We always eagerly anticipate our summer vacations and this year's trip to California was no exception. We waited a bit later in the summer for this trip, going in early July (we usually go in early June) and celebrating Luke's 3rd birthday as part of our trip! (See
Luke's 3rd birthday for photos of his other birthday party at home with friends). As always, we had a fantastic week with lots of fun and great memories. We have so many great photos from this year's trip... enjoy the sampling of the best ones below.
Of course the beach is one of the highlights of our summer vacations in California. This year more than previous years, Luke really enjoyed the beach. Whether it was making sand castles (and knocking them down!), splashing in the waves, or just running around - the beach provided endless opportunities for fun.
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| Sand castle construction in progress |
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| Three taps on top Daddy, now it's ready to pull up! |
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| Maddie scours the beach for interesting sea life |
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| Maddie and Dad find some sand crabs |
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| Meanwhile Luke is still digging in the sand |
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| Luke builds a path for his beach buggy car |
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| Playing in the refreshing (cold) ocean surf |
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| That water is cold... run Luke run! |
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| Luke and Dad running on the beach |
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| Maddie and Mom at the beach |
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| And still more sand castle building |
We visited Sea World (and the Sea World water park) for 3 days. At Sea World Luke spent most of his time in Sesame Street "kiddie" land area. His favorite ride was Elmo's Flying Fish and he loved crawling though the tunnels and running on the bridges on the elevated playground. Maddie's favorite things were the animal shows and exhibits. It so fun to see how excited the kids get for these special days.
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| A pose in front of a flowerbed at Sea World |
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| Content after enjoying a lollipop, a blue one if you couldn't tell! |
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| Luke was obsessed with this photo booth... much time was spent in the booth "taking pictures" |
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| This photo was NOT taken by Angela |
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| Lunch is over... let's hug and go see more sea animals |
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| Cool, comfortable and stylish |
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| The lollipop and a happy boy... sister was happy too after she ate some ice cream - can you say sugar high? |
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| Both kids show their new stuffed buddies |
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| Maddie feeding the sea lions (notice the fish - in the red circle - that Maddie just tossed to this hungry seal lion, and yes he DID catch it). |
When not having fun at the beach or Sea World, there was plenty of fun to keep us busy at the condo... swimming pools, playing games or just relaxing.
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| Cooling off in the condo pool...okay it wasn't hot enough cool off, but the pool was still fun |
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| 3.. 2.. 1.. Blast Off! |
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| Some relaxation time sharing some popcorn and playing iPad |
And of course since were on vacation for Luke's actual birthday, we had a second birthday celebration for him (a surprise) at the condo. Luke was so cute (and grateful) for this... when we walked into the condo and he saw the balloons, decorations and his presents, he said "Family, thank you for all of these presents!"
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| What's in this bag full of paper? |
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| Luke sees something he likes... |
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| More bags... more toys |
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| The birthday boy says let the party begin! |
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| Not the traditional way of eating a cupcake... but whatever |
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| Frosting face |
On our last day of vacation we found an awesome park only a short drive from our condo. Dad and Luke went to the park in the morning and spent several hours playing. Later that same day after dinner, we spent our last evening in California playing in this beautiful park.
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| Staying close to big sister in a new park |
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| Kids playing in a park - running away from the "tickle monster" |
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| Dad and Luke playing on the train play set at the park |
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| Maddie shares a dandelion with Luke |
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| Maddie climbs high into a tree |
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| A resting spot beneath the tree and a great photo |
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| Maddie enjoying the "climbing tree" at the park on a beautiful southern California day |
