C.A.K.E: Our California Adventure

Juste before Memorial Day we took the kids to California to spend some time at Disneyland and the beach. Aunt Steph gave the kids gift cards to Disneyland for their birthday's/Christmas. When my parent's heard that we were going to Disneyland they decided to join us. We rented a house on Balboa Island, which is about 30 minutes from Disneyland. We had an amazing vacation and the kids really enjoyed Disneyland. Here are some pictures from our visit:

On the airplane heading to California

On Balboa Island there was a boardwalk that went around the island. After we got settled in to our house we took the kids out for a walk to explore the island.

The kids loved watching all of the boats

On our walk we stopped for a mid afternoon snack

Later that afternoon we met up with Grammy, Grandpa Rlowe, and Aunt Steph and headed over to Newport beach. Cate loved the beach because there were a bunch of seashells. We ended up bringing home a small bag of the seashells and Cate and Ashton put them in our sandbox.

Ashton loved running around in the sand

Aunt Steph with the kids on a life guard tower

The next day we took the kids to Disneyland!

Cate was so excited and had a really hard time waiting to leave in the morning

Ashton and Daddy ready to head out

Right when we walked in to Disneyland we saw Minnie Mouse

Cate and Ashton waiting for them to open up the gates so we could head in to go on the rides

Heading in through Sleeping Beauty's Castle

We headed straight for Dumbo and luckily the line wasn't too long.

I got to ride with Cate and she loved making the elephant go up and down

Daddy flew with Ashton and they both really enjoyed the ride

Next we went on Mr. Toad's wild ride. The kids didn't like how dark it was but loved riding in the car. (This is just a display car out front. We didn't send the kids in by themselves :)

I posed by this door when I was little and went to Disneyland, so I had Cate go and stand by the door for a picture

Next we went on a Circus Train ride. We got to ride in the Monkey cage. Ashton really loved getting to ride on a train

Grammy and Grandpa Rlowe in the monkey cage

Next we headed over to Toontown, which is where Mickey Mouse and all of his friends live. We took the kids on Mickey's Rollercoaster. They both really enjoyed the ride. For a kid rollercoaster it went pretty fast.

We took a tour of Minnie Mouse's house

Next we went to Mickey's House and he was home so Cate got her picture with him.

Ashton wasn't a big fan of all the characters but he really enjoyed driving this car

Wow, Daddy you are so strong!

Next we went on Thunder Mountain the big rollercoaster. Cate sat with Me and Aunt Steph. I was so implressed with her that she wanted to go on the rollercoaster. It goes really fast and has some big hills and tunnels. The only thing she said that she didn't like was the dark tunnel.

Ashton was getting cranky and tired so we stopped for a treat. Ashton ate about 3 bites of his treat before he crashed out in his stroller.

Cate really enjoyed her flower cookie

It is exhausting having so much fun

We decided to go on the Finding Nemo submarine ride so I carried Ashton through the line for 45 minutes. (He is very heavy and drools a lot). He was asleep as the submarine ride started, then he woke up right before the ride was over. He looked very confused when he woke up in a dark submarine with lots of fish out the window.

Waiting to go on to the submarine

Next we headed over to Autopia where there are "race cars" that go a max of 7mph that the kids were able to drive. Cate drove Me and Steph around. She was giggling the whole time and couldn't believe that she was allowed to drive the car by herself.

My Mom got to drive my Dad around the track

Eric with the kids waiting to head in to "It's a Small World" Cate sat in the front of the ride and was dancing her arms the whole ride. She was in heaven looking at all of the signing and dancing dolls.

Eric and Aunt Steph took one for the team and waiting in line for 1 1/2 hours so that Cate could meet some princesses. Eric says that it was worth the wait to be able to see Cate's face light up when she saw the princesses.

Cate with Tianna from Princess and the Frog

Cate with Ariel from The Little Mermaid

Cate with Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Next Cate got to pick out something to bring home. She picked out Sleeping Beauty and a crown

Ashton got a Buzz Lightyear

The next day we headed to California Adventure (which is right next to Disneyland. It is a newer extension to Disneyland)

The kids with Aunt Steph ready for another fun filled day

Right when we walked in we saw Mickey Mouse. Ashton wasn't to sure about giving him a high five

Then we saw Chip and Ashton didn't want to be by him either

There was an area that was designed like the movie Bug's Life. There was a caterpillar train ride.

There was another ride that took the kids up in to the air in a box and then went around in a circle.

We took the kids to a Disney Jr. show. This show uses the most popular character from the Disney Jr. shows on the Disney channel. The kids watch a bunch of Disney Jr. shows and I knew that they would really love the show. The characters that were in the show were from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, The Little Einstein's, Handy Manny, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. The kids had a great time at the show.

We were walking around when a Phineus and Pherb dance performance started. The kids enjoyed watching all of the characters dance and sing.

Cate was dancing along to the music

We finally got a family picture with some characters and all of us looking at the camera!!

On our way out of the park we saw a sign for a Minnie Mouse show starting in 15 minutes. So we parked the strollers right up front and waited. It was worth it because Cate got to see Minnie Mouse up close. It was a cute little music performance.

After 2 days at Disneyland Ashton was EXHAUSTED!!

After two full days at Disneyland we were all ready for a day at the beach. We decided to rent a boat to take out and explore Balboa Island and Peninsula. The kids loved the boat most because they got to eat lunch on it. The adults enjoyed the ride because there was beautiful scenery and it was pretty relaxing. Here are a couple pictures from the boat ride:

Later that afternoon, we all headed back to Newport beach. We took the kids down to the water to play. Not too long after we got to the water, Cate was running from a wave and fell into the ocean. She got up soaking wet and covered from head to toe in sand. Amazingly it didn't upset her too much. I took her back to our beach towels, dried her off, and started to look for seashells with her. Ashton on the other hand couldn't seem to get enough of the ocean. Eric and Ashton spent a lot of time playing in the ocean.

Cate right after she fell in the ocean

The next day we all went out for breakfast and then decided to go to the beach on Balboa island. The sand was a bit better for building sand castles with and the water was very calm. The kids had a great time running down to the water and bringing bucket load after bucket load of water up to the sand to make rivers.

I loved listening to Cate giggle while she was playing on the beach

Ashton was in heaven because he could pretty much do what ever he wanted on this beach

Daddy and Grandpa built sand castles

Down by the water

Ashton decided that it would be fun to swim in the sand and get as sandy as possible and then run down to the water and have Cate pour buckets of water on him

Then Cate decided to do it too

Daddy got in with the kids and threw them up in the air

Grammy made an alligator in the sand for the kids

After the beach we headed home to clean up so we could head out for dinner

We took the ferry from the island over to the peninsula. On the peninsula they had a ferris wheel, so Eric and I took the kids for a ride. They really enjoyed it and there were some pretty great views from the top.