d-land

Bret and I had a fantastic Valentine's/President's Day week with my family in sunny California, just a couple weeks after my last trip to Cali to visit my sister :). It was the first time the entire fam has been on vacation together since I was like 13 I think. The size of our family has grown considerably since then so it was great being all together as we visited beaches, restaurants and Disneyland.

The Udall crew (includes some Smarts, Cannons, Bowens and Millers)
I love going to Disneyland with kids and seeing them soak up the magic. It was the first time for most of them too which made it extra special.
A boat to ourselves makes for some rowdiness on Small World and Pirates.


Making a plan. Miraculously, we had only a few meltdowns and we stuck together for most of the first day.Yep, my brother-in-law is man enough to sport a Mini Mouse visor.
Bret really is so much taller than me. I only remember that when I look at pictures like this.
Sisters.Waiting for the Pixar parade at California Adventure/ ready to go be done with Disney.
Apart from Disneyland, we made the most of the 80 degree weather by visiting a few beaches.

Dana Point- our favorite spot.
Laguna

Point Dume in Malibu (with my parents and Bret this time)

Apparently this beach is a hot spot for filming movies. If you look at those rocks in the pictures above, it's supposedly the spot in the film Planet of the Apes where you see the Statue of Liberty sticking out of the sand. We also heard that Tony Stark's house from Iron Man is there. When we went there this time we noticed a random movie set on the beach and a film crew packing up for the day. Apparently this set will represent Chile in a scene from an upcoming Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz movie called Knight and Day.
Thanks to the whole fam for sharing your time, pictures and dreams with us. And a special thanks to my parents for making all the magic happen. We'll never forget it.