FUNNEST. VACATION. EVER.

I don't want to forget anything about our Thanksgiving vacation to California, so be prepared for picture/post overload. (Sorry some of them aren't in order.)

The Parade

They had a really cute parade in the afternoon. (The theme was Dickens Christmas.) One thing I liked about Knott's is that they still say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays." Also, we went and saw Snoopy's Christmas on Ice and they read the nativity story from Luke II at the end and said that was the true reason for Christmas. (I don't know if you can see it or not, but Sadie had busted the bridge of her nose on a windowsill in the train earlier.)

Poor Sadie was terrified of the characters.

Goofing off at the hotel

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with the Knott's hotel. It was really nice and there was a heated pool and hot tub, a sauna, a gym, and basketball and tennis courts. Also, it was just a short walk to the park. On a different note, I know our neighbors hated us. My husband is the biggest kid I know and he treats his girls just like they are boys. He rough houses with them, wrestles them, tickles them til they cry, etc. They know they're lucky, though, to have a daddy that plays with them. He is the funnest father and husband in the world. Here are just a few of the antics we caught on camera while at the hotel:


Bryant insisted that only he had the right to take a picture with the Xcelerator because he was the only one brave enough to ride it. It was his favorite.

Our fun day at Huntington Beach

We got 8 park tickets in our vacation package, so we went to Knott's on Thursday and Friday and the beach on Saturday. The weather was beautiful, the beach wasn't overcrowded, there were no scary homeless people, and we just had ourselves a nice, relaxing day at the beach. I, of course, did not get into the freezing cold Pacific Ocean water, but Bryant and the girls did. Sadie had a great time playing in the sand. She especially liked to sprinkle it over herself and walk on it. In fact, she wouldn't let me carry her back to the car at the end of the day because she was really enjoying walking on the sand. Also, would you believe that Skyler and her volleyball teammate/friend found each other on the beach? Well, they did.

Footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater

Bryant is a huge Old Western fan, so he was excited to get a picture with Roy Rogers' slab as well as John Wayne's slab. Skyler snapped one of the Twilight Saga slab, but it must not have completely cured yet because they had it blocked off. Sadie saw all of us squatting and having our picture made with different footprints, so she found one she wanted to have her picture with, squatted down on it, and yelled for her daddy to take her picture.

Here are just a few of the stars we took pictures of on the walk of fame...

We took about a million. I'm sure you get the point.

[It is very appropriate that Sadie wanted her picture taken with Godzilla's star because she was Godzilla on the way home, but I must say she had been excellent during the whole trip up to that point. Speaking of the drive home, there was a terrible traffic jam going toward California, thank goodness. There was an overturned truck on the interstate and traffic was literally backed up for 30 miles behind it. It was so bad and people were stuck for so long that they just got out of their cars and walked on and around the road. I'd never seen anything like it.]

Hollywood

The girls wanted to see the walk of fame and the Hollywood sign while we were in California. We also went to Grauman's Chinese Theater, which is next to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. There are a few other really old pretty theaters on the same block. And we snapped a picture of the girls in front of the Capital Records Building.

FYI: Hollywood is ghetto. There are crazy people, homeless people, and people hassling you everywhere you turn. Also, we ran into Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. in the parking deck. I didn't realize it was him until Skyler pointed it out to me. By then he had already passed, so we didn't get a picture with him. Skyler is really mad at herself for not speaking up. We're big fans of America's Got Talent.