Disneyland - Day 1 continued (with video)

Disneyland - Day 1

On Our Way to Disneyland

We recently returned from our first real family vacation trip--Disneyland!

Here we are in the rental car shuttle in L.A. You can see by the inability to hold still for this photo that the kids were really wound up!

On Sunday we spent the day relaxing at the pool and exploring around the periphery of the Disney complex.

We got some ya-ya's out by going to a nice local park and letting the kids run. Here's Auggie checking out some of the cool trees there.

From right when we left the airport, Rose had noticed the palm trees, and both kids were interested in the exotic flora of southern California. Here they pose with a palm tree in the park--or at least the trunk of it.

We went over and wandered about what's called "Downtown Disney" which is a shopping area not far outside the gates. The kids loved the Lego store in particular. Above is Rose with the giant Lego block outside the doors. Below is August with a full-sized giraffe made out of Legos--too tall to get all of it in the photo, unfortunately!

Dinosaurs at the Seattle Zoo

I (Rob) took the kiddos up to Seattle to an exhibit of animatronic dinosaurs at the zoo. Unfortunately, the kids found that a bit too scary, so we only stayed in that exhibit a few minutes. We had a nice time, as usual, at the rest of the zoo though.


Riding a dinosaur.

Riding a snow leopard statue.

At the orangutan exhibit.

Charlie's Birthday

Well, our little friend Charlie has hit 2 already! We went over for a birthday celebration at his house where we stuffed our faces with good food (thanks, Tom!) and ran the place ragged.


Charlie (on the right) and almost-exactly-the-same-age buddy Emmett.

Our kids commandeering some of the birthday boy's things.

Charlie with Tom (dad) and Anna (mom).

Like father, like son.

Out and About in the City

On a recent sunny afternoon we went exploring a bit on foot.

Rosie feeling tired after a lot of walking downtown and a little snack.

Exploring one of the beach areas on Ruston Way. One of the things we've come to appreciate a lot about our area of Tacoma has been the easy access to beautiful waterfront areas.

And Auggie loves the big rocks piled along the shore in many places. He's become a real adventurous climber of late!