Our California Adventures!

February 17th-21st was our Winter Break (aka "Ski Week" to the locals).  We decided to do something completely new to us--a house swap with friends in Encinitas, CA.  It was so much fun!  As with any adventure, we didn't have much down time. (Side note: Thank goodness we planned this trip over our February break and not Spring Break.)

Day 1 (Saturday, February 15th): We flew into San Diego, got our rental mini van, and drove to the house.  We stocked up on food and spent a good chunk of time at Moonlight Beach.  Later that evening, my mom and her husband flew into town.

Ahh...San Diego

Moonlight Beach

The ocean was quite chilly but that didn't stop the girls from getting their feet wet.

sand crabs

Day 2 (Sunday, February 16th): San Diego Zoo

tapir

We got to see the baby hippo!

These orangutans were so much fun to watch!

tasmanian devil

The zookeeper had just put out his/her lunch.  This jaguar was on hunt for the food.

red panda 

All of the koalas were sleeping...

This cheetah had a dog companion in the area with him/her.

Day 3 (Monday, February 17th):  Today we drove to Anaheim, checked into our hotel, grabbed some groceries, and then spent the late afternoon and evening at Disneyland.

chillin' on the front porch

On the way up to Anaheim, we stopped at the Oceanside Pier.  This was Andy's usual spot for surfing throughout high school.

Right as we walked into Disneyland that afternoon, we got to take our picture with Goofy. 

in line for the Jungle Cruise ride

Andy decided it would be a good idea to do Splash Mountain that evening.  Abigail and I ended up in the front and got absolutely soaked!  We were so cold.

We booked a hotel room with a balcony and resort view.  That meant we had a great view of the nightly fireworks!

Day 4 (Tuesday, February 18th): Disneyland

We were up bright and early on this morning because we had Magic Morning (which means we got to enter the park 1 hour earlier than it opened).  We were amazed at all of the people there at 6:45 a.m.

getting ready to ride Matterhorn Bobsleds

I sat out from the Dumbo ride. 

Abigail driving at Autopia 

Abigail insisted I wear her fancy Minnie ears. 

Tarzan's treehouse

The new Stars Wars experience/ride was awesome! 

 After almost 6 hours at Disneyland, we went back to our hotel, ate some lunch, and took full advantage of the fun-filled waterpark. 

Then we went back to Disneyland for round #2!

 

Space Mountain

Toontown

Minnie's house

Mickey's house

Chip and Dale's treehouse

Donald's boat 

Goofy's house 

Abigail really wanted us to ride the Winnie-the-Pooh ride.

Good night, Disneyland!

Day 5 (Wednesday, February 19th): Disney California Adventure

in line to ride Monsters Inc. 

Can I tell you how long this girl and I waited in line to meet Elsa?  1 hour and 20 minutes!!!  The look on her face was worth the wait.

Do I look nervous?  I was terrified.  We were just about ready to do the Guardians of the Galaxy ride (previously Tower of Terror).  Confession: I was laughing so hard I was crying.  I was terrifying but oh so fun!

Guardians of the Galaxy

Emma made a new friend--Groot

Cars Land

the view from the top of the ferris wheel 

How can you not be happy standing next to Joy?

Day 6 (Thursday, February 20th):  We drove back to Encinitas, relaxed on the deck, and spent more time at Moonlight Beach.


Day 7 (Friday, February 21st): This was our chill out day.  We spent the morning soaking up the sun on the deck, spent more time at the beach, and then had some of Andy's high school buddies (and their families) over for a BBQ.