Celebration Vacation!

Long before Brenner got home from deployment we knew that we wanted to take a couple of trips to celebrate, relax, have family time, see friends and family and just be together. So a few days after Brenner got home we took off to Southern California (which I obnoxiously called SoCal because all the the cool people call it that.  right?)

First stop was San Diego, which included Sea World, the beach, a lot of napping and resting and watching football and Brenner and Cole had a special father/son day at Legoland.

Cole begged to go on a spinning, whirling, fast ride with one of us.  I drew the short straw and Brenner captured the pure joy I felt while riding with Cole.

Staying late in the day resulted in a little extra time with the dolphins as they were enjoying dinner. Seriously the best part of the day and we have all decided that we absolutely have to swim with dolphins at some point in the future.

Love my hubby.

Yes, I am the owner of the child playing in her underwear on the beach.

My morning run view.  Yes please!

Next we went to LA where we spent a day with one of Brenner's best friends and college roommates Steve and his family. These three boys are too fun!

And then, on to (drumroll please), Disneyland!
We surprised the kids with a trip to Disney and somehow managed to keep the secret until the morning  we were going!  Cole has been asking to go for a while now since so many people we know have gone their for vacation.  They were surprised and thrilled!
They got to meet their favorite characters (although Cole was not really into that part but the girls loved it), go on lots of rides, watch shows and parades, eat treats and had some great family time.  Seriously, Brenner and I had a much better time that we thought that we would.  It was a blast and definitely a family trip to remember!!

Hooray for an GREAT family vacation!!

(and I even got to squeeze in my 16th half marathon while we were there!)