Christmas In California

Yes, it's true. The Haskell Rascals spent Christmas in California! It was amazing---COLD, but totally amazing!
We flew out on Christmas Day. The flight was very easygoing, considering we were flying with 3 children who hate to stay still for very long. :) My mom (Mimi) went with us, which was a wonderful plan. That way there was 1 adult per child. It made crowd control much easier.
We arrived in Los Angeles, rented a Dodge Durango, and headed out toward our hotel at the front gates of Disneyland.
Did I mention it was raining like crazy when we arrived??? My gosh, it was a downpour! Trying to rent a car and get all of us and our luggage in the Durango was quite the feat. We took our Garmin (I highly recommend you own one) and it was perfect for helping us navigate the L.A. area. Before we got to the hotel, we attempted to visit Venice Beach--or any beach for that matter. We drove to Santa Monica and tried to get to the pier, but the rain was too hard and wouldn't let up. The beaches were closed and the waves were huge, so it was a big no-go. The drive from Santa Monica to our hotel was pleasant and virtually traffic-free.
Once we arrived at our hotel, we unpacked and enjoyed the view of Disneyland while we found something to eat. Then it was off to bed--not that we were going to sleep a whole heck of a lot with all of the excitement building.
The next day, we got up and were at the front gates of Disneyland at 8am. It was SO NICE to be able to ride whatever ride we wanted without waiting. The 1st one we did was It's A Small World. Too fun! Caroline and Christian were completely amazed by it. Then it was on to the teacups, Dumbo, the carousel, and much more. We did most of the small kids rides in record time. We then visited Toon Town. That was the most fun! We got to have our picture taken with Mickey Mouse--something I'd always wanted to do.
After Toon Town, the 2 smaller ones were getting tired--by this time it was noon. Mimi and I took them back to the hotel for naps while John and Caitlin stayed and rode the big rides with long waiting lines. By this time, the park was completely packed!
Did I mention it was freezing??? Oh my gosh---I had on 5 layers of clothing---3 shirts, a hoodie, and a fleece jacket---and I was still an ice cube when we went to the hotel for naps.
Mimi, the 2 smaller C's, and I returned to Disneyland around 4:30pm. John and Caitlin had had a blast while we were gone. We went over to Adventure Land, Tomorrow Land, and much more--we were there until 9:30pm. Let me tell you, I was pooped!! We got to see everything we wanted to see and ride all of the rides we'd hoped for. It was great!
Caitlin's favorite ride was the Indiana Jones. Christian's favorite was the flying Dumbo. Caroline's favorite was Winnie the Pooh's ride. I didn't do the teacups or the Matterhorn--I wasn't in the mood to throw up. :) Other than that, I did pretty much everything they did. Caitlin and Mimi stayed to watch the fireworks, then we all passed out sometime around midnight.
The next morning, we made our way along the coast looking for a beach to visit. It was much more sunny, but not very warm. We were headed to San Diego to visit the zoo, but we were able to find a cool little surfer's beach on the way. We stayed just a short while, but it was fun. The ocean was cold, but there were still probably 100+ surfers in the water.
Now on to San Diego Zoo---we arrived in downtown San Diego around noon and found a Wendy's to eat at. What was weird about the restaurant was we had to PAY to use the restroom! Mom put a quarter in and all 4 of us girlies went in at once. 4 for the price of 1. Heehee
Anywho, we got to the zoo around 1pm, and folks, there was NO parking. We circled the huge parking lots for about 45 minutes and found nothing. Mom decided to drop me, John, Caitlin, and Christian off at the front gates of the zoo and she offered to circle around until she found a spot. Caroline was asleep, so it worked out great. Those of us that got right into the zoo had a fun time looking at all of the neat animals. It literally took Mom 2 hours to find a spot--yes, she drove around for that long! Not only that, but she didn't park in the zoo parking lots....she had to park 2 miles away in a residential area! It was insane.
After we visited the zoo, we found our hotel that was very close to the bay area, and we hunted down a tiny seafood restaurant for dinner. It was SO COOL--right on the bay where we watched fishing boats and the fishermen come in and out. The food was out of this world and the atmosphere couldn't have been more perfect. After a great dinner, we went back and zonked out for the night.
Sunday morning, we got up bright and early, returned the rental car, and flew home.
Oh yeah--we had even more fun on the return flight. The pilot was from Happy, Texas--and he was a hoot. He kept cracking jokes and talked to the passengers much more than any other pilot. When we stopped in Las Vegas to drop off passengers and load others, the pilot got off to go get some coffee. Meanwhile, the co-pilot saw Christian in his seat (we were in the 1st and 2nd rows) and asked if he'd like to come sit in the cockpit for a bit. Christian ran up there and made himself completely comfortable in the pilot's seat. He even got to touch things and push buttons! The co-pilot told me to go get my camera, so I snapped some pretty cool shots of Christian before we had to remove him and finish the flight.
All in all, it was a TREMENDOUS vacation. Thank you to Mimi for coming with us and being such a huge help! We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas as well.
Now, we are soon to be off to Dallas/Fort Worth for New Year's. Can't wait to report the happenings from there when we return!
And, as promised---the SLIDESHOW!