Nothing Comes Close to The Golden Coast...

We are back and our vacation was FAB-U-LOUS!  I'll be the first to admit that sometimes family vacations are anything but a vacation when traveling with young children -- schedules get out of whack, kids can be cranky, no one gets enough sleep -- we've been there, but not this time.

This year we took a break from our annual vacation to Cape Cod and headed to California.  We stayed about 45 minutes north of San Diego in Legoland country.  I missed the quaintness of New England but only a tiny bit, because southern California in August is heavenly.  I imagine it is heavenly every month of the year.  The temperatures barely rose above 70 degrees.  The mornings and evenings were down right chilly, requiring sweatshirts.  In August!  There was ZERO humidity. ZERO mosquitoes.  Heavenly, I tell you.  The boys were exceptionally good travellers and adjusted to the time change beautifully.

Our mornings started early with visits to the beach in our jammies.

 Each day began with this beautiful grey sky that always cleared to a brilliant blue by 10:00 AM.  

The mornings on the beach were my favorite time of day.

  It was difficult to tell where the sky ended and the ocean began.  The beaches were empty -- just the sound of crashing waves.  Our favorite was the Carlsbad city beach.  It was like stepping into a painting.

The boys played in the sand, got chased by the waves, threw rocks in the water and collected stones & shells.

Afternoons were spent enjoying lunches outside, many trips to Legoland and swimming in the ocean (the boys that is, not me. Too chilly).

This was the first vacation we made ALL about the kids.  It's taken us 7 years to realize that spending all day on the beach, eating at nice restaurants, and frequenting quaint towns to go antiquing isn't a child's idea of a fun vacation.  That doesn't mean we didn't squeeze in some really good food.  Our favorite was lunch in Encinitas at Swamis Cafe.  They served this thick smoothie-like dessert in a big bowl with granola, fresh berries, bananas, bee pollen, and coconut that was so incredibly delicious.  (I must admit, I did pop in one cute store just for me... The Rustic Rooster and Alexandra is just as sweet and bubbly in person as she is on her blog and her furniture redos are gorgeous. So fun to meet a blogger friend in person!) 

We still spent a  lot of time at the beach, but in 2 hour increments.  Though I think Charlie could have easily spent the entire day there.  He's crazy about the sand and water.  A boy after my own heart.

 

But the real highlight of the trip was our day at Disneyland.

It was MAGICAL for all of us. 

It was our first visit as parents to Disney and our little guys were mesmerized.

We could not have imagined a more perfect day -- from the Jedi Training Academy for Andrew to dancing in the parade with Mickey for Charlie.   

There is nothing quite like your first visit to Disney.  And seeing it again through my children's eyes was incredible.  It brought back memories from my first visit with my brother as a little girl.  I remember how much I loved "It's a Small World" & the "Peter Pan" rides.  And you know what's so wonderful about Disney? Those "old fashioned" rides still hold as much entertainment & fascination for children today.   If I could somehow have bottled this day up I would.  I will have to settle for blogging about it instead.

I promise this post is wrapping up soon.  I took over 600 pics, so bless you if you are still reading.  This post is really for me -- to remember an incredible week spent with my 3 favorite people. 

Thank you, Jimmy for organizing the whole trip.  You have become quite the savvy traveller and you took such good care of us.  I dare say you are a better vacation planner than I am. 

It's good to be home, but I will miss you, California.  We will be back.

In the meantime, you'll just have to excuse me if I break out in a little Katy Perry, reminiscing my week as a "California Girl". 

You could travel the world...

But nothing comes close to the Golden Coast ..

Once you party with us ...

You'll be falling in love...

Oooooh oh oooooh