Redondo Beach

I love the beach and a vacation just doesn't seem complete unless you visit a beach! So, Ben and Sarah took us to a gorgeous beach just 10 minutes from their house. We only had a couple hours to hang out there and we enjoyed every minute of it! We even got a show from 4 dolphins as soon as we got there!!!

Noah and Ella were still checking out the dolphins as they were swimming extra slow to give us a longer show! Parker and Savannah were more interested in playing in REAL SAND!the boys didn't last long with the sand toys before they got brave in the waves

Noah got caught by the first wave! He was trying to run away but he doesn't have enough experience with beaches to know about the slight uphill so he did a faceplant into the sand and the wave WON! Surprising to all of us... he thought this was hilarious and went back for more wave action!

silly guy... ya never know what will make him cry or laugh but we were thankful he found it funny to be soaked by freezing ocean water and covered in sand!

meanwhile, these 2 cute girls were dry and full of cousin hugs on the sand!

I love this pic of my knock~kneed Savannah watching how much fun her brothers were having...

then, "Uncle" Ben helps the girls get more brave with the waves...

and that's all it took, Savannah started in with the wave racing too!

and wave dancing!

LEGO fanatics at the LEGO store

these 2 "Goofy" boys love spending their time putting together LEGO creations so when they heard that we would be visiting a LEGO store they started saving their shoveling money since last Christmas. and it's a good thing they did because they each had a blast darting from aisle to aisle trying to figure out which set or Hero to buy!

while this li'l girl's brothers were busy shopping... we wandered through the store checking out all the huge LEGO creations! Savannah decided she needed a picture with Woody!

and Parker spent most of his time at this booth creating LEGO men. He had his 3 LEGO men all created and he was ready to go buy them but after more consideration... he realized he would have more fun with a new HERO, instead of 3 LEGO men! Love to watch them figure out what is a better buy!After Noah found his favorite buys... he also had fun checking out the LEGO creations. This giraffe was too large to capture the whole body but you get the idea, right!?! ;o)

epic 1st time at DiSnEyLaNd

DiSnEyLaNd... where dreams do come true! We had a ball at Disney! The wind was howling, it was chilly and there were tons of lines but that didn't stop any of us from having the times of our lives. These uncles decided the kids' Christmas gift was their ticket into Disney and that was the best gift they could have received!

The Kroon brothers in front of the castle~ not a normal Kroon picture which is why 2 of them decided they needed to be cheesy!

And what fun to do Disney with cousin Ewwa and Cason. We're glad our first time at Disney was with you guys~ thanks for showing us all the best rides!

Disney rides 'n such

Savannah was most excited about riding on the Dumbo ride! and Noah was thrilled to ride on it with Uncle Teagen!

what boy doesn't have to try to pull the sword out of the stone!?!both of ours just had to try...

this li'l girl loved seeing Disney in Uncle Tills' arms! it was super windy and rather chilly the day we went to Disney so she kept her hoody on most the day and Uncle Tills was happy to have his li'l heater!

Buzz Lightyear was the fav ride for all our children. The boys were super competitive with their scores and I'm pretty sure Savannah didn't even know you could get a score... she just liked pretending she was shooting!the all~star uncles and their nephews having the time of their life!

Star Tours was also a favorite for the boys!

but Savannah wasn't too sure about the jerkiness and how real it felt to be running into things and getting shot at! such a girl!

couldn't pass up this shot of our backwards GoOfY!!!

Disney Christmas parade

Uncle Teagen, you are one of a kind! We could not believe how much you knew about Disneyland. We would ask him where a bathroom was and he had us at the closest one within minutes. Then, we would be walking along and he would point out different historical facts about each area of Disney!!! But, the best part about all his Disney knowledge was he got us to all the right places at the right time... hence our front row for the parade! Unfortunately, he was not informed that the parade would be delayed for an hour but it was all good because all our legs got a much needed break! Here are some of our favorite parts of the Christmas Disney parade:

Eeyore~ I love this guy... his gloomy attitude always brings a smile to my face!

these reindeer cracked us up!

Disneyland at night

Disneyland is so pretty at night but at Christmas time it is absolutely amazing! Unfortunately, my camera and photography skills don't do it justice but here is my shot at showing you how many lights they set up! This is the front of "It's a Small World" which we didn't attempt to ride due to the insane line of people and because the song would have driven Kep insane! ;o)

Savannah eating yet another snack in good company with her favorite new cup, proudly bought with Christmas money from Popeye and Mo~mo!

2 GooFY boys and a sweet princess Minnie showing off their souvenir hats! Noah and Savannah's hats fit their personalities to a T and then there's Parker that surprised us all with his very goofy hat, which he wore all day long!!!

Toon Town was the best!

Savannah at Minnie's home and mailbox!

The uncles, who were game for anything, taking another picture... you guys are the best! ;o)

Kep was so excited for yet another family pic on our family vacation... looks like he's ready for a quick getaway! Actually, the backseat was rather tight for us but the kids really wanted to "drive" us around!!!

This pic was taken after being at Disneyland for 12 hours... I know, noone looks tired! We had a blast and we were so thankful the kids were amazing!

Finally, at 11pm each of them gave in to their tiredness and fell fast asleep in the car! At which time Kep and I were thankful for peace and quiet! What a fun day that we will remember forever!

California aquarium

Ben and Sarah were so great to us... they had our 3 days in LA packed with fun! Our first day we headed out to this FREE aquarium! In AK we have alot of cool things to go visit but all of them are rather costly! So, my frugal self thought this aquarium was extra great! The kids loved checking out all the exhibits and they could have hung out in the fish tunnel for hours, expecially since there were SHARKS!