Laguna Beach - Off Day (day 4)

Initially we had planned to go to the parks the day after the Oogie Boogie Bash, but we didn't get to bed until well after midnight and and then "had to" get up and be at the gates early. I say "had to" because we didn't fly across the country and plan a Disneyland vacation to sleep! Hmph! Who does that?! Haha! So that morning when my alarm went off SUPER early and it was hard for me to roll out of bed, I decided last minute to roll over and sleep a little longer, let the kids sleep (and they did!!) and we took a day off to do some sight-seeing and exploring. Ironically, we made a great choice and found out on the bus transfer from some fellow Disney-goers to the airport that this particular day at the parks had such high crowds because of some holiday and the Los Angeles schools being out. The crowds were apparently so bad that they shut down the Fast-pass option! Good Call, Mommy! (I sure did pat myself on the back!)

So, anyways. We ate some breakfast and decided to venture to Laguna Beach. We had contemplated all kinds of "adventures" but we really wanted this day to be easy. It wasn't exactly "easy" (you'll see why below) but we don't expect "easy" with 4 little kids. Not even on vacation. After we returned we decided to checkout Downtown Disney before grabbing supper and then calling it an early night.

She's pretty proud of her new walking legs!

As much as this girl likes to practice walking, she loves to swing!

It may be too cold to swim, but it never gets old watching kids play and run along a beach!

Ivy was.not.a.fan of the beach!

Josh and I begged. And begged. And begged for Maclyn to please just put her toes in the Pacific Ocean!

So she finally did. But believe me when I say she was not happy about it.

Whoops. The Pacific ocean tried to take her whole body, more than her toes! And she was NOT happy!

So here we are at lunch. An hour or so after the fateful Pacific Ocean versus Maclyn debacle. Luckily she was a champ after we dried her tears. Unfortunately for her we couldn't dry her pants or panties and she had to wear them the rest of the day. Ruffle pants don't dry fast, by the way. Oh it gets better. On our walk to lunch (which was significantly longer than we expected and uphill!!!) Ivy had a blow-out. But we didn't know it until we were at least 1.5 miles from our car at the restaurant. So no diaper, no wipes. And a toddler that smelled of teething-poops. You seasoned moms know what I'm talking about. So we wrapped her in Keagan's sweatshirt without telling him -oops- and continued about our day! And pretended our girls weren't sitting in wet pants! The fresh fish tacos were fantastic!

Because no one was really complaining (the girls fell asleep in the stroller) we stopped at a gelato shop before we left Laguna Beach

When we got back to the hotel everyone got cleaned up and we headed to Downtown Disney to do some shopping

Finn was very thoughtful about the Mickey Ears he wanted and he was so excited that he found them while we were at Downtown Disney. This boy was so good and so patient during this trip, which is hands-down sensory overload and tantrum inducing. If you know my Finley...and I mean REALLY know him...you will know what I mean. Josh and I couldn't have been more proud of this boy. We were thrilled to buy him these Mickey Ears because he thought very hard about this decision and was patient while we looked for them.