Family California Trip!

Mr. Keller and I knew we wanted to fit in a family trip to California this spring. We waited until Morgan was out of school and went the last week in May. We kept it a secret the entire time, up until we arrived and parked at the airport in Salt Lake. It was so fun to surprise them like that! It was SUCH  a thrilling adventure for them. They did so well and it was MUCH less work than I thought it would be. They have arrived at an easier age, thank the good Lord. They were so enjoyable and didn’t complain about walking here and there. They both did very well on the flights and we all had such an enjoyable time! We left on a Tuesday and came home on Saturday. It was the perfect amount of time. We came home with such good memories made. Now I’m ready to go back with just Mr. Keller!

The first full day we were there, we drove to La Jolla to see the seals. They were so cute and funny, always a favorite of mine. We got way close to them! Apparently, I was the one most amused by them, because the boys could have cared less. They hadn't been to the beach for over a year, and even though it was cloudy, they were in the water in ten seconds. After we hung out on the beach for a while, we drove back to Huntington where we were staying. We ate lunch and played at the beach there for the rest of the day. 

All the seals! And some babies too! So cute!

Back to Huntington for the afternoon....at Fred's, our very favorite restaurant there. 

Huntington Beach --- I could watch the surfers for hours!

On the pretty pier

The next day was our Disney day. We purposely didn't plan more than one day at Disney, because I knew the boys would prefer beach time (and they did). We packed as much Disney as we could in one day and we call it a success! It was PLENTY for us. We didn't realize they were celebrating their 60th anniversary that week, so people told us the crowds were much bigger than they usually are. We didn't make it on all the rides we had hoped for, but we did meet Mickey and Pluto, did the Jedi Training Camp, Pirates, Star Tours, a roller coaster, and a few more. We spent $60 on a sub-par lunch, which was cool. The boys had cotton candy for the first time (I know, deprived childhood!). And they got to pick out souvineer toys at the gift shop. Morgan picked out a Peter Pan character set with all the characters from Peter Pan. It's the cutest! And Danny picked out bath toys of all the Mickey Mouse characters. I found it interesting out of all the newer Disney characters that are out there, my kids still prefer the oldies. 

We met Pluto on our way out of the park. Danny was so thrilled. He was in heaven. And he pinched Pluto's nose at the end, and it made him laugh so hard. It was so funny!

Goodbye Disney!

The third full day we were in Huntington, we hung out around town again. We swam in the hotel pool, went to lunch and dinner, got lots of treats, and played hours and hours at the beach in between. How I love this town! It's become very sentimental for us, and we were excited to share it with our boys.  

At Fred's again! Cannot be beat. And this view!

Treats at the chocolate shop in town. 

Morgan loved swimming in the ocean. Danny loved the sand.

Danny was so funny with the sand and the bucket. He would leave his bucket there and wait for a wave to come and fill it up. It was so funny. He worked SO SO SO hard with that bucket and moving sand to the water and water to the sand. He is such a worker boy. He was on a mission. It was so cute! He also managed to get his first bee sting while we were there. He only cried for just a minute, but he actually still has a red ring around where he was stung. The stinger was so HUGE. I was so mad at that bee! Poor Danny. 

Danny shoulder-riding for a good ten minutes before I noticed that little coin slot! Haha!!! 

Leaving the beach and headed to dinner on our last day. Danny was so exhausted, he fell asleep on Mr. Keller's shoulders and he was out cold for an hour. As in, we could not wake him. Mr. Keller and I both panicked for a few minutes, but he was breathing!!! So, we just let him rest. We laid him on the restaurant booth bench while we ate. He woke up just in time for a double scoop of Baskin Robbins.....and didn't go to sleep in the hotel until midnight. 

Saturday, we packed up, squeezed everything and all our treasures into our suitcases and headed home! I, for one, was entirely ready! Back to crowd-less Idaho! We had a very special time! Worth every penny, and all the effort! We can't wait to go back again!