Southern California Trip

This last week we had a chance to travel with my family and got to Southern California for a fun trip. Ty's birthday was on the 18th and so we decided it would be fun to go to Disneyland for his birthday. Also, Ty's cousin, Kaleo was getting married in the San Diego temple on the 21st so we thought we would make a whole week long trip to see some fun sights and visit some great places. Here is our trip...

We flew in on Sunday the 15th to the John Wayne Airport in Orange County and headed to our hotel that my dad got a deal at which was the Hyatt at Huntington Beach. It was a beautiful hotel!:) So, I consider our first full day as Monday the 16th.

Day One, Monday......We wanted to have a pretty relaxing day this day since we had just flown in the night before. Also it was Presidents Day so we thought we should avoid the amusement parks for a day because of crowds. We slept in and got ready and went to breakfast at this place in Newport Beach called Cappys. It is really good breakfast food. After brunch, we went and did a little shopping along the main little avenue of Huntington Beach. HSS is our favorite store there so Ty and I always make it a point to check that out when we go. We then headed back for some relaxation at the hotel. The weather was a little rainy and overcast that morning but by 4 o'clock the rain stopped and the sun came out. We took advantage and headed down to the beach to walk around and feed the seagulls. Issy loved this! Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We headed back into Newport Beach to Joe's Crabshack and had a nice dinner there. It was a great first day to our vacation!:) Here are some pictures of that day....

Day 2, Tuesday...We got up and headed north to Universal Studios, Hollywood! Ty and I had been here a couple of times but we haven't taken Issy at all. Ty really loves this place and so we were excited to go again. The best part was that not many people were there so we didn't have to wait hardly at all to get into anything. The first thing we did when we got there was go on the tram ride through the whole studios. There were stunt people working on some stuff so we got to see that. Also they were filming Desperate Housewives and Life while we were there. We didn't see any stars or anything but it was cool to see the sets for movies and such. Issy enjoyed it too. We then did some fun things around the park like seeing the Animal Show and the Waterworld Show. Issy also got to meet Spongebob and Dora which she was very happy about. Ty and my dad got to go on the Jarassic Park Water ride and they had fun with that. Afterwards we all headed to the Universal City walk and walked around and went into all the fun shops. We headed back to Huntington Beach afterwards and I finally got my first In-N-Out Burger of the trip. I love that place. We then headed to a mall to do a little shopping in Newport Beach.

Day 3, Wednesday...HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY, TY!:) We all got up early and all ready for Disneyland. We spent nearly 12 hours there. It was such a fun day! We went and did a bunch of the rides Issy likes first like the Tea Cups, Alice in Wonderland and It's a Small World. We then took her on Madehorn and she did really well on that. It was a lot of fun! We headed over to another part of the park and did the Jungle Cruise. We walked over to Disney California Adventure and walked around but the lines for the rides were over 45 minutes long and Issy couldn't go on a lot of them. She is exactly 40 inches tall and so she made it on a lot of the Disneyland rides. After a few more rides, we headed over to Downtown Disney and met up with our close friends the Reynolds who were also on vacation down there at the same time. We met up at the Rainforest Cafe for dinner and they helped us celebrate Ty's birthday with us. After dinner we went around with the Reynolds for a couple of hours and went on the Madehorn again. We also did the Pirates of the Carribian ride and Big Thunder Mountain. We all met up with my parents again and watched the Disney night show that they had in the New Orleans section of Disneyland. We had such a great day at the park and spending my hubby's birthday with family and great friends! It is a birthday I don't think he will forget!:)

Day 4, Thursday...We packed up and headed down to San Diego. On the way we drove through Laguna Beach, San Clemente, etc. It is so beautiful along the coast. We got to La Jolla where our hotel was and we saw the San Diego temple. Issy goes,"Mommy, there is the Princess Castle". It was pretty cute. We stayed at the Hilton on Torrey Pines golf course. If any of you don't know about Torrey Pines it is where Tiger Woods won the UP Open last year limpin around on his bad leg. It was pretty amazing. We unpacked and then headed out to downtown La jolla and the beach there. It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect. After the beach we went to dinner and back to our hotel for the night. It was a nice day!

Day 5, Friday...We headed out that morning down to Seaworld. Ty and I had taken Issy there when she was a year and a half but I don't think she really comprehended what was going on then. This time she did and she loved it. We started off the day by going and seeing the Sealions. We got some fish and we were able to feed them. It was pretty cool. We then headed over to the Dolphin Show. Our friends the Reynolds who we met up with at Disneyland were at Seaworld that day as well. They met up with us at the Dolphin show and then later again at the Shamu show. It was great to share our fun experiences together at both places. After the Dolphin show we walked around and saw the shark exibit, the penguins and fish. We then headed to the Pet Show where they train all pets to do tricks. That was pretty amazing! Issy ate it up! We then headed to the Shamu show which was my favorite. It is amazing the relationship those trainers have with the animals. We then let Issy go play in the kids zones and go on some of those rides. As we headed out of the park, we were able to get our picture taken with a big Clydedale Horse which made Issy's day! It was a great time. We then drove over to the Waterfront on San Diego and ate dinner and walked around in some fun shops. It was so fun all day and we couldn't of asked for better weather!:)

Day 6, Saturday...Ty and got up and showered and all ready. We then left Issy with my parents at the hotel and headed to the San Diego temple for Ty's cousin, Kaleo's wedding. Ty and Kaleo are on a few weeks a part in age and were pretty close growing up. Kaleo and his family all live in Southern California so it was a treat for Ty to be there for his sealing and for the reception and to be able to see a bunch of his family. It was also fun to surprise a lot of his family who didn't know we were coming. Ty got to see his grandpa(or Tutu as he calls him which is Hawaiian for grandpa). The sealing was so nice and I just love that temple. After the wedding Ty and I went and picked up my parents and Issy and we headed out to the San Diego Wildlife Park. It was so cool to be able to take a tram ride and see all these animals from Africa and such. Issy loved the Rhinos! We also got to walk around and see other animals around the park. I loved the Gorillas. We sat and watched them for a while. It was pretty cool! After that we headed to Oceanside California for Kaleo and his bride, Amera's reception. We spent two hours hanging with Ty's family and had a great time. It was fun for Ty to see all his cousins and grandparents. We are so happy we were able to make it! In these photos are Ty with his Nana, Uncle Devan, and Tutu. Ty and his cousin Jesse, Ty and his uncle Kyle, Ty and his cousin Kahea, Ty and Kaleo, Ty,Kaleo and Amera(Kaleo's wife), and all of us!:)

Day 7, Sunday...We Came Home!:)

We had such a amazing trip and now that we are home and I look back on it, I can't believe all that we did. I need a vacation from my vacation.:) I am so glad we were able to create so many wonderful memories!:)