Our Trip to California

This is really long, but if you want all the details, here they are...
We left on Friday morning, the 24th, around 6:30 a.m. We picked up Miranda from her Dad’s house in West Jordan and were on our way to Las Vegas. We stopped in Washington (by St. George) at In N Out for lunch. We met up with Misty and her family here. Then we continued on our way to Tahiti Village in Las Vegas. We got there about 1 p.m. The condo was very nice. It had nice, new furnishings and décor. There was a flat screen tv in the master bedroom and a full kitchen. We split the condo with Misty and her family. There was even a little kitchenette on her side. Our bathroom was really nice with double sinks, a jetted tub, and separate shower/steam shower. We went swimming pretty soon after arriving. Their pool area was awesome! It had a lot of different areas; it had one part with sand. It was a lot of fun. Friday night we went to Cheesecake Factory in Caesar’s Palace, then walked out to the Bellagio Fountains. Destiny was so excited when they started. It was cool. Then we went down to Fremont Street and saw the light show that’s up above the street. It was the same Queen one that we saw when we came down three weeks ago. But it was still pretty cool.
Saturday morning we met up with Zariph’s parents at Denny’s that was part of Tahiti Village. Then we began our drive to San Diego. We stopped by Ontario Mills, some really good outlets. We ended up staying about 8 hours. Everyone ended up buying something. We found a cute white tux that Boston can wear at the temple and at his blessing in November. I also found some cute sweaters and nice clothes that he can wear to church this winter (that’s something I was really looking for). We stayed in a hotel that night because our condo didn’t start until Sunday.
Sunday we woke up early to go to Disneyland. We drove about 1hour 15 minutes to get to Disneyland and met up with Zariph’s parents before the park opened around 8:40 a.m. When we were pulling up to the parking booth Zariph’s parents pulled up right behind us. After we parked, we found out that they had already circled the parking structure and surrounding streets twice and didn’t know where they were supposed to park. It was a little confusing so we were glad to guide them. Misty and her family didn’t meet up with us until later because they stayed up later getting everything situated in their condo. This was Boston’s first time in Disneyland. His very first ride was Pirate’s of the Caribbean. He was alert and really liked all the rides. I don’t think he cried all day. We took in the stroller so he could sleep when he needed to. Zariph wanted me to call in reservations for The Blue Bayou and Ariel’s Grotto for lunches both days we were going to be in Disneyland. They wouldn’t take a group as big as ours, so I had to call back and put it under two different names. I was making the reservation while we were in line for Alice and Wonderland and they finally answered and took my name and info when we got on the ride. I knew we were getting close to getting on, so I wanted to wait, but Zariph said it would be quieter inside the ride, than outside with all the people around. He was wrong. That ride was really loud inside, I’m sure the guy taking my name could hear Alice in the background. We went to lunch at Ariel’s Grotto in Disney’s California Adventure. We walked down the spiral staircase then had our picture taken with Ariel, she was in a gorgeous gown. Then we went to our table. It was a pretty fancy place. The adult meals were $32 and the children were $18, so it was a little pricey, but it was neat and really good food. They first served bread, then a three tiered thing of vegetables and fruits. I ordered the herb chicken. It was SO good. It was perfectly seasoned and really juicy, it came with red mashed potatoes – YUMMY! Zariph ordered the steak. It was good also. Then they brought out the dessert platter. Wow! It had the yummiest dessert I’ve ever had. There was white chocolate in the shape of a seashell with some fruit in it, little cheesecake bites, brownies, this really rich chocolate fudge cake, it was all delicious! Also, while we were eating, different princesses came out that we could talk to and take pictures with. We rode a lot of rides and got a lot of Fast Passes. We rode the new submarine ride for the first time, which was neat. And we saw fireworks that night. We stayed until about 10:30, and then checked into our condo. We were up late that night unpacking and checking out the condo.
Monday we went up to Universal Studios. It was a long drive, about 2 ½ hours from the condo. The best thing about that day was that we got free tickets. We got them because we’re part of their business fan club, through Specialty Videos. But we had to request them way in advance and we had to select the exact day and not change it. We rode all the rides and saw almost all the shows. Teliece was chosen from the audience to help with the animal show and to help with the sound stage. Destiny was chosen to help control Fluffy, this big monster that ends up coming to life and scaring everyone. We rode Jurassic Park a couple times – you get wet on that one, and I rode the Mummy Ride three times. It takes off really fast and goes backwards through some of it. It’s awesome! And of course we went on the back lot tour, they were actually filming Desperate Housewives while we were there. On the way out we stopped by some of the stores of City Walk, Zariph bought a shirt at Hard Rock Café and I bought a short sleeve hoodie.
Tuesday was our day to relax. We swam at the pool at our condo. It was pretty neat, there was a splash pad, two swimming pools, a hot tub, and a water slide. We also played ping pong and just hung out by the pool all morning. Then Roy, Misty, Zariph and I went out to dinner to Benihana’s while Miranda watched all the kids. We were planning on going to a movie too, but there wasn’t enough time. We drove around trying to get our Go San Diego cards for the next day, but we weren’t going to the right place and it was closed anyway. We went for dessert at Cheesecake Factory – Yummy!
Wednesday we drove down to get the Go San Diego cards, then realized that Legoland was only open Thursday-Monday, so we couldn’t use them until Thursday anyway. So we ended up going to cool open air shopping center in San Diego and going to the movies. We saw City of Ember. It was pretty good, but the sound wasn’t working at first, so we missed what was going on. But I still liked it. Then we went so some other outlets that were right by the US/Mexico border. They were nice outlets also. The Aeropostale was having an even better sale than the first outlets we went to – 2 shirts for $15 (at Ontario Mills it was 2 for $20 – and I split the deal with Misty). So I ended up buying two more from this one – what a great deal! Then we wanted to go to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. We drove by a few, but judging from the outside decided not to stop. Then we ended up going to El Torrito that was right next to Benihana’s. It worked out really well because Wednesday was Kid’s Eat Free Night. The kids even got dessert and a free sombrero, our waiter was really nice and funny, too.

Thursday we went back to Disneyland. Our original plan was to do their Trick-or-Treating this night. But, since it was $30 more per person we were kind of debating if it was worth it. I called to find out more about it and found out it was sold out, so we couldn’t do it anyway. We rode a lot of the kid rides in the morning, then we met at the Blue Bayou for lunch. I had the Monte Cristo – a ham and cheese deep fried sandwich that you dip in this yummy sweet sauce. Zariph had the steak. It was wonderfully delicious. This was a little cheaper that Ariel’s Grotto, but not much. Their rolls were really good, too. We bought a lot more souvenirs this day. It was fun buying things for Boston. Zariph bought Boston a cute hoodie and pants that had all the Disney characters as the Pirates of the Caribbean characters. It’s cute. We also bought Star Wars Mr. Potato Head – Luke Frywalker and Darth Mash – they were both 40% off. And Zariph bought a talking Crush, which was also 40% off.
Friday we did the Go San Diego Card. You get the card for one price then you can do as much as you can in one day. We went to the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park first thing. We rode their safari and saw a bunch of animals. It was neat because they put a lot of animals all together, obviously ones that don’t eat each other. It was set up pretty cool and it was huge. Next we went to Legoland. It was kind of neat because there is a lot of things made out of legos to look at, they had a life size car made out of legos, and big dinosaurs and people…the rides were okay, too, but kind of babyish. Then we headed down to San Diego to the Miramar Speed Circuit. That was really fun. We raced in these go carts that went up to 40 mph! I was a little scared, but didn’t take the corners very fast. I got in last place of the adults, just right above Destiny and Saphire. Zariph did the best out of our group. Then we changed into our Halloween costumes and headed out for Trick or Treating. We were going to meet up with Zariph’s parents and Teliece at Huntington Beach, but we were running behind schedule and trick or treating would have been over by the time we got there. So I called the nearest mall and they were doing trick or treating for the next hour. So, we hurried over there and it actually turned out to be really fun. The mall was really nice, it was an outside mall. I was dressed up as Tinkerbell, Boston was Peter Pan, Zariph was supposed to be Captain Hook, but he ended up not changing into his costume, and Miranda, Saphire, and Destiny were mermaids and pirates (we were all from Peter Pan). Some of the places gave out nice chocolate bars, but most gave out tootsie rolls and cheap candy. I was pleasantly surprised with how fun it turned out to be.
Saturday we were on our own because Misty and Zariph’s parents all headed home this day. We wanted to go to the beach, so we just looked for the closest beach in our GPS. It was the Carlsbad beach. It was really a fun beach. There were huge waves! People were surfing and boogie boarding, but it wasn’t too busy. There really weren’t that many people and the parking was free. It was really relaxing to just look out at the ocean and watch the waves come in. I went out towards the water and meant to get my feet wet, but of course a big wave came in and soaked the bottom of my shorts. Zariph was trying to rinse off his sandals and the water started to take them away from him, so he had to run out and get them. While he was doing this he jumped over a wave and my sunglasses fell out of his pocket. We watched for a little while, hoping they would turn up, but they didn’t. So, now my glasses are lost in the Pacific Ocean. But, that’s okay because they were cheap and they were too tight on my face. After the beach we wanted to go to the movie. We saw Eagle Eye after having lunch at In N Out. Boston did really well through the movie. He sat on my lap through the first half, then I fed him a bottle and he fell asleep. What a good boy! Saturday night we started packing things up and also did a couple loads of laundry at the condo. We went to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was really good.
Sunday we finished packing and loaded up the car. We went to my dad’s house and visited for about an hour, then went out to lunch at this fresh fish place that’s really good. We’ve been there with them before. Carol, Zariph and I all got the fresh salmon with garlic butter, and my dad got the battered fish tacos. YUMMY! You don’t get fresh fish like that here in Utah. This was my dad’s second time seeing Boston. He first saw him when he was only a couple weeks old, so he’s changed a lot. And it was Carol’s first time seeing him. They had fun holding him and showing him around their house. Then we began our drive back home. We were planning on stopping in Las Vegas or St. George, but when we saw that we’d be home around midnight, we decided to just drive all the way home. The drive was a little long, it was especially hard after it got dark. But, we made safe and sound and it was nice to wake up in our own house and still have all day Monday to get unpacked and everything settled again.