We made it to Long Beach...
4,000 MILES! Hampton Beach to Long Beach!
To mark the occasion Eliot became terribly car sick about 5 minutes before our arrival at Molly's! Poor thing was great the whole way across the country but on our shortest trip of our journey- only about a 4 hour drive- he just couldn't keep things down :( The great thing about Eliot is he tries to talk himself through it, so almost immediately after he's telling himself "it's not that bad" and "I got a lot of it into the water bottle I was aiming for". Luckily we were around the corner from Molly's and she was ready and waiting for us with cleaning supplies and a beer.
Disney Land
After a good nights sleep and a clean car- we headed out and were to Disney by 10am. Molly and Olivia joined us for what we all hoped would be a full day of fun-- and it didn't disappoint-- it was the best day any of us could have imagined. The weather was amazing, the kids were all so GREAT-- and it warmed my heart so much to share it all with my friend of about 28 years. I am so thankful to have her in my life and she helped make our day absolutely spectacular.
We tried to cram as much in from the California Adventure side and the Disney Land side as possible. The last time we came to Disney (when I was 6 months pregnant with Eliot) Molly took us to a building that held the blueprints and future pictures of the layout and plan for Cars Land. Molly is an Imagineer at Disney Land- she went to RIT for Industrial Engineering and now does exactly that at Disney! It was amazing to see Cars Land and hear about the details that she helped design! The kids (and Jimmy and I) learned so much from her about the little things that go into a ride, such as Radiator Springs Racers...which is by far my Favorite ride ever!
I was pretty sentimental the whole day and especially that night when we got to watch the Paint the Night Parade. To see Olivia, Skylar and Eliot dance and sing and run around as if they were all the same age...the age of being a kid...they were so happy and so were we :)
Here are the highlights of Jimmy, Skylar and Eliot-
Jimmy: Screemin Rollercoaster and Racers and Parade!
Skylar: Screamin Rollercoaster, Racers, Parade, Churros!
Eliot: Racers and the Ferris Wheel, Parade, and Ice Cream!
Long Beach
On Saturday we spent the day relaxing and getting to know
Olivia. It was great to spend some
quality time with Molly and her little one.
The kids had fun playing with her and I could see Sky getting more and
more comfortable with taking care of Olivia while we were there…I see a strong
baby sitting skills in this one. Molly
and I also had a good time going through old photos from when we were
young—have a laugh on my behalf as you look through them :)
Later we headed to the beach to put our feet in the Pacific
Ocean! When we got there—literally as we
moved up to the shore, high tide came in and took us all out! The wave went up to Eliot’s stomach and all
the beach goers who had been there lost a lot of their chairs and towels at the
same time. Anyway, after some heavy
bribing, we convinced Eliot to smile for a few more pictures and they were
having fun with the waves again in no time.
We left the beach and went to see Molly’s husband, Stefan,
who owns his own catering company- Brew Wings- He has a food truck, a food trailer and has a handful of employees
who set up shop at festivals, beer tastings, and events in the long beach and
surrounding Orange County areas. His
wings are AMAZING! Jimmy is pretty hard
to impress with good wings—but Stefan nailed them and the sauce is
amazing—tastes just like home (Buffalo) but better—seriously! Plus plenty of treats for the kids, donuts, waffles, and loaded tater tots!
The trip out here was memorable and far too short. I’m so thankful for the time spent with Molly
and her family and for the opportunity to go to Disney Land with my family and
hers. I only hope my kids have a
lifelong friend that they can visit with their own families when they get
older.
(I can't seem to rotate this one)
The Original Plan...
We picked Long Beach as our West Coast destination so that we are able to visit with our dear friends- Molly, Stefan and little Olivia. We are so thrilled to stay with them and to bring the kids to Disney Land. We are expecting lots of smiles, laughter and Mickey Mouse along the way.
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