Birthday Celebration

P2 got a play tent and tunnel for her birthday.

Her birthday dinner was dinosaur chicken nuggets, broccoli, and raspberries/strawberries/mangoes. Yum!

She did a good job opening presents, and loved get a Jake card that sang the theme song.

 All of her grandparents and great-grandparents were able to come. She got cute clothes and fun books.

And she got balls to put in her tent! She LOVED the balls, and had so much fun playing that she didn't want to go have cake.

P2 really wanted a Jake cake. I tried talking her into different ones, but she really loves Jake. We decided to do an ice cream cake for her, since our kids never seem to eat their birthday cakes. We did it through Dairy Queen, and I was super impressed with it. It looked great, and was reasonably priced. It was also super yummy, and had very little frosting. Most ice cream cake have way too much frosting on them. They also had hundreds of different options you could choose from.

P2 was too busy playing, so I had to carry the cake over and show it to her. Once she saw it, she decided she wanted some.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Birthday Bubble Party

We had a birthday play date for P2 at the park, since she loves the park so much. I was worried that it would be too hot to actually play on the playground, so I brought lots of bubbles for the kids. I had 2 bubble machine guns which were fun, but led to some contention with the older kids.

We had lots of friends come play! We are so grateful for all our friends! We had 12 kids come play, and we had mini ice cream sandwiches for treats.

And then we had to show dad our cool bubble guns!

 

Newport Beach: Part 5

Balboa Pier was a fun place to explore. There were a good number of restaurants within walking distance. However, we learned that seating is very limited. Our large group would take up most of the seats. So carryout is a good idea! We ate at Great Mex and did take out at Mint Thai Cuisine. Both were good, and I really enjoyed the Thai food.

We were near the "Fun Zone", which had lots of little shops and the Ferris wheel. We got some smashed souvenir pennies for the kids. P1 surprised us by riding the Ferris wheel twice, and P2 refused to go on it.

At the end of the pier is Ruby's Diner. So we got shakes one night, and the kids gobbled it up like little birds.

We visited the candy shop and left with a great big bag of candy. They had every possible flavor of salt water taffy. P1 carried the bag, and P2 threw a fit because she didn't get a bag. So we had to go back and ask for a second bag.

 

P1 had the best beach outfit. A Thomas hat, Mickey sunglasses, TMNT rash guard, and Jake swim shorts. On the day we did Universal Studios, PE took the kids to a mall. They had a Disney store, a Lego store, and this really neat toy store called Puzzle Zoo. Disney had a 50% off sale going on, so they kids came home with a few more toys. P2 found a stuffed Jake and Izzy and wouldn't let go of them. P1 got a Good Dinosaur set, and Dad got a Lion Guard set. We went back the next day, so the kids could show me all the great toys.

 Throwing pennies into the fountain:

PE wanted to get some ice cream, so we found this awesome deli for lunch: Hans' Homemade Ice Cream & Deli. It was definitely a local's place since all the customers seemed to know each other and the staff. Their sandwiches were good, and their ice cream was even better!

The kids always had something to do and someone to play with at the beach house. They were quite attached to Grandma and Grandpa, and would get very upset if they weren't there.

On our last day, we played some beach volleyball. P1 had a lot of fun hitting the ball.

This was our beach house for the week. We had the middle level of the house.

All in all, it was a pretty good trip. We made it home without any car trouble, yay!