Pics, Pics, and More Pics ~~~ Our Vacation!

Here is the story of our vacation.

After school and work on Friday afternoon, we packed up our van to head down to Anaheim. Actually, we loaded into the van twice because the first time there was so much bickering about seats, pillows, and a general lack of excitement and thankfullness to be heading out on vacation that I asked all the kids to get out of the car and go to their rooms. After speaking to all of them, I asked them to try again--- this time things were much better. Embarrassed by all of our behavior because the neighbors heard I'm pretty sure, I was still happy I did it because it set the mood for the whole weekend and everyone behaved great!

For dinner we ate at In & Out. Adam took everyone's order in the car so instead of chaos at the counter, everyone sat down while I ordered everything.

I don't know about you, but my kids love getting the hats and stickers.

Wouldn't you know it, we hit traffic on the I-5 so we didn't arrive at the motel until after 9:00pm--- just in time for swimming, I say!

While I got Alex and Dennis ready for swimming, the kids watched the fireworks outside the window.

We love this motel because not only are their rooms big enough to accommodate our size family, but it has an indoor heated pool!

We swam until nearly 11:00pm.

Then it was off to bed!

Surprisingly, the kids were up very early even after falling asleep after midnight--- so we got ready for Knott's Berry Farm.

Everyone was so excited to get into the park!

Tickets bought~~~ OPEN, OPEN, OPEN!

Adam was our navigator for the day. He mapped out every ride and did a great job of making sure that every other ride was one that the whole family or at least most of the family could ride.

The park was not very crowded so we rode the swings three times in a row! By then, I seriously felt queasy.

Like Dennis was at Magic Mountain last year, Alex was exactly the same way. He was overwhelmed and afraid of all the rides. If he had it his way, he would have just sat in his stroller all day and watched. Instead, John and I made sure to include him in a few rides here and there all the while comforting and reassuring him that we were both there for him. In the end, it was Alex who couldn't stop talking about all the fun he had---- all the way back to the motel.

Rachel also commented numerous times how great this trip was. Being the oldest one out of our girls with the least amount of years being a part of our family under her belt, she was thrilled to be a part of this memory making. It was a joy seeing her excitement!

Funnel cakes were a whopping $10 a piece not to mention way too big for just one person to eat, so I had the kids partner up with a buddy to share their funnel cake with. We all ate until we were stuffed and there was still funnel cake left over! They were so yummy!

I was pleased to see how well all the kids got along. Caleb gave Anna's tired feet a break.

It was nice when our whole family was able to ride the same ride.

For lunch, we ate burgers and chili fries!

By nighttime, most of us were pooped out, but a few of the kids wanted to keep going and going. Finally, we told them that the Merry-Go-Round would be our last ride. So we rode it three times!

All in all, we had a blast at Knott's Berry Farm! No one got lost---- except for Dennis' shoe!

Sunday morning, we went to Denny's (right next door to our motel) for breakfast.

We waited till it was later, around 10 am so that it was more like a brunch so that the kids could hold out until 3pm when we got to the Pirate Dinner show.

With time to kill until the show, we checked out of our motel and went to the mall!

Since Anna's birthday is later this week, we let her buy a few things at Claire's. Of course, she chose a new pair of glasses--- which I think look darling on her. She also picked out some magnet stud earrings since her pierced ears kept getting infected and we took the earrings out.

Happy early birthday Anna!

Since we had even more time to spare, Caleb bought a new skateboard with his birthday money.

His board was sweet----- down to the different colored wheels that he had picked out himself.

But as soon as we were in the car, he noticed that the board had a pressure crack from when the guy tightened up the trucks--- so back to the store to pick out a new deck. The store was great about it and let us make an even exchange.

Finally, off to the Pirate Dinner Show!

They had pre-show Hors d'oeuvres which the kids chowed down on!

Sveta was very thirsty, so John bought this souvenir cup with limitless refills. We made sure we got our money's worth!

The show was very interactive, the food was great, and everyone enjoyed themselves!

Poor Alex cried every time the pirates shot off their gun. Thankfully Daddy was there to keep him safe.

When the show was over, we got a few pictures with the pirates before piling back into the van for the long ride home.

As we drove away all we could hear was Alex yelling, "Bye Boom! Bye Boom!"

And you know what?

He had a great big smile on his precious little face!