CALIFORNIA

[bookworm]

We got home yesterday afternoon from our trip to California ! We had a blast. If I can figure out how again, I will post some photos. Some highlights were:
~visiting Balboa Beach- the kids LOVE the ocean and had a great time getting all wet, salty and sandy.
~at Universal Studios, DS#1 got chosen out of the audience to participate in an animal show with a bunch of dogs who've performed in movies before- it was really cute and he had fun doing it.
~at Sea World, DD got chosen to participate in the sea lion show- she got to shake the flipper of a big sea lion. She was very cute- didn't open her mouth, but she did what she was supposed to do.
~Disneyland started their Halloween stuff on Friday, so we got to see all the cute pumpkin decor, and over at California Adventure, they had candy corns hanging in the palm trees and all over everywhere- it was way cool. I love this time of year, and it was fun to see how they do Halloween there!
~We had hardly any lines at any of the places we went, so we rode just about everything- it was awesome. DH's favorite ride anywhere was the new Mummy ride at Universal Studios- I loved the Jurassic Park ride there, too- awesome!! The roller coaster at California Adventure is way fun, too.
~The weather was HOT, but not insufferable. The humidity was very high the whole week, but we drank lots of water (and sodas...) and mostly everyone was fine. DD loved Space Mountain- an indoor roller coaster in the dark with stars- she was just crazy about that one. The boys loved everything- DS#3 lost his voice from all the screaming!!
~The hotel we had reserved rooms at in Vegas was a nightmare, we ended up walking away. My sister's family's room had a huge dead cockroach on the bathroom sink and our room stunk really weird. They wouldn't refund our $$, but we walked anyway. I can't sleep somewhere with huge roaches- dead or alive!! We ended up staying in St. George at the Ambassador Inn, which was very clean and nice and, although it was pretty simple (not fancy), it was perfect. I had never been to Vegas before, and my BIL wanted to go to the Coke and MM stores in this big mall- that's the only reason we were even going to stop in Vegas. It is an insane city and I plan to NEVER return there again as long as I live. Yuck-a-roo... besides the two major sources of revenue for the city being sex and gambling, it is just too fast-paced and crowded and dirty for me. I missed Tooele a lot when we were there.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip, just crammed full of fun. Driving in California is certainly challenging, though- those people sure do use their brakes a lot! DH did a great job, though, and we all survived, as did our van

Happy to be home...

[Dia Minha]

Sounds like an awesome trip Bookworm. I'm so glad you and your family got to enjoy it.

[5ft Diva]

Welcome back, BW. Glad you had fun.

[runamyrun]

Welcome home! It sounds like your trip was fun! It made me antsy to go to California again!

[natickgirl]

Good times! I'm so glad you all had fun! I hope your trip was all you hoped it would be. I bet seeing Disney all decked-out for Halloween was great! We went in Sept. one year, and the Haunted Mansion was closed in preparation for Halloween season. Those new rides sound great. Last time we went, the Buzz Lightyear ride had just opened that day.

Vegas is really yucky (I hate the nasty billboards). My Dad lives there now in a nice suburb 10 miles west, so we've been to the city several times. There are some amazing sites there on "the strip" (mostly in casinos) that can be seen without walking through the smoke-filled gambling parts. The M&M store is fun. The temple (on the far east side of the city) is beautiful. Basically, Vegas is only fun in the daytime for family-values non-gamblers like us. I don't like Vegas at night!!! I don't blame you for walking away. I think that staying in Vegas is risky unless you're at a really fancy place on the strip.