California Lovin'

This past week we loaded up our car and set out for the 10 hour drive to Newport for our one and only vacation this summer. We spent the week with the Reynolds clan shopping, eating, playing on the beach, and soaking up some much needed sunshine.

The Reynolds have spent numerous summers in Newport staying in beach houses right on the boardwalk, and I used to go with my girlfriends during High School (I missed you all dearly), so we were all thrilled to get back there. We ate at all of our favorites places—Sharkies, TK Burgers, Charlie’s Chilis, Jane’s corndogs, and we all about ate our weight in Seaside donuts. Needless to say, we brought back a few extra lbs in addition to our suntans. But as Justin likes to put it…tan fat is better than white fat :) Right? 

We shopped and shopped and shopped at Fashion Island, Huntington Beach, the Las Vegas outlets, and all the little shops on the boardwalk. And I almost brought home a little puppy Maltese that we named Mo, but Justin wouldn’t let me. And yes, I do expect all of you to give him a hard time about this when you see him. Because it broke my heart. But no worries, I spent half the drive home on my phone searching the KSL classifieds for a new one :) All in good time...

 We spent everyday laying out on the beach just soaking up the sun, sleeping, and reading. I finally read The Help, a book I’ve been dying to read forever but just haven’t had the time. But I was determined to finish it before the movie comes out, and I absolutely loved it. Seriously one of the best books I’ve ever read and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

On Wednesday we woke up at the crack of dawn to head to…DISNEYLAND!!! I haven’t been to Disneyland in years and it’s one of my very favorite places…so I was giddy like a little girl the whole way there. We were there from open to close and I loved every minute of it. Justin may have had his Disney fix for the next few years (he gets a tad but queasy on the rides) but I already can’t wait until I get to go back with my little kids. It truly is the happiest place on Earth :)

A tab bit wet from Splash Mountain...

And one of the best parts of our trip? We got to spend a day with our good friends the Clevengers! Bryan and Amy are Justin’s good friends from college, and are probably the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Plus their baby McKay is a doll. I couldn’t get enough of his blue eyes and chunky little legs. The Clevengers drove a whole four hours from their home in Fresno just to spend the day with us and we were so glad they did. Plus our good friends the Nielsen’s were there for the week just four streets away, so we got to hang out with Dave and Mckell too. We love you all!

Now we’re finally home and back to real life. We’ve got about four loads of laundry to do and lots of homework to catch up on, but it was 100% worth it. We loved every minute of our trip and just wish we could’ve stayed longer. Thanks Corinne and Terry for such a fun week! We love you so much!