Our California Adventure!

We had an amazing Christmas Vacation this year! Although, by the time it came around for us to go, I wasn't sure if I wanted to anymore....right before Christmas! But it turned out to be some of the funnest times we've had together! Be it:
* driving all night to get to Grandmother's,
* finding Redboxes along the way to check out movies,
* quizzing each other on '4th grade facts',
* arriving in California in the middle of the wettest week they've ever had (1 1/2 inches per hour!),
* discovering Crystal Cove and the Pacific Coast Highway's charm---and basically having it to ourselves (who else would have been out in this storm!),
* finding tide pools, newly formed rivers and waterfalls, starfish, mussels, amazingly beautiful beaches,
* warming up in the car after we'd been soaked on the beach,
* finding laundromats to dry our drenched clothes and shoes,
* finding more Redboxes to get more movies,
* wondering if the Marriott we stayed in near Fullerton College housed the entire football team during an intense workout----because it certainly smelled like they'd been there!,
* walking on to all the rides at Disneyland---wondering if there was more water in the log on Splash Mountain then through the entire ride,
* taking Jonathan on Buzz Lightyear----how many times?!?,
* taking Jonathan on all the 'thriller' rides....poor child didn't get to hang out on the little kid rides---when he exclaimed that the 'monster' on the Matterhorn was really pretty scary---we just said---oh, you'll be fine!,
* smelling wet, smelly shoes in the hotel room----ummm, nice combination now----
* finding another laundromat to get those shoes dried and smelling better!,
* LOOSING our tickets to Disneyland in a Dollar store while buying more rain ponchos and flip flops (ditching those stinky shoes!),
* FINDING our tickets---soaked and thrashed under some cars in the parking lot----wow, our own personal miracle--THANK YOU JOSEPH!,
* watching the amazing Disneyland fireworks----and laughing at my kids as they scoffed at the manufactured 'snow'---yeah, not really the same thing!,
* Space Mountain----how many times?---how many different poses?----it's all about the pose!,
* riding the train,
* eating chocolate,
* falling into bed at 2:00 a.m.,
* one perfectly beautiful day at the picturesque Crystal Cove,
* so fun to watch Jonathan and his 'stick',
* David in heaven finding one sea creature after another,
* Ben taking it all in and saying 'this is the most perfect trip ever!',
* Samuel trying to outdo Joseph in the water,
* Joseph trying to make sure Samuel doesn't out do him in the water,
* watching my boys run hand and hand laughing into the ocean---does it get any better then that?!, it was worth every minute for that spellbound moment of brothers hand in hand---silhouetted against the setting sun---one timeless, perfect picture to remember.

Yes, it was a 'perfect' Christmas! Thank you, Santa!