Fall Break

Fall break was extra special this year, because the boys and I were able to go to Long Beach, and stay at Grandma's house (who wasn't in town). We also invited our friend Allison, and her girlfriend Jen, to come along with us.

We got in late the first night, but were ready to explore the beach in the morning.

I was very nervous about taking them by myself. I know Allison was there, but since she had her girlfriend with her, I knew we wouldn't see them much, and I would be on my own with them most of the time. Which seems silly, because I always have them by myself, but being out of our environment, and especially at the beach, still made me super anxious.

We found this cute playhouse right on the board walk and I loved how the neighbors decorated it for Halloween.

We took a long walk on the beach, played in the sand, and then rode scooters on the board walk. 

The boys quickly discovered their love for Grandma's bathtub every night and they still talk about it today. Unfortunately Grandma is remodeling soon, and the tub will be replaced with a new one. I had a love/hate relationship with these baths, on one hand they had so much fun and it contained them for over an hour, but they were so wild and loud, and the bathroom flooded more than once. 

On our second day there, we went to the boardwalk downtown, to walk around, and get some ice cream. The boys had fun rolling down the big hill by the lighthouse and it felt nice to get out. 

Every night, the boys and I took a walk on the beach during sunset. Fox is very sensitive to the light, so he didn't like being out in the middle of the day very much.

I seriously love watching them play together, and while they can be real turds to each other, they can also be so sweet.

See the orb? I have a video of him walking on the beach and it kept following him. 

This was a big day for me. I took the boys to a theme park, ALL BY MYSELF! I was so nervous about it, because I had never done it before, but it went amazing and I felt so empowered by the end of the day.

We went to Knott's Berry Farm, and I've only been once before when Fox was about two years old, so it was Finn's first trip there. They had a big section with rides that we could all do together, which worked out great, and Finn loved every minute of it.

His first rollercoaster and he was a big fan!

Everything went great, until Fox wanted to ride big kid rides. He was able to go by himself, but wanted me to join, which wasn't an option because I also had Finn. He was very upset, and opted not to go at all, which made me feel guilty, but I was only one person and there was nothing I could do. 

Everyone ended up having a great day though, but I think I would need another person to go with us next time, just until Finn is tall enough for the bigger rides as well. 

Another beautiful sunset walk with my best boys.

We were trying to escape the waves and this was his face, terrified and excited at the same time.

Not sure we had enough bubble bath...

Grandma's house is right on the ocean, but if you cross the street, you can walk to the bay side, which is awesome for the boys to play in.

We didn't last very long, but we had some fun building sand castles. 

I really wanted to visit a pumpkin patch while we were there. I researched some options and Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch seemed great. It took forever to get there due to the traffic in L.A., and while the pumpkin houses were beautiful, the entire patch was set up in a parking lot, was fairly small, and it was very hot. 

They were laughing because there's a chicken on top of the goat. It's the little things...!

We went to dinner, and once we got home the boys somehow convinced Allison and Jen to go into the water with them. Fox had the best time of his life and I was so happy to see him this excited. 

Jen was such a good sport.

On our last day in California, we drove to San Diego to meet up with one of their half siblings in Legoland.

Trying to get a picture of all of them together was a sheer nightmare, so this is the best we got...at least the moms are looking in the camera and smiling.

It had been over two years that we had last seen Jack and his mom, and it felt so good to finally bring the boys together again and catch up. 

It was a beautiful day, we walked around a lot, and rode lots of rides.

Fox was trying to explain the "brick or treat" map to Finn. 

This trip ended up being just what I needed. It was so nice to spend this down time with my boys, no work at all, just spending time with no chores or distractions. I don't think we will all make it back to Long Beach until next summer, so this was the perfect fall break for me.