top ten things from our Spring 2012 Southern Cal trip.

right now i'm having a real hard time NOT writing a "not-top-ten things about our Southern Cal trip ending," since yesterday we ended up at the doctor, yet AGAIN...

 ...i'm currently laying on the floor with Ellie laying on my legs while she croup-coughs her guts out, and stomach-flu'd Alice is laying down next to me (and just noticing that she's zonked out...on the carpet...at 10:30 am... wow)...

 

...it's raining outside (and has been since we got home Monday night), i still have laundry to do...and i really could keep going but that's super lame and whiny of me- i mean it's always hard to recover from a trip, huh? truthfully, in spite of the yucky stuff, it is great to be home- in our beds and with the girls' toys (and me with more than 5 outfits to choose from...i struggle at packing the right stuff for trips). but yes, it was a great trip- and so let me share some of the things that made it so great:

10) going to Disneyland 5 times (sure, 3 of those days were for 3 hours or less, but still).

 i know, some of you think we're totally nuts. but whatever, i don't care. we love Disneyland, and we're not afraid to admit it. my parents got us Season Passes for Christmas, so that was actually the primary purpose in us going this trip- to get our passes and spend a couple of days there. i am going to post the majority of my pictures about our Disney adventures in a Disneyland postt-come (otherwise this post would become its own website). i have had a lot of you emailing me and asking me for my Disneyland tips-- i'm no expert, but we do have a little experience and tips that i'm ready to share on that post. oh, and the best part of our Disneyland trip? being there while they filmed Modern Family and being within feet of some of our favorite Modern Family celebs. more on that soon, too.

 9) getting to spend so much time with daddy. we piggy-backed a work trip for M and our vacation (he worked in San Deigo Wednesday-Sunday)- but we still got to spend 10 straight days together. the girls were in heaven. and i loved having my best friend around all the time. we miss seeing him so much already.

8) running on the beach. there is something so perfect to me about running on the beach. it's like heaven for me, so it was like heaven to get to do it a handful of times while there. i love running with the ocean breeze, the views all around, and sometimes even get the company of my dad. this time was super duper awesome because i saw dolphins swimming on a sunset run- it was the first time i had ever seen dolphins there and was pretty sweet. we actually saw them a couple of times after that, too- it's a common time of year for them to be pretty close to the shore. i think dolphins are so cool so i was pretty pumped.

7) along with running on the beach, we got to spend several days just playing at the beach- the weather was perfect! i live in California- but am still amazed at beach weather in Feb/early March. (plus Northern Cal is a little different from Southern- we typically experience more seasonal weather than Southern, hence the rain this week). one reason the beach was so fun was because the girls got to debut their 2012 swimsuits. it was not-so-awesome that my ultra-whiteness made its 2012 debut in a frumpy swimsuit- but whatevs. the girls looked so adorable and that's what really matters.

6) we ate a whole lotta delicious food. from authentic Mexican, to Chick-fil-a, to Cafe Rio, our favorite coconut water, Sprinkles cupcakes, in-n-out, Rocco's fried chicken and waffles, all my favorite homemade things from mama's kitchen, and the most delicious brie-pear sandwich i've ever eaten (not to even mention all the delicious Disneyland food). yeah i gained like 10 lbs easily. i love food so so so so so so much. (and so does Alice- she especially loved gammy's pantry- we'd find her sneaking snacks at least 5 times a day). note: as if it wasn't obvious, my heaven is going to be made of delicious food.

5) borrowing sister's clothes. it took everything righteous in me to not steal that blazer. i miss living with other girls and sharing clothes.

4) going to my first Runway show- a Cosmetic Fashion Show at Nordstrom. it was so fun! my sister, mom and i all got facials and makeovers- and i came home with a huge back of new stuff. who doesn't love new make-up? and i came home a new believer of philosophy products and NARS makeup. maybe i'll do a beauty products post in the future, too.

3) watching the Polar Bear pace up and down the ice straight at Ellie and Alice, and the huge sea turtles swim right at us at Sea World. Sea World had a promotion going on that if you bought a ticket for that day you could get in the rest of the year free.- isn't that awesome? i'm so excited because i think Sea World is pretty amazing. the girls loved the shows- Alice kept saying, "woooww! whoooaaa!" she was so cute. and they also absolutely lovvved the Sesame Street Bay at Play kid area. the workers had to kick us out after closing because the girls wouldn't leave. my poor mom is a total-rule follower so she was a little mortified that we were being reprimanded for playing 15 extra minutes after it closed.

 

  2) going out with my lil sis, and seeing the movie 'The Artist.' sure, we dozed a little- but that's what you get when you go to the 10:00 pm showing of a silent film. in spite of that, it was absolutely wonderful- it reminded me so much of Singin' in the Rain, my very favorite movie (i type this while listening to its soundtrack)- which i think made me love it more. i am convinced i was born in the wrong era.

1) spending so much time with Gammy + Pops + Mimi. i was so glad we spent so much time because Alice was surprisingly shy and reserved when we first got there. she would look down and away from my mom whenever she'd talk to her, or grab onto me when my dad would try to hold her. i hate that part of living far away so much. but after a few days, she warmed right up and even would run to my mom open-armed and squealing when she'd see her first thing in the morning. it was so sweet. and Ellie adores Gammy, Pops + Mimi so much. honestly, i haven't seen both girls that happy for a long time- and that made me so happy. they were given so much love and attention...and i know they were so happy because they know that they are very loved by my family. that makes me so happy.

and here are a few extra happies:

happy happy happy trip.
love my family, so so much.
love that Southern California, so so much.

xoxo