California Trip

What a needed getaway! The LSAT was over (not optimistic of what the results will be) and it was time after 9 months of school and stress to take a week off and runaway. It all started early Wednesday morning in the Salt Lake Airport. Despite our greatest fears, Karlee proved to be quite the good little traveler.


Upon landing in California we decided given the perfect weather we would head to Knotts Berry Farm and enjoy a day on the roller coasters. The two most exhilarating of the roller coasters were The Silver Bullet and Xcelerator. Kim's mom was kind enough to take Karlee for the better part of the day and let Kim and I ride some of the rides.
Karlee with Snoopy, she is doomed to have a phobia of oversized stuffed animals
Kerry and Karlee on the train
The scariest and quite possibly the biggest rush of the week was our experience on the Perilous Plunge which is said to be the steepest drop ride and comparable to Niagara Falls. . To say the least Kim was scared she asked me about every five minutes if we could get out of the line. . . but in the end I think we both would say that it was worth it. Definitely a stomach turning good time.
Here we come!
What would any trip to a park be without a minute down memory lane on the bumper cars?
Oh and somewhere along the line we found a bobsled. . .
Kim had a swingin' good time
Merry go round and round and round

I had to try to beat the high score in the 3-point competition. Although I didn't beat it I walked away with a reassurance that games at parks are rigged and even if they give you an ugly little dog as a prize it never is worth it.
Karlee was all smiles
We were fortunate enough Thursday to get into to Disneyland for free as through a family friend we got a free day in the park. Having only one day in the two parks we were running around and manipulating the system (better not indulge to much info) to make sure we didn't wait in line very long. . . our longest wait was 25 min which was much better than the 95 minutes we spent waiting for one at Knotts. We hit every ride we wanted to and decided that no matter the price difference there is no true substitute for Disneyland, it really is worth every penny (especially when it is free).



We were worried about going on Pirates with Karlee but she handled the whole experience pretty well.
It was so nice for Karlee's Great Grandma to join us on Thursday
Us on the Winnie the Pooh ride.

At the end of the day, Karlee was still willing to give us some of her cheesy smiles!
Friday we relaxed a little as after two days on our feet it was nice to take it easy. We did venture down to Seal Beach to put our feet in the water and eat at the Diner at the end of Pier. It was a wonderful day.



Rubeys Diner. . . Despite all the hype of the location, the food was as expected average.
Friday night we went to a family friends home in Mission Viejo, the Heflers. We ate a wonderful meal and sat in their heated pool. We laid Karlee down and after a while we went to check on her and found the Hefler's dog Tori curled up next to Karlee. . it was one of those cute moments.
Saturday we went out to lunch and wandered the mall in Long Beach, but for the most part just took it easy as we had worn ourselves out. Sunday we went to Church, ate a meal together and spent the evening playing cards with Grandma Ballard.

Today the dreaded reality hit that we now have to return to the stresses of life and get buckled back in for everything that is to come. One thing is for sure, we all need vacations sometimes. There is something about getting away as a family that brings families closer together.