Last Day in California

Today was our last day in California and our day to spend with the Pulliam family.  We made our way to Wendy's house about 10:30 in the morning.  They live in a beautiful neighborhood and you can see the ocean from their house.  It was a beautiful view when we got into her town.  The ocean views were amazing!

After checking out their new house we walked down to their kids school where we watched the boys run in their fun run.  Well we mostly let the kids play on the play ground and then we walked back to Wendy's house
After Gabe checked Alex and Jacob out of school and got back home we headed out to go to Gabe's work.  We picked up lunch on the way and drove to the Coast Guard station in LA.  It is located right by LAX.

I was super surprised at how inconspicuous the station was.   We drove around the airport and pulled into a very plain looking business building, no security or anything.  I guess you did need a code or key to get into the building.  When you entered there were a couple offices and then you went in and saw the big hanger with helicopters and it was super cool.  I was really excited to see everything.

Gabe showed us the helicopter first.  He let the kids climb all over it.  They got to sit in the swimmer seat in the back of the helicopter (that is wear Gabe sits), the pilot and co-pilot seats, and they also had a flight mechanic seat.  The kids really liked the pilot seats and all the buttons.  

Gabe showed us how he would sit on the edge of the helicopter and jump off.  He also pulled out the basket that they pull people up from the water in and let the kids all climb in.  He also showed us how he would rescue people with the different life jacket things.  He used Josh as an example and it was fun to watch him lift him up and show us how he rescues people.  Gave is super humble and never talks about his rescues so it was cool to see him in his element.

After he showed us the helicopter he showed us his life jacket that he wears in the water with all the different pockets and the stuff that they have in them that he might need in the water.  Josh and Megan both put on jacket and it almost made Megan fall over.  Gabe said it weighs like 15 pounds.  Tyler didn't want to try it on, party pooper.

After the jackets Josh and Megan got to try on his helmet.  It pretty much took over Megan's face.  Tyler once again didn't want to try it on.  Too cool.

Then Gabe showed us his shop/office work area that he spends most of his time in when he's on duty.  Then the kids all wanted to go to the gym and play on the machines.  They have a lot of machines for the people to workout on while they are on duty so the kids went wild on all the stuff.  They went a little too wild and we had to calm them down a lot.

Before we left we got to watch a helicopter take off.  Since it is right by the airport we also got to see some really big airplanes come by.  It really was so much fun to go and see everything up close and personal.

We left the station and went to an arboretum that is by their house.  They had a little museum and a lovely view of the ocean where you can look for whales.  It was pretty windy and cool when we were there so we didn't take much time to look for whales.  But it was beautiful and the kids seemed to like the little museum.  

After that we went back to Wendy's house for dinner and to let the kids hang out and play.  The kids loved playing with their cousins and it was nice catching up with Wendy and Gabe.  Once it started getting dark we decided we should say our good byes and head back to the hotel.  It was a long day but a super fun one.

Last Day at Disneyland

We woke up early, again, and headed to Disneyland where we could go in an hour early.  It was still way busy even though not everyone could go in early.  The first ride we did was the carousel.  Allie got to ride this time and really liked it.  She kept trying to eat the poll.  Megan must have ridden this ride two or three more times after this throughout the day.

We also rode a bunch of other rides in this area before moving onto another land.  We rode Buzz Lightyear (a favorite of Josh's) and then the others were going to ride on Autotobia while I fed Allie.  The line for that ride was super long so they decided to go and watch the Jedi show while they waited for their Space Mountain Fast Passes to be good.

Turned that they got their at a good time because Tyler was chosen to be one of the kids to do the Jedi training.  He was really excited and took it very seriously.  He listened very well and did exactly what he was told.   He was so happy with himself after.  It was a fun thing to watch and he was a good Jedi.

We got some more pictures with characters today.  Tyler didn't want to take pictures again but was still into getting the autographs so I guess that was good.  He can have quite the attitude sometimes.  Good thing he is such a sweaty most of the time.

They repainted the castle and it looked great.

Tyler - Jedi in Training

California Adventure

We got up and got going early this morning because we thought we were able to go into California Adventure an hour early.  Turns out that we can only go into Disneyland an hour early on Tuesday or Thursday.  Bummer.  So we had to stand around waiting an hour before we could get into the park.  That was not what I needed for my feet.

We had Tony go get Fast Passes to the Cars ride while the rest of us went and got into line for the Toy Story ride (one of my most favorite rides).  Tony was super fast and was able to join us quickly.  After the Toy Story ride Megan wanted to ride the carousel and quickly found her new favorite ride.  Josh stayed off the ride with me and played in the water.  tThe other kids quickly joined us after their ride in the water playing fun.

Margie and Tony took turns single riding the big Screamin' ride while I feed Allie and the kids goofed off around me.  Allie did really good to take her bottle in the stroller and the kids always enjoyed eating snacks while we waited for others on rides.

Then we headed to Cars Land and went on the Cars ride.  After the ride we went down the street to ride another ride and then we ran into Lighting McQueen.  He moved around and talked.  The kids liked seeing the car and getting their picture taken with him.

We were able to ride most of the rides that we wanted to in California land. We didn't get to do Monsters Inc.  It was first really busy and then it was shut down.  We did check out the Frozen snow exhibit but didn't stay to play in the snow.  The wait was too long and we have all played in the snow before, so we moved on our way.

Before we left we wanted to watch to parade.  Megan loved dancing around in the street while we waited for parade.  She even got a couple other little girls to dance around with her.
After a while Tyler and Josh joined in on the fun and started dancing around in the streets.  It was funny to watch them dance around all these people and not care at all at what they thought of them.  They did end up getting a little too wild and excited so we had them sit down and get ready to watch the parade.

I really like the parades and the performances at the park.  It is fun to see the performers working so hard to make kids happy.
After the parade we went back into Disneyland and went on some rides there before going back to the hotel.  We stayed almost until close again.  My feet were really hurting tonight and I was glad to come back to the hotel and give them a rest.  I hope that they hold up for another day at Disneyland tomorrow.