Quick Trip Overview

I'll be posting more creative projects soon, but first a quick trip overview:

Newport Beach Temple - so beautiful. We went to church across the street Sunday morning.

We visited Mike's parents and his brother and their family came by too. Grandma has Alzheimer's and it was hard to see how things had progressed since they visited us in Nov., but it was good to spend some time with all of them.

We took the Balboa Island ferry and loved hanging out at the beach there. The pelicans were dive-bombing for fish. Tons of them. We loved it!

We ate yummy food like Sprinkle's Cupcakes. I had Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting. My parents knew the best places to go and we had fun hanging out with them on and off throughout the week. (I eat the food and don't remember to take pictures of it until all that's left is the bag!)

I blew this one up big so you could see the dolphin swimming casually among the pelicans. A little later on we saw two dolphins right next to each other. They weren't too far from shore and it was exciting for sure. We also saw a raccoon one night coming back to the condo. He was heading for the trash cans, of course.

Little Buddy had never been to Disneyland, and MyGirl didn't remember it, so we spent one long day there, from 8:30 am - 11:50 pm. We went on all the great rides and the kids declared Space Mountain the best one there!

We lucked out with a great view of the parade and fireworks too! Even though we saw lots of characters throughout the day, my children were too big to want their pictures taken with them. Sad for me, but they were okay, so it was all good.

On Friday we went to the Los Angeles Temple in Santa Monica to see my cousin get married. It was 25 years ago this year that Mike and I were married there, and her parents came to our wedding. Neat memories for us and I was so glad to be able to be there!

Maryanne and Adam are perfect for each other. We wished them eternal bliss! We loved seeing the Hatch family relatives there and missed all those who weren't able to come. It was a beautiful day!

Three different times we went to the beach during the week. The water was still cool, but warm enough for MyMike to catch a few waves. The kids were happy to collect shells, climb on rocks, explore the tidepools, and walk barefoot in the surf. We even spotted two dolphins among the pelicans. We saw tons of pelicans,  more than I'd ever seen before. We loved where we stayed. The hotel pools were great and not too crowded. The hot tubs were put to good use as well as the teen and fitness centers. It was hard to leave such a fabulous week, but real life beckoned us back. It had been almost 80 back at home last week and today its snowing with strong winds! Glad we have good California memories. Thanks to my parents for sharing their trip with us!