Newport Beach

There’s so much to write about our fabulous vacation. Lots of photos!



MY BEACH BUM 10 MONTH OLD





Nate L O V E S the beach. I thought he would but I never anticipated this level of enjoyment. I was a little interested to see if he’d do anything but eat the sand but after the first day he never ate the sand again! He only ate the shells, seaweed & rocks in the sand. He played for hours outside in the sand and also loved being down at the water. He played in the ocean A LOT. He didn’t even mind the frigid water. Even while shivering he wanted more.


He was standing a lot on this trip. It was even easier with his feet buried in the sand!

The first day we were down there I had him down at the water. I let him play in the sand and then when a wave came, I picked him up so he could just splash in it. Wes came down to see what we were up to and we had a little misunderstanding as to who was going to pick him up when the wave came. Neither one of us did and the wave engulfed the poor little dude. It went over his head and knocked him back quite a few feet. My mom was appalled at our parenting skills but he survived and wasn’t even scared of the water. In fact, as we were walking back to the beach house with Nate a guy turned to me and said, “I did that with all five of mine.” Glad to know Nate’s tough.





Nate was such a good kid on our vacation. He rarely cried or whined. He loved being in a new place with never-ending sand and water. He loved having his cousins, aunts/uncle & grandma/grandpa around. For some reason Abbie was scared to death of Nate and ran from him whenever he came near, but Daisy seemed to really like having him around. He frequently visited her while she was eating.




PERFECT SET-UP

We stayed at a beach house right on the beach in Newport. It was perfect for our family with a 6 month old, a 10 month old, a 2 year old, and a 10 year old. You can imagine the different schedules we had going on! It made it so that while the kids were sleeping we could still enjoy the sand and sun. The back patio was probably my favorite part of the house. We sat out there A LOT just enjoying everything. The next best thing was that everyone had their own room . . . even the babies! That made it so Ali and I actually got some sleep at night without the kids in our room. They even had a great playroom full of toys for Abbie and Nate.


Nate eating his dinner on the beach


hanging out on the patio

PLAYING IN THE WATER

I love swimming in the ocean. I can’t go to the beach without jumping through waves. This year the water was exceptionally cold and the waves were quite large but it didn’t stop us from going in. Wes and I went in quite a bit. Cassie (Sam’s roommate) joined us in the ocean once she arrived on Thursday. And by Friday we got Sam, Tripp & my dad to come in the waves with us. I have to say that the waves were a little bigger than I prefer but it was still a blast being tossed around.




Abbie & Kyle loved the water, too. It took Abbie a little bit to want to play in the water but by the end she was loving it, too. Kyle spent almost an entire day in the water!










DISNEYLAND




My family LOVES Disneyland so we couldn’t be that close and not go to the happiest place on earth. Wes had to work a little bit while we were down there so we decided to have him miss Disneyland so he could be around more at the beach. I have to say that Disneyland is always fun but it’s a little different with all of the little kiddos! Thanks mom, dad & Sam for being my fill-in husband for the day and helping me with Nate. I definitely couldn’t have done that without you. Nate loved Disneyland and was such a trooper. I had a feeling he wouldn’t sleep while we were there and he sure didn’t! He dozed for about 20 minutes in the morning but that was it. The look on his face on our first ride (Winnie the Pooh) was priceless. He was just in awe at everything. He was happy all day . . . enjoying the magic of Disneyland, the people everywhere & yummy food. The only downfall of the day was how hot it was! I think I lost 5 pounds just in sweat! Luckily it cooled off that evening.




Wes met us all at Downtown Disney for dinner and then he took Nate home & my parent’s took Daisy home so the rest of us could enjoy the evening without the babies. Sam, Kyle & I went on all the “big” rides while Ali & Tripp enjoyed a night with Abbie. It was great! I love that place and can’t wait to take Nate back when he’s a little older and knows who the characters are.


Nate crawling through a watermelon at Goofy's Playhouse


Nate loved playing this piano at Goofy's House.







JUST HANGING OUT

The entire trip was relaxing and fun. I love being able to ride your bike so easily! Sam, Wes & I had some fun bike rides together. It made me wish I lived in a town that was bike friendly.
I had a good mix of being able to play with Nate when he was awake but he took some great naps because he played so hard so Wes and I had time to enjoy the sun and some time to relax. Here are some photos of all of us just having fun.


Abbie loves her papa.


We let Nate try a Sour Patch Kid.


The Thompson kiddos playing on the porch


Sam & I doing one of our absolutely favorite things: laying on the beach!





Wes entertaining the kiddos. :)

Even though my entire family lives in Las Vegas, I feel like I don’t see them that often & nothing compares to the memories we have on our annual family vacations. It’s great to spend that much time with everyone having fun! Thanks mom and dad for another great one!