Jon & Maeva: Family Vacation, long overdue and much deserved!

Day 1:

After a long 10 1/2 hours drive, we arrived at our resort in Oceanside, California. As I stepped into our condo, I could not believe my eyes at how big and nice our condo was. Here are a few pictures of the condo. It was nicer and bigger than our apartment. Although it is not hard to beat the old run down Wymount apartments in which we live in.

Once we were all settled we decided to go for a walk on the dock, and then a walk on the beach while the sun was setting. It was so relaxing.

On our way back to the resort we were hungry for sea food, and had fish and chips. It was delicious.

Once home, the kids relaxed with a movie.

Day 2:

On our second day in California, we took the kids to Disney Land. It was a very fun day, filled with adventure. A couple of days before, Jon and I googled tips about how to spend your day and be efficent at Disney. And they were absolutely right. One of their suggestions was to go through the park clock wise versus counter clock wise which is what most people do apparently. It was great for our first 5 or 6 rides we were the first ones in, no wait. We also used the fast past quite a bit. In all we probably waiting in line 3 hours total the entire day for all the rides we did which I thought was pretty great.

All the rides were so much fun. Some of our family's absolute favorites were Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Carabean, The Haunted Mansion Holiday, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.

For lunch we ate at Royal Street Veranda where we ate amazing gumbo inside hudge bread bowls. It was trully delicious.

On our way back to the resort that night, we were all pretty tired. The boys fell asleep quickly. I tried very hard to keep my eyes open to keep Jon company because I know he was just as tired as me. I could hear my words slurring and drool surfacing the corners of my lips I was so tired, until I heard the sound of gas gauge ring. We were out of gas, without a gas station in sight and we did not know how long the car would last. The Jeep made it luckily, and the rest of us made it alive as well.

Day 3:

On Tuesday, we decided to stay in Oceanside and enjoy the sun and the ocean. We started our morning with a nice walk on the pier. We saw some surfers, dolphins, and a sea lion.

Many people were fishing on the pier. One person caught a star fish. The kids were able to get up close and hold it. They loved it.

After the nice stroll, we went back to the condo where we had a nice lunch on our balcony, then hurried to the beach. Initially we told the kids that they could not go into the water deeper than their hips. But that obviously did not last long.

Logan had so much fun collecting sea weed. When he had an arm full of them, he would put them down by our towels and then run back for more. The people sitting next to us got a pretty good kick out of it. He was so cute, and excited about his quest.

Jon found a clam while wadding in the water, and had Julien dig it out. Julien was so proud of it. The boys made a little pool for it in hopes for it to come out of its shell. After much patience, the clam stuck its tongue out and started digging and burying itself in the sand. Julien thought it was pretty cool.

Around 3 we went back to the resort to swim in warmer water and relax in the hot tub.

That night, we ended our evening with one last stroll on the beach to watch the sun set.

Day 4:

Our final day in California started with breakfast on our balcony, which followed by a trip to La Jolla.

Jon took the boys to some tide pools where they found various sea crustaceans, and vegetation.

The boys wanted me to catch a crab. But because their was so many cracks, the crabs slipped and buried themselves in between them which made it impossible for me to get them.

Jon took us to a spot where we saw a lot of sea lions swimming and playing with one another.

Before our long drive to Las Vegas, we had a picnic with baguette, salami, and brie sandwiches, along with Orangina, and barbecue flavored kettle chips. Yum! It was so good!

Day 5:

THANKSGIVING DAY!

The boys found a nice relaxing spot as Julien called it, up in a tree in Jon's parents back yard. During our entire stay, you could find Julien and Logan purched up there.

Before the big dinner, the boys played baseball, dodge ball, golf, tag, and many card games. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon with the boys.

Family pictures

We ate the vary traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner. It was really good! I love Thanksgiving, and wish there was more occasion during the year where it is exceptable to eat and gorge yourself with food without getting weird looks.

Day 6:

We took the kids to the park with Jon's brother, Branon. There were some sheep, and Jon thought it would be funny to scare them.