The Motherland was calling - California, that is! I told Spencer if he could get the days off and arrange a place for us to stay in Cali, we could go.
Well, he did his part, so we planned the rest of the trip and headed off on the morning of the 13th. His mom, Susie, hopped in the car with us and was a great help as we spent literally all day that Saturday traveling.
Our first stop was in Cedar City where we had a late breakfast at Discovery Park with Grandma and Grandpa Great. The kids loved playing and exploring (it really is a great park - I should have pulled out the camera). And it was nice to catch up with my grandparents. After a couple of hours we climbed back in the car and continued our adventure. As we went along, I'd pull out little surprises for the kids as we traveled, which helped a ton with their boredom factor - things like new coloring books, playdough, and books.
We stopped at another park in Vegas and had lunch and then again at a fast food place in Barstow for dinner. We finally pulled in to Anaheim (Buena Park?) at 10:30 local time. It was a long trip there but the kids really did do great. They only got antsy just before a planned stop, and really, who could blame them? We spent most of our time in California at Spencer's old scoutmaster's home. He's friends with their son too. They were wonderful and we felt so at home there.
Sunday was spent going to church at Spencer's old ward and reconnecting with his old friends. We had lunch with his old Young Men's President/Bishop and his family, the Thompsons. They were so welcoming, friendly, and interesting.
We spent all afternoon there and completely enjoyed ourselves. Their oldest son was one of Spencer's best buddies when he was a teenager and their youngest is a six year old girl. She and Lucy played and played all afternoon. Lucy asked if we could go back. :) That evening we had dinner with the Weinstocks, our hosts. It was so nice getting to know them.
Monday we took our time getting going and then headed down to a beach in Newport Beach called Little Corona Beach. It had great tide pools to explore. We found hermit and regular crabs, sea urchins, clams, and a really cool starfish! It was big and orange and kind of stuffed in between some rocks.
We also had lunch on the beach and the kids and Spencer made a sandcastle.
The kids loved just being on the beach - the sand, the water, the shells. Spencer and I found this super cool shell but, sadly, I stepped on it before we left. :( I was so sad!
Other than that, though, we had a really great time and promised the kids we'd be back to a beach before we headed home.
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