Breakfast at Joe's.
Then we went on the Skyline Tour. This was about a 2 hour bus ride up into the interior of the island ending at the airport. This was really fun and pretty relaxing.
Silly.
The Fam :)
Beautiful views along the way.
We saw several Bison on our trip. This one was right outside our bus window, so we got a really good look at him!
We had about 20 minutes at the airport to get a snack and stretch our legs.
Afterwards, the four of us got a quick bite at the small Antonio's. The boys had so much fun throwing their peanut shells on the floor!
That night it was Chris's birthday, so the Banks came up and we had a BBQ together. Eric had a blast and Uncle Andy and Joellen played with him even when he got crazy.
Day Eleven:
We walked to town and hung around.
Kind of a cloudy morning.
Lunch with the Banks at Koney.
Trying on silly glasses at the bookstore.
We went home, then the sun came out, so we went over and sat on Mom and Dad's deck for a while to enjoy it.
That evening we walked back into town for dinner at Armstrong's with Uncle John.
Eric got a dollar.
And a bubble gum ice cream :)
Yum!
Day Twelve:
Today we took the golf carts out to Pebbly Beach. Eric and Jake got to collect and throw rocks to their hearts' content!
Jakey, Mommy, and Baby Girl :)
Nicole and me
Skipping rocks
Argh, that stinkin' plug!
That night was Date Night! We tried out a new restaurant, The Avalon Grille. The food was yummy and we had a really fun time.
After dinner we walked around a little, got coffees and sat on the beach.
There was a gorgeous sunset that night!
Day Thirteen:
Jakey and Super-Tan Granny at Descanso Beach!
Swimming with Daddy
Nicole
Sarah and Sophia
Eden feeding fish with John.
Eric and Mommy - the water felt so nice!
That night we drove down and got fish and chips and took them out to Casino Point for dinner.
We brought our wagon thinking it would be helpful for hauling kids around, but we really didn't end up using it much except for when Christian gave the kids rides around the complex in the evenings.
Day Fourteen:
Today we had lunch at the Metropole, then Dad, Christian and John took Eric to the arcade. With all of them playing the games they won something like 3.800 tickets, so Eric came home with lots of breakable, junky toys -- and he loved it!! :) Didn't get any pictures, though...
When we got back to the condo after that, Eric started about a 3 hour tantrum. It was intense and he was not listening to reason. We almost stayed in, but decided since it was our last night, we should go out.
The whole group of us had dinner at Antonio's one last time. We had a lot of fun being rowdy and throwing peanut shells around the restaurant. And Eric snapped out of his mood, for the most part :)
Peanut Head
After the kids went to bed the grown-ups sat up and played trivia and laughed a lot. No one stayed up too late, though, since we had to get up early and get out of the condos the next morning.
Nicole
Wilma (that's not her box of beer)
Day Fifteen:
We all got up and packed up the condos Saturday morning. We were sad to go, but also ready. For a couple days Eric had been saying he missed his "real" house and "real" bath and his dog.
Walking down to town
Christian, the Pack Mule ;)
Brunch on the water
Walking around on the pier waiting for the boat.
One last stop at Gallagher's for a beer/root beer.
Back on the boat, heading home!
"Bye bye, Catalina"
We saw tons of dolphins on our ride home!
And also Blue Whales! (You can kind of see the water spray on the horizon)
The kids were beside themselves they were so excited!
The inevitable ride home shot :)
All worn out.
We had such a wonderful trip, and our parents were beyond generous in making sure we were all able to have a fun time. Even though it is a lot of work with little ones, the change of pace and time with family was priceless. Can't wait to go back!!
