Jet Lag **edited

Summer and Lexie finally slept in this morning (later than 8:30), something that did NOT happen on vacation. They were both up before 7:30 every morning. They even made it to one 6 a.m. walk on the beach with me and Paw-Paw. It was fun although the stroller had to be carried across the very wide beach to the packed sand at the shoreline in order to be pushed. Paw-Paw toted Lexie while I hauled the stroller. When we got to the sand, it was a nice stroll down the rock and shell spotted beach. Summer is officially following in my footsteps as a shell collector. That makes me smile. It really is not worth very much to have boxes full of shells, but the hunt is sometimes addictive and fulfilling. Luckily, I have learned to control some of my picking up urges and don't bring home huge bags of them anymore. On our walk, Lexie asked for a shell so I picked her out two. When we got to the playground, which just so happens to be on the beach, she had taken a little bite off of one of them and was chewing it up. Then, she wouldn't spit it out. Kids. After we got the slides dried off, the girls were ready to play in the chilly morning air. Summer loves to climb all over the equipment and slide down the slides on her feet and other "non-normal" ways. She is not very fearful, and I think gymnastics has given her some confidence in her abilities. Lexie always loves the swings the best. On the way home, we stopped at Starbucks and got a morning beverage. Summer had to have something, so she got a bottle of mocha frappuccino. My dad and I got a caramel mocchiato. Yum!


After a big home cooked breakfast, we showered up and headed to Malibu. We paid to park at the pier and then walked down the beach. After only a few minutes on the beach, the girls shoes and socks were both wet and needed to be taken back to the van. I know it's crazy, but I didn't see that one coming. Then we took a leisurely stroll, looking for shells and chasing birds. Lexie really wanted to pet one, but soon discovered that they do not want her to pet them. Summer learned that lesson a few vacations ago. I still have not learned to stop daydreaming about living in one of the houses we walk by, but it takes longer for some of us than others. We walked to the end of the pier and took a look around the gift shop. There was a beautiful great dane that the girls loved. They gave it lots of attention, chasing it around the store until they were scolded and asked to not torture the dog. Good times. They both got a shark tooth which is probably lost by now. I think they were actually in my possession last, but I can't remember where I stashed them. As long as Summer doesn't remember getting it, I'm OK. But, her not remembering something would be completely uncommon and out of the norm so I better get to looking for them. :) We had lunch on the pier which was lovely for everyone but Summer whose pants were a little wet from the ocean. Next time, I'll have to pick out what she wears. She has become so independent in dressing herself that I rarely question what she wears. She does sometimes like for me to do it for her, but those days are getting rare. On a side note, she is also going to the bathroom more by herself and not needing me to wipe her. Usually it is just poops that she needs me, but sometimes, like during the night, she wants me to help with either. OK, so back to the vacation.

On our second day in California, we went to Disneyland. It was awesome and the kids were so excited to ride the rides. The lines were not too bad. The weather was perfect. As soon as we got there, the characters were taking their places to pose with tourists. We got pics with Minnie, Mickey & Donald in the first 10 minutes after our arrival. We started the day with a ride on the Astro Orbiter where the girls each got to control their own plane. Then we headed to the Mad Tea Party which was Summer's favorite ride at Disney World last year. They rode Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, King Arthur Carrousel (several times), Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan's Flight, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Snow White's Scary Adventures. Casey Jr. Circus Train was the last ride before lunch. After lunch we headed to Toon Town and visited Goofy, Mickey's, and Minnie's houses. Lucky for us, both Minnie and Mickey were home for pictures although Lexie missed Mickey due to a temper tantrum when leaving his house to go into his production barn. Summer rode her first roller coaster of the day, Gadget's Go Coaster, and fell in love. She was so excited the whole ride and had to ride it again with her dad after we went together. Last year, she wouldn't get any where near the kiddie coaster at Disney World, but this year she loved it. After that, we rode two more coasters which she also loved - Splash Mountain was her favorite. We finished up the day with Pirates of the Caribbean and Tarzan's Treehouse. On our way out of the park, the girls picked out their souvenirs. Summer got Minnie dressed as a fairy and Lexie picked a 2011 Mickey Mouse. To our surprise, neither girl fell asleep on the way home, although Summer almost did. It was a long, exhausting day, but so fun and one I hope they will remember.

The rest of the trip was spent visiting Hollywood and Venice beach. The girls played in the sand and loved mixing the ocean water with sand in buckets. Summer even got Lexie to try her "soup." No one else would take her up on it though. Despite the freezing cold ocean water, Summer loved playing in the surf and jumping over small waves. She and I would run hand in hand towards the incoming waves and then turn and run back towards the sand. Our sand castle turned out on the dumpy side, as usual. I don't know what it is, but I really haven't been able to build an awesome sand castle in a long time. I remember building some pretty good ones as a child.

We hit the playground a few more times. Summer wanted to throw a party one night, but even after making invitations and handing them out, she did not get around to it. They read, "Party 2nite Rock on 7:00." She made one for her dad, Paw-Paw and Amanda. I told her Amanda had the party without us after we went to bed, but she informed me that she did not turn in her ticket so she didn't. LOL Our last night we went to the Santa Monica pier, my main inspiration for the trip. Summer again loved the rides. She wanted to go on the roller coaster twice, but the line was too long. She really loved the scrambler and said it was her favorite. Lexie enjoyed the ferris wheel ride with Summer and Paw-Paw. We didn't make it to all the rides, but Summer doesn't know that. It was late and we were all tired and ready to go to bed....except her. Of course, she could ride forever. Oh to be a kid again...

I'll have to update on the first part of our trip later. It's late and time for bed. Summer's got her 3 month CT scan in the morning. Praying for NED!!! I haven't started worrying yet, but it does set in once the scan is over and we are waiting on the results. No spots please!