Girls' Trip

A friend at church put the plans for a girls' trip in action! Her parents have a timeshare in Huntington Beach, California. Once cheap plane tickets were found, the trip was in motion. I decided initially not to go because our lives are really hectic right now and it happened to be the same weekend as the half marathon race I signed up for. I hemmed and hawed for a few days with Matt encouraging me to go, and once I checked with my parent's schedule, I decided to book the trip! I was able to defer my race to next year. (It was going to be iffy whether I was going to PR or not, so taking a year off actually took a lot of pressure off.)

We flew out Wednesday afternoon. After landing and getting a rental car, we went to Café Rio for dinner. It felt like 9:30pm to us even though it was 7:30 California time, so we were all starved. It was yummy! Then we got settled into the house. It was a tight fit, but we didn't mind being cozy.

Thursday we spent all day at Disneyland. Taking pictures wasn't a focus--some ladies did better than others about snapping a few--but I actually didn't end up with any pictures of me. Disneyland was a ton of fun! My favorite ride in California Adventure was the Cars ride and Indiana Jones was my favorite ride in Disneyland. Having experienced both now, I prefer Disney World to Disneyland, but I'm still looking forward to taking my kids once. (Then we'll frequent Disney World after that.) It was a full, exhausting day which ended with a good friend losing her phone on the last ride. Not the best end to the day. :(

Two friends that used to live in our area but have since moved to California joined us for the trip. It was fun to see them again!

Friday morning started with a run along the beach followed by games. 

Then we went on a walk and did some sightseeing and ate lunch.

We spent Friday afternoon at the beach enjoying the view. We laid out on towels and chatted or read books. 

Friday evening we went to a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant that was so yummy! We played more games and stayed up way too late talking.

Saturday morning we had to wash all the sheets and towels before our late afternoon flight. Due to the rain, we stayed in and played more games while the laundry was going. 

The timeshare was beautiful--5 minutes away from the beach and 20 minutes away from Disneyland.

Waiting at the airport

Eating an early dinner at the airport

It was so enjoyable to get away and take a break from being "Mom" for a few days. It was also delightful to get to know these ladies better.

My parents were so kind to help out with getting the boys off to school each morning since Matt was teaching seminary, watch Austin during the day, then help with the after school demands. Unfortunately Austin and Bryson weren't feeling well on Saturday with some fevers, and then Caleb threw-up Saturday afternoon (he said it was the combination of drinking a Fanta strawberry drink and then being outside for 2 back-to-back baseball scrimmages that caused it). I was hoping things would be a little easier for Matt, but for the most part, all went smoothly at home.