Califor-ni-ay!

It's hard to believe we were there a week ago. Mike served his mission in Long Beach, California. A couple he taught while there wanted him to be at their sealing in the San Diego Temple. This proved a good excuse for a family vacay to California! Thanks for including us Mike!!

We got in late last Wednesday night. As rain was expected on both Friday and Saturday, we hurried to Disneyland on Thursday morning for a full day of fun. Since the girls are both under three, they were free, so it was a perfect time to go. :)

The girls both loved it. Except when Mom made them go on three scary rides in a row...In my defense, I didn't know they would be scary. I thought they would be gentle cart rides with cute displays from Disney movies, not scary pictures from Disney movies accompanied by terrifying music. I kept thinking, oh this one can't be scary...but then it would be again. I think the Snow White, Pinocchio, and Mr. Toad rides were made during Disneyland's dark phase. But we won't talk anymore about that.

I think all of us appreciated It's A Small World and I would pick it as our family favorite, though both the girls loved the teacups and Maggie loved Dumbo as well (though Kate wasn't as sure about the flying). And it was great to get back on Space Mountain (Mike and I took turns). I rode it with my cousin when I was five years old about six times and loved it. I was glad to find it was just as fun as an adult.

And oh the princesses. Maggie was so starstruck when she saw Snow White that she broke into a grin and her jaw dropped a little. She couldn't even talk at first. We asked her who it was and all she could do was smile. And then did this funny little excited hop to get over to her. And afterwards she kept talking about the princesses. So yeah, Disney was a success.

Friday, we visited with some friends of Mike's (the Weight's), drove by the lovely Newport Beach temple, took a trip down memory lane to see my grandparents' old place, and visited with my cousins for dinner.

It was fun to see my aunt and uncle again and my cousin Jessica and her darling little boy. It had been over five years. And he was such a good host to my little girls. It was fun to watch them play and think of my early days in California when I was about Maggie's size and played in the very same rooms with my cousins.

Saturday, we visited my grandfather's grave. He passed away when I was in high school and I am so thankful for his tremendous example. I still miss him and was lucky to have so many memories of him. Walking to the library, reading side-by-side (our own books of course), getting ice cream or slurpees, watching him read his scriptures hours on end, making milk shakes. He was a good man. And now Maggie thinks my grandpa is a stone in the ground. She kept pointing to it and saying, "That's Mom's grandpa, Kate." Which is technically what I told her.

Then that evening was the Bramlage sealing. So happy for them. And so glad Mike got to be there for them. The girls and I found a park to play at too and they got to try a tire swing for the first time, so happy day all around.

Sunday, we attended sacrament meeting in San Diego and then took a walk on the beach and visited the Church's Mormon Battalion Historic Site which was so awesome! And beautiful too. I highly recommend it. I think it may be one of the coolest visitor's centers I have ever been to. Free fun. Can't beat that.

And by the way, the girls loved the beach. Kate especially was so cute rushing up to meet the waves and rushing back when they touched her toes. And she liked finding rocks and shells to throw in the water. It was also cute when she was trying to brush the sand off her feet. Maggie was a little more cautious, but loved it too. She enjoyed looking for shells and burying her feet in the sand. I dropped our camera (luckily it was the point-and-shoot) in the sand; it almost bit the dust but miraculously came back. I'm pretty sure it was because even though I was sorely tempted by the frozen banana stand I refrained since it was Sunday. See. Obedience pays off. Maybe I would see more miracles if I were more obedient. :)

And even though it was cool (for Cali) throughout our trip, we did manage go in our hotel pool and hot tub a couple times. The girls had so much fun! :)