Pools and drive home

JB says there was a girl in one of the long lines at Disneyland who kept sobbing, "I want to go back to the pool!"  I would say the pools at the hotels were a big favorite for our kids as well.

The hotel in California had an outdoor pool and hot tub we visited every day.

The older 3 boys did not mind the times of day when the pool was chilly.

James preferred the hot tub and stacking these floaties.

The hotel in Las Vegas had the best indoor pool, where the kids could have stayed for hours if hunger didn't drive them out.

This girlie did a great job on the long drives. She sometimes tried to listen on the headphones to the movies we brought, or stared at the screen. When she got angry about being in her seat (especially on the Saturday drive home when she was so DONE with it,) I would give her a sucker.

And Andrew finally wiggled out that dangling front tooth!

I am pretty sure that my phone camera was all cloudy with stickiness from the treats I gave Andrew to eat.  The whole trip, I relaxed the rules on gum and candy and screen time and soda and they all were quite pleased.

We listened to conference on the radio during the drive, and got home in time for Max and JB to go to the Priesthood Session of General Conference.

Universal Studios Hollywood

Thursday was Universal Studios.  My four media passes (and the two extra we purchased) came with the ability to enter the park an hour early to visit Harry Potter World. I am very glad of that! Because the park filled up fast with such big crowds.

This was so much fun. Hogsmeade and Hogwarts Castle are SPOT ON, with so many details included from the books and movies.

Andrew checking out the Monster Book of Monsters in one of the shops.

 The Butterbeer was expensive, but very delicious.

The child switch option is awesome throughout the park. They were very lax, so the boys got to ride a few times in a row alternating with me and JB. We loved the Forbidden Journey and Jurassic Park the most.

This time through the boys and JB didn't get wet, but when I took James and Max we did get splashed a lot.

I am holding Jamesey tightly below, because that last drop was rather intense. 

So far, we are still all about all the "boy stuff" at theme parks because Millie is still so little. But the Minions! 

Here we are before the Minion Mayhem while JB and Millie played outside (and then he tried to stroller her into a nap).

The four boys sat together and laughed a lot. I took off the 3D glasses a lot, because I was getting a little ill. It hit JB worse on the Transformers Ride.

Our sweet Maxwell, back in Hogsmeade, getting so tall.

Waterworld was just like I remembered it. But we didn't do the studio tour. Too long a line. We ate snacks and drank the refillable soda over and over, until we got some pizza outside of the park for dinner. I was very proud of all of us for not complaining all day, even though it was possible.

The only bummer for James and Andrew was that we never bought anything in all the gift shops right after the rides were done. Andrew had the same complaint at Disneyland: "We never buy anything!" 

Beach Day

Wednesday was a beach day. We were staying in Buena Park, by Knott's, and close to Disneyland. As in the past, we just drove south on Beach Blvd until we hit the ocean in Huntington Beach.

I see often posts from Newport Beach on social media (I hear Mormons like it? (haha)) but we have loved this exact same spot by the same lifeguard tower over the years. It's not busy at all.

Give these boys dirt or sand, and they will be so happy to play for a long time.

Baby girlie thought the sand felt funny.

But she loved the waves.

So did the big boys, especially Ben. He ventured out pretty far.

I tried and tried to get Millie to keep a hat on, to protect her head. As I tried to show her in the camera how she looked, that hand is James showing me the first of many shells he found.

JB tried to give her a sucker to keep her hat on, while I played volleyball with the big boys.

In the end I just sunscreened over and over, and I am happy to report no burns on anyone after hours at the Beach.

Aquarium and Disney

On our second day, Tuesday, we split up.  Most places give out four media passes, but Disneyland now only gives two, and it is so pricey now.  We talked about it, and decided JB would take 7 year old Andrew to Disney because the big boys have memories of it, but Andrew does not. Next time I think it will be James, if we go again in a couple years.

So JB spent that day holding tight to Andrew's hand in the sea of spring break humanity that filled Disneyland. Two hour long lines for many of the rides. But he says they had a really good time, and Drooper was a trooper walking so much.

He took him to every Star Wars thing possible.

While they were there, I took the rest of our kids to the Aquarium in Long Beach.  We had a really good time!  It was funny though, I kept thinking of what Andrew would like among the animals.

Millie called every fish "Dory!" And James exclaimed with excitement at every tank or window. Ben was the bravest of us in all the touch pools. He felt a small shark, several rays, coral, starfish, and much more.

The seals, sea lions and penguins were our favorites.

The sea otters loved James. They kept coming and showing off in front of him.

I swear this one waved or winked at Ben.

Max was a big help to me that day. There were thousands of kids there on field trips by the time we were leaving, and he helped me keep track of our youngest two.

We swam the rest of the day at the hotel until going to pick up JB and Andrew from Disneyland.

Knotts Berry Farm

No more can our boys complain that "We never go anywhere!"

We took a spring break road trip to California last week, going to a few places, the beach and the pool every day.  It started with a Sunday afternoon drive to Las Vegas, then an early morning drive the rest of the way to LA. 

We got to Knott's Berry Farm Monday around noon. As did everyone else. 

I have never seen the park that crowded. Long lines and hot sun made some of us a little sad, but overall I think it was a fun day.

This is the Sidewinder. Max was tall enough at 6 or 7 and loved it then.

When we got on the little train, these two posed for me. See that flapping front tooth? It took until the next Friday on our drive halfway home to Las Vegas to come out.

Millie got to ride many of the kid rides and she was soo cute. She got lots of smiles and double takes from people in California.

For much of the day, JB took the big boys on big rides and I took the littles on little rides. But we all went to the wild west Camp Wagon stunt show that I look forward to every time we go. And the big train ride is always fun.

And fried chicken. I always have to get the fried chicken at Knott's.  This is right after we ate our feast (Millie is still holding her chicken in her fist)

(previous trips made in 2010, 2012, and 2013 are here)