Thanksgiving!!

This post is super late. But its better late then never. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! It was fun just to stay at home and relax and keep things low key. I made all our favorite side dishes...more like my favorite side dishes :) Ryan made a very small turkey and we just had fun eating our little dinner and being together.

We did a fun little activity for FHE over the week of Thanksgiving.  At the end of each day, we all got a chance to say what we were thankful for that day. And then we would put it up on our  thankful tree!

Some of the things the kids came up with were pretty funny!!

After dinner, Ryan took a much deserved nap while I took the kids on a bike ride to the park. I love this line of pretty trees! Even in the winter they still have leaves :)The

The kids had fun playing in the leaves...

We have soooo much to be thankful for!! I am grateful for a holiday that allows us to remember and focus on all the things you have!!

The Best California Adventure Ever!!!

 We had the absolute best California adventure ever a few weeks ago, right before Thanksgiving!! Ryan has been working so hard and was in need of one of our fabulous adventures.  We packed up and went on a beautiful drive down the beautiful California highway 1 on our way to DISNEYLAND- yaaaaay!!!! On our way we stopped at the Monterey aquarium.  It was amazing!! Elsie was momentarily enthralled with the fish and then was quickly back to her wiggly ways :)

 The jellyfish displays were amazing. And is an amazing photographer.  We finally got a new camera and Ryan had a lot of fun experimenting with it on our trip!

 Still at the Jellyfish displays...

 Here I am trying to keep Elsie from wiggling right out of my arms and into a fish tank :)

 Jane took a little dip in the otter tank- hehe...

 and got attacked by an octopus :)

 The kids loved the tanks where they could touch all the sea creatures and sea plants.

 There was also a very darling little play area for the kids called the kelp forest!

 We had a wonderful day at the aquarium!

 Monterey is seriously a beautiful and very neat town!!

 We got to stay in the most beautiful hotel on a Naval base there in Monterey. It was seriously gorgeous!

 The inside was amazing as well...

 The gardens were so pretty.

 We went on the "17 mile drive" before we shut down for the evening.  We managed to do the beautiful drive just as the sun was setting and it was truly gorgeous!

 This is the lone cypress.  It is a very old tree that has managed to stay alive on this very rocky little slope.  It was pretty neat!

 Another example of Ryan's amazing photography skills.

 We thought the super bright blue water was so pretty.

 The kids were so patient with all of our explorations :) But had no problems going to bed this night!! I just love these kiddos!!

 The next day we got up early to embark on another day of adventuring.  On our way we stopped at Point Lobos!! This was our favorite stop along the way.  It was so nice to take a few small, stunning hikes first thing in the morning!!

 The rock formations were so cool! The kids felt super skilled as they maneuvered all over them!!

 This was such a beautiful place to watch the vibrant blue waves crashing against the rocks!

 This little cove was amazing. The water was an emerald green and there was tons of seals lounging on the beach in this private little cove!!

 This picture was just so cute of one little baby seal smiling at us while lounging next to its mama!!  Props to Ry for taking another amazing shot :)

 The last stop on out exploration of Point Lobos was this pretty little beach.  Elsie and I sat this one out and let Ryan and the kids do this one.

 And this is why!! (Sorry the picture is sideways) The hundreds of steps didn't seem to deter the kids from wanting to visit this beach- haha!

 The rest of the drive was very windy...and we had several episodes of kids feeling very car sick...but it was lovely! Here is an iconic route 1 bridge!!

 So, one of the people working at Point Lobos told us that there are a lot of whale sightings this time of year, so we should keep our eyes on the ocean as we drive.  I diligently followed her advice. So, when I saw this I freaked out with excitement over seeing what I thought was my first whale sighting!! Unfortunately, it turned out to be a rock :( haha!!! Oh well, we got a funny story out of it!

 Our last stop along the way was the Hurst Castle!!  This was Ryan's and the kids' first time seeing it. 

 Elsie once again was stuck in the carrier.  I had to smuggle some of her snacks onto the tour to help her make it through the tour. She almost lost her cool completely just as the tour was ending.  Poor baby, she really was a trooper!

 The castle's Christmas decor was stunning!

 The dining room looked like the one at Hogwarts from Harry Potter!

 Poor Ryan was behind the camera, so here is one of the rare shots with him in it.

 I really want to swim in this pool one day!!

 Next, we were off the Disneyland.  We had kept this trip a total secret from the kids. And we couldn't wait to reveal our surprise to the kids and catch their insane excitement on camera!!  Well, neither them had a great reaction at all.  Beckham just seemed confused and Jane said she would go only if we didn't make her go on splash mountain or the tower of Terror.  We were a tad disappointed that we didn't get the crazy reaction we were hoping for...in fact I erased the video...but they sure were thrilled and excited during the whole trip and really hardly ever complained!! That totally makes up for their initial reaction :)

 We saw a cool little show one day that was really neat!!

 This was me attempting to change Elsie on my lap during the show as she was constantly trying to roll over:)

 We visited the Christmas corner they have in Frontier land.

 The kids got to play a few fun games there!

 For a very special early anniversary celebration we had a lovely dinner at the Blue Bayou!! It was so delicious :)

 Here is the castle all lit up for Christmas!!

 In the evenings I would go back to the hotel with Elsie to give her a break and get her to bed. Ryan and the kids would head back to the park  and have a little more fun... and get some delicious treats :)

 I loved all the little rides that we could ride together as a family!! This was part of the snow white ride.

 Elsie loved those rides, too!!

 Here we are heading onto Mr. Toad's wild ride.

 Dumbo!!

 I think this is the kids going onto Star tours.

 Buzz Lightyear!

 For their souvenir, each of the kids chose some darling Mickey Mouse ears!

 Here we are on the Nemo submarine ride. I got totally claustrophobic on this ride- even though it is pretty cute :)

 One of Jane's favorite rides was the Little Mermaid ride.  It was our first time riding it.

 We went on the ferris wheel and chose a cab that was on a and slid back and forth.  Elsie loved in but I'm not gonna lie...it totally scared me at a few points.

 The new Cars Land in California Adventure is just the coolest place ever! It looked exactly like Radiator Springs from the movie. It was so cute. The food was so yummy, too!! We got to see Tow Mater as he drove by :)

 Here is Beckham on the awesome new cars race track ride. It is my new favorite Disney ride. It was just so cute. It was Beckham's favorite ride.

 At night the whole place looked so cool! It looked a lot like Utah actually :)

 It was so pretty during the day, too!!

 We visited Monster's University!!

 I just loved Elsie's face in this picture! She was so patient throughout the whole trip for never being able to move and groove like she loves to do. Love this little lady!

 One morning, we had a character breakfast with all the cute woodland creatures. This bear so funny and so sweet with the kids :)

 The kiddos loved seeing all the cute animals.

 Here's another one of Car's Land- we spent a lot of time there!! You can see the "Cozy Cone" in the background...so cute!

 Here are Ryan and the kids on one of the rides.  My photography skills are considerably less stellar than Ryan's!!

 Here's the family with Red!! He made noises and moved his mirrors!

 It's a Small World is always a favorite!! It was all decked out for Christmas, too!

 Elsie liked it too!

 Here we are in toon town! Such a fun place.

 The kids got to meet Mickey there!!

 Here it is snowing- just part of the magic of Disney!!

  

 Thanks to all the crazy fun we had all day long, all three kiddos had no trouble at all going right to sleep.  We had such a great time on our wonderful California Adventure. We are so blessed to be able to travel and have such fun experiences. Hanging out with my family is my favorite thing to do- they are the coolest people I know!!