California - Part 4: The Beach

We ended the trip by driving up the coast a bit to Ventura and spending the weekend just hanging out in this cool surfer town.  It's a short drive to Santa Barbara so we checked out that area too.  It was relaxing and we needed that time to decompress.  The ocean water was cold by my land locked Colorado kids had no problem boogie boarding in the freezing water.

We took this leaving Universal Studios.  We call it "California Butterfly"

Mia and Luca meet the Pacific.  Pacific....this is Mia and Luca.  I just know you three will get along famously. 

Something about this picture feels very 1950s.  I wanted to delete it right away because vanity set in and I don't look like a supermodel.  But then I noticed Luca out there splashing and I focused on my feet, happily pressed into sand.  We don't memorialize moments because we look good, we hold on to them because we feel good in them.  This moment....this is one worth holding onto. 

Exploring the town without a care in the world was one of the most fun aspects of the weekend.  We found an amazing lunch spot with organic local food, which was a treat after eating theme park food for three days!  We found an old mission church, and cute shops.  I even found a yoga studio and was able to take a class!

Luca loved taking pictures through the car window which made me smile.  I'm saving this one to remember this.  He just loved seeing palm trees and would happily point them out as we drove along the coast. 

This was taken on "State Street" in Santa Barbara after a fun dinner together. 

California coast nights can get chilly!

Vacations exhaust us and energize us at the same time.  This truly was such a special time with our family.  I was proud of us through every challenging and easy aspect.  I just felt happy to be with these three remarkable people in a beautiful spot. 

California - Day Three: Universal Studios

We added a visit to Universal Studios in later in the planning of this trip.  We knew three back to back days of theme parks would be exhausting but we also knew this was our time to do it.  Both kids really are into Harry Potter, especially Mia who is an avid reader of the series.  We were so excited to visit this interpretation of this magical world. 

It was amazing indeed.  The attention to detail in recreating the places from the book is incredible.  The kids visited the wand shop, chose wands that are actually interactive, and were able to perform magic at shop windows throughout this area of the park. 

It was SO hot and butterbeer was the way to cool off. 

The park has these ingenious huge fans blowing cold air and mist as you pass by.  We loved those!

Here is Mia using her wand to make a tape measure roll and unroll through the window.  A lot of people have a hard time getting the correct hand motion down but Mia and Luca must be part wizard because they had no problem at all!

California - Par Two: California Adventure

Day two on our trip had us at California Adventure, which is across the pavilion from Disneyland.  We had logged almost 12 miles (!!!!) of walking at Disneyland so when we woke up early to hit California Adventure, we were exhausted but knew we had to do it!  We logged the same number of miles on day 2 as well. 

I think something about this park is so picturesque.  It is just beautiful, especially at that magic hour before the park opens to the public.  We did the same thing we did at Disney and squeezed in the most popular rides first with no waiting in line.  Pretty fantastic!

This is a picture of "California Screamin'" which quickly became our favorite roller coaster and we rode it four times.  It's everything you want in a roller coaster...fast, smooth, tons of twists, and one upside down loop. 

This ride "Grizzly River Run" reminded us of Colorado so we were at home in this section of the park.  The kids LOVED this ride and V even agreed to go on it. 

Luca's smile in this shot is priceless. 

Both parks offer night shows, either a light show or fireworks.  We were too tired to make it back into Disney for the firework show on the first night but we saw the light/water show at California Adventure on the second night.  It was pretty spectacular, but when it ended, at around 10:00 pm, we were zombies heading to our room to sleep in prep for another day!

California - Part 1: Disneyland

We had a great vacation, hitting three parks (Disney, California Adventure, and Universal) as well as spending some time at the beach.  While it was exhausting, it was also just what we needed. 

The kids are at the perfect ages to do this kind of  trip.  They are old enough to recognize some of the hokey stuff but still play along in ways.  They were young enough to feel the magic, but also old enough to understand that magic is an attitude - not a place.  When you hit these parks in July, there are people, and I mean tens of thousands of them.  We all had great attitudes and the spirit of adventure and joy.  So, we had fun. 

If you stay on property, you are given a "magic hour" each morning before the park opens to the public and man is this worth it.  This picture was taken at 6:45 a.m., before the park opened up to us at 7:00 a.m. You have the park virtually to yourself for one hour to ride any rides you want.  Because of this hour, the kids who were carefully planned were able to ride everything they wanted to ride with waiting in very few lines. 

Well this is a favorite shot of all of ours....for obvious reasons.  It just sums up life doesn't it?  Sometimes you're fearful and white knuckling it.  Sometimes you don't have a care in the world and you're just happy to be alive - feeling it all.  Sometimes you're deep in concentration with your game face on (Luca).  And rarely are those around you experiencing the same thing you are at the same time.  Just ride the ride, experience it the way you will, and then be open to sharing and understanding everyone's experience later. 

A parade passed as we were walking down "Main Street" and we all just ignored it.  Mickey was leading the way, waving.  I turned briefly to make sure Luca was behind me and he had stopped, smiling, watching closely.  It hit me like a ton of bricks that we sometimes forget these wonderful creatures are just children....open to excitement and newness.  We stood there and watched the band march on by and Luca looked up at me, with clear happy eyes, and gave an effortless grin.  "I'm ready" he said.  Sure, it's our job as parents to continue to prepare our children and push them but it's also our job to protect them and hold off moving too quickly.  It's our job to give them a childhood. 

You kind of have to have a churro at a theme park.  It might be in the rule book somewhere. 

We loved Space Mountain!  V doesn't like roller coasters so I rode all of them with the kids happily.  This was their favorite at Disneyland.  They loved it so much, they rode it several times.  This picture was taken at almost 8:00 pm after a FULL day of rides.  There I am, crouching behind them.  Made me smile.  This is pretty much parenthood. 

And good ol' Mickey.  Disney....you treated us well.  I can't say we'll be back anytime soon but you really did give us a day to remember.