WE'RE HOME!!

Our week in Southern California was a blast! We had so much fun that I will try to give you a "nutshell" report. Here are some of my favorites and ones that left impressions:

• Leaving on Saturday, Oct. 11th and staying in Henderson, NV with our friends, the Neilsons.
  
• Driving on Sunday, watching Jesus DVDs and feeling the spirit in the van.
  
• Going to Cheesecake Factory--yummy key lime cheesecake.
  
• Almost running to Disneyland on Monday morning; dragging our bodies home Monday night.


• Seeing the kids' faces light up upon entering the Magic Kingdom.


• Fighting the Santa Ana winds on Monday Morning.


• Describing to Allie and Cooper that Pirates of the Caribbean are all puppets and not real.


• Waiting in line for an hour to see the princesses, but watching both Allie and Maggie give them each a hug and chatting with them. Cooper had nothing to do with them!


• Three days at Disneyland is a trying experience for Chris!


• Watching Allie run up to every animated character and giving them a big hug.


• Cooper got to watch Jedi training and meet Darth Mol and said, "He is creepy!" (He didn't give him a hug.)


• Maggie's face with a big grin after Indiana Jones ride and Splash Mountain.


• Watching Cooper run through Disneyland and not paying attention. He ran into many people.
  
• Having people give you parenting lessons after standing in line for 1/2 hour--saying we lost Cooper and were not watching him--when he was only 6 feet away from us.


• Watching Allie skip through Wonderland with Alice and the Mad Hatter pushing our Pram.


• Cooper got kicked off of Splash Mountain at the last minute because he wasn't tall enough.


• Many bathroom breaks especially in the middle of the desert!


• Wearing a 3 foot rubber snake around your neck gets about 40 comments a day. Cooper thought it was cool.


• Allie wearing her Princess Aurora dress while talking to Princess Aurora and commenting, "We match."
  
• Watching parades in Disneyland and California Adventure.


• Favorite characters: Maggie loved her conversation with Donkey at Universal Studios, Cooper loved Woody, and Allie loved all of the princesses and Alice.


• Sea World shows keep you on schedule--but we made them all.


• Polar bears licking yogurt off the window right by Cooper and Allie's faces.


• Walruses are huge as are manatees.


• Up close and personal with sharks, dolphins, and penguins.


• Having sandy children, sandy van, and sandy hotel room after an afternoon at the beach. The kids loved the beach!!


• Maggie taking a beautiful picture of the sun setting over the ocean.


• Having Bella, the GPS, as our tour guide. She was very helpful and friendly...sometimes a little pushy.


• Pandas are only at 4 zoos in the U.S. and we got to see them at the San Diego Zoo.


• Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my! The kids loved every minute, but bathrooms are difficult to find at the zoo.


• Driving home after the zoo. We decided just to go all the way home. We got home at 3:00 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 19th and were exhausted, but happy to be home!