Vacation: Day 6

 This was, by far, my most favorite day of vacation.  Everything went so perfectly...so memorable and peaceful.  It was one of those days that I'll remember for the rest of my life.  A day that 'The Hubs' and I will talk about years down the road.  "Remember that one day on our Newport vacation?"  "Yeah, that was the best day."

We hopped in the car and drove south on PCH with the windows rolled down, taking in the salty air.  We grabbed some lunch in Laguna and 'The Hubs' took us to a park on the Dana Point cliffs for a little picnic.  The kids ran around and we took in the beautiful ocean view.

The gorgeous harbor.

 Subway, again.  What can I say?

It wasn't long before this one took off.

We let 'The Littles' play on the playground for a bit before heading to the beach.  We decided on Salt Creek, an old favorite for both of us.  It was the beach I went to most often growing up and 'The Hubs' did a lot of surfing there back in the day.  If only we had remembered how steep that darn hill is that you must walk down and back up with armfuls of beach toys while pushing strollers.  At least we got a workout in.



 'The Hubs' and 'The Boy' played with some other family's bean bag toss game for a while (don't worry...they asked first).

Meanwhile, 'Munchkin' got her head trapped in the sand toy bag.

 And she modeled Daddy's sunglasses.  By the end of the trip, those things were so played with, they ended up in the trash.

 These two went for a little jog...and she giggled the whole way.

Then, we got to the business of collecting "crabbies"...

 One little, two little "crabbies"...

They don't make them this big where we come from.

'Munchkin' was totally into it.  Too bad she hammered the "crabbies" before they made it to the bucket.

 This one...not a fan.  He splashed in the water and rolled in the sand instead.

 In true 'Munchkin' fashion...she took off again.

 A self portrait.  This would be great except that the way the wind was blowing made me look way bigger than I am.

That night, we took 'The Littles' to the Irvine Spectrum for dinner and some fun.  We hadn't been there since 'The Boy' was a toddler and we knew they would love every second of it.  Of course we ran into someone I knew from high school...my brother's prom date.

We ate dinner at Johnny Rockets...

 ...went for a ride on the carousel...

...made some new friends at the pet store...

 She loves doggies!

 And he wanted to take home a hamster.  That didn't happen.

...we ate dessert at Golden Spoon...

...and finished off the night with a ride on the ferris wheel...

Such a perfect Southern California day!

Vacation: Day Five

 This morning, we totally vegged in our jammies.  The kids watched a movie.  I got Starbucks which we enjoyed on the couch, cuddling.  We didn't even think about putting our swimsuits on until almost noon.  But we did and we took 'The Littles' to a smaller pool on the property that had a 1 1/2 ft. pool for them to splash around in. 

 'Munchkin's' first bikini!

'The Boy' loved that he could run and splash around in the little pool.

And 'Munchkin' is still so little that she had trouble staying above water.

We went back to the villa for lunch and then everyone (every single one of us) took a nap.  We hung around for a while, playing games and toys with 'The Littles' before getting ready for the night.  'The Hubs' had a date planned for us.  He was taking me to a restaurant in Irvine and we had some time to kill before dropping 'The Littles' off at Grandma's house so I suggested I show them where I grew up. 

I still love that feeling of pulling into Woodbridge and turning down West Yale Loop to drive to my childhood house.  It never gets old. 

 There she is.  Of course, it has seen a lot of changes since we moved.  But it was still our house.  The windows on the top left were to my bedroom in high school.  Ahhh, the memories.

We drove down the road and walked the kids over the bridge by the lagoon so they could play at a park for a while.  I used to play there when I was a kids  So neat seeing my children running around in the same place I once did. ( For the record: we live where 'The Hubs grew up so he gets this all of the time.)

 Of, course, she napped.

 But not for long.

They played until dark and then we headed to Grandma's house.  'The Hubs' took me to Ruth's Chris for dinner and it was amazing.  Still wish I could have had wine.  And 'The Littles' were naturally spoiled with pizza and candy and popcorn and gifts.  Thanks, again Grandma. 

Another wonderful day. 

Vacation: Day Four

Today was a no plan kind of day.  We woke up slowly, were slow to get ready and then, 'The Hubs' told us what we were doing for the day.  It was overcast and not exactly hot but we were minutes from the beach, darn it, and we were going to the beach.  After debating which would be best for the kids, we decided to take them to Balboa. 

 Clearly, I will need to come out from the rock I've been hiding under because I have never in my life seen this.  The parking meter takes a credit card!  Of course I took a picture.  And then, 'The Hubs' made fun of me about it for the rest of the trip.

 'Munchkin' fell asleep on the way there.  I have no idea how she had sand on her face before getting out of the car.

 We set up a nice little spot.  Those people on the left were the only other people for miles. 

Overcast day + school in session= beach all to ourselves.

 'Munchkin' continued her nap on the sand.

 Just us and the seagulls.

The boys played in sand while I snuggled 'Munchkin' and read Golf Digest.  I forgot my book and, well, I'll read anything.  Now I know all there is to know about some golfer named Bubba Watson.  I was so impressed with 'The Boy' who ran in and out of the waves even though it was chilly.

 He came back from the ocean and made "sand angles".  That was fun to clean off.

 'Munchkin' woke up and we let her play a bit before we packed it up.  We were all getting hungry.

 We went to Subway for a quick lunch and got cookies for everyone to enjoy on the way home...

..and she enjoyed it all over the place.

That night, Monica and Evan came to the villa for dinner and the girls stayed up chatting while the boys went to the jaccuzi.  So nice to vacation close to our friends.  Have I mentioned how relaxing and easy this trip was?  Another perfect day.