Family Vacation

With all the Fiji talk, I think Shawn was feeling a little left out. We decided a family vacation was much needed. (Shawn has been studying for Step 2 boards and needed a little break.) We decided to head to San Diego for a few days. Shawn found the perfect hotel room on groupon- it had a front room with bunkbeds and then a little living space and private room. It was perfect.

The first day we were there was spent at the beach. Charlie and Iva love the beach! They hunted for shells, creatures, and anything they could find. We were excited for Henry to have a beach experience because he loves sand, but he ended up not feeling well and just sleeping on and off on my lap the whole day. Emma was happy in the shade of the tent.

The next two days, we spent at Disneyland. We went on days that Crowd Predictor said would be a Ghost town and It's Alright. I think both days were It's Alright. It wasn't super crowded, but it wasn't empty either. The lines were pretty short- except for Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean. Charlie loved all the rides and snuck on to Splash Mountain a few times. Iva wasn't a fan of rides and spent a lot of time hanging out with Emma and I while the boys went on the rides. Surprisingly, the Haunted House was everyone's favorite ride and lucky for us, we could just walk right on to that one. We rode it what felt like a million times. Even Emma liked it.

After our days at Disneyland, we went to SeaWorld. SeaWorld ended up being everyone's favorite by far. Next time, we will go to the beach and SeaWorld and skip Disneyland. Iva absolutely loved the shows and can tell you all about dolphins being born with hair and then losing it. She shushed Shawn and I a few times during the shows because she couldn't hear. The rides in Seasame Street land were a hit. There were no lines and they could just walk on each ride. But everyone's absolute favorite and were we spent most of our time was at the entrance of Sea World were the cleaner fish were. They loved having the fish nibble on their little hands.

 

Disneyland for Christmas

We had a great spur of the moment trip to Disneyland on Christmas Eve/ Christmas Day- thank you Grammie and Papa Shaver. (We made the five hour drive no problem.)

We went to the park Christmas Day and it was pretty crowded, but it didn't stop us from having fun. Iva was brave and did great on all the rides. Charlie, on the other hand, was a scaredy cat- I think the only rides he didn't cry on was It's a Small World and Finding Nemo. They were, also, troopers waiting in the long lines.

Poor Iva got sick at the park and we had to make a trip the first aid station. She had a fever, chills, and looked super miserable. After checking her temperature and a few other things, we got baby Tylenol, a Minnie Mouse nurse sticker, and headed to the hotel early (7 pm.)

Charlie and Iva loved running around the hotel and did ok during the night. Charlie woke up with Iva's illness crying and had a rough night. We could not get him to stop crying for anything. Shawn finally got him to quiet down by giving him a bath. He finally fell back asleep and had no problem sleeping after that. But it made for a wild night.

The drive home was fast and easy- we listenened to "yellow" a million times. Iva had Meg and Grammie to entertain her. And Charlie had me to wait on him hand and foot and he definitely took advantage of that. He is starting to become quite the little boy.