Family Fun Day

Back in the middle of March we had a fun Saturday as a family.  John had been working a lot and Brody had been sick a bit, so a family fun day was in order.  John planned the whole day and did a great job.  We first went over to Huntington Beach down by the pier to eat at a breakfast place that John heard was great.  We really have never ventured out to this part of town, so it was fun to see how Huntington Beach rolls.  It very laid back and much different than South OC.  I really liked it, though, and the people seemed very cool.  Our next door neighbor is from there and he is exactly this way, cool, laid back, an awesome guy.  I could get used to this town.

We ate at the Sugar Shack Cafe.  It was very crowded all around this place, even at 9am on a Saturday.  You could tell it was a popular place to go for both old and young.  We waited about 40 minutes or so for a table, but it was well worth it.

Once we got our table, we waited some more.

The kids were entertained coloring.

The food was really good.  John got a breakfast burrito while I got eggs and bacon.  Brody got french toast and Piper pancakes.  Everyone was very happy.  Our family loves breakfast food, though.  Breakfast food places are our favorite types of restaurants to go together and we are always on the hunt for a great one.

After brunch, we stopped at South Coast Plaza and did a little shopping at the Macy's to get some bed items.  After that we jumped malls to the Spectrum to take the kids to see the latest kids movie, the Lorax.

  

The kids had been wanting to see it and they sure loved it.  They still talk about it.  It was a pretty good movie.  John and I dozed off for parts of it as we always do with any kids movie we watch with them.

After the movie it was over, we dropped by Costco for some things before heading home.  It was a full day and we all enjoyed the time out of the house.  Way to go John for the great day!

Getaway, Modern Family, and a Baptism

In the beginning of March and hours after we saw my family, John and I left early Friday morning and cashed in on my birthday present: 24 hrs away from the kids and a day at Disneyland.  Wahoo! We dropped the kids off early that morning with Lee and Aneta and drove back down to D-land.  It was just 24 hours after they ended their 24hr Leap Year Extravaganza where the park was open for that crazy amount of time.  We figured all the diehards were already done for the week.  It was still a busy day, but definitely not insanely crowded like it had been.  We stuck to rides that we couldn't do with the kids, and were extremely efficient with our time.  It was very liberating running around without a stroller, bag, cooler, and kids to worry about.  It was the best day :)

What made it even more awesome was Modern Family was taping there all week.  We love that show!  We were lucky enough to see some of the cast filming scenes and I got some great pictures of them.  They had ropes everywhere with Disney staff all over forcing you to move on. 

Just a part of the equipment that was everywhere.

After seeing the roped-off areas, we went on a few more rides before actually finding some of the cast.  Here is Ed O'Neil (Jay) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell) watching the playback of a scene between Dumbo and Casey Jr.

And talking with the director.

Everything must have looked good because they were both whisked away past Casey Jr and round the corner backstage.

I tried to follow and get in front of them to get a good face shot, but there was this extremely slow group of people in front of me that weren't even gawking; pretty much going no where.  I missed my shot and then they were gone.

After that, we walked back to Dumbo, and John noticed that the extras were all in their places.  It looked like something was going to happen very shortly.  He was right too.  A minute of two later, here came Sophia Vergara (Gloria) and Rico Rodriguez (Manny) to get on the ride.  It was a tough shot, but somehow I managed to get some good moving shots of them.

After the always-fun celebrity sighting, we finished up riding all the rides we wanted to in the mid-afternoon.  We headed home, got cleaned up, and had a nice dinner at Macaroni Grill.  We finished up the night watching Moneyball, which we both liked.

The next morning, our nephew Adam was getting baptized, so we drove up early, picked up the kids and attended a great baptism. Tyler did a great job with the ordinance and Great Grandpa Brown gave a wonderful confirmation.  Everything went smoothly and Adam was so happy on his special day.  We were glad we got to share it with him.

Afterwards, we all gathered outside for a lunch with friends and family.  Brody was so excited for Adam and we was right there next to him as he opened all his cards and gifts.  

Now we just have a couple more years before Brody's.  Can't believe that is almost here!

It was a great time away.  Huge thanks to Lee and Aneta and Tyler and Kristi for watching the kids.  Poor Aneta twisted her ankle on Friday, causing her to be bedridden for a while.  I felt so bad that it happened while she had all the kids over and so much going on.  The kids, as always, had a ton of fun and were pooped on our way home.  Hooray for fun times with family!