Family Visit

Last week we had all of Aaron's immediate family come for a visit. It was great! All the siblings, spouses and kids crowded into our apartment, while the parents stayed in their motor home on the street. We loved seeing everyone and taking them around the area. Well, as much as we could in a few days. The first day they were here we all went to the La Brea tar pits and the Santa Monica pier.

The tar pits were first and we had fun wandering around looking at the bones and excavation site. We then had a picnic out in the parking lot before moving on. A small group split and went to Aaron's lab for a tour and the rest of us went to the pier and played on the beach until the others showed up. My boys headed right for the water, while Amanda's kids took a calmer, more careful approach. It didn't take them long to start enjoying the ocean too.





I didn't think we would actually spend much time on the beach when we left the house that morning, or I would have dressed the boys accordingly. Oh well, they had a blast and I did have an extra pair of clothes for them. But not for me! True to form, Adam went wading out past his depth and got submerged fairly quickly. I, of course, came to the rescue and got wet up to my waist.




After all the excitement, we settled into digging holes and getting our toes wet. I dried out fairly quickly in the warm sun, and we all enjoyed a delicious dinner that night.

The next couple of days we spent at Disneyland and had a blast. The first day we all split up and went to our particular "must do" rides. For us it was the Buzz Lightyear ride and Star Tours. For cousins H and A, it was to see the princesses and others disappeared until lunch time.

My boys, especially Adam, love "Toy Story" and last year we got our pictures with Buzz. This year we finally found Woody and Jessie and my boys were thrilled! We knew they would be in this spot by the lake at a certain time and we waited for them. Just before they were to arrive, Samuel HAD to go to the bathroom (He was doing a potty dance and everything). So I took him, while Aaron and Adam stayed.


This is where they came up behind Adam.



This is Adam hugging Woody,

Adam sat down on a big rock to watch the water and wait. Quietly, Woody and Jessie came up behind him and sat right down next to him! It took him a few moments to realize they were there, and Aaron a few moments to get the camera out, but Aaron did get a few pics of Adam and Woody together.



As soon as I returned with Samuel, Adam HAD to go potty too, so I switched boys and headed back to the restrooms. They weren't too far away, but it made me wish the boys would synchronize bladders better.




Once they got their pictures, we then headed out to Tom Sawyer island. The boys decided that was their new favorite part of Disneyland. Caves, tree house, wobbly bridges, pirate skull cage to climb, etc. A truly fun place for little boys to climb and explore. They kept running off and disappearing, but eventually we herded them back to the mainland.





The next day we did mostly, California Adventure. Samuel loved the big roller coaster and we all rode it 2-3 times. They have a great kids area there (Bugs land) and we also went on the big river raft ride. I got COMPLETELY soaked and the rest of them got sprinkled and it was fun.



We all met up to do the Peter Pan ride (cousin H thought it was the best ride at the park:) ) before we headed back to our place. We had a fantastic waffle dinner (Thanks, Jon!) and collapsed.

Friday, we spent just hanging out and recovering. We loved chatting and getting caught up on what's going on in the family. We'll be going to visit them next.