This year we decided that my parents being gone the whole winter, and our winter being so brutally cold, we decided to take a little road trip and go visit sunny California!!
We started out by driving to Las Vegas the first night! I love Las Vegas and couldn't wait for my kids to see the lights!
We checked into our hotel after a LONG day of driving and decided to take the kids to to strip! We drive up and down the strip and there eyes are huge!!!
They couldn't believe everything they were seeing! First stop Bellagio, we needed to see the water show, we park (love valet parking) unload the stroller and kids, walk down to the water show and wait....and wait... and Ryan is giving me the look of why didn't you check the time of the shows. I keep checking my watch and then the announcement comes on the because of high winds the shows for the night are cancelled! Yikes!! So we walk back to the valet pickup and wait for our car. To Ryan's great excitement there was a Lamborghini parked in the front row and the boy in him could not resist taking a picture while we waited!
We then headed to the mirage and just as we pull up we realize we barely missed the volcano going off! We still have an hour so we go into the casino and get a treat! 1 piece of pie, 2 chocolate chip cookies and 2 sprites later we leave with full tummies and an empty wallet ( our bill was 40.00) Wowzer!!
Whitley wasnt that impressed! The chocolate chip cookie had nuts in it!
We head back outside and watch the volcano!!
The kids absolutely loved it! By this time the kids were super tired and the drunks were in full force so we headed back to the hotel for the night!
The next morning we were up bright and early to head to California- We of course were intrigued by all the billboards for ALIEN JERKY, so we made it our first pit stop!
Yeah I could of went my whole life without stopping at that place..It was gross and nasty and bleck! But we got to stretch our legs so we were good!
We get about 3/4 of the way to California when I decided I need to get something out of my wallet and make the awful discovery that I have NO wallet! We stop at a gas station and start digging in every piece of luggage we own to only come up empty handed. We make a few frantic calls to the Las Vegas hotel to luckily find out that my wallet was in my room and they will fed ex it to me free of charge!! I'm glad there is still honest people in the world. After another extremely long day in the car we make it to Oceanside and finally get to see my parents!! My kids were super excited and I think grandma and grandpa were happy too!! I may or may not of even got so much as a hello for the first 15 minutes! I know how I rate! :)
The following morning we woke up to rainy skies, This was supposed to be our beach day so we made a little change of plans and went and walked the Oceanside Pier
. We seen a bunch or fisherman, a lot of pelicans that really liked Karden,
one surfer
a look out point,
and we about gave my mom a heart attack when the kids would get too close to the sides of the pier!
She kept a tight hold of Berkleys Stroller, and kept her right in the middle of the pier the whole time!!
We then went to the San Luis Mission and walked around. They were doing some construction so we were not allowed to go in to the chapel. But it was a pretty neat old building,
After lunch the sun was trying to peek through so we decided to hit the beach.
The kids had a blast. Playing in the sand,
Building sand castles ,
collecting seashells,
and playing in the waves. Berkley loved the sand on her fat little feet and chasing the seagulls!
It was a super fun day!! But a little bit of sand goes along way...I am still finding sand in the car!!
The next day we headed to see were my mom and dad "live" and were taken back in time, to the civil war era, We walked around the camp,
see how the soldiers lived and slept. We watched the battle!
It was really neat. Of course we ended up with a parasol and a civil way hat and gun and a lot of memories!
The following day happened to be Kardens 9th birthday!! He was in heaven because this was also LEGOLAND day!! What 9 year old wouldn't want to go to legoland on his birthday!!
The kids all had a blast not only being there with grandma and grandpa but there cousins as well. Pure Heaven!! We rode all the rides
and posed with all the characters
goofed around a bunch....Really Dad!!
and had a all day good time!
That night we decided we needed to celebrate Kardens Birthday with Ice Cream so we went back to the pier and stopped at Rubys.
The waiters all sung Happy Birthday to Karden! He pretended he was embarrassed but he enjoyed every minute of the attention! :)
Monday was the day we needed to head for home! On one of our pit stops as we got Berkley out of her car seat she was all wet. Then we realized it wasn't just wet!! It may have been one of the nastiest diapers I have ever changed in my life.. Down to her toes, up to her chest!! Changing a baby on the front seat of my car, Trying to find clean clothes in the back of the car that is stuffed so full it is going to burst! Putting poopy clothes in 3 bags to seal in the stench. How can someone this cute be that gross!!
Good times!! We arrived back in Vegas that afternoon and decided to hit Fremont street! We loaded up parked in a super scary parking garage! Fremont street was fun and loud! It was busier that the strip! We watched Bon jovi on the overhead canopy
and did some shopping in the cheap stores and had a great time! On the way back to our hotel we decided to give the bellagio fountains one more try and parked again and this time got to see the water show!! ( My favorite thing in Vegas)
The kids loved it and we finally went back to our hotel totally exhausted!
We headed home the next morning and about 20 miles out of Vegas Jons car starts smoking!! We pull off the freeway, pull the kids out of the car and sit on the freeway for an hour why we try to decide what to do. Luckily a nice police man stops tells us to head back to the truck stop ( 5 miles away) and go from there. We get to the truck stop and there we sit...and wait...and buy the kids anything they want to keep them quiet....and watch cartoon... and watch the hours tick by (5 and a half to be exact) It was brutal!!! They finally get the right part and fix the car... huge blessing! We are on the road again. We get to St George and it it 6pm. we are all tired...and grumpy...and want to be home and we decided to just keep driving. We leave st George and Berkley starts to cry, then wail, then scream!! We pull into cedar city, get a room, and call in and tell work we will not be there tomorrow! The kids got to swim and we sleep like rocks.....until we wake up to the sound of Whitley barfing! She was sick all morning long!! I just want to be home and now I have a child who is throwing up! So what do we do....We give her a bucket and get on the road! 3 hours later and 3 stops to empty the puke bucket.....we are home!! With lots of great memories and dirty laundry!!!
California you will be missed! I love vacations!!!
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