Those were Landon’s words when we finally hit the beach!!
Let me start from the beginning…..Family trip to California for Landon’s first visit to the Magical Kingdom of Disneyland, which was not too magical, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Early Thursday morning marked the beginning of our road trip, caravanning with my Mom, Jimmy, and my sis, Jenna. My brother, Anthony and his fiancé, left from Nevada with our plan to meet in Anaheim; Scot’s parents flew in on Friday. I haven't been on a road trip with my Mom and step-dad in years, and my goodness, we had a blast……Hey-Tellin’ on our phones with jokes, songs, and whatever else to make the others laugh, pit stops in random towns with minimal, questionable residents!
Desert Center, a scant little town that offered a great photo op.
Anaheim, being as uneventful as it is, was merely our rest stop to drop our luggage and head directly to Huntington Beach. Beach camp established only after eating a delicious meal at Sandy’s, with a direct view of the ocean. The hours breathing in the salty air and feeling the cool ocean front breeze passed ever too quickly.
If you find yourself at Huntington Beach, I recommend this stop for good foods and a great view.
A little snuggle time with my favorite boy!!
Landon and his Ga-a…..their first time at the beach together.
The girls….My sis, Jenna, future sister in law, Kori, me, and Mom
My Mom and Jimmy
Not sure, the two of us together can ever take a photo-op seriously!
The best one we got of the 3 of us!
The water was probably near 18 degrees (kidding), we didn’t mind, we went on our way playing in the waves.
Lan and his Uncle Ants, as he calls him!! Landon loves his uncle to pieces and always wants to be near him!
Sweet dreams, my boys!
Beach bums that we were, as soon as the sun was up, Landon was knocking on everyone’s hotel doors (always starting with Uncle Ants first) for his wake up call, ready to get everyone to the beach asap!! Scot and I had asked Landon if he wanted to go shopping and look for a shark tooth necklace as a beach souvenir. Landon’s response, “No, thank you. I want one with a crab on it.” Crab, huh?! Feeling a little puzzled and stumped if we would be able to find that. We got VERY lucky, when we found a local artist selling necklaces and actually had one with a sand crab encased. Landon was so surprised and loves his crab treasure! We spent every last moment soaking up the sun before vacating to get ready for Trick-or-Treating at Disneyland that evening. Thinking that Landon would be thrilled to finally be entering the long awaited and exciting world of Disneyland, he would have rather stayed at the beach that venture into the SWARM of people, inching our way through.
Good Mornings are easy here!!
A little beach birthday celebration for Anthony and Kori.
Landon and Papa working on their big sand hole.
Scot and Anthony hitting the waves!!
Yep, you guessed it Trick-or-Treating at Disneyland, not a recommendation I would give. Did we have fun? Of course, we had fun, we always have a great time together and everyone made the best of the overly crowded, mad house. Landon was exhausted from the beach, however, for an overly tired child, he did amazing. Entering the park, video camera in hand, we expected him to be awestruck. Instead, it was, “yeah, it’s ok”. For the weeks leading up to our trip he was thrilled to ride Space Mountain; he caught a glimpse of the ride while he and I watched a documentary on Disneyland. Just as promised, Space Mountain was our first ride. Seventy minutes in line, way to long for the average adult and waaaaaaaaayyy to long for our almost 4 year old, and having to explain the extremely scary (kinda gory) sounds being pumped into the speakers at an extreme volume, that made even me jump, we finally made it the front of the line. Landon was fantastic on this ride!!! No tears, no screams for help. He closed his eyes during but walked off saying it was fun. I, on the other hand, held onto my boy for his dear life and I was praying for it to end, as I nearly vomited. I do not remember that ride being so incredibly fast and scary, I must be getting old. Ride #2, the Haunted Mansion, minimal wait time, awesome decorations, but Landon wanted nothing to do with it. As we walked into the house he was saying, '”I don’t want to go into that cage!”. We gently got him through the ride, as it was too late to turn back. I must say, I do prefer the original Haunted Mansion set up vs the Nightmare Before Christmas theme……kinda too creepy. As for the trick-or-treat aspect of the evening, there were lines 20 minutes deep just to get a handful of candy. Really Disneyland, really?! Lan managed to score enough sweets for the evening before heading back to the hotel, pass out, and hope for a more “magical” experience.
We have arrived!
All smiles as we have reached the front of Space Mountain’s line.
There’s the fam having a blast, except me. Landon is tucked down low and I looked on the verge of vomiting! Ugh, how did I ever like this ride?
Trick or Treat
Disneyland: Take 2. “Lan, are you so excited to go to Disneyland?” Silence.
Cliff Note’s version: Alice in Wonderland ride…..not a hit, the evil queen set the evil tone!! Goofy’s Playground, fire station, and the tree house…..BIG hit! The lines were overwhelming, even with a Fast Pass. All Landon really wanted to do was head straight to the beach.
Landon’s favorite play moments of the day!!
Here’s a pretty decent view of the crowd we were dealing with!!!
Amazing family moments and memories we will cherish forever! Gosh, how I love my fam!
Disappointed parents: This trip was all for Landon’s enjoyment and quite frankly the overpopulated Disneyland was difficult to enjoy. I have to admit, I expected him to walk out of there, saying it was the best place he has ever visited and it was the opposite for us. Scot and I had been there so many times and can remember the giddy excitement we had walking in and playing our way through the park. Boy, this was quite different. I blame it on the time of year that we chose to visit and that our boy is still a little too young to go. This won’t be the end of Disneyland for the Z’s, we will never go again during the special events and will probably wait till Lan in 13, or whenever he wants to go before giving it another shot!
The next morning, as we pack our bags to return home, it dawns on us!!! Lets stay an extra day and give Landon’s trip a grand finale. “Landon do you want to go to the beach today and stay all day?” You can imagine the response!!!! Another day it was……8 hours of beach time, no interruptions, no lines, no crowds, just pure bliss. Our beach angel had to be carried away from his sandy heaven, as it was dark and the warm salty air turned chilly. He fell into a peaceful slumber, covered in sand, but had ended our trip with, “this was the best day ever!!” Success.
Landon enjoying a few moments with his Nana and Pop before they head to the airport and we take off the beach!
Sneaking in a couple hours with our family before they leave.
Landon finding friends wherever he goes. They worked on their sand projects for hours that day!
As the sun sets into the depths of the waves, Landon is still going strong, loving his beach!!
Our California family time was an amazing and memorable blast!!! We got to spend so much quality time together laughing, eating, talking and having inappropriate conversations till we laughed some more. Creating memories that were perfect!!!
“Can we stay here forever?” I wish.
