Summary of our trip to Southern California. 

Friday, April 27:  After leaving our house as spotless as possible we headed to Tulsa and checked into the Hilton Hotel at the airport.  We left our car there for a reasonable price.

Saturday, April 28: We woke up at 4:30 am and left the hotel via airport shuttle at 5:00 am.  Elise was excited about the day beginning, but the early rising didn’t help with her emotional state by the end of the travelling day.  7:00 am we were boarded and shortly on our way to Denver, CO.  After one flight change we arrived in Los Angeles International Airport at about 10:00 am.  We’d been travelling nearly 5 hours, but had gained two because of time zones.  We picked out a rental car and travelled to John’s grandparents house in Palos Verdes Estates.  PV is a really beautiful neighborhood that is quiet and full of beautiful houses.  The rest of the day was spent going out to eat, napping for Elise and tired Mommy, and spending time visiting with Grandma and Grandpa.  Exhausted we turned in shortly after Elise retired for the night.
Sunday, April 29: We attended church with Grandma and Grandpa at a church that makes ours look very small.  After going out for lunch John, Elise, and I travelled south to Irvine, CA to visit friends-Tom and Kathy.  On the way we stopped at Newport Beach and found out that though Elise loves the sand she is terrified of the waves coming towards her.

Monday, April 30: Monday was spent relaxing at Grandma and Grandpa’s.  John helped Grandma set up a new monitor for her computer.

Tuesday, May 1: Disneyland!  We enjoyed several rides, including John and my favorites as children.  Elise liked them except for the “scary” ones, which were any with dark tunnels basically.  For these she would close her eyes and refuse to open them.  She enjoyed meeting Mary Poppins, Mickey Mouse, and a friendly pirate.  Our day ended when Elise began showing her need for a nap, and I started limping in pain from all the walking.

Wednesday, May 2: We took a drive North to John’s Aunt Sue and Uncle Mark’s house.  The drive took us through beautiful mountains, along the ocean, and through orange groves and vineyards.  Though it is not as green in CA as it is in AR, it has a spectacular beauty all its own.

Thursday, May 3: In the morning we visited Avila Beach.  Since it was fairly chilly to be out on the beach, we had a portion of it all to ourselves and enjoyed resting in the sun while Elise played in the sand.  She even thought it was fun to make sand angels.  She renewed her strong dislike of ocean waves, but by the end of the morning had managed to get up the courage to get her feet wet without screaming.  For lunch we ate fish and chips and italian ice cream.

Friday, May 4: Again we headed out for the morning, this time to a place called Morrow Bay.  There is a huge rock there called Morrow Rock and another beach and harbor.  We bought a kite and attempted to fly it on the beach, but were unsuccessful.  Elise gathered shells and pretty rocks and eventually begged to get in the waves.
She was fine until an unexpected wave would  hit her higher than she expected.  These waves were larger and there were several people out surfing.  In the evening, John and I left Elise to be watched by John’s cousins and went out for dinner and a movie.