Southern California

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Narrowing down is always such a difficulty for me. So this is epic. Sorry.

The last week of August, Aaron and I flew to California for a summer vacation. I had a free companion certificate to use and Aaron's cousin was getting married... so those were both kind of excuses that we had been looking for in order to go down there again. We had a blast.

My Mom took these photos. The one was on the way to the airport when Aaron was fresh out of bed and not yet quite awake. The other one was taken about 10 minutes later at the airport when he realized where we were going.

Me & Aaron
One last photo before we fly out.

Boarding the plane, the flight attendant asked if Aaron wanted to see the cockpit. It was a first for us. The pilots let him and me both come in and sit in one of their seats. Pretty fun... a great start to our vacation.

Disneyland

Just entered Disneyland ~ All smiles.

Pluto & Aaron Jr.

Last time we went to Disneyland, Aaron Jr only talked about seeing four characters. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. Well, we got a photo with Mickey Mouse last time, but no one else... this time, we got one with the other three, but not Mickey Mouse. Aaron was really excited.

Donald Duck & Aaron Jr.

Goofy & Aaron Jr.

Aaron's a natural at the wheel. See his confidence? :)

It was fun being the passenger while HE did the driving.

Leslie & Aaron

Aaron, Isaac, Malia
Leslie, Christa, Steve, Aaron

On the 'It's A Small World' ride, Aaron discovered that he could splash water on people... poor Steve had the privilege of getting the splash through most of the ride.

Aaron even moved up to sit on the same bench as Steve so that he was closer to the water and his target. Steve got Aaron back though and this was them through the whole ride.

Woody, Leslie, Aaron, Jessie

Aaron was really excited to meet these characters.

Steve & Christa's family with Woody & Jessie
Thanks to Christa for saving us spots in line. :)

Aaron with Tinker Bell & Silver Mist

Aaron with Mr. Potato Head

Aaron & Me
After one of our favorite rides. The Toy Story Ride.

Aaron ~ Isaac & Grandma Harkness
Aaron & Steve ~ Grandma Harkness

Leslie, Christa, Steve, Aaron, Sue, Malia

Aaron & Leslie

Christa, Leslie, Malia, Aaron, Isaac

Isaac & Aaron

Aaron & Leslie (Me)
The caterpillar ride. It was our last ride of the night.

Leaving Disneyland ~ All smiles.

We had so much fun at Disneyland again. We love it there. It was a really really hot day, but we still had such a great time. One of these times, it would be fun to go and spend several days in a row. Someday.

Trygve & Shelby Wedding

This is Aaron's cousin, Trygve, and his new bride, Shelby. I had the honor of going to their wedding ceremony in the Los Angeles Temple. It was a beautiful ceremony. Just like my own wedding ceremony, I cried all the way through this one. They will be so happy together. Afterward, we went to their wedding dinner in Santa Monica. It was so beautiful.

Grandma Harkness, Aaron, Grandpa Harkness at the Los Angeles Temple.
Abigail & Sierra on the beach at the wedding dinner.

Shelby & Trygve
I wish them so much JOY.

Corona Del Mar

Aaron & Me

Steve pulling Aaron down this little water outlet to the ocean.
Aaron after his ride.

Steve pulling Malia.
Steve pulling Isaac.
Grandpa Harkness pulling Aaron.

Aaron searching for treasures in the rocks. Mostly finding little crabs. One of them bit his finger. He didn't try to touch them again after that.

Malia & Aaron & Isaac
Creating little avalanches and riding down on the sand.

Aaron

Sand Turtle, Malia, Leslie, Aaron, April, Isaac
We are the group who built this turtle out of sand. It turned out really cute.

By the time it was completed, the kids and adults had covered each little circle on its back with shells we found on the beach. It looked so neat. Wish I had a good photo of the finished product, but nope.

Aaron getting ready to get pulled through a wave by Steve.

Malia & Isaac

Aaron & Malia sure had a great time on beach together.

Christa headed into the water on a boogie board and there was another one sitting there not being used. It is rare for me to get completely into the ocean because I get so cold, BUT... I decided to go for a ride and accompany Christa. We both got out there and started talking and realized after a while that we were drifting pretty far. So we headed back in and caught a few waves on the way. It was really fun. I'm glad I did it.

Leslie & Christa

Malia & Aaron

Aaron Jr. ~ My darling boy.

Aaron & Me

Huntington Beach

When we go to the beach, Aaron is ALL SMILES.

I love watching him have so much fun.

Aaron & Me

Aaron Jr. ~ We LOVE Huntington Beach.

LegoLand

Leslie & Aaron

Darth Vader, Aaron, R2-D2
Aaron Jr is the only one in this photo NOT made of Legos.

Aaron on some rides.

Another ride. ~ Aaron with Bob the Builder

I felt like it was appropriate to have a photo of Aaron taken with this one since Aaron was Bob the Builder for Halloween last year. :)

Aaron ~ A Knight in Shining Armor

Huntington Beach ~ GoodBye

After we went to LegoLand, we headed back to Huntington Beach. We tried to get there before sunset so that we could watch the sun go down over the ocean. We made it and it was so beautiful. We were not in swim suits and it was actually getting quite chilly by the time we got there... but do you think that stopped Aaron from enjoying the waves? NOPE. He got wet and was in heaven... AGAIN. He just can't get enough of it.

Watching him enjoy it so much made me laugh and it always brings me so much JOY watching him have so much fun.

He is such a happy kid.

Some beautiful shots from the trip.

The reason I love Huntington Beach so much is because Aaron's brother Steve and his wife Christa used to live there... so Aaron and I would go and visit them there. We always had such a great time and going back there reminds me of Aaron. Such great memories there with him.

My sweet and amazing little boy. I LOVE Aaron Jr. so much.

Me & Aaron

It was sad leaving the beach that night because we were flying out the next day. It will be a while before we see the ocean again. Aaron's shorts were so wet and it was so cold AND we were going to go to dinner after the beach, so I had to take his wet clothes off and he wore my sweatshirt to dinner. It looked like a little dress on him, but at least he was warm. We ate at the IHOP on main street there right up from the pier. Main street is always fun to walk around on. We love it there.

Aaron signing 'I LOVE YOU'.

It was a fun trip. Aaron and I were there by ourselves for four of the 7 days. We had so much fun together. It was good bonding time where we played when we wanted to play, we relaxed when we wanted to relax, we ate when we wanted to eat, we slept when we wanted to sleep. We had a SPLENDID time.

The End.

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