Our Vacation in Pictures

Here is more than you ever wanted to know about our vacation last week to Southern California.
This was my mom's first time flying EVER and unlike my first time, she seemed calm and cool. Maybe it was the Dramamine??

Here is the proof. She survived her first flight! We were on a very small airplane so she had to deal with claustrophobia and some turbulence, but she did great! Here we are at Long Beach Airport- all smiles.
Here is Erik enjoying our first meal. I mean REALLY enjoying it.
We spent our first full day at Knott's Berry Farm. It was a first for many of us- and I was surprised at how fun it was. There were many things that we didn't even get to- lots to see and do! The weather was sunny and mild. Ahhh.
Ian got a little carried away in Ghost Town at Knott's- but Isaac recovered in no time and we were off once again!
There were something like 400 different trains at Knott's and I think we rode every one of them. :)
Erik enjoying another meal.....look familiar?
Day two....Universal Studios! Another sunny day!
Mom and dad had a little visit with Lucille Ball on our way into the park.
On the studio tour, we narrowly escaped being attacked by a serial killer! Yikes!
Erik and Ian got friendly with a zombie. It's best to keep things that way when zombies are roaming around.
Isaac became a star in one of the shows we saw.
Day 3.....Huntington Beach! It took Ian only 3.5 minutes to get completely soaked. And of course we did not bring a change of clothes for him. Here he is before he took a swim in the ocean.
After playing on the beach we rented a couple tandem bicycles. It has always been a dream of mine to ride one....and it was even more special because I got to ride with my dad and Erik. It was much harder than I thought it would be. But I enjoyed every minute of it!
The fun was over and it was back to the airport. You all know what happened there! It was like Groundhog day. Ugg. In this picture, my mom is talking to my sister begging her to drive to California to come and get her. :)
I didn't think to take any pictures of the extra day we spent waiting to leave California- but it included another trip to Universal Studios, pizza at the cutest Italian restaurant with live music and singing waiters- loved it!, and a nice drive through Hollywood.

In a way I was sad the vacation was over. I have wanted my parents to travel with us for some time now and I enjoyed being with them so much- having them just down the hall in our hotel instead of around the mountain, and being greeted with their smiles each morning. My dad even brought breakfast to our room one morning- messy hair and all! I will cherish the memories forever and hope that there will be many more opportunities to travel together again sometime soon.

Now, vacation is over....back to reality.