Catching Up Part 2: California and Disneyland!!!

Next on the catching up is: our trip to Oceanside, California and Disneyland! Oh my gosh awesome!!! I pretty much marked a few things off my bucket list with this trip. It was so amazing and so fun!

On May 2, the girls and I were dropped off at the airport so we could meet their dad there. They had no idea what was going on and were so confused as to why we were picking their dad up at the airport and not just going home so we can 'go to the Hampton's' for the weekend. When their dad came out he had them open up a couple of manila envelops. (P.S. I was videoing all this.) Goose opened her's up first and there was a picture of the beach and a beach house. That was clue number one to where we were going. Shi opened her's next and she had a picture of Disneyland and a picture of some family members who were coming with us. They were so excited! It was so amazing to watch the confusion go from their faces to pure excitement! Then we got on the plane and flew straight to LA. After landing we got the rented car and went to the girl's grandma's house to spend the night. Our bodies were so confused and mad at us because they were in NY time which was 3:00 a.m. and it was 12:00 a.m. in California.

May 3: Beach day number one. After waking up, we had some breakfast, relaxed a little bit, then got ready to go to the beautiful beach. We got to the beach house just a little early. The owners/cleaning ladies were just finishing up cleaning the house and making sure that it was ready for us. I just have to say that it was the most beautiful beach house I had ever seen. No joke. Three stories, one HUGE master bedroom and bathroom, two other bedrooms, nice kitchen, and more. It was just an amazing place to stay. Also, the beach was only a couple of blocks away. Maybe a little less. We were right next to the pier when we would go to the beach. The waves were so beautiful and big. I learned how to boogie-board! And if I do say so myself, I didn't do so good. After being at the beach for a few hours, we went back to the house so that the adults could go to a dinner and the kids (and myself because I provided the help and supervision the parents needed) to relax and basically get ready for bed. And that ends the day.

May 4: Sunday. We got up and got ready for church. We weren't going to do much since it was Sunday. After lunch I wound up taking a well needed nap. How long? Umm...two, three, maybe four hours? I have no idea. All I know is that I was sleeping and when I woke up, it was close to dinner time. I felt so much better after the nap. Yes, still a little sleepy, but I needed that rest. Before bed, Goose, Jenny, Melody, and myself played a round of Hand & Foot (or as some know it: Canasta). I won. =) Yay me! ;)

May 5: Beach day number 2. It was a little colder than Saturday was. It was still a great day. Goose stayed in the car for most of the time because she was freezing and she is kind of allergic to the cold. Yes, it's a thing. Her mother is also allergic to the cold. Anyway, I was able to improve on my boogie-boarding skills and I definitely got better at it.  It makes me really want to learn how to surf all the more. One day. Speaking of surfing, I was able to see a couple of very good looking surfers. Not this day, but I did see some. We went back to the house and we were going to go to a movie but decided instead to stay at the house and relax, play games, pretty much do whatever.

May 6: Last day at the beach. Bittersweet. It was a sunny but windy day. We boogie-boarded (Goose, Dillon, Charlie, and I) for a little bit while the waves were big and before Goose and I went and laid in the sun to get some tanning done. While Goose and I were sun bathing, Haley joined us! Haley is the girl's aunt. I went back to boogie-boarding because the waves were still pretty big and it was also the last day of beach and I wanted to take in every moment that I could. I did catch some nice waves, but I also missed some because there was a surfer out a little farther and I just wanted to see his face. I never got to see his face super clearly, but he was attractive. After I couldn't really see him anymore, I went back to practicing/having fun boogie-boarding. After we were done with the beach, we headed back to the house so that Jenny, Goose, Shi and I could go shopping. We got Shi and Goose shoes for Disney, and some clothes and snacks that we were in need of for the rest of the trip. Then we went to the house and got ready to go to dinner on the pier, at Ruby's. The only problem with dinner, was that the restaurant moved and made me motion sick. So motion sick that I could barely eat the food that I had ordered. That wasn't fun. But the sunset! Oh the sunset on the walk on the pier! It was amazing! (I'll just do a blog post of just pictures from this trip. Believe me, you will prefer it!) After going out of the restaurant, we went back to the house, got ready for bed and us girls played a few more rounds of Hand & Foot. I won every round except for the last one. Goose won that one and it was well deserved. =)

May 7: Disneyland day one! So excited! All packed up and ready to go (yet at the same time wishing we could stay at the house), we headed for the hotel so we could start our Disney day! Dropped our stuff off and now at Disneyland, we head to go get fast passes to Buzz Lightyear and Star Tours (we were going to get fast passes to Space Mountain, but it was closed for the moment). The very first ride that we went on was Buzz Lightyear. It was so fun! It's like lazer tag but you are in cars and can't jump right in front of the target that you want to hit so that makes it a little bit harder (but it's suppose to be that way so it's just fine). I'm not going to tell you about all the rides we went on. Just the ones that really have a story. The reason why I told you about  the first ride we went on was because it was my official first ride at Disney. Star Tours were so fun! And the really awesome thing about it, is that you never get the same scenario. It's different every time you go on! It was such a great ride! On Space Mountain, Goose and I sat next to each other. Now I would have never known this had she not said anything, but apparently there came one point I guess that she was laughing so hard that when we were leaning, she drooled on me. I didn't even know and when she told me I couldn't stop laughing! We also went on the Haunted Mansion ride and I would tell you what happened, but then it wouldn't be fun for when I go back. And I will go back one day. Either by working there or going on vacation or both.
We had a very successful first day of Disney. Goose and I were even able to take a couple of pictures with Sleeping Beauty's castle while it was lit up! It was a great way to end the first day of  Disneyland.

May 8: California Adventures. Since we spent day one in Disneyland, we decided to do California Adventures on day two. It was so fun! We did some of the 'little kid' rides first. While in A Bug's Life, we went on the ladybug ride and the Tuck and Roll bumper cars. Then it was on to Cars! We saw Lightning McQueen, Mater and Red! We rode on the tires (an awesome version of bumper cars). We weren't able to go onto Radiator Racers right while we were there because our fast passes weren't good until around 6:00 I believe, so after eating lunch, those of us who wanted to, used our fast passes to go on Tower of Terror! I thought I was going to die! I had no idea where my head was or if we were going up or down, I even thought that at one point we were going side to side. But I'll admit that I did like the ride. It was fun.
We then went to the Ferris Wheel. I love that Ferris Wheel. It is so much better than all the other ones because you don't get the choice to spin. But, you do get the choice to swing, and I advise you to take that choice! It was so much fun! Again, I'm not going to tell you all the rides we went on but I will show pictures. Now it was time to go on Radiator Racers. Goose, Dillon, Charlie, and I get in our car and we were off. Just driving along and then before we were to go get our tires ready for the race, the ride stops. We stopped for about fifteen to twenty minutes. Maybe I'm over exaggerating a bit, but I don't really know. I was too busy taking some pictures to really worry. The ride started up again and we were off to race!!! When we finished and got back to the place where we get on, the worker told us that if we wanted to ride again, to stay in the car. Alrighty then, we'll stay on. Luckily the second time it didn't stop on us. But that was pretty exciting that we were able to get another ride! On our was back to the shuttles, we were able to see Goofy! We took a couple of picture with him. Then it was time to go back to the hotel.

May 9: Last day of Disneyland and last full day in California. We decide to start in Disneyland and hit some rides we didn't get on the seventh. The first ride we went on was this jungle boat ride and it was such a great and funny ride! Just the most adorable jokes every! Of course then we went on Splash Mountain while waiting for our fast passes to Indiana Jones to be ready to use. I loved it! Both rides were so great! Although I wish I would have gotten more wet from Splash Mountain... Oh well. We did get to see one of the parades that Disney does and I was able to see my favorite princess! Belle!!! I just wish I would have been able to meet her...maybe one day I will get to be her. After the parade, some of us went to Downtown Disney so we could get some reminders of our trip. We were going to go to California Adventures and ride a couple other rides again, but we ran out of time. Which was okay because we were all getting tired, hungry, and ready to go. When we got back to the hotel, the girls, their dad, and some of their cousins went swimming and I just had some alone time. I would have gone swimming but I had had my fill of people. I truly had started to freak out for a little bit and needed just a little bit of me time. I was able to watch the Disney Firework Show from my window. It would have been amazing to watch from below the fireworks but I still got to see them. Then it was off to bed.

May 10: Time to go home. We ate breakfast, got all of our things and got ready to head to LAX. It was a bittersweet moment. I had really loved being in California, but I was more than ready to be home. The girls and I had a connection flight in Detroit. When we landed, we hurried to get to where our other plane was and then come to find out, we have a huge delay. The crew I guess wasn't there just yet (weird), so we able to relax and stretch before getting on the plane. 
It was so nice to get home. All three of us felt so much better. Bodies not super tired even though it was midnight. It was because our bodies were saying it was only nine... Let's just say that I love traveling, but the time changes are challenging...

Now you are all caught up on my travels. Nothing too exciting has happened since being home. Thanks for reading! Sorry if it's kinda long, but know that I didn't tell you everything because I can't remember, it'll be better with the pictures, or it wasn't as exciting as what I did tell. So stay tuned for pictures to come and for other adventures to come!

Catching Up Part 1: Washington DC

Washington DC April 25-27:

On the night of the twenty-fifth, we drove down to DC (about a four hour drive) and got to our hotel, then went to bed/sleep...at least I tried to sleep. Goose and I were in a different room than her dad, sister and uncle. Goose had slept in the car and I didn't. We got to the hotel a little after midnight. Goose wasn't tired and I was. I was so excited to go to sleep and get a good night's sleep so I could be awake to do the things we had planned for the following day. Goose apparently had other plans because she was not tired at the moment. I was just falling asleep and was almost all the way when all of a sudden my ear was freezing! Goose thought it would be funny to put an ice cube there. Finally I get mostly asleep again when I feel a poking in my arm and hand. As I was slightly waking up I found out that Goose had been poking me with her embroidery needle.  Thinking this is the end of the shenanigans I go to sleep. I am in a good sleep. My alarm starts to go off, so I wake up to turn it off. Come to find that it's only 2:00 in the morning and I had been asleep for half and hour to and hour. And there were other alarms that Goose had decided to put on there... Luckily I was awake enough to see those and turn them off. That was the true end of the craziness of the night and I was finally able to sleep for four to five hours that night.

The twenty-sixth, we woke up and went down to go swimming before having to get ready for the day and the boys would go get their stuff for the half marathon they were running on the twenty-seventh. We made signs for the race and made sure the racers had everything they needed for the race. After, we went to eat brunch with and were deciding what to do after that. Goose and I decided to go sightseeing after we charged our phones and her camera. We rented a couple of bikes and rode around. We saw the National Monument, the White House, and some really cute and awesome buildings (I will show pictures don't worry). We had to get back to the hotel by 5:30/6:00 so that Goose could be ready to go to a work dinner with her dad, uncle and sister. While they were at dinner, I went shopping and relaxed. Then us girls went for a night swim. We had the pool to ourselves for the most part. We played a few games like Marco Polo, What Time is it Mrs. Dolphin, Shark Attack, and had some races. It was so fun! Then it was bedtime. And guess what? I got a mostly good night's sleep (again). The girls were asleep when I came out of the bathroom after taking a shower. Goose was taking up basically the entire bed, Shi was on my side so I decided to sleep at the end of the bed. I kept waking up just to make sure I wasn't going to fall off the bed.

Morning came sooner than I had wanted but I started to get ready for the day while the girls slept so that I could help them get ready when they did wake up. Today was the day of the Nike Women's Half Marathon and the guys were getting closer to being at the finish line. The girls and I were ready and waiting for them to watch them cross the finish line. They did so great! While the guys went to cool down, the girls and I waited for a couple of the girls that we knew to finish the race. Once everyone was finished, we took a few group photos, and headed back to the hotel to relax and get ready to checkout so we could go home. We went to breakfast/brunch/lunch at Lincoln's Waffle Shop. It was pretty good. After that we were heading to the Lincoln Memorial but wound up not going because we needed gas for the car and we wanted to get home. So we drove home, some of us took a couple of naps. We dropped the girl's off at their mom's and then the guys and I headed to the city for home.

Here are some pictures of our trip: