Corona Del Mar

We went to Corona Del Mar last Sunday evening.  It was so busy.  Aaron and I were ready to turn around and go home, but the kids would not have anything to do with that!  I think their was a huge family reunion or church group at this beach on that day.  We were definitely the minorities!!!

Aaron taking a break to decide if he really wants to tackle the craziness on the beach.

This house had amazing ocean views.  I thought, Shannon, might like to see this fun house.

These crazy people looked like serious OU tailgaters.   

Molly is so happy on the beach! 

Luke is not so sure about the beach. 

Luke loved having me bury his legs in the sand.  He sat so still for the longest time.  Then  a wave came rolling in and nailed him.  

Every beach requires a long walk down a hill in order to make it to the beach.  We have really had to encourage Molly to suck up the tears and use her strong legs to walk back up the hill.  Still working on that! 

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This house was really neat.  The front yard is a great patio and these people can hang out in the front yard on their beautiful patio furniture from Pottery Barn.  They had all of their doors and windows propped open.  So refreshing! There are so many beautiful homes in Corona Del Mar.  These pictures don't do it justice.  

Little Corona Beach

We went to this beach because I read it had great marine life in the tide pools.  We went around 2:30 pm and it was low tide, so there were a lot of tide pools.   We saw lots of cool marine life.  I will definitely return to this beach.

My cuties.

The kids loved playing in this stream that ran down the beach and drained in the ocean.   They worked on building a damn to stop the flow of water.  After using a boogie board, several large rocks,  some driftwood and large clumps of seaweed, the damn was complete.  I just didn't get a pic of that part.  I think I was too busy reading my book.

Just thought I would mention.  The temperature on the beach was 69 degrees!!!!!

Legoland

We promised the kids when we got to California, they could go to Disneyland, Legoland, Sea World, and more.  Then we got here and we are scared to spend money because it all costs sooo much.  We were tired of all the whining, begging and pleading.  We had to give in.  We got their hopes up the last few months and we needed to deliver!

So, we talked them in to Legoland.  It was great!  Highly recommend it for families with small children.  The park is designed for ages 2-12 and there was plenty to do.  We got there when the park opened at 10am and we left when it closed at 8pm.  Jack and Molly rode a few rollercoasters and Luke was ticked off that he couldn't go to.  The costers looked like lego cars and Luke hated to miss out on the Lego car.

We lost our camera a few hours in to the day, so we missed some major photo ops!  The good thing is that when we bought the tickets, we got one free day and have to use it before Christmas.  No problem.  Then when we entered the park, we found a stand that gave away free tickets to be used before Thanksgiving.  So we paid for one day and now we have two free days!!!  So, when cousin AJ comes to visit we will have to go and show him the STAR WARS miniland.  So fun!  Luke loved this exhibit.

Hopefully the kids will be happy for awhile and can wait a little longer for Disneyland.  We went to DisneyWorld last summer, Land can wait.  We really want to buy season passes for Disneyland because we know when our family and friends come to visit, they will want to go.  Passes are expensive, so all donations are welcome!!!!

Farmers Market

This morning we went to the Mission Viejo Farmers Market!  Molly and I loved it all.  Jack loved the kettle corn stand, and Luke decided that he liked sucking on fresh picked oranges.    There is a Farmers Market available every day of the week.  They hop around to the different cities.  

This fruit stand was fun!  I think Molly sampled every fruit that was on this table.   She really liked the little yellow round one, a Pluot.  

She only got to carry a few peaches in her bag.  I was afraid that she would bruise all the fruit.

Digging in!  The strawberries are AMAZING!  So fresh and taste like candy.  

This beach reminded me of the beach on the movie "Grease".

We made it!

We arrived safely in California!  The flight was easy and the kids were awesome.  They were all three very excited to get here.  We got right in to an apartment, which we will be staying in for the next month.  The apartment has 3 bedrooms and is quite spacious.  Unfortunately, it is located on the 3rd floor.  I feel the burn every time because Luke insists on being carried up.  

We spent some time playing on the beach yesterday.  The water is freezing, but it didn't stop Jack and Aaron.  Luke is not quite sure about all of the sand.  He is going to have to get used to it.  Molly just screams out of sheer delight and doesn't stop jumping around.  

The above pics were taken this evening at Dana Pointe.  It was fun to explore the beach.  Apparently the area that we went to has great tide pools.  We did not see any because of the high tide.  We will just have to check it out another time!