Calibefornia!

I have felt, for the past six years that there has never been a great time to go on a major vacation with the kids. When I'm pregnant it always seems exhausting and too much work, when I have a newborn it seems exhausting and too much work. But now with Zeke almost one, and Adren 6 it seemed like a perfect window to pack up the kids and GO! Following my sister Abby's advice: Don't wait for certain ages, just do it! My plan was to use our tax return, and when we had to buy a new dishwasher, I could see if we didn't plan this thing and go ASAP our funds would quickly get swallowed up by all those little things that would certainly not be picture worthy. So Jon got on the computer one night, and before you know it he had booked us a day at LEGO LAND and a hotel by the sea! Whahoo!

I had taken on a massive painting the family room, hallway, doors, sewing pillow covers, curtains etc.so It took a lot of work to get vacation ready and find a stopping point. But once we told the kids what was in store, the countdown began! The boys were so excited, even though they really didn't even know what all of this meant. The night before I had them pack their backpacks with clothing and items they would need. Of course, they wanted to bring ALL their toys, but we were able to cut it down to one or two. Later that night when we went up to bed we found the boys zonked out in the hallway with their backpacks ready to GO!

 Our first stop would be St. George, to stay at Paul and Sharons house. I love this house! It is always clean and ready, it feels so relaxing there! The backyard has a huge rock wall the boys love to climb, and the kids just love being there! There's plenty of toys and Jon ran to the grocery store and BBQ'd dinner that night. Zeke loved crawling around and exploring after that car ride!

Here's a shot of my view of the back of the car- this is how the Geertsen's roll!


The drive wasn't too bad, we were all excited, Eli especially most anxious to see palm tree's in real life. He kept saying, "I can't wait to see red rocks!" We were prepared with DVD's, snacks, drinks, activity books, and I had printed off a bunch of mazes for the boys since they love those. We arrived at our hotel in Carlsbad about 5 that evening. San Diego was just gorgeous! It has been a while since I've been there. All the flowers were in bloom, clear skies, perfect weather and right by the ocean! I said to Jon, if Brigham Young had gone just a little further, he would have said, "Now this is the place!" The hotel was great, the grounds immaculate, and they gave us six free kids meals at a cute 50's style diner across the street. We took advantage of that for dinner and then again the next morning for breakfast.

Little Zekey playing in the dirt. He sure was pure pleasure on this trip. He loved crawling around and always had a big grin on his face.                                                                             

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This is what I get when I tell the boys to put their arms around each other for a picture.























Paisley is just used to playing with trucks and cars. You can imagine her delight when she discovered grandma had a whole stash of dolls and Poly pockets!

There was a great outdoor mall that we visited a couple of times after dinner for icecream, and even new summer shoes for everyone.
The next morning was the big Lego Land day. We were all so excited!




 

 I love this picture of Paisley wedging herself in to be in the shot. This was taken right as we entered.
                                                                                     

It's so cool to see everything built out of Lego's!

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Such a great pic!Zeke kept growling- which is his happy sound.

 I think they should use this shot for their pamplet.This was a fun little area for really little kidsI was amazed at Paisley dodging other cars like a proEli loved that he got a drivers lintcence after this rideThis was set up so cute! Adren's stopping at a light.

They all got really wet! Paisley wasn't so happy All of the major cities of the USA were represented out of Lego's. Amazing! We could of spent half the day at this part!

I spy Adren

We really could have used another hour or even two, but we did everything we wanted to and the kids had so much fun! What a fun place! We will definately return to Lego Land! 

We spent each evening at the hotel pool. The boys started out nervous and wanting to stay close to Jon or I, and by the end they were doggy paddling and seeing how long they could go under for. After dinner at a resteraunt Jon was carrying out sleeping Eli in one arm, Zeke in the other while I carried sleeping Paisley to our room. They had curled up on their seat and zonked. Good times.

I wish we had taken the camera to the pool, but you can picture it, right? I loved how the whole time Eli was just LOVING "Calibefornia". (this is how he says it- shhhh. Don't you dare correct him!) He was constantly commenting on how beautiful it was, and so warm- we can wear shorts already! They already have spring here! In the morning he's always the first to rise and would quietly step out onto the balcany and peek in on me and say, "Mom, you've got to see this! Calibefornia is so beautiful right now!" Indeed, it was with the sparkling pool and palm trees glistening in the morning light, the ocean in the background. At night Jon was fiddling with the air in our room so it wouldn't get stuffy. I said, are you kidding? We have a real ocean breeze right out the window! Paisley would get up in the morning and just put on her swimsuit and would be a bit dissappointed when we explained we would get to that later.

It was really fun to be together, to just sit and relax with each other and realize we can bring our kids out to a resteraunt without it being a total nightmare. They are at a fun stage right now.

The next day we went to the beach. It was so much fun! I'll have to download pictures of that adventure and post next. All in all, it was a great vacation, I came back feeling well rested and rejuvinated with a fresh outlook on life! The neighbor kids don't seem quite so irritating! It was much needed and we love talking about how much fun we all had. Real good times.

Thanks for reading!