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So we are now home *boohoo, sniff*. We had a fantastic trip except for a few minor disturbances... While we were enjoying Sea World (LOVED IT!), someone managed to break into our car. They went through most of our stuff (can you say "I feel violated") but the really strange part is the only things they took were my ipod speakers and my makeup bag. Who would want somebody else's makeup???? ANNOYING! We really were blessed though, they could have taken so much more! My ipod was in there and so were all of the kid's mp3 players, the laptop, etc... All very strange.

We spent 3 very crowded days in Disneyland. :) It was a lot of fun but we are just not "crowd and line people". Of course on our "magical morning" when we got to go to the park an hour before the public everything was mysteriously broken down, hmmm, conspiracy?? LOL All in all it was enjoyable. Everyone tried the rides at least once and then they didn't have to go a 2nd time if they didn't want to, there were a few they passed up but not many. Shawn, Ashlie and I really loved the Tower of Terror. If you have not have the experience it is an elevator that drops and lifts and drops and lifts repeated times. It is so stinking scary you cannot help but scream and laugh at the same time! Roxy's favorite rides were Indiana Jones and Thunder mountain, Tyler's were Splash Mountain and Autotopia and Baylie's were Thunder mountain and Soarin over California. Of course we all liked the Grizzly Gulch as well. One of our favorite parts was seeing the Aladdin show at California Adventure. If you are going there and have not seen it I HIGHLY recommend it! It was WONDERFUL! Very high quality, Broadway-type show, it was INCREDIBLE!

We also got to go to Universal Studios (it was very weird seeing on the news the last few days about the fire that destroyed the sets that we had just seen last week!). That place was VERY COOL! The kids loved the Krusty the Clown ride, it's a virtual ride that is really cool. We loved the shows about how they do special effects and how the movie backdraft was made. We went on the Jurassic Park ride which seemed very tame until the very end when it dumped 50 gallons of water on our heads!! We were not expecting that! :) The kids also managed to get Shrek and Donkey into a fight about passing gas- hilarious! I think we have that on video, I'll have to check.

We got to spend 2 days at the beach, one at Huntington Beach (clean but the surf was really rough that day) and then Newport Beach, which I highly recommend. That was a lot of fun! We got to see dolphins playing just off the shore which was so cool! We got to watch the lifeguards rescue some people who were caught in a riptide and we all got burned crispy despite slathering on the sun screen. :) Ahhh, that was one of my favorite days, just laying on the beach with no one hanging on me or whining in my ear - simple pleasures.

On our last night in CA we went to see the dinner show Medieval Times. It was fun and the kids loved it but Shawn and I feel it was a little overpriced. The meal was pretty decent but the dessert was one of those apple pies you can get at McDonald's for 50 cents. It was a good time though.

On the way home we stopped in St. George again and stayed the night there. The next morning we got up and stopped at Kolob Canyon and did a little hike with the kids-- gorgeous!! Then we stopped at all the "scenic view points" on the way home, all I can say is that Heavenly Father is quite the artist!! So beautiful!

Anyway, that about sums it up. We are so thankful that we had the opportunity to take this trip (especially with gas prices at $4 a gallon- ugh). We had been planning it for a year and it all came together wonderfully! The kids were great in the car and great doing everything while there. We only had a few episodes of tears and whining (thankfully) and everyone got along great. We can now be classified as "good parents" since we have taken our kids to Disneyland. LOL Thanks to the Steins for watching our house and fish, we didn't worry about it at all. :)

I will try and get a slideshow or two of pictures put up here in the next few days. Now it is back to the daily grind... :) I love life!!