The Hallmans: California Trip

When Miles was just 3 weeks old, we packed up and went on a road trip to California. I felt crazy for taking a 3 week old and was very antsy because I was so worried about germs. But Gary's brother Adam was graduating from UC Irvine with his PhD and it was a big deal for his whole family to be there to watch him graduate. His family decided to make it a week long trip starting in San Diego and making our way up to Anaheim...for a quick 2 day trip to DISNEYLAND!!!...and then on to Adam's graduation that Saturday. Gary and I were nervous to have all 4 of us in the same hotel room seeing that McKay still sleeps in his crib. He ended up sleeping in a double bed every night with Gary and I had a bed to myself so I could get up to feed the baby and try not to disturb the other 2. After the first night when McKay was jumping all over Gary thinking he was playing "games" with him, he slept pretty well. Gary on the other hand pretty much got pushed to the very edge of the bed each night. It's easy to say McKay really moves around when he sleeps.

Here is a quick run down of our time in California and then I will unload the massive amount of pictures!

We left on a Friday. Gary came home a little early from work so we could get a head start and beat the afternoon traffic in Utah County. We were headed to St. George to stay with Ron, Gary's dad for the night. I'm so glad we broke the trip up. The baby slept the whole way except for one stop to feed. McKay watched movies on my dad's portable dvd player. They both travelled really well I thought. One little mishap...McKay had just had fruit snacks. Soon he started coughing and next thing we know, he had thrown up everywhere. I think he has a tad bit of car sickness. Good thing we were almost to St. George and had a washer and dryer at our convenience!

Saturday Gary and McKay went 4-wheeling with Ron. McKay did not want to get in the quad but when they got back, Gary said McKay loved it and kept saying "more!" We left St. George and headed to Las Vegas where we stayed with Natalie and Jason for the night. We introduced them to a restaurant Gary took me to in Washington DC and has now become my new "tied with The Olive Garden" favorite Italian place. It is Maggiano's and only found in a few cities across the USA. Thankfully Vegas is one of them. We left the kids home with a babysitter and us 4 adults enjoyed a few hours of being "kid-free" and a delicious dinner. Creamy pesto four cheese ravioli is to die for!

Sunday Gary and I got up, went to church then we headed on our way. We got to San Diego and had a yummy dinner at a little Mexican restaurant. Janna and the Campbells got in that night.

Monday was cold and overcast. Of course that was a beach day. We went to look at a light house and look at some tide pools. The Giffords got in town and we headed to the beach. We were there only a short time because it was so cold. We went back to the hotel to let the kids swim in the hotel pool. We got ready and then went to dinner at a Italian place. I totally forgot the name of all of these places we ate at. After we went in search for some ice cream.

Tuesday it was nice and hot. We went to the San Diego zoo this day. The kids LOVED this day and I will have to admit, I don't need to go to another zoo again. Nothing will beat how big and massive this zoo it. I can't think of many animals it didn't have. We stayed until it closed and then went to In N' Out burger on our way to Anaheim.

Wednesday was spent at my most favorite place...Disneyland! I love, love, love that place and can never get enough of it. I love that McKay is getting older and is understanding it more. He liked all the rides he could go on which I thought was quite a few. He was so good this day. Gary and I took him back to the hotel in the afternoon for a little nap both days and that was really smart. With all the fast passes and child swaps, we all got to ride on pretty much everything.

Thursday was California Adventure day. I loved the Toy Story ride! We saw World of Color for the first time and it was pretty amazing. I love how magical Disney is to even an adult!!!

Friday I was able to stay in the hotel for the morning with McKay and Miles. Everyone else went on a whale watching boat. We met up with them that afternoon for a fun day at the beach. McKay loves water and sand. That night we got Cafe Rio and went to eat dinner in a park. Gary bought me and Leslie a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake since today was her birthday and mine was the next day.

Saturday was spent packing up and doing graduation for Adam. On the way to his graduation, Gary got pulled over for being on his cell phone in California. We even have wireless connection in our car and he just hadn't hooked his phone up. 3 other cars were following us and Gary was stressed about people keeping up. Anyway, sadly his ticket for even a first time offense was $173!!! OUCH!!! Lesson learned. That night we all had a celebratory dinner at the Yard House. Dinner was delicious and after it was over, most of us drove through the night back to Natalie and Jason's in Las Vegas.

Sunday we spent driving home. It was a long drive but once again, both boys did so well. It was a great week but Gary and I were exhausted from lack of sleep. You will notice the bags under my eyes and tired look in most pictures. Now for the pictures...