Long Beach here we come!

The kids riding the "walkelator" at the Seattle airport

The day after Halloween, we headed to California for a little fun. We arrived at the Long Beach airport on Saturday only to be welcomed by Ty Pennington from Extreme Home Makeover. Ok, so he didn't welcome us, but we did see him and I think he smiled at us.

After we got our car, we headed to find our hotel and BEACHES!! We ended stopping at Huntington Beach for some splashing in the waves. It was beautiful. Lots of surfing and a ton of dolphins. After watching the sun set we headed back to Long Beach to meet up with the Titeras for dinner. Dinner with 6 kids is, needless to say, not that relaxing, but the kids had fun. After dinner, the kids boogied to a street performer on our walk back to the hotel. We all were exhausted and ready for bed.

The next morning, we headed to Universal Studios while the Titeras headed to church (way to make us look bad). We rode rides and saw a lot of famous characters from TV, and saw some very entertaining shows. Most of the shows were considered "scary" by Kiya who cried at any explosion or ghost/monster. We chose a good day to go because it was raining in the mornig and then cleared up to be a really beautiful day, but not crowded at all. No crowds ment none of those dreaded lines:) We stayed until the park closed then headed straight to the hotel to put the very tired kids to bed.

Jaws!

Coopers favorite! Scooby Dooby Do, Shaggy (and the Mystery Machine)

Dave's new girlfriend

At one of the shows, Kiya volunteered. This is a video of her experience. Very exciting!!

Monday ment Beach day!! We met up with the Titeras for breakfast (once again chaotic with all of the kids). Then followed them to Balboa. We found a really nice beach with waves that were too big for the kids to play in. But, they were still able to have a ton of fun and get really sandy and wet. Good weather and good friends...what more could you ask for. After a long day on the beach, we headed to a little local mexican restaurant. Not quite as chaotic this time. I think the kids were so tired. After dinner, we headed back to Long Beach and the Titeras headed back to San Fransisco...hitting LA traffic! Yuck!!

The Daddys playing in the waves the kids couldn't play in!


Tuesday we decided to do the "Walk of Fame" in LA. It really wasn't that exciting. Most of the stars were of people I have never heard of. But, it was kind of fun to see people dressed up like characters from movies. We were a huge target (with 4 kids and all). So, Jack Sparrow made the kids swords and gave each one and then asked me to pay him....nice! I couldn't take them away. After a huge banana split, we headed on the road again. Next stop..Malibu. Once again not too exciting. I always imagined it as being a quaint beach town with a lot of character. Not at all. Just a bunch of not that nice houses blocking the view of the water. When we finally found a beach the kids were itching to get out and play. It wasn't that great of a beach to play in the water, but the kids took a walk with Dave and chased hundreds of pelicans. The day was pretty much done. It was time to head to the airport. On the way to the airport, we drove through Santa Monica and wished we had stopped there to play instead of Malibu. We'll know better next time:)

Very elaborate costumes!

And maybe a bit uncomfortable!!

All in all, a good trip.