skirt...and make it a cute Disney skirt! Too cute!

I just love what she did...so simple and so cute!

Day 3 we woke up and got donuts on the way to the Orange County Arthritus Walk. My friend Melissa from high school has arthritus and she asked friends and family to join her in fighting the cause. Justin and Aleanea have a passion for runs/walks for causes so I thought this was awesome that we could do this one while they were here! It was so awesome to do and something our family is now going to do...thank you guys for inspiring us and to you Melissa for giving us the opportunity to walk for YOU! The rest of the day we hung out here and let the kids play. They were tired from a very long day at Disneyland the day before. We went over to our lake with lunch in hopes to rent a boat and eat lunch while out on the water, but they were all taken. We instead enjoyed a picnic lunch by the water and decided to come back another day. We went down to Newport Beach and had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. The kids enjoyed the Spaghetti Factory's little play area. After dinner we headed down to the Newport Pier and played on the beach. The girls had a great time playing "Ariel" and watching the water. The boys loved throwing the sand and chasing one another.

***Aleanea...I am missing the beach pictures!***

Day 4 was another day for the them at Disneyland. They had breakfast with the characters and we met up with them after their breakfast. Our first stop was the princesses! We went on a bunch of rides and also headed over to CA Adventure. We saw the Pixar Parade which had characters from Nemo, Cars, Toy Story, Ratatouille, Monsters Inc., Bug's Life, and The Incredibles. We stayed the whole day and the kids did great. Dan joined us after work and it was so fun for us all to be together!

The girls with Sleeping Beauty!

Drew dancing during the Playhouse Disney show.

Kendra with one of her favorite princesses under the sea!

Day 5 we hung out here again and let the kids play and had Del Taco for lunch. When Dan got home from work we went down to the lake again and this time had dinner out on a boat. This was so much fun! We had subway sandwiches and snacks and really enjoyed the hour on the lake! The kids all loved being on a boat and taking turns "driving." Our lake is beautiful and such a blessing to us. The kids loved being able to play in the water after dinner. They didn't want to go home!

***Aleanea...I need your lake pictures!***

Dan and Justin enjoying the water and view!

The kids playing!

On the boat!

Day 6 they headed to Universal Studios for the day. I am so impressed at the amount of things they did having young kids too. There is no way my kids could have kept up :-)

Day 7 we all headed to Disneyland again. We had to join them after our music class. As we were leaving our music class it was pouring rain. I called Justin and Aleanea to see if the happiest place on earth had rain and they said no. So off we headed to Disneyland. Do you ever wonder if a video camera is following you? We had one of those moments as it started to down pour on us in Toon Town. Luckily we had just visited the Big Mouse himself but in about 2 minutes time we went from no rain to a down pour. It was all we could do to try to keep our kids some what dry. Unfortunately Parker got sick and it was time to head home. At this point all I could think about was how extreme the weather was in the days they had been here. We ordered Islands for dinner and enjoyed time at home again. I will say, we had tons of fun going and doing different things, but my favorite part of their trip down here was the time we spent just hanging out being all together. The kids had so much fun...I know I keep saying that but it is true!

Day 8 they were suppose to head to San Diego to the zoo. Unfortunately Parker was still not feeling well and they decided to let him rest. I think Justin also needed to rest :-) I ran to the store and got us stuff for dinner. It was a great afternoon/evening just being us.

Day 9 we woke up and headed to San Diego. The weather called for rain but we were prepared. We had already booked breakfast with Shamu at Sea World, and by goodness, we were going! I brought each of us 2 changes of clothing and was ready for a yucky day but had a positive attitude and couldn't wait to see Shamu and all his friends! What a day we had! The weather was awesome. At times it was actually hot and we were able to do almost every single thing there. I am so thankful that we stopped and did a picture "on Shamu" of all 8 of us! It is such a cute picture and one we will always treasure! Breakfast by far was my favorite part of the day and worth every penny. We sat right next to the pool and were really able to see the whales up close. One of the instructors led us through the presentation of the whales while we enjoyed a yummy buffet breakfast. They warned us about getting wet, especially 3 tables, one of which we were sitting at. We were next to the platform that the whales were going to come up on for us to get a good look at. They gave us some warning and the next thing we knew, here came the whales, and with them the water. We had backed up but enjoyed the fact that they were so close! I have never seen my kids so excited. They both LOVE animals and enjoyed seeing sharks, sea stars, polar bears, penguins, dolphins, seals, whales, and many others! When we got home the kids were able to play one last time together and Aleanea did a great job of getting some shots of the boys and the girls together. Kendra cried herself to sleep as she knew that when she woke up Bridgitt and Parker would not be here (they left at like 4 am the next morning).


We had to get up from eating as the whale approached and so did the water! It was so cool though to be so close!

She loved holding the sea stars!

The dolphins always amaze me!

All 8 of us on Shamu! Such a fun picture!

We are so thankful to have friends who would choose to come visit us for a vacation! We love you guys so much and are so blessed to have you in our lives! Thank you for a fun 9 days!