So are you tired of hearing about our trip already? ;)
OK, I'm going to backtrack here because I got April's pictures and I wanted to share some of them.
Pictures of the drive to Anaheim. It's so blah and dry here. I miss the green as far as the eye can see. Raymond always hated trying to drive in Maryland because there were so many trees that you couldn't see the next highway exit until it was right in front of you, LOL! I miss that so much!
Checking out our hotel room. The kids loved the big beds!
Our hotel had this cute cottage theme. It reminded me of Sleeping Beauty's cottage.
The fountain again.
The rose garden.
My sister, April.
Dani at the Lego store with Darth Vader. She was a huge Star Wars fan when she was a kid.
Cute things made out of Legos.
OK, now back to last Thursday, our trip to the beach day. I am going to share the good, the bad, and the ugly.
To be honest, it didn't end up going the way I wanted it to and I was not in the best of moods. The past few nights before our trip I didn't sleep well because of all of the anticipation, and then after our long and exhausting day walking around the Parks, I couldn't fall asleep! We had gotten to bed really late after being in the hot tub and then taking turns showering and getting ready for bed. I think it was right around midnight when we finally went to bed. I fell asleep for a little while but soon woke up and tossed and turned for an hour or more. It was awful. I heard Nathan cry out in the other room at one point, but thankfully he had not woken up. April and Danielle didn't sleep well for the first couple hours of the night either. And like I already said, Shanna had also had a horrible night's sleep. I started to feel sick because I was so tired and needed sleep but I couldn't fall asleep. It was awful! I thought I was actually going to be sick and would have to tell everyone to go to the beach without me and let me stay at the hotel to sleep, then they'd have to pick me up by 12 noon so we could check out of the hotel in time and head straight home.
I think I finally fell asleep sometime after 2 am. Then I woke up at 6:45 and was unable to go back to sleep. Right around 7 I heard the kids talking in the other room so I got up. Shanna told me the kids had been awake for a while but were being good and keeping quiet as they laid in bed. She and I tried to keep them quiet while the others slumbered on. I felt like crap. I needed so much more sleep than I got but I knew I wouldn't be able to and all I wanted was to go home. I seriously thought about canceling the trip to the beach but I knew the boys were looking forward to it so much and I didn't want to disappoint them. It was going to be Nathan's first trip to the beach!
The boys did pretty well at being quiet but at times would get loud. Since everyone else was still asleep, Shanna decided to take the boys out to the lobby to look at the fish. I had already gotten them dressed so I sent them out. I decided that if the others weren't awake by 9 am, I would go and wake them up. I didn't want to wake them up earlier because I was afraid everyone had gotten a rotten night's sleep, even though I had actually hoped we'd be leaving the hotel between 9 and 9:30! Nine am came so I went into the other room. April was already up and in the bathroom getting ready. I was really annoyed that it was as late as it was so I about yelled at Raymond and Danielle to get up! I told them it was 9 am and I wanted to leave soon. They were confused and said they thought it was only around 7. I was on the verge of hysteria. Ugh. It was bad.
Shanna and the kids came back and excitedly told us how the boys had gotten to feed the koi in the pond. An employee was there and ready to feed them so he let each kid have a small cup of food to feed the fish themselves. Jonah was supposed to be feeding the big fish with the bigger food while Nathan had the little food to feed the little fish. Jonah told us the fish didn't listen to what size food they were "supposed" to eat. ;) That was one of the highlights of our trip for Jonah! Shanna was only bummed she didn't have a camera with her to document this!
It took a while for everyone to be up, dressed and ready to go with their bags packed. And then just as we were about to leave and check out of the hotel, Jonah's sandal strap broke. It was his only pair of shoes we had. Ugh. Now we had to make a stop at any discount store we could find to buy him new shoes.
I checked us out while Raymond finished loading up the van.
Waiting to head out.
The hotel had really neat aquariums in the lobby.
The front of the hotel.
The guest rooms.
We went through a drive-thru for breakfast. Only Shanna, April and Danielle got food. I was not hungry and decided to feed the boys food (granola bars and pop-tarts) we had brought instead of ordering them greasy fast food. I was feeling pretty miserable and about to burst into tears several times that morning.
On our way to the beach, we found a Wal-Mart to stop at so I could buy shoes for Jonah. I carried him into the store while everyone else waited in the van. We finally found something that would work (it's no longer summer so there were very few sandals to be found! I didn't want to buy sneakers because I'd have to buy socks, too!) and feeling like a hobo, I had Jonah sit on the ground as soon as we could to put his new shoes on before we walked back to the car. I couldn't bear to carry this 40 lb child any more and my shins and feet were killing me, reminding me of all the walking I did the day before.
Nathan waiting in the van with his new friend.
We were finally able to drive to the beach. We arrived around 11:15 am, much later than I had wanted.
There was hardly anyone on the beach so it was easy to find a parking spot right in front of the beach. We paid for 2 hours worth of parking and headed out to the sand. We set up our blanket and beach umbrellas.
I stupidly didn't put the kids in their swimsuits after we got there, thinking we were just going to dip our toes in the water. Well, a wave came crashing down so fast the adults all got soaked up to our thighs while the kids were soaked up to their chests. Raymond, Jonah and Shanna just went ahead and got in the water, clothes and all.
Nathan ended up not liking the ocean at all, probably because the wave got us so fast, and started crying if we tried to get him near the water. I camped out with him on the sand while the others splashed their feet (or went full out into the water).
Isn't he so cute?
Nathan's sandy feet.
Jonah absolutely LOVED the water and wanted Daddy to take him out as far as they could go. They got completely soaked and were having a blast!
April and Danielle came back after taking pictures and hung out on the sand.
Soon we were getting tired and Raymond and I wanted to head out before we'd get stuck in the horrible LA traffic. We used the little spray station to try and get as much of the sand off as possible and then headed to the van. I had read a trick (I cannot for the life of me remember where I read it!) that you should use baby powder to help get sand off. It was fantastic! It worked SO well. The baby powder absorbs all of the moisture in the sand so it just falls right off as you rub the powder on your skin! I really recommend this trick! Raymond and Shanna were amazed at how well it worked and said they wished they knew this years ago! We were able to get just about every bit of sand off the kids and put them in clean clothes. We were close to our 2 hour parking limit, so we drove over to the shopping area. Since it was now 1:15 pm and we knew traffic starts picking up around 3 pm in LA, we didn't want to take a lot of time because we needed to be out of there before 2. I was the only one who wanted to buy something so I just jumped out of the van when I spotted a souvenir shop. I had gotten Jonah a seashell Christmas ornament to commemorate his first trip to the beach a few years ago so I wanted something for Nathan as well. I quickly found one that I liked, a star fish (I'll try to take pictures and post sometime) and also got something for our family. I bought them quickly and got back into the van.
Traffic can be so awful so we wanted to make sure we didn't end up sitting in the parking lot-like traffic for hours. It meant cutting our beach trip very short, shorter than I had thought it would be. I am glad we at least did have the chance to go for even a little while. Raymond and I want to try and save up so we can take a mini-vacation to a beach and actually stay the night, that way the kids have a lot more time to play in the ocean. Someday...
We drove for a long time, just trying to get out of the LA area. Everyone agreed that we'd rather have a very late lunch and have time to sit and relax at lunch instead of stopping now and getting stuck in traffic that would prolong our trip home. We finally got to the Valencia area and stopped for lunch at Claim Jumper. April was very nice and treated us all. It was good to get out of the car and relax a bit.
Nathan eating the lemon out of my ice water.
The kids were rather cranky, and when we wanted to pray before our meal came, Jonah got really upset that Raymond decided to be the one to pray. Jonah wanted to say the prayer but Raymond said no. Jonah got really huffy after that and wouldn't touch his food when it arrived. I told him to start eating, so he took a bite of his macaroni and cheese and immediately spat it out. I was confused and asked him if it was too hot. He angrily said, "It was hot because I didn't pray!" He really should have gotten a spanking for the way he talked to me, but all of us in our exhaustion and surprise busted up laughing! None of us could hold it in. He couldn't figure out why everyone was laughing. A great parenting moment, to be sure. :S
We ended up making good time and didn't hit traffic like we hoped. We all tried to rest as much as we could on the way home. All I wanted was to be home. I felt and looked like crap and didn't have any pictures taken of me that day. I wish I took one with Nathan and had one of our family taken but at the time I was feeling so awful that I did not want any pictures of me. *sigh* Maybe next time...
The mountains on the way home.
My dear friend Kourtni loaned us her DVD player system so the kids could watch movies in the van. It was a lifesaver, although all Nathan wanted to watch on the way home was Leapfrog Letter Factory. He watched it 3 times, I think. Ugh. Thank goodness for those headphones!
We finally made it back to my MIL's house around 6:30 pm. We were all so tired. Nathan did not nap at all on the way home like I thought he would, so he had a meltdown as soon as we got there. After Raymond and Shanna returned the rental van, Nathan fell asleep in the car on the way home and pretty much went straight to bed. I couldn't wait to get in bed myself!
Next time I plan a busy vacation like this, I hope I plan an extra day in between activites to rest! Sorry to everyone who had to put up with me! :S
OK, I'm going to backtrack here because I got April's pictures and I wanted to share some of them.
Pictures of the drive to Anaheim. It's so blah and dry here. I miss the green as far as the eye can see. Raymond always hated trying to drive in Maryland because there were so many trees that you couldn't see the next highway exit until it was right in front of you, LOL! I miss that so much!
Checking out our hotel room. The kids loved the big beds!
Our hotel had this cute cottage theme. It reminded me of Sleeping Beauty's cottage.
The fountain again.
The rose garden.
My sister, April. 
Dani at the Lego store with Darth Vader. She was a huge Star Wars fan when she was a kid.
Cute things made out of Legos.
OK, now back to last Thursday, our trip to the beach day. I am going to share the good, the bad, and the ugly. To be honest, it didn't end up going the way I wanted it to and I was not in the best of moods. The past few nights before our trip I didn't sleep well because of all of the anticipation, and then after our long and exhausting day walking around the Parks, I couldn't fall asleep! We had gotten to bed really late after being in the hot tub and then taking turns showering and getting ready for bed. I think it was right around midnight when we finally went to bed. I fell asleep for a little while but soon woke up and tossed and turned for an hour or more. It was awful. I heard Nathan cry out in the other room at one point, but thankfully he had not woken up. April and Danielle didn't sleep well for the first couple hours of the night either. And like I already said, Shanna had also had a horrible night's sleep. I started to feel sick because I was so tired and needed sleep but I couldn't fall asleep. It was awful! I thought I was actually going to be sick and would have to tell everyone to go to the beach without me and let me stay at the hotel to sleep, then they'd have to pick me up by 12 noon so we could check out of the hotel in time and head straight home.
I think I finally fell asleep sometime after 2 am. Then I woke up at 6:45 and was unable to go back to sleep. Right around 7 I heard the kids talking in the other room so I got up. Shanna told me the kids had been awake for a while but were being good and keeping quiet as they laid in bed. She and I tried to keep them quiet while the others slumbered on. I felt like crap. I needed so much more sleep than I got but I knew I wouldn't be able to and all I wanted was to go home. I seriously thought about canceling the trip to the beach but I knew the boys were looking forward to it so much and I didn't want to disappoint them. It was going to be Nathan's first trip to the beach!
The boys did pretty well at being quiet but at times would get loud. Since everyone else was still asleep, Shanna decided to take the boys out to the lobby to look at the fish. I had already gotten them dressed so I sent them out. I decided that if the others weren't awake by 9 am, I would go and wake them up. I didn't want to wake them up earlier because I was afraid everyone had gotten a rotten night's sleep, even though I had actually hoped we'd be leaving the hotel between 9 and 9:30! Nine am came so I went into the other room. April was already up and in the bathroom getting ready. I was really annoyed that it was as late as it was so I about yelled at Raymond and Danielle to get up! I told them it was 9 am and I wanted to leave soon. They were confused and said they thought it was only around 7. I was on the verge of hysteria. Ugh. It was bad.
Shanna and the kids came back and excitedly told us how the boys had gotten to feed the koi in the pond. An employee was there and ready to feed them so he let each kid have a small cup of food to feed the fish themselves. Jonah was supposed to be feeding the big fish with the bigger food while Nathan had the little food to feed the little fish. Jonah told us the fish didn't listen to what size food they were "supposed" to eat. ;) That was one of the highlights of our trip for Jonah! Shanna was only bummed she didn't have a camera with her to document this!
It took a while for everyone to be up, dressed and ready to go with their bags packed. And then just as we were about to leave and check out of the hotel, Jonah's sandal strap broke. It was his only pair of shoes we had. Ugh. Now we had to make a stop at any discount store we could find to buy him new shoes.
I checked us out while Raymond finished loading up the van.
Waiting to head out.
The hotel had really neat aquariums in the lobby.
The front of the hotel.
The guest rooms.
We went through a drive-thru for breakfast. Only Shanna, April and Danielle got food. I was not hungry and decided to feed the boys food (granola bars and pop-tarts) we had brought instead of ordering them greasy fast food. I was feeling pretty miserable and about to burst into tears several times that morning.On our way to the beach, we found a Wal-Mart to stop at so I could buy shoes for Jonah. I carried him into the store while everyone else waited in the van. We finally found something that would work (it's no longer summer so there were very few sandals to be found! I didn't want to buy sneakers because I'd have to buy socks, too!) and feeling like a hobo, I had Jonah sit on the ground as soon as we could to put his new shoes on before we walked back to the car. I couldn't bear to carry this 40 lb child any more and my shins and feet were killing me, reminding me of all the walking I did the day before.
Nathan waiting in the van with his new friend.
We were finally able to drive to the beach. We arrived around 11:15 am, much later than I had wanted.
There was hardly anyone on the beach so it was easy to find a parking spot right in front of the beach. We paid for 2 hours worth of parking and headed out to the sand. We set up our blanket and beach umbrellas.
I stupidly didn't put the kids in their swimsuits after we got there, thinking we were just going to dip our toes in the water. Well, a wave came crashing down so fast the adults all got soaked up to our thighs while the kids were soaked up to their chests. Raymond, Jonah and Shanna just went ahead and got in the water, clothes and all. 
Nathan ended up not liking the ocean at all, probably because the wave got us so fast, and started crying if we tried to get him near the water. I camped out with him on the sand while the others splashed their feet (or went full out into the water).
Isn't he so cute?
Nathan's sandy feet.
Jonah absolutely LOVED the water and wanted Daddy to take him out as far as they could go. They got completely soaked and were having a blast!
April and Danielle came back after taking pictures and hung out on the sand. 
Soon we were getting tired and Raymond and I wanted to head out before we'd get stuck in the horrible LA traffic. We used the little spray station to try and get as much of the sand off as possible and then headed to the van. I had read a trick (I cannot for the life of me remember where I read it!) that you should use baby powder to help get sand off. It was fantastic! It worked SO well. The baby powder absorbs all of the moisture in the sand so it just falls right off as you rub the powder on your skin! I really recommend this trick! Raymond and Shanna were amazed at how well it worked and said they wished they knew this years ago! We were able to get just about every bit of sand off the kids and put them in clean clothes. We were close to our 2 hour parking limit, so we drove over to the shopping area. Since it was now 1:15 pm and we knew traffic starts picking up around 3 pm in LA, we didn't want to take a lot of time because we needed to be out of there before 2. I was the only one who wanted to buy something so I just jumped out of the van when I spotted a souvenir shop. I had gotten Jonah a seashell Christmas ornament to commemorate his first trip to the beach a few years ago so I wanted something for Nathan as well. I quickly found one that I liked, a star fish (I'll try to take pictures and post sometime) and also got something for our family. I bought them quickly and got back into the van. Traffic can be so awful so we wanted to make sure we didn't end up sitting in the parking lot-like traffic for hours. It meant cutting our beach trip very short, shorter than I had thought it would be. I am glad we at least did have the chance to go for even a little while. Raymond and I want to try and save up so we can take a mini-vacation to a beach and actually stay the night, that way the kids have a lot more time to play in the ocean. Someday...
We drove for a long time, just trying to get out of the LA area. Everyone agreed that we'd rather have a very late lunch and have time to sit and relax at lunch instead of stopping now and getting stuck in traffic that would prolong our trip home. We finally got to the Valencia area and stopped for lunch at Claim Jumper. April was very nice and treated us all. It was good to get out of the car and relax a bit.
Nathan eating the lemon out of my ice water.
The kids were rather cranky, and when we wanted to pray before our meal came, Jonah got really upset that Raymond decided to be the one to pray. Jonah wanted to say the prayer but Raymond said no. Jonah got really huffy after that and wouldn't touch his food when it arrived. I told him to start eating, so he took a bite of his macaroni and cheese and immediately spat it out. I was confused and asked him if it was too hot. He angrily said, "It was hot because I didn't pray!" He really should have gotten a spanking for the way he talked to me, but all of us in our exhaustion and surprise busted up laughing! None of us could hold it in. He couldn't figure out why everyone was laughing. A great parenting moment, to be sure. :SWe ended up making good time and didn't hit traffic like we hoped. We all tried to rest as much as we could on the way home. All I wanted was to be home. I felt and looked like crap and didn't have any pictures taken of me that day. I wish I took one with Nathan and had one of our family taken but at the time I was feeling so awful that I did not want any pictures of me. *sigh* Maybe next time...
The mountains on the way home.
My dear friend Kourtni loaned us her DVD player system so the kids could watch movies in the van. It was a lifesaver, although all Nathan wanted to watch on the way home was Leapfrog Letter Factory. He watched it 3 times, I think. Ugh. Thank goodness for those headphones!
We finally made it back to my MIL's house around 6:30 pm. We were all so tired. Nathan did not nap at all on the way home like I thought he would, so he had a meltdown as soon as we got there. After Raymond and Shanna returned the rental van, Nathan fell asleep in the car on the way home and pretty much went straight to bed. I couldn't wait to get in bed myself!
Next time I plan a busy vacation like this, I hope I plan an extra day in between activites to rest! Sorry to everyone who had to put up with me! :S
3 comments:
traveling with kids is exhausting, especially when you don't get enough sleep, so it's no wonder you had such a hard time of it!! But over all, your trip sounds wonderful, and I am so glad you got to go to Disneyland and the beach with your family. (I haven't commented on your other trip posts, but I just read them all :)) And I LOVE the pictures!! Oh, it makes me so excited for our Disneyland trip in October.
The pictures you took of Nathan on the beach are adorable. What a cutie-pie, and they turned out so good. Also, you and your sisters are so gorgeous. :)
Thanks for sharing the pictures and stories with us! It was so fun to read.
Oh I've been there and back a million times with the exhausted feeling on vacation. The last time we went to Disney over labor day weekend I felt that way. Honestly we couldn't GET HOME soon enough for me. I love your pictures of the beach though, and I LOVE the baby powder trick!!! Thanks for documenting your trip for us, it was so fun to read!!!
Not being able to sleep was awful especially after such a long day and even if some people were crabby :) the day was still fun. It would be fun to have Jonah actually swim in the ocean next time and to be able to build sand castles and whatnot. I was so surprised that he actually liked it, I thought Nathan would be the daring one!
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