The night sky...

One of my favorite things to do, and has been for as long as I can remember, is sit outside and listen to the rain or watch the lightening and listen to the thunder. I love the sense of excitement that I get because I never know when or where lightening is going to strike next. Its a feeling that I dont think I can ever explain to someone because thats just how much that I love it! Well tonight was the first night in a long time that I was able to just stop for a second and enjoy the "Show" and it was awesome especially after the trying day that I had. But just wanted to share the 1 photo that I was able to snap and the video! =) 

Fourth of July in California!!!

This past weekend I drove with the three girls to Anaheim, CA to meet Gary for the weekend. It was supposed to be a very chill layed back weekend and that was exactly what it ended up being! We all had so much fun the entire time and it was great because NO one fought... not once! =) Originally we were going there just to hit the beach and hang out on the fourth of July but ended up being able

 to go to Downtown Disney and to Knotts Berry Farms thanks to the fact that I have to find deals for everything or we dont do it! LOL! So like I started we left on Friday morning... with a couple little mishaps on the way (one being having to replace my car battery... sort of need one of those! LOL) then a few other silly things. It wasn't to horrible of a drive but having four girls in one car of all different ages, it was sure nice to get out of the car when we picked Gary up from work! So after we got him we went to straight to the hotel and got all checked in and set up then went for a swim... 

we were all so excited to jump into a COLD pool and ended up getting a warm bath with an enormous amount of chlorine! LOL but it was fun either way because we were all together! After swimming Gary and I went to the Hotels restraunt and had a great dinner just the two of us! =) After we were done we went to bed about ten so that we could get up early enough for the next day!

The Girls On Our Drive...

RIGHT AFTER WE PICKED GARY UP...

Hanging out in the hotel room... 

Saturday came and we were all able to sleep in until 9am thanks to Mackenzie who decided she wanted to sleep in! It was awesome! So after getting ready we went to Target and go a few things to snack on and a couple sand toys and headed off to Redondo Beach! It was so beautiful... when we got down there around noon the sun wasn't quite out yet but as soon as all of us got set up on the beach it was like someone said alright NOW and the sun came out! *Side note: last year I took

 Mackenzie to the beach and she hated everything about it the water the sand all of it* This year she hated the water still and wanted nothing to do with it unless it was in her pails but she loved the sand! Thank god we brought like seven towels because she absolutely destroyed two of them with mud!!! =) We spent a good two and a half hours just playing in the water and taking turns playing

 with Mackenzie... but thats all you need and you are horribly tired! =) So after that we went back to the Hotel and low and behold Gary and Victoria and Ariel all were little lobsters. Ariel not so bad but Gary and Tori were a nice bright shade of red!!! *Side note: No matter how old always make sure

 everyone has sunscreen on* So we relaxed for awhile and decided that we were all pretty hungry so we made our way down the road for some dinner and Baskin Robbins right after! YUMMY! 

BEACH PHOTOS...

After having dinner and dessert we couldnt think of anywhere to go and watch the fireworks so we went back to the Hotel and found out that Downtown Disney had a great display so we made our way back out to the car and over to Disneyland! Besides the parking we didnt have to pay for anything (well parking and my coffee!!!). The front desk lady was right... the fireworks

 were great! The finale could have been a little better but other than that they were beautiful from having different shapes to the color it was an amazing experience and I hope that we can go again next year but actually be inside of Disneyland!!! 

DOWNTOWN DISNEY/ FIREWORKS...

So Sunday came finally the day the girls had been looking forward to... again Mackenzie allowed all of us to sleep in until 9am... except for the fact that she stole my side of the bed and I ended up on the floor for some reason!!! After getting ready we hunted down a Starbucks due to the fact that I was cranky and hurting like HECK... and started our drive to the park! We hadn't told the girls anything but that they had a suprise on Sunday... the whole way to Knott's Berry Farms the girls had to sit with there eyes closed and right when we got under the sign the opened them and I wish I would have thought to get a picture of their faces but was way to into the moment! So we finally got in their and right away Ariel and I jumped on one of the fastest roller coasters in the park! I would have to say the #3 for the day! But in the words of Ariel "We should have done a warm up ride first" =) Which in all reality she was correct! After Gary and Victoria went we just went crazy and finally we heard a little voice go "me go wheeeee..." So we hunted down the kids area of the park "CAMP SNOOPY" *Knott's Berry Farms has the Charlie Brown theme for a lot of stuff* After a good hour or so she was done with rides and we were all bored! LOL So we sat down and had lunch (Thank god they allow you to bring in food) and after doing two more SNOOPY rides we found one of the last wooden roller coasters around and got onto that one! It was so much fun Gary and I went on that one together and had so much fun! We sat of course in the first car and just had a blast! It was an amazing ride and the picture at the end was so funny that we bought it! Oh the laughs that is going to cause! =) So we kept riding for about another three hours and finally decided that it was probably time to go... UNTIL we found our #1 ride of the day... the Xcelerator! It went from 0-80 in 2.3 seconds and somehow I got talked into that one twice... again in the front row! But I dont regret it.... the funnest ride of the day! After that we took our last ride... a water one considering we were all hot... even Mackenzie was able to go onto it so of course we bought the picture for it as well!=)  After that we made our way out and drove down to Escondido (outside of San Diego)... It was a great drive due to the fact that I was all alone in the car... all three girls went with Daddy in the big truck. I drove with the windows open and radio going... after about thirty minutes I looked over and I was driving right on the coast it was amazing! After driving alone in the car i didnt want to get up and make the long drive home with a two year old... but we finally made it! 

KNOTTS BERRY FARMS...

It was a great trip that all of us are going to remember... ESPECIALLY because it was our first family vacation! =)