The Koetting Family: California Dreamin'

After staying in town all summer because of having my sweet Jacob, we decided it was time for our 1st family vacation as a family of 6! With the 2 hour time change going west to California, we were able to fly, check in to our hotel & go to Disneyland for 2 hours all in the first day! I don't have any pictures to document our 1st day, as we hadn't unpacked at all.

It's always good to take a little break with a mini-nap - such long legs my 8 year old has!

Ready for Disneyland, Day 2!

They had a nice visit with Prince Ali & Princess Jasmine.

Thankfully Disneyland is quite family friendly & I was able to take Jacob on most rides with me. But there were a few with height restrictions, which left Isaiah off. Amazingly, it didn't bother him much, which was a blessing! Abigail & Isaiah had fun playing around the honey pots while Dan & Colby went on Splash Mountain.

Day 3 - California Adventure:

Playhouse Disney Live! Now, Colby didn't get up and dance around, but he didn't mind coming to this more for Abigail & Isaiah!

In California Adventure, they have a Redwood Creek Challenge Trail that Isaiah could have spent the entire day playing in. I think he went down the slide probably 50 times! Jacob decided it was a great time to have a nap - with his eyes 1/2 open...

That evening we saw the water/light show at California Adventure, World of Color. It was pretty awesome!

Day 4 at Disneyland:
The longest line we stood in all week was to see Tinkerbell and the fairies... I waited in line with my little princess for 45 minutes for a minute experience meeting a few fairies - but it made her happy :-)

We rode the Buzz Lightyear ride quite a few times - so much fun!

We played a few hours our last day in Disneyland, then drove down to San Diego for the remainder of our vacation. While we were making our way to the gate, we saw Arial walking around & were able to stop her & take a few pictures!

Isaiah just saw these pictures & asked why she was out of water... Such thoughts!

The next morning, we went to Sea World.

Abigail & Isaiah loved touching & learning about the sea stars!

We all got the chance to touch & feed a dolphin.

Saturday morning, my internship director, Dr. Barbara Reuer of MusicWorx, from 9 years ago met us for a nice breakfast by the bay. It's hard to believe it's been 9 years since I spent 6 months living in San Diego to finish my degree in music therapy. Such great memories! She said of all her many, many interns past & present, I have the most kids! Makes me smile.

We journeyed to Balboa Park for the afternoon, visiting the Science Museum & the Natural History Museum.

Where's Abigail?

Then, we drove over the amazing bridge to Coronado Island to enjoy the beach.

Jacob & I attempted to stay warm, dry & sand free.

My other 3 kids did not - they were sandy, wet & cold!

But happy!!

On our last day in Sunny California we went to Oceanside to take part in their Harbor Days Festival.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Mission Bay & really enjoyed the resort! The kids had a great time swimming, going down the slides & enjoying the hottub.