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Two Days At Crystal Cove

19 Feb

I can’t imagine a more serene or beautiful place than Crystal Cove.  I’m not sure why we never went here before.  Maybe the Newport Beachers want to keep it a secret for themselves?  When we checked into our hotel, (I seriously can’t recommend the Marriott Newport Coast Villas enough!!!) we overhead someone talking about the Beachcomber restaurant and I googled it and realized we were right near an amazing beach.

One morning we tried out the yummy breakfast and took advantage of the parking credit.  (You have to pay $15 to park near the beach but it’s free if you buy a meal at the restaurant.  The hotel also has a parking pass you can use for $5 a day.)

The boys had huge platters of pancakes on the patio.  I fell in love with this restaurant when they started ringing a bell because there were dolphins in the water.

We spent the day playing in the water and building sandcastles.

The next day we decided to come back (it was 70 degree weather) because we had so much fun (and I wanted to see dolphins again.  Which we didn’t but I was hoping we would the whole time).  While the kids and the hubby played, I walked up to Rudy’s Shake shack and got us a yummy picnic lunch and a “Monkey Flip” shake.  (Delightful but deadly concoction of bananas, chocolate peanut butter, ice cream and dates.)

Apparently there are cottages you can rent here too.  I may have to plan our next trip way in advance as I heard they book up early and it would be so lovely to spend a little time in such a lovely locale pretending we live there.  When we visit places like this it makes me wonder why on earth we choose to live in Seattle where it gets so rainy, dark and gloomy.  (I forgot- it’s because we love the way Gortex feels over our sweaters, of course.  Poor deprived Newport Beachers, betcha don’t know what that feels like. )

Disneyland with a boy terrified of rides….

9 Feb

This is how I imagined my boys would look at Disneyland.

But one boy is currently a little scared of indoor rides, loud noises, things that have scary parts, anything that might have a tunnel and the outside of the Tiki Tiki Tiki Room.  So at one point we had a few tears and it looked like we wouldn’t make it through just one day.

Thank goodness we also have a boy who is good at navigation.  We took the ferry to Tom Sawyer’s Island and plotted some ideas.

We even peeked in a few of the secret caves.  I can’t believe I’ve never done this before-there’s a whole network of them all over the island.  The caves were not totally dark because the hubby has a flashlight app on his phone and the boys have light up shoes.  (The duo’s rationale not mine but I took it because it allowed us one more thing to do in Disneyland.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rode Dumbo countless times.  And the carousel.  And a little train we lined up in the sun for way way too long.

Autotopia was also a hit.

We even rode on an old fire engine too.  (This also was another first.  I always wondered who actually rode these rides on Main Street in Disneyland….)

We visited with some old friends.

Then sat down to enjoy the parade.

And now that we’re back they can’t stop talking about the Tiki Tiki Tiki Room or Splash Splash mountain.  According to the duo, they’ll be ready to do these things when they’re five.  We’ll see.

The best part of vacation

3 Feb

Cupcakes in bed when the duo goes to sleep.

I admit I reluctantly shared this delightful cupcake I picked up in Fashion Island( my favorite outdoor mall ever!).  It was pretty yummy and looked a whole lot better before it was decimated.  And though it might not be the absolute best part of vacation (I do love travel, seeing sites and watching the boys take it all in) the hubby and I have made a habit of picking up little desserts while we go on vacation so we get a little flavor of the places we visit and something to look forward to when the duo is super rambunctious and trying to sleep in a new place.  It’s a sanity savor, maybe more for the hubby than me so we don’t have to drag the whole brood into whatever dessert shop I’ve read about and want to try.  Top it off with a good book and the trip is perfect.

See other travel photos at Delicious Baby’s Photo Friday linkup.

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