15 Adults, 11 Kids, a Dog, and Lots of Pictures

We finally returned home late last night (who knew it could take 10 1/2 hours to drive from Carlsbad-don't you love holiday traffic?) from our Thanksgiving week trip, so here are some highlights and too many pictures from our trip:

Tuesday night:

We drove down to Missy's house in Ladera Ranch after Ben got home from work on Tuesday. We slept over there for the night. Baylee was a little out of it when we got there, but was happy to see a familar face-Grandma Hall was there for the night, too!

Wednesday:Wednesday we hung out at Missy's a little in the morning, and then loaded up the kids and us and went shopping at Irvine Spectrum. It's a cute little shopping center that is complete with a ferris wheel, carousel, and ice rink. It was pretty cute, and we got some last minute gifts we needed for the fam. Afterwards, we waited for Missy's babysitter while she went to work, and then left for Carlsbad. We stopped at Jenny's and hung out and had dinner, then Kathy and I had to go brave the grocery store to get food for Thanksgiving dinner and my desserts. It was a little crazy and took us a little while to find everything, but we survived. After that I made two of my desserts that needed to sit in the fridge overnight, and then we finally made it to the hotel to crash for the night.

Thursday/Turkey Day:
Thursday was a busy day. It started out at the beach for a workout/relay races compliments of Jenny, which I unfortunately don't have pictures of, so I will have to get some from Ben's parents. Even though it was 60-something degrees in the water, Baylee had a blast getting her feet wet in the ocean and playing in the sand. She got sad when we chased the birds and they wouldn't let her get close enough to play with them. It was cute to see her have so much fun at the beach, especially since last time we took her she kinda freaked out about the sand and water.
After the beach we got cleaned up and then headed to Jenny's to make food. I got my other two pies made, and Baylee had a blast with ther cousins while I was busy: Baylee loved playing with Mike. Not her Uncle Mike, the dog Mike. Although she does like her Uncle Mike, too. Her and Mea had a blast chasing Mike (the dog Mike) around.We ate a little later than scheduled, but we were all excited for food. I had to get up a few times to cook my pies, and Baylee thought she'd steal my chair while I was gone. She loves food!Baylee and Mea had a fun time together. We dressed them matching, and I even made them matching hair clips, but they wouldn't cooperate for pictures. Later we were able to get this shot of them.After dinner and dessert, we did a little Christmas party. Since we won't see each other for Christmas, we did our present exchange on Thanksgiving. Baylee sure liked presents! She tried to help open other peoples for them, and was happy when she finally got her own.Mea had Baylee's name, and Baylee loved the cute Puddlejumper shoes she gave her! She immediatly wanted her shoes off and her new green ones on. They didn't match her outfit the best, but that didn't keep her from wearing them on the rest of the night.

Friday:Friday we dodged the shopping crowds and all went to Legoland. This is one of the three rides Baylee was big enough to ride (since there is no height requirement).She eventually left my lap for her daddy's lap.Here's Brant and Simon showing how we felt about Legoland. Ok, it wasn't too bad, just not the best place for littler kids. But, it was still fun...The choo choo train was our last ride for the day. Baylee decided to sleep through the storybook boat ride, but woke up just in time for the train. Missy looks pretty excited there!
After Legoland we did a girls night/boys night thing. Girls went to dinner at Panera and got frozen yogurt, and boys had lobster that Andre had caught the night before. Then the girls hung out and played DDR on the Wii and the boys had bonding time by the fire.

Saturday:
Saturday morning, Anna, Wendy, Laura and I got up for a quick trip to the outlets. After that I dragged Ben to Islands for lunch and then the mall. We had a family dinner at Buca di Beppos at 5, and then Baylee and I went back to the hotel room to crash.Baylee caught a stuffy/runny nose and didn't sleep well during our trip which also meant I didn't sleep well (which isn't a good thing for the people around me), so we had an early bedtime Saturday night.

Sunday:Yesterday we said goodbye and finally left at about 12:30 to come home. It was a long car ride! Baylee was a little out of it when we got home. But she was excited to see her pumpkins were still there and ok.

We had fun seeing everyone and spending time with Ben's family. It was a good break and a good week. We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and we are looking forward to Christmas!