Our 1st trip to CA as a family of 5

Ja was going to a work conference in Anaheim at the beginning of February. He thought either he could go for three days and leave me alone with three kids or we could all go. The airline still had tickets at good times (and non-stop!) which was surprising since we bought the tickets only two weeks before.

Our flight out was amazingly good. It left at 9:45 am and got into LAX at noon. All three kids did great. Owen just slept and ate. The girls watched movies on the iPad and played. The flight was only 4 hours because the pilot said there were no headwinds to slow us down. That helped a lot too! DC is 5 1/2 to 6 hours and it sure makes a difference! I think the girls did so well because we usually don't leave until the late afternoon and get into CA around midnight their time. They are tired on the plane ride and cranky. Late Morning flights are the best!

Dorothy left a car for us at the airport. We realized no one has a car big enough for our family plus one more. That actually worked out great. We drove down to Yorba Linda and spent 5 days there. 

The girls instantly warmed up to my parents which was nice. They are getting old enough to be comfortable with their grandparents. The only downside of getting into CA in the afternoon as opposed to late night is the kids were up at 5 am the first morning. Each morning they got up 30 minutes later until they stopped at 7. Owen was a good sleeper too. When kids sleep well on vacations life is so much easier!

Friday February 6-

We got to my parents at 2 pm and we played outside in the wonderfully warm weather.

Saturday February 7-

We went to Irvine regional park as a family. We went to the little zoo they have there. The highlight was petting and brushing the goats. The girls loved it-especially macy! We spent close to 30 minutes in there. Macy was very kind to the goats.

Anna got a little scared when the larger ones walked by her. I can understand since they looked her in the eye. If I met an animal who looked me in the eye I would be scared too! Anna would point to the little goats and say, "I not scary this one."

Then we met Greg and Dorothy at Cafe Rio for lunch. They were on their way home from San Diego.

Sunday February 8- grandma and grandpa seymour drove to Yorba Linda to come to church with us. Macy and Anna instantly warmed up to them which is so helpful. Macy even sat on grandma Seymour's  lap during sacrament meeting. Anna sat on my moms.

I love this picture of grandpa holding his great grandson both in suspenders.

Anna wanted this toy to be in the picture. She cracks me up.

Sunday night my Francis relatives came over to visit. Macy asked if the funny boys were coming. She must remember the Francis boys from the beach house. She had a fun time with them. 

Monday February 9-

It was a sunny day so I walked with the kids to the park. We played for a little while then Macy asked if we could go to the beach. She wanted to go Saturday but it was a little too cold. So we packed up, got lunch, then headed to the beach. My mom came along. My dad wanted to but we didn't have a car big enough. 

We had a fun time at the beach-as usual.

We started out running and jumping off the sand dune. Of course Macy had us doing some sort of show on the dune. We built sand castles and ran away from the waves. Then we walked down to the Rubys on the pier and ordered fries to go. We sat on some grass by the parking lot to eat the fries. I think the girls had the most fun chasing the seagulls away. They could've spent the entire time chasing the birds. 

Tuesday- my mom and dad took Macy and Anna to Knotts Berry Farm. They had fun at Camp Snoopy. Owen and I had fun staying at home :)

Wednesday- this was the last day of ja's conference and he was done at 11. He met me and the girls at Disneyland! Well actually California adventure where Anna and Elsa were. They had the Great Hall in the castle decorated with snow and ice. Macy had a great time "ice skating" and throwing snowballs. Anna liked for a few minutes then got snow in her shoe so she wanted to be carried. They also had a small sledding hill which me and Macy went down. It was a lot of fun.

We went on rides and saw princesses. The girls were well behaved and had a lot of fun. Macy and Anna(!) went on the roller coaster at toon town. Anna started to cry when she got off but Macy wanted to go again. 

Anna loved the dishwasher at Minnie Mouse's house. She pushed the button over and over and over. 

Thursday- we drove up to spend the rest of the time in La Cañada. Dorothy took the girls to Kid Space per Macy's request. Then we spent the rest of the day at the house. 

I was changing Owens diaper and he looked so big and cute I had to take a picture.

Friday the 13th- We spent the day in La Canada. Ja and I tried to go to the LA temple but my recommend was expired!! I was so sad. We had the time, we had the babysitter, just not the recommend. So instead, Ja and I went to lunch and a movie while Dorothy watched the kids. 

Saturday February 14- we met Nathan and Kiersten at Hansen Dam. It was a totally gorgeous day with clear blue skies and a gentle breeze. We stayed for a few hours until it closed at 5. It was so beautiful and the kids were so happy none of us wanted to leave. 

Anna is at the waters edge. It was no more than a foot deep so this looks scary but I wasn't worried about her. 

Ja was skipping rocks with the kids. Macy said hers skipped 20 times. I watched her and "skipping" was throwing a hand full of pebbles into the water.

Our group who can't pose for pictures.

We started to feed the ducks some crackers we had- it was a bad idea! Those ducks were vicious and grabbed the cracker out of Anna's fingers. After we were fully scared we saw the sign "do not feed the ducks."  They almost attacked us to get more food. Anna and I had to chase them away a few times for them to get the hint that we don't like them.

Anna had fun playing with Stuart. She loves all babies. The funniest thing was Anna pointing to Stuart and saying, "This one big." Yes Anna, he is big!

Sunday February 15- Owen was blessed in La Canada! It was a wonderful blessing and Owen was great. Apparently he dropped his binky during the blessing which threw Ja off a little but other than that everything went off without a hitch.

We took pictures after sacrament in the beautiful sun.

Anna did not want to be held for the picture. Instead she hopped around me.


Owen looks like an angel in his blessing outfit.








Nathan and Kiersten were also there. Kiersten had to leave to do singing time in her ward. Nathan thought we were taking pictures at the house so he left too early.

Afterwards we all headed to Greg and Dorothy's house for lunch. The kids played so well together which made the day easier. I did some laundry and packed up our things for our early flight out the next day.

Monday February 16- Today was President's day which made traffic going to LAX almost non-existent! That was a huge blessing because we wouldn't have made our flight otherwise.