My Murrieta Vacation

We recently took a vacation to Murrieta to visit my friend.  I go on this vacation every summer with my boys.  I love it because I get to see one of my very bestest friend (and her family).  I love visiting her because she is awesome and we can just hang out and relax together.  I love visiting her because she has a pool and jacuzzi.  I love visiting her because we get to go to the beach.  I love this vacation because it is inexpensive - no hotel, no meals out, no crazy visits to expensive parks and such.  In the recent months, finances seem to be getting tighter and tighter.  But I love that I don't have to feel guilty about this vacation because it is very low cost.  Gas to get to my friend's house and I help pay for food.  That's it!  Then we spend the week lounging by the pool, watching the kids swim, letting the kids relax and watch movies, and just chillaxin!  It is so wonderful.

One of my favorite things to do is go to the beach and watch my boys play.

My boys with their friend gazing out to sea.

They love the water, the waves, the sand, the seaweed.  They love it all and it is SO different from their native desert habitat!

Canon's HUGE hole.

This year, Canon dug a huge hole - he was trying to make it big enough for his whole body, but he got started too late!

Kieron loves running in and out as the waves crash!

The vacation was awesome.  The boys love swimming every day.  I love lounging in the sun every day.

I'm not really ready for the school year to start.  Summer is my favorite season.  But we have had a good time this summer and I am trying to be grateful for what I have!

"The Happiest Place on Earth"

Every year, my brother and I take the boys to an amusement park for Spring Break.  We've done Sea World, Legoland (twice), and Knott's Berry Farm.  This year we decided to take the plunge!  We went to Disneyland.

I used to mock people who thought Disneyland required multi-day passes and park hopper passes and all the other insanity that goes along with "The Happiest Place on Earth."  But after our trip, I must eat my words.  You really can't "do" Disneyland in one day anymore.  The place is HUGE and overwhelming.  There are TONS of people.  We had a great time, but I do believe that if I were ever to go again, I would have to stay at least 2 days and probably 3 in order to really enjoy my time.  It had been over 12 years since I had been to Disneyland.

We had to tie their hands so they would leave the chains for the lines alone!

No matter though... the boys had a great time.  We tried to hit the rides we thought they would enjoy.  The Tiki Room, the Jungle Cruise, the Haunted Mansion, the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Indiana Jones Ride, Big Thunder Mountain, the Matterhorn, the Submarine ride, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear ride.  I may have missed one or two rides but they did enjoy everything except Space Mountain.  Both boys really liked the Matterhorn a lot.  But Space Mountain received less than stellar reviews.  Kieron said (with his pale gray face) "that was not so good."   It was a bit much for them (since it is so dark and fast).

This was before the ride - so they still appear happy.

But for me, the best part of the whole day were the fireworks.  Have you ever seen the Disneyland fireworks?  They are AMAZING!  I'm not really sure that word does them justice.  I LOVE fireworks.  The 4th of July is my favorite holiday because of the fireworks.  I go out of my way to watch fireworks when I can.  This was by far the best fireworks show I have EVER seen.  I stood for the 15-20 minute show holding a 45 pound child and still enjoyed every second!  It was awesome!

Mmmmm.  Cotton Candy! 

And ice cream at 10:30 PM.  Such great parenting!

We survived the day and I can even say that no one lost it or had a meltdown.  We would all go back and do it again but probably not next year.  I'm thinking Sea World again (I really like that place).  Or Legoland (not nearly as crowded as Disneyland).

So Good To Be Home!

I did not abandon my blog.  I was in Australia for 2 weeks and it took me a week to recover from the trip home!

Australia was AWESOME!  The boys did so well on the trip there, while we were there, and on the trip home.  We all had so much fun seeing crocodiles, feeding crocodiles, holding crocodiles, petting a wallaby, seeing and holding snakes, feeding fish at high tide, swimming in the hotel pool, swimming in the wave pool, walking around Darwin, riding the Croc Bus, and SO MANY other fun activities.  I really could spend the next few weeks blogging just about my trip.  I may make a few posts as I'm going through my pictures and such.  But for now, I'm going to just post a couple pictures and call it good.

Baby croc (about a year old)

The wallaby fur feels a lot like a soft cat or dog.

Feeding the fish at high tide.

The trip home was the hardest part.  We were all so tired when we arrived at LAX.  I think it took me 2 full days to feel "normal" again.  But it was all so worth it and we really had an experience of a lifetime!

I'm very glad to be home and sleeping in my own bed again!  The boys go back to school tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to the routines of the week again.

Our family (or maybe just me) has a passion for bowling.  Amazing how the bowling shoes in Australia look just like the goofy bowling shoes in America!

Australia!

Holy Crap!  I'm going to Australia.  I can hardly believe it.  The Bread Winner has to go there for travel (don't ask, I have NO idea what they heck he'll be doing.  don't know, don't care).  I do know that it means we have decided that the whole family will be going!  HOLY CRAP!

Now about 2 months ago when this first came up, I thought The Bread Winner was completely insane.  "Do you know how much that will cost?" I asked him.  "Once in a lifetime" is what he responded with.  And I have finally come around to agreeing with him on that one.  That does not mean that I'm not constantly thinking about how we will be paying for this trip for about 2 years.  But I remind myself that it is "once in a lifetime."

Which brings me to thinking about the stress of traveling with 2 kids (6 and almost 8 - his birthday will happen while we are in Australia! Unfortunately an 8 year old does not see that as a birthday present and will still ask for lame toys - priorities, priorities!). I have come to the conclusion that there will be meltdowns (for both kids and myself) at some point.  I wonder what the options are for medicating your children with Xanax like products? Okay, not really.

My kids travel REALLY well.  No throwing up.  No whining in the car.  No fighting.  No complaining that they are bored.  They can watch movies and play games for a good solid 5 hours with no issues.  But the flight to Australia is like 25 HOURS.  That's my typical car trip TIMES 5!  I'm not sure about this.  Of course we are going to do it.  No going back now.  But I still have some concerns.

One of them is that The Bread Winner will be flying over first.  So I won't have my partner in crime for occupying their time.  "Traveling by yourself on a 25 hour international flight with two kids?" you ask in shock and amazement!  No, I won't be alone.  My dad is going on this once in a lifetime event/vacation also.  And my brother is suppose to go too (if he can get his passport issues and other weird issues dealt with - don't ask, I can't talk about it right now without being frustrated).  I will have at least one extra body to help on the plane and in the airport and when I need someone to distract my child so I can smack them on the back of the head to knock them out for a couple hours.  I'm not that parent that thinks her kids are perfect.  I totally know they completely suck sometimes.  I totally expect for there to be at least a couple of those moments on this trip.  But I'm willing to roll with it all because "once in a lifetime" means exactly that.  I plan to enjoy this trip and make the most of it.  I'm sure I'll have pictures of wonderful happy family times.  I also promise to take pictures of the meltdowns just for posterity!

G'day mate!