April was a very busy month, and to start it off we went on a little family vacation to San Diego! Brayden had spring break for a week, and Ben was going to be gone for the rest of the month so we thought it would be a great opportunity to get away and spend some time as a family. On a side note, my brother, David, was sent home early from Afghanistan due to his vehicle hitting an IED. Originally we thought he would still be a Camp Pendelton when we were taking this trip, as luck would have it - he came home the afternoon we were leaving. We were happy to see him though, and were able to spend a few hours with him before we hit the road. (Yes, he is all intact and slowly getting back to normal. ;) ) However, I did feel bad because we took my mom with us on vacation and left him here alone - I don't think his girlfriend minded though. ;)
So, our vacation: We left at bedtime on Friday night and drove straight through to Ontario, CA. It was long, but the boys slept pretty well all the way. Carson struggled a bit, but after Las Vegas, he was out until we stopped for breakfast in Ontario. We spent the first day at the San Diego Zoo (thank you Aunt Ruthann for the passes) and saw about half before the boys were done. Then we headed to our lovely time share in Indio, CA (near Palm Springs). It was beautiful! (Thank you Uncle Bruce for hooking us up!) We were so tired then that after a quick trip to the grocery store and some dinner we all crashed. The next morning the boys woke up to a surprise - the Easter bunny had found and remembered them even in California! They were thrilled, and looked all around for hidden eggs. Then we headed for the coast. We drove down the coast looking for a place to stop, and ended up at Huntington Beach State Park. It was great! The boys loved the real ocean! We built sand castles, played in the waves, and tried to grab sea shells off the shore before the waves could wash them away. Carson thought it was a giant swimming pool! He was soaked head to toe within 20 minutes! He loved it! The next day we spent at Sea World. As promised we sat in the soak zone for Shamu. Luckily we didn't get wet, and then out of the blue came the downpour of rain with 5 minutes left in the show. Needless to say we were soaked! Even gradma who refused to sit with us was soaked. We waited out the storm in a gift shop, and then continued our adventure to see the "important" sea life our boys wanted to see. It was fun and very memorable. We did however wear our boys completely out, and once we changed their clothes and got them comfy in the car they were out from 6:00 PM clear until 7:00 AM the next morning! They were tired! The next day we got ready to go, but not before a quick trip to the swimming pools. Then we headed for St. George, UT our stopping place for the night. After breakfast the next morning at the Abbey Inn in St. George we decided to take the scenic route and stopped in Zion's National Park (a place we will have to definitely go back to soon) and headed home that way. It was beautiful!
Overall, I would say the trip was a huge success! We kept it pretty low-key, our boys loved it, and we would go back and do it all again! Here are a few pictures of our adventures:
The view from our balcony!
Baylor's favorite exhibit/zone at the zoo.
Sandcastles anyone?
Waiting out the rain. We ended up with umbrellas.
Do we love Shamu or what!?
Coming out of the mile long tunnel. It was great!
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