July 4th we got up nice and early and headed to the airport. We were all super excited to make our way to California. Plus this was Emmett's very first plane ride. We were not sure how he would handle the plane for the first time. They sure were excited to go on a plane though.
It was pretty chili outside that morning. We were not dressed for a chili morning. haha
Right as we were about to board we were told that there was something wrong with the plane. They were going to try and figure out how to get us on another plane soon.
These were the faces Emmett made after we switched to another terminal just across the hall. What a silly goose!! haha
Then Emmett managed to scratch his knee on something and he was super sad after that. He couldn't wait to get on the plane either. So waiting even 40 minutes later than we had planned was driving him crazy. At one point Brandon told him to go through the door. Emmett had been throwing a tantrum about wanting to go on the plane. Then when I saw our plane arrive Emmett noticed that the door was open. Brandon didn't think it was really open. It was open though and Emmett took full advantage of that fact. He got down and booked it towards the door. He made it before I could get to him and started running down the runway to get on the plane. haha I had to catch him! He was pretty upset that I grabbed him and wouldn't let him on the plane.
Then it was finally time to board the plane. We were all super excited that we were finally going to be heading to California!
Emmett was by far the most excited about this plane right. That face just says it all!
When we finally took off Emmett thought it was the coolest thing. Then we all settled in with headphones and music or movies or games. The boys all did great!!! Emmett did fantastic on his first plane ride!
We finally arrived in California and waited for Grandpa and GG to come pick us up. Then we got back to the house and started the fun!
We played outside a lot and the boys had a blast.
GG also caught a lizard that first morning we were there. The boys were so excited that GG had caught a lizard.
Then it was time to cool off!
Emmett was in Heaven having a water gun fight with GG.
Ethan had fun trying to do tricks into the pool.
Then we found a nasty dead friend. One of the boys saw it and told GG. It looked like a dead possum. Pretty gross!!!
Emmett kept pretending that he was going to sleep in the pool. haha
Nothing better than dance parties at Grandpa and GG's house.
Or.. going to IN N OUT!! GG thought that IN N OUT was closed on the 4th of July. However, we found out that that was not the case. So we grabbed the delicious food for dinner that night.
Then since we were going to Lego Land the next morning Brandon and my Dad headed out to get a cargo carrier to take with us on our trip down to San Diego.
Part 2: San Diego Trip
On Thursday morning the 5th we headed down to San Diego to go to Lego Land. We were all excited to go to Lego Land. I had never been there before so I was excited to see what it was like. It was a long day in the hot sun but it was fun.
Ryan took to Brandon as soon as she saw him. She wanted to go on rides with him. Made Brandon feel pretty good but made GG a little sad. haha
After going on quite a few rides we took a break and stopped for lunch.
Ryan and Remy were super fascinated with the duck that was in the bushes just behind where we were eating. Emmett thought it was pretty fun too. They kept trying to feed it. Remy almost tried to pet it but we stopped him. haha
The bags that the kids meals came in were pretty cool.
The rides were definetly all geared towards little kids. Which was perfect with the ages of kid we had with us. The Lego figures were really cool too. The kids really liked the submarine ride.
Then we stopped and got these yummy Apple Fries. They were a sweet treat that is for sure. Ethan, Wyatt and Emmett didn't really like it. Which was crazy!! haha
My handsome knights in shinning armor!!
Emmett wanted to take a picture by this massive lego spider. As soon as we had clicked the picture the little roller coaster behind him went by and scared him half to death! haha
After going on a bunch of rides we decided it was hot enough to go swimming. So we decided to take a break from the heat and go to the water park and have some fun in the water.
The water park was fun but it was super crowded! It was kind of chaotic and stressful trying to keep track of the kids in the water with all the people that were there. After a couple of hours playing in the water we called it quits and headed out. Tif decided that her kids were too tired so she decided to take off home. We finished off the day with grabbing some gross asian food for dinner and then let the kids ride one more ride and then we went to go get them their souvenirs.
It was a busy full day but it was fun. I love doing stuff like this with our kids. It may get a little crazy with kids throwing tantrums and just the crowds but it was fun.
The kids seemed to have lots of fun and it was worth it. It just made me want to go to Disney Land again though. haha
The next morning we got up and got ready to go take new family pictures. We really wanted another family picture at the beach. We figured it would be better to take pictures in the morning when the kids were not exhausted from playing on the beach all day. So we went in the morning. However, the problem with going in the morning was that the sun was right in our eyes. We would have had to be facing the water to have the sun not in our eyes. That was the only bummer about taking the pics in the morning. We ended up needing Grandpa to come down and make the boys look and smile with him doing some weird faces and movements. haha He decided to act like the grinch and say, "Run before I kill again" haha The kids thought it was really funny and finally looked. Oh and did I mention that the boys were being little turds and not staying far enough away from the water and they all go wet before we even took the pictures. Oh, and did I mention that Emmett who was too little last time to even get near the water by himself didn't realize how strong the waves could be and before I could say something he got taken down by a wave. He was not happy about it and now was all wet and sandy. Just like Wyatt had been the last time we took pictures at the beach. haha We were a little upset but thought it was really funny. The only thing that made us upset was Ethan and Wyatt not listening to us when we told them to stop going farther because we didn't want them to get wet and yet they kept going in the water and getting more wet. Little stinkers!!
When we got back to the hotel all the boys were walking like penguins because they had sand in their shorts and it was giving them rub rashes on there thighs. They looked funny walking like that back to the hotel.
As soon as we got back to the hotel room we changed into swim suits and got ready to go play in the ocean.
Emmett was pretty tired from the day before and he woke up too early that morning so he was already pretty grumpy.
Nothing GG can't fix.
After playing at the beach for a while we headed out to get some pizza before heading back to Rancho. Emmett had fallen asleep in the car on the way to get pizza. He was so tired that he stayed asleep taking him out of the car and then I gave him to Grandpa and he slept in his lap for another 20 minutes. Poor little buddy was exhausted!!
While we waited for pizza the boys played some arcade games.
After pizza we went and grabbed some ice cream before heading back to Grandpa and GG's house.
It was tasty ice cream and we were all officially full after that. Then we said our Good Byes to Tif, Ryan and Remy.
Saturday was chill. We hung out at the house and then went and got some hawiian shaved ice.
This shaved ice was legit!!! It was so delicious and the ice was so fluffy and soft. We knew we were going to need to stop by again before we left Cali.
It was so stinking hot!! We were all so hot and sweaty. So while the kids played outside in the backyard they would get wet and then play some more.
Then the kids did some relay races that they created.
Then it was time to do some sparklers!
Ethan and Wyatt had a blast playing with the sparklers. Emmett didn't want to touch them.
Sunday was Ethan's birthday! He was officially 8 years old!
He wanted crepes for his birthday breakfast. So I decided to put a candle in his. haha
After church we had Ethan open up his presents.
Ethan had a good birthday. He got lots of cool things for his birthday. Aunt Ashley gave him 30 dollars to target, GG gave him a sweet robot thing that he had to build and then he got a hat, some new sandals and a Vivofit watch.
Watching a movie with Auntie Ashley.
Then it was time for cake before Brandon had to take off.
Ethan chose lemon cake because it was going to be too hard to have time to make a cool cake. So he decided that since he couldn't have a cool cake he was good with lemon cake. After enjoying some tasty lemon cake we sadly had to take Brandon to the airport. He had to get back home so that he could work.
Part 3
While Brandon was back at home and we were in Cali we did a lot of playing in the backyard. We also went and swam at Michelle's a couple of times. Tif and the kids came and played at the house with us too and we had some fun swimming at Michelles and watching the kids play in the water in the backyard.
The kids also played a lot with the little poppers that my parents bought for the 4th of July.
We swam for like 4 hours when we went to Michelles. The kids had a blast jumping off the diving board and playing on the floaties that Michelle had. I was a little too nervous the first time we went swimming to let Ethan swim without his floaties. So I made him sweat them. He was pretty bummed.
The day before mine and Brandon's anniversary there was a knock at the door. I thought it was Tifany and her kids. So I went and answered the door. The lady that was at the door was not Tifany. It was a lady with a bouquet of flowers and she said, "Happy Anniversary!" I was very confused at first and she was all, "Umm.. I dont know" haha So I mentioned that it was my anniversary like the next day. So I picked the boquet up and realized that it was from Brandon. He had surprised me again. I had been bummed that we were not going to be together on our anniversary especially with it being our 10th anniversary. So this was a pleasant surprise!!
Look at those Beautiful flowers!! Man do I have it good or what!?!?
While we were in Cali we also decided to go to Cow Appreciation day. We thought it would be fun to get all dressed up and go get our free chick fil a sandwich.
My Dad's costume was hillarious!! He was the one that decided to blow up a glove and use it as an utter. haha I cut out all of the black spots and then Tif and GG printed out the cow faces.
If you look at Ashley she has a little baby boy cow on her cow tummy that said "Eat more Chicken"!! That was my idea! haha Man we all looked so good!!! haha
I was sad Brandon couldn't be there with us but it was fun and we made sure to send him pictures!
Emmett found Grandpa's Utters Utterly amazing! haha He couldn't stop touching them! haha
Some more fun time out in the back playing in the pools and eating Popsicle!! These kids are so cute!!
Some fun game time with Grandpa!
And of course more dance parties!!
Even Auntie Ashley got in on the fun! :-)
Ryan and Emmett were having so much fun playing together. They had put hats on and were hiding from GG. haha It was so cute to watch them!
Then GG hid from them and waited to see if they could find her. haha
Can you find her??
There she is!!!
And another lizard was caught! haha We were trying to let the lizard go and I was going to get it on video but then Remy opened up the cage and let him go. haha
The boys also had some fun playing with GG out in the backyard. It was kind of hard for Ryan to share GG with her other cousins. It all worked out in the end.
Some more pool time. This time I let Ethan swim without his floaties. He did a fantastic job! I know I need to let him attempt things more but water just scares me with little kids. He did great though and I think the time for him wearing floaties is past. They had a blast jumping off the diving board. Even Emmett had fun jumping off of it. Then I showed them how to do a dive and they thought it was pretty awesome. Then Ethan attempted to do a dive and full on belly flopped. haha He tried again and belly flopped again. I told him he needed to practice off the side first. Not go straight to the diving board. haha
After swimming we stopped at 7 Eleven for some free slurpees because it was 7/11. So we got our free slurpees and then headed back to the house. We all got cleaned up and had cafe rio for dinner that night.
Then Ashley found out that they were not going to Japan but that they were going to China. She was pretty upset and we had a lot to talk about. Then my mom wanted to go to Kohls. She said she had some kohls cash that she needed to spend and maybe she could find me a birthday present. So I thought why not.
Part 4 The Surprise of a lifetime!
So my Mom, Ashley and myself headed to Kohls. My Mom had told me to get ready to go. I figured why get ready when we were just running to kohls. Its not like there was anyone there I needed to impress. She was like why don't you curl your hair or something. She told me at least put some make up on. I thought ok geez she really wants me to put something on. Which doens't surprise me. I mean I normally want to look decent when I go out to the store but it was 8 at night and Brandon was in Colorado. So I put a little bit of makeup on to satisfy my Mom. Then we headed to Kohls. As we got there my Mom and Ashley went to the shoe department. She said she had to look at something really quick and told me to just look through the clothes and see if there was anything good that I might want for my birthday. So I started looking through the clothes. I texted Brandon about calling him and talking to him. He said he could talk so I called him and we were chatting. I talked about how Ashley and Matt were now going to China not Japan and just was catching him up on the day. Then my Mom came back over and then all of a sudden said, "lets go!" So I thought ok... that is weird. I guess my mom was done shopping at kohls. As I was on the phone with Brandon all of a sudden the call dropped. So I looked at my phone and was getting ready to call him back when all of a Sudden some one smacked my bum...
I turned around to find Brandon behind me!! What?????????
He had the whole thing planned for months. He came back for our Anniversary!! He had worked it out with my Mom so that she would plan on watching the kids and we were going to be staying at a hotel that night and having a day date the night day. We were getting a night away from the kids for our 10th anniversary! He had majorly surprised me! I had no clue this was going to happen. I was still bummed that we were not going to be together on our 10th anniversary and that I had to fly home with the boys by myself. Little did I know that he was going to show up and we were getting to not only spend our anniversary together but we were going to have the night away. Plus he told me that not only were we getting away for the night but that we were not leaving until Sunday now instead of Friday!! I am seriously SOOO Spoiled!!! I love this man so much!!!!!
We then took off to go grab some food. Brandon had not eaten dinner yet and was starving. So we made our way to P.F Changs.
We got some lettuce wraps so share and then were going to get dessert. We told our server that we were there to celebrate our 10th anniversary. He came back and told us that we could get a free mini dessert on him and then came back with a card signed by everyone.
What a sweet thing for them to do. I couldn't believe that they did that. It was so thoughtful! It was yummy food and great service. Just made me realize how much we like P.F Changs.
After grabbing some food we headed down to our hotel.
It was sure nice to relax and watch a little TV and then be able to sleep in peace. No kids waking up in the middle of the night or waking us up early. It was fantastic! :-)
We got ready for the day and went down for some breakfast. Then we headed to go see the movie "Ant Man and the Wasp". After seeing the movie we made our way to go play some mini golf at Scandia.
It was blasted hot!!!! After one round I couldn't take it anymore and felt like passing out. So we made our way inside and played the arcade for a little while.
Then we hit an early dinner at Lucilles. It was yummy!! After an early dinner we decided to call it a day and head back.
We had to go back to the Ontario Airport to drop off the rental car Brandon had grabbed for our Anniversary outings. We sat and waited for my Dad to come pick us up. So naturally we would take some goofy pictures while we waited! haha
You could say Emmett was just a little happy to see his Daddy. He saw him and then hugged him and wouldn't let go of him. He just laid on him and wouldn't leave him alone. He was so happy to have Daddy back. As were we all!
While we were gone GG built this little thing with the boys. She thought it was supposed to do more than it did. So when she went to unveil it because it was done it was a little disappointing. haha But, we have proof that she did it! haha
Brandon and I grabbed some candy at the mall before going to the movie and decided that we would give it to the boys. It wasn't that great so we figured the boys would be stoked and yet not care that much what it tasted like. It was sugar! I think that is all they care about.
Friday morning we got up and got ready to head to the beach again. GG had gone out and exercised that morning and then went out and grabbed donuts from the Donut Man (amazing donuts and HUGE).
Look at how massive that tiger tail donut is!!! haha After sugar loading ourselves and packing up a bunch of snacks and everything we needed for the beach we headed out.
These kids were excited to go to the beach again.
On the way there Ethan pulled out another tooth. haha
Gross.... He was so happy to have pulled out another tooth. Mainly because he wanted the tooth fairy to come.
We arrived at the beach at a pretty good time and got a good spot to put our stuff. It was pretty windy that day and kept blowing the umbrella out of the sand. It took a while to figure out how to get it to stay down. GG also had brought some huge shells that she bought and planted them in the sand at various places for the kids to find.
What?? I didn't know that Hunnington beach had humongous sea shells!! haha
The hunt was on!
The kids will never think of a beach the same way. They will always think that the beach has huge shells to find. Or at least GG's beaches do. haha
The kids had fun playing in the water and the sand. GG and Wyatt played a little bit of frisbee too.
If you can't tell.. Emmett was terrified of the waves!!! haha
It took quite a while for him to not be as terrified. He even started to enjoy jumping over the waves. Until Brandon decided to take him farther in and as he kept walking I told my Dad that he was going to get knocked under. Sure enough a wave came and he didn't anticipate it being as big as it was and didn't jump high enough and they both went right under. I started counting the seconds till they surfaced and after about 3 seconds they came out of the water and Emmett started sobbing. He was now re-terrified of the water. haha
What better thing to do with the sand then put it in Daddy's belly button while he is laying down enjoying some rays. haha
Oh and covering up his nips like a mermaid.. or should I say mer...man!! haha
Emmett decided it would be more fun to lay with me then go back in the water.
Catching sand crabs!
Emmett liked when they caught the sand crabs and watching them swim in the water. He did not like holding them. haha
After playing for a while we packed up and headed down to the pier to one see it and two to eat dinner at Ruby's over looking the ocean.
By the time we were seated Emmett was super done and grumpy.
Dinner was yummy and we got to see some dolphins jumping out of the water while we were sitting waiting for our food. It was pretty fun! The kids thought it was awesome!!
Saturday was kind of a clean up day. There was some yard work that my parents needed to get done. So naturally the boys wanted to help. GG let them each take a turn helping her cut the grass.
We also had to hit the Hawian shaved ice place again one last time. It was so yummy but it was also super hot again. Emmett was pretty grumpy in this insane heat!
After all of the afternoon work and fun we decided to make a night of playing in the backyard We had tons of games out and started the fire pit to roast hot dogs and then to do marshmallows later that evening.
Emmett was naked for most of the evening. Silly kid! Thankfully my parents backyard is super secluded so no one could see him but us.
We had music on to dance, play games, eat yummy food and just enjoy the evening. It was so much fun!
When it finally got dark we brought out the sparklers to finish off the night.
Even Emmett played with the sparklers this time. We had Grandpa and GG jump in on the fun with them as well.
After the sparklers we made our smore's and then had the kids get to bed. It was after 9 when we finally got them to bed. The kids were surprisingly happy the whole evening. It was seriously such a fun night. I don't think I have ever enjoyed the boys being up so late than I did that night.
Ethan decided that he wanted to try drinking his water with these huge Mickey gloves on. haha
We made some really great, fun memories that night! It was a great way to end our trip!!
We were all sad to be leaving Grandpa and GG and heading home. We had such a great trip and now it was time to get back to reality!
Saw this sign by Southwest! haha
We arrived home and it was pretty chili and had been raining. It was a big change from the heat we had been in while in California.
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