California

I'm so glad we made it to California this summer even if we only got a few days out of it. This was my only weekend off before school starting and I told Ron it's now or never. I even threatened taking the kids myself (which he knows I probably would even tho I really didn't want to brave it with out him). We stayed in Buena Park this time close to Knott's Berry Farm. It's our Christmas gift that keeps on giving and we love it. We are really enjoying using those annual passes. Everyday was pretty much the same. We would hang out at Knott's Berry Farm for a couple hours. Then head to the beach. Ron found us a nice smaller beach called Little Corona Del Mar. It's a rocky beach which means lots of exploring for my kids to do. They had fun playing with crabs and finding Sea Anemone's. This time of year at Knott's was a lot more crowded than the spring, the kids noticed too. On Saturday they had to stand in a few lines and didn't enjoy that much. As we were planning out our events for the next day Noah announced "Tomorrow will not be so busy at Knott's. It's Sunday and people go to church on Sunday." Too cute. That night for family prayer Mason prayed "Sorry we aren't going to church tomorrow." I'm glad my kids are aware of the importance of the Sabbath Day observance. 

  

  

 Last day in CA we hung out at Huntington Beach.

April wasn't quite sure what to think of the ocean the first couple days. She didn't like getting sand on her hands and wasn't a huge fan of the water either. She tolerated it ok. It wasn't until our last and final day at the beach that she embraced the dirtiness and fun. She discovered the use of a shovel and stayed busy sprinkling sand in her pail.

Callie loved playing in the sand and even talked me into digging her a life size hole in the sand. Which I might add took me an entire hour and she only stood in for like 2 mins. (I'm rolling my eyes) Not an easy task, we were not well prepared. I dug this hole for her with a flimsy plastic shovel about 12 inches long. LOL

 Noah loved exploring the beach and the sand. He wasn't too fond of the cold water with crazy waves. I'm still laughing over his comment on our last day. He was a little upset that Ron had dragged him out into the ocean to experience the waves. Imagine him proclaiming this in his very disgusted stubborn voice "The worst part of California is the beach!"

Mason. Mason. Mason. This kid scares me. He LOVED the water a little too much. Those waves were huge and the riptide was incredibly strong. I personally did not really enjoy getting tossed around and jerked into the water confused on which way was up or down. Mason LOVED every crazy minute of it. We couldn't get him to come in, he kept going farther and farther out. Ron did good staying close to him but I was still a little paranoid. Mason stayed in the water the whole time we were at the beach. The last day coming home we had so much fun playing we stayed probably a little too long. Mostly because Ron and Mason were having such fun out in the water while April napped on the beach. That made for a tiring ride home when we arrived around 1:30am. But it was worth it. I really love experiencing things like this with my kids and watching them take life in.

 Knott's Berry Farm selfies

 "The Excelorator" the fastest ride ever and our favorite! 

 I lost my hat on this ride. Boo. Gone forever. Jaguar (Noah's 2nd favorite ride)

 This nap of hers was amazing! I even got to enjoy part of it.