California

A few months ago Jason's Dad starting planning a family reunion with his long lost family as I refer to them.  Don doesn't really know his family that well and they decided that before a few of his relatives passed away they wanted to plan a get together for everyone back in Colton California where Don grew up.  This got the wheels turning and we all decided that if we were headed to California we may as well make a vacation out of it! Originally the whole crew was going to come along but when we found out about Steve and Heather's new baby and that her due date was only two weeks after the trip they obviously bowed out.  Sherrie living in D.C. didn't work with her schedule and so it was down to Don, Leisha, Karen, Jessica, Jason and I! 

Don, Leisha, Karen & Jessie headed to our house on Sunday June 24th to crash for the evening and get the vacation rolling! Monday morning they packed up added me to the group and we headed to Vegas, Jason had class on Tuesday so he had to stay behind for a few days before he could join us! In Vegas we stopped for some lunch, roamed the Belagio and went to see the Monet exhibit. 

 Jess & I

 Wondering the gardens at Belagio.

 The girls.

 After a short break we headed back to the car to finish the drive.  I unfortunately don't have all of the pictures from the trip because some of them are on Leisha's and Karen's cameras  that I will have to get from them and post them when I do but I want to get the ones that I do have up on the blog!

 Small World

 Toon Town

 Radiator Springs was so cool!! Cars Land opened the week that we got there and it was CRAZY packed! We didn't end up riding any of the three rides in  cars town because the waits were ridiculous but we sure did enjoy walking around and seeing it all! 

 "Staley's Oasis"

 Jason came and joined us on Wednesday morning! I was so happy to have him with us, his walking was a bit rough the first day or so because of the cut on his foot but he managed well enough and we had a blast!

 I sure LOVE this boy!

 Getting ready to ride the rapids!

 Jess & Karen

 Leisha trying not to get wet!

 The whole gang.

 Cars Land

 It looks just like main street Radiator Springs - it was pretty cool!

 Mater!

 They have built red rock all around Cars Land - you couldn't even tell that you were just outside the other parks, it was way cool!

 One of my favorites was the colors show at California adventure it was kind of like the Belagio fountains on steroids haha!

 They have special Mickey ears that are designed to coordinate colors with the the fountains - way cool!

 Back to Disneyland for another day of fun!

 Jess being a creeper!

 Splash Mountain - funniest picture ever haha!

 We got to go and figure out what characters we were most like!

 Jason was excited that he was Buzz Lightyear .

 Don was Jafar! haha we got a good laugh out of this, he wasn't so amused!

 Leisha was Mulan

 I can't remember who the girls were, and I didn't catch a picture of mine but I was Dot from Bug's Life.

 

 We then went to learn how to draw Dale from Chip & Dale.

 Overall we did pretty good!

 This is my picture of Dale.

 Fireworks in Disneyland.

 Watching the fireworks!

 After three days in Disneyland we parted ways with Jason's family, they headed to the beach for a day but Jason's foot wasn't up for sandy beaches quite yet so we headed up the coast to explore for the day.  It was such a fun day, we literally just drove and when we saw something interesting we stopped and explored!

 The morning started with breakfast at Mimi's- Yum!

 After driving a bit we found an aquarium and stopped to explore!

 This was the coolest thing that we saw at the aquarium, they took shark eggs and cut a piece out and replaced it with a clear plastic so that you could watch the shark develop - So Cool!!

 Hanging at the aquarium!

 Sea Lions

 Penguins

 Sting Rays - If you don't know....it's a long story.

 Jason pet them, I bowed out.

 Cool Eels

 Jelly fish are amazing!!

 Sea Otters

 Have I mentioned that I love him?

 Dori & Nemo

 Frogs

 

 Sea Horse

 

 

 Sharks!

 Outside the Aquarium

 Another favorite was getting to pet the jellyfish!

 After the aquarium we headed down to the grove and farmers market on the way there we drove through Little Ethiopia and managed to find a yummy cupcake shop!

 Yum!

 Finally made it to The Grove.

 Then laughed at the meat in the farmers market!

 Grabbed some lunch at a little Mexican stand.

 Yummy mini tacos.

 After the food we walked down to the end of the market where they were having music and dancing - it was way fun to see, what a fun evening!

 

 Funny old man that had some crazy dance moves!

 We walked back through The Grove on the way to the car wrapping up a fun day of relaxation with Jason!

 That night we stayed in Pasadena at Bob & Chis' house and then the family reunion was the next morning in Colton.

 What a bash! haha!

 This cute old man that was playing in the band fell asleep in the middle of one of the songs! We had a good laugh!

 Jessie enjoying her cake!

 After the reunion we decided that California had enough of us and headed home but not before making one last stop in Vegas for some yummy dinner and a little alone time with J! On the way to Vegas we got stopped in traffic, there was a huge wreck and we got completely stopped on I-15 for a little over an hour, everyone turned their cars off and had a little party in the middle of the interstate waiting for the traffic to move!

 Dinner in Vegas.

 Love this face!

 A "little" dessert!

And then we were home bound for the last hour of our drive! We had a lot of fun in California! What a fun trip full of memories and laughs!