miniVACA

This past weekend, we were blessed to have a mini vacation with the children. Praise the Lord! No cell phones, no email, no Internet (OK a little Internet). Imagine the peace and freedom from all these technologies that we so desperately need....awww....bliss (Acy, that's a shot out to you, hee-hee).

My beloved had a four day weekend since his schedule for work changes again. On Saturday, his second job had a company picnic on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk! Last time we were there was before we had children, over nine years ago! I believe we were there with some friends to watch some pro-volleyball. So needless to say, we were excited to go. NESS provided all of us with ALL DAY passes to the boardwalk! What a blessing! We were too late for the food, but that's OK, we just bought some munchies and headed off to the rides. Two realities hit me that day,

One: I'm deathly afraid of heights! Or as hubby says, "It's not the height your afraid of, it's falling down that you're afraid of." LOL! Thanks, hon for comforting me...Not!

Two: We need to do more of this stuff. Just freely enjoying life, each other and the many blessings that God gives us. Don't worry about the sand, it can always get washed off. Cherish the little ones all covered in the sand. They won't be little for long.

Sunday night, we were suppose to head back to home to go "camping" in our backyard. But we all woke up late and decided to stay in South Bay, plus it was too cold to sleep outside. So we hung out at Dave & Busters and walked around the Great Mall. The kids had fun trying their hands at the games....so did Mommy and Daddy :) After a couple of hours there, we headed back home.

Monday afternoon, we hung out at Children's Wonderland. With a small $2 fee (each person), we were able to enjoy their playgrounds. This is a really fun place to go if you're ever in area. They have some really neat play structures. Best thing, they're playing Disney songs on their PA system. We love Disney songs!!!

Monday night, we headed for our favorite hangout...the drive in. We really enjoy coming here with the children. This time though, we were only able to stay for one movie. Everyone was wiped out by the end.

Vacations don't always have to be so extravagant....and expensive! You don't even have to go out of your driveway to have a fun vacation. Turn off your cell phones, iphones, blackberries, email and just enjoy the company of your family.

**Pictures will be uploaded soon***

IT'S OPEN!!!

Since hubby had to work on Memorial Day, he had the day off today.  So we headed for the Anitoch Water Park!!

YIPEEEEEE!!!

The kids have been asking, since winter, when we can go back to that fun, fun place.  They finally opened their doors for the season on Monday.  But since today was my beloved's "Memorial Day Holiday" we spent it splishin'-n-splashin'!

We can't wait to go back! We're already planning our next trip.

After the waterpark, we headed over the Drive-In to watch "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian". The drive-in is always a fun place to visit.  We tried to stay for the double feature to watch "Star Trek" but somewhere in the middle of the movie everyone was falling asleep.  So we left the drive-in early and headed home.

I love these family times.  I'm praying that these times that we have will be great memories for our kids.  They sure are great memories for me.

Wet Wednesday

Today my beloved took the whole family to the Antioch water park for some wet fun in honor of Sunshine's birthday. This was our second time there. We had such a great time. Since today was the first day of school for alot of schools there weren't too many people there.

They have an area just for tots to play in but we moved on to the bigger part of the park. To my surprise Sunshine loved going down the waterslides by herself! She's so brave. Princess on the other hand was so scared to even try once. Then I showed her the double innertube that ALW and I just rode and she agreed to go down, just as long as I went down with her. To my surprise, she really enjoyed it. We ended up going a few more times then she went down with Daddy a few more times too. There's this one tunnel slide that we all liked but Princess was too afraid. After she tried the innertube one, she gathered enough courage to go down the tunnel slide. What happened after that? She loved it.

Now ALW, he just loves swimming. He would go down all the slides by himself with no worries. Did I mention that he's never taken a swimming class his entire life. He just goes and starts swimming under water!

BTW, did I mention that I forgot to bring my camera? So no pictures to share but that's OK. Here's a picture of the crew the last time we were there:

Afterwards, we were suppose to go to the Concord drive-in to watch Clone Wars but just as we were going to exit, I looked back and everyone fell asleep. Best thing to do now is just go home and rest.

Can't wait for Sunshine's party on Saturday!

Stranded at the Drive In...

When I think of drive-ins, I think of the 50's, I think of Grease. I never would have thought that I would be able to experience it! We found out about the West Wind Solano 2 Drive-In, a.k.a. Concord Drive-in through my sister. We've watched Speed Racer, Kung Fu Panda & Iron Man there. Last night we had a chance to watch The Incredible Hulk & Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with my brother and his family.

I can't believe how many blockbusters we've already watched this summer. Usually we watch maybe 1 or 2 movies a year! With the movie theaters being so pricey, we figure we'll just go watch the REALLY good ones then wait for the rest to come on DVD. Another reason why we didn't frequent the big screen was well...it's a bit much for some of our children. The little one won't sit still in that seat. I end up just bringing her to the side and watching standing up. The answer to that problem was easily solved by the drive-in. We get to enjoy the movies with all the kids, they don't have to sit in a chair for 2 hours, we get to bring our own food. And did I mention that it's only like $7 ($6 something) a person and we only pay $1.00 for the 2 older kids?!! It's just so much fun!

If you haven't had a chance to visit the Concord Drive-In, I highly recommend doing so. Tuesdays are family nights so the admission is only $5.00 ($4 something)!

Bring some friends with you it doubles the fun!