Chillin Out, Relaxing...

About once a year my side of the family tries to go on a family vacation. Our favorite place? Maui, Hawaii. However, August is not the best time to visit this topical paradise. We thought of a cruise, but that requires passports for the four little boys. My idea, California. It had been about 15+ years since my family had been on a vacation to California. Allie wasn't too keen on the idea, but after a little coaching it was a go. I had heard about the Hyatt on Huntington Beach. It was awesome. Beautiful. Right on the beach. Take a look at our adventures...

***Note this is a massive picture blog!

First stop? Knott's Berry Farm. As you can see Beck did not like Sally, nor any other character's this day.

Jack, Allie, and Creigh on the truck ride. I loved being able to see how excited the little boys were. My favorite ride was the mining ride. You had to be Jack's height or smaller to go on it, so only Jack and Creigh rode this ride. You sat in a small mining cart and moved the stick up and down to make the cart move through the figure eight tracks. Jack had no problem, but sadly Creigh didn't understand. He kept waiting for the cart to move. The little worker would go and push him to get him started...but he never really did. He would just wait for her to come push him again and again.

The next day we spent at the pool. The hotel and three courtyards. The first held a large adult pool. The second, a "Spa Grotto" that held 3 hot tubs. The third, a kiddie land. It was perfect. There was a pool with three slides. A little hot tub pool. A three feet deep pool, and lastly a pool that was 1 1/2 feet deep. The little boys LOVED it. Micah and Lindsey LOVED the sun. I loved spending time with my little baby and nephew, Easton.

Easton and Beck asleep in their cage. You cannot tell but they were holding hands while they slept. So cute.

My mom put a play yard by the pool so that Easton and Beck would have a safe place to play. It was great. I loved seeing them play together. My dad calls Beck, The Master (see blog about Master of the Universe below) and Easton, The King, as in Elvis in reference to his hair.

Beck playing with his favorite thing, his feet.

Can you guess where we went the third day? Disneyland. I wanted to buy Beck his first pair of Mickey Ears. Let's just say they were a little big. There is a little story behind this day. I really wanted to go to Disneyland. I wanted to take the little boys there. Allie DID NOT want to go. She said it would be too hot, too crowded, and we might loose one of the little boys. Why did she change her mind? Because one of her friends told her about a website where you pay $15 and it maps out which rides to go on when based on the time of year and day. After Allie paid the $15 she was sooo excited. Whatever floats your boat.

Our family and Pooh Bear. Pooh always reminds me of my friend, Anya. Beck loved the Pooh Bear ride, but I think his favorite was pirates. He just kept looking around. So fun.

In this one area you could get your picture taken with Pooh, Rabbit, and Tigger. I think the boys were only interested in Tigger. Creigh just kept looking and looking at him.

Creigh loved Beck's Mickey ears. The only thing, he wanted to wear them backwards.

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself with another picture of my Beck.

One of my favorite pictures of all time is a picture of me and Jackson in front of this picture that says Auntie from "It's a Bug's Life." Jackson was one or maybe two years old. Love it! I saw the same poster again, and wanted a picture with all my nephews. I love being a aunt.

For those of you that don't know, Micah and I call Beck, Bug. I don't know why. He is just our little bug. We loved that he got to wear these honorary bug glasses.

On top of all the cool kiddie pools, our hotel had fire pits that surrounded the pools. We spent time roasting marshmallows and making smores. Smores are one of my favorite things. Above you see the elusive Mitchell Evers. This maybe the only photo I have of him.

My mom, Jordan, and Melyn.

My dad, Lindsey, and Micah. Lindsey is just the best. On every family vacation that I can remember, Lindsey and I have always shared a room. This is the first vacation that we didn't share. It was really hard. I am sure she was happy because she didn't have to sleep with Beck, but I missed her.

Micah and I. Notice all the marshmallow on my face.

We took Beck for his first beach experience. He couldn't keep his eyes off the water.

I always have tons of pictures of Beck and Micah, but this time I had Micah take a picture of Beck and I. I love my little boy so much. People always say Beck looks so much like Micah. I like to think he has my eyes and my round face.

I took a million pictures of Beck's first steps in the ocean. It was just so cute. He couldn't quite figure it out. I also love that he had is concerned face on. Just like a little gorilla.

Micah and Beck.

A little family picture.

When we go to Hawaii, one of our favorite restaurants is a 1940's dinner, Ruby's. Much to our surprise, there was a Ruby's at the very end of the Huntington Beach Pier. (If you go up six pictures, you can see the Pier and the restaurant in the background.) It was even better than Hawaii because the restaurant was basically in the middle of the ocean. This picture is of my fam eating dinner at Ruby's.

The King, Easton. Look at that hair. Everywhere we went people would stare at Easton and his hair. Sometimes Micah and I would be walking behind Allie and Easton, and we would hear comments like, "Do you think they style it?" "Where do you think they are from, San Diego?" My favorite thing about Easton is his smile. Its is HUGE! I also love that Beck and Easton are going to be best friends.

Micah and Beck at Ruby's. Beck loved spending so much time with Micah.

This is my dad in all of his glory. Every night we went down to the spa grotto. My dad LOVES hot tubs. This particular night they had a song that my dad just loved. Here he is dancing.

These two are the funniest brothers. They love each other so much, but they are so different. Jackson is very sensitive. He loves to try and please you. Creighton is just a trouble maker. Case in point, right now my dad is hoping the hotel doesn't charge them for Creigh coloring on the white bed spread and couch. At breakfast, Creigh would have his cereal bowel, and proceed to put whatever other food he could get his hands on in the bowel, ie, pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit, yum! So funny, yet so naughty.

On of my favorite things about this trip was Creigh showing us how he plays baseball. You would first ask how to play baseball, and he would show you this move. This is apparently how you hit the ball.

This move was even better. This move illustrates how you run bases. Now, this is actually the exact position that Creigh runs in. Litterally, his left arm is bent and his right arm is straight...the whole time. It is pretty funny.

Lastly, a little family picture. We don't really like taking these because we are missing one family member. However, I think he is there. Right behind Jack and Creigh. His favorite place.

Thanks for the memories family!