Disneyland--Continued

Our Disneyland Trip, part two . . . We had such a perfect time in Disneyland!  Although it cleaned out our pocketbooks, we'd do it all over again tomorrow if we could!Gabe couldn't believe he was actually standing by "Racecar" and Mater--what a happy moment for him!
Esron & Brian were so good to the kids!  Esron's holding Kaleb, Vance & Brittney's cute little chunk, and Evie's enjoying some time with Uncle Brian.  I love when little cousins get to talk to each other!

We seriously put Esron to work--he and Brian were amazing with the kids, and the kids loved them!

I see this picture and realize that I just have to love this boy, even though he's standing at my elbow now screaming and poking Evie in the head . . . he's just lucky he has those big brown eyes!

I love my little family!  See Evie in the background with Grandpa King, and I think Jacob was by me . . .

Did I mention how much my kids love Esron?

My girls!  I love this picture.  They couldn't see me, so Eleni didn't have time to pose or complain about keeping her eyes open--she just looks natural.  And that cute look on Lydia's face--I love my girls!

I was blessed with a special treat--the last day of Disneyland, Gabe & Eleni were exhausted and not too interested in going back.  (Of course a few days later we started hearing complaints of all the rides they'd missed . . . )  We also had to check out of our hotel, so Seth, being the amazing husband he is, offered to watch all the kids and clean the hotel room so Jacob & I could go to Disneyland by ourselves.  Lydia was willing to stay and help him with a promise that she would have a special date with both of us that evening.

It was so fun!  I felt very blessed--we timed things just right with fastpasses and lines.  We were able to hit the Matterhorn first, then Splash Mountain, where I sat in front, thank you very much, and ended up completely soaked . . . Indiana Jones was closed, so we rode on the pirate ship instead, and Jacob savored every bite of his own churro.  I pretty much had to beg him to let me get it!  He doesn't ask for much in the way of food or prizes, and whenever I offered to treat him to lunch, he'd say, "That's okay--I'm not that hungry.  I don't want to waste any money."  I finally talked him into a bag of dried apples.  Honestly.

Later in the evening, Abe and Chelsea offered to watch the three middle kids, so we dropped them off in Irvine, then zoomed back for an evening with Lydia and Evie, our two easy peazy kids (at the moment).  We caught the parade and waited in this line for the Matterhorn.  We split up for a minute and Lydia & I enjoyed Alice in Wonderland, one of our favorites. Lydia just eats up "dates" like this--she was so happy!  Having three fewer mouths to feed, we were able to eat at a yummy restaurant and had a perfect view of the fireworks and Tinkerbell.  It was a truly magical evening!  I know Disneyland can be commercialized, but we love that place!  We went there for our honeymoon, and once again Seth and I were re-converted to the magic of Walt Disney--special man, special place!

Beach Patrol!

We were so lucky* to be able to hit the beach twice on our trip to California!  

*You will notice that I am working on my swimming attitude.  I decided after this trip that I no longer hate swimming and sandy beaches, and that for the sake of my husband-who-would-have-loved-to-have-been-a-surfer and my kids-who-love-to-swim-and-nearly-drown-themselves-in-the-waves, I suppose I can stand going.  As long as we don't have to do it every day and wash sand out of scalps on a weekly basis.

It was quite beautiful, both evenings when we went.  The first beach, Huntington Beach, was mild and lovely, and we spent the evening with the King's and my brother Abe & his family.  It was a lot of fun watching the kids.

This girl can not stand to have anything foreign in her mouth (meaning anything other than her own fingers and hands, which are frequently in her mouth . . .), so in between jumping in waves, she spent a good deal of time spitting out sand and, consequently, getting more and more of it in her mouth.

Jacob warming himself up on the sand . . .

 My darling sister-in-law, Chelsea, or "Aunt Choody," as my kids call her.  And she is far too good to them!  It was so fun to see her and Abe and their cute kids!  

 Lydia buried in the sand . . .

 Evie loved watching the waves . . . 

 And Eleni loved getting pulled in by them . . .

 Here are my cute nephews and niece: Isaac, Ruby, and Miles.  They are precious--and completely unafraid of waves.  It took Gabe a lot of parental support to get brave enough to let the water actually touch his feet, but Ruby jumped right in.

 Gabe, after his suit fell off. 

 Evie loved meeting her Uncle Abe!

Bless his heart, Brian's friend from Vanuatu, Esron, was so patient with the kids!  They thought he was hilarious.  What a special guy--he just radiates goodness and kindness.  It was a pleasure having him there. 

We stopped at Dairy Queen for a tasty dinner.  

 Evie and Ruby fell in love with each other right away--Ruby would say, "I love her!" over and over, and Evie would just smile and try to grab her nose. 

 And thank goodness for Grandpa King, who helped relieve Seth's & my carpal tunnel by holding Evie almost the entire trip . . .

and Grandma Yaya, who kept the younger kids from drowning while I fed Evie!

Gabe completely wore himself out in the waves and playing in the sand--when we got back to our hotel, he was out cold!

And what a fitting shirt, I just realized, as it was the beach patrol who saved this kid's life! . . .

The second beach we went to was Newport Beach, where the waves were very high and the beach sloped down to meet them.  We went there with Abe & Chelsea and their kids after the King's returned home.  I have no pictures to record this trip, because we spent the first part of our visit looking for Eleni, who had wandered off to a playground.  When we found her, we realized we had lost Gabe, so Seth and I ran in opposite directions praying like crazy and screaming for him.  I kept hearing the roaring waves, and there were so many people there!  Definitely one of the most frightening times I have ever lost one of the kids (I say "one of" because we have lost each one, except perhaps Lydia, multiple times . . .). Finally I spotted him with a beach patrol lifeguard.  We spent the rest of our visit trying to keep all the kids from drowning in the enormous, unpredictable waves.  It was thrilling, beautiful, and very scary!  But we still had a great time.  Here are the kids with their cousins at Aunt Choody's favorite restaurant, "The Old Spaghetti Factory," which was scrumptious after a day at the beach! (Notice all the people staring at us . . . eight kids at one table must have seemed like a lot. :)

I am glad we went, but grateful for home and my peaceful little cul-de-sac, since my kids (and dear husband) are so reckless and oblivious to danger.