The Big 3..0..!

On Sunday I turned 30. It was a nice relaxing day. I stayed in my comfy clothes all day, watched conference and had a yummy cake to celebrate the day (decorated by Matt). I also got a surprise phone call from one of my dearest friends from high school that I haven't talk to in about 2 years (I am now convinced that I need to keep my same Idaho cell number that I have had for years). It was so nice to get caught up with her life during our 2 hour conversation. I never talk on the phone that long, but it seems to be when ever we start talking we just can't seem to stop. I am also grateful for all my family that called me to wish me a "Happy Birthday". Your the greatest!!
Here is to another 30 years.

Our Disneyland Vacation

Sorry for all the pictures and posts. I am using my blog for our family scrapbook.
So, we took a family vacation to California last week. We spent the week at Disneyland, California Adventure, legoland, Long Beach Aquarium and at the beach. We had such a fun time! We had been anticipating this trip for 5 months and I can't believe it came and now we are home. The kids were slightly nervous because they had no idea what to expect. Carter was nervous because he didn't know what the rides were like. Once we went on the first ride they were hooked. Every time we got off a ride Carter would ask which one was next.

Disneyland was decorated in their Halloween decor, it was so fun! The Haunted Mansion had a Nightmare before Christmas theme. Ashlynn's face in the photo below describes her feelings about the Haunted Mansion as we were waiting in line. It turned out that she wanted to go through it again. The kids were just the right height to go on the big attractions. By the end of trip we started riding some of the attractions over again. After the many steps of walking around we were ready to head home. We had a great time and the kids are asking when we can go back.

Ashlynn was not a fan of Goofy's Kitchen at the beginning. She did not want eat Goofy's food. Then Chip came up and gave her a big hug and then she was much happier. Then of course Jasmine showed up and then she warmed up to the characters. I think this place was hit!

The Street Parade and the Fireworks were both spectacular! I loved the projections on the Small World building with the fireworks. It just added to the amazing show!

The fun continues...

California Adventure

We spent some time at California Adventure. It is another theme park that is connected to Disneyland. The Pixar parade was so cute! The floats shot out water into the crowd. It was fun! The kids loved the rides there. Soaring over California and the Grizzly Run rides were their favorites.

Legoland

At Carter's request we squeezed in a trip to Legoland. Legoland is about 40 minutes from Disneyland. Legoland was defiently interesting to look at. All the lego structures were just amazing! The rides were not that impressive, we agreed that we prefer Lagoon's rides over legolands. I posted pictures of some of the lego structures we saw.

Aquarium of the Pacific

We had a lot of fun at this aquarium. The kids wanted to see the shark tanks first, which was very surprising. The aquarium had lots of hands on exhibits and touch pools. They had the hugest stingrays I have ever seen. The sawfish in the shark tank was also very interesting to see. They also had scuba divers give underwater presentations in the huge fish tanks. I love the pictures of Matt and the kids playing with seals through their tanks.

Newport Beach, CA

We included a quick trip to the beach. The kids have never been to an ocean beach. It was slightly cold and there was no one there. We managed to enjoy the beautiful views of the waves.