After our big day at the Zoo and Old Town, we had another early morning to make our way up North for our next destination: Anaheim! Before we checked in to our hotel, we wanted to make a few stops on our way. First up, was La Jolla Cove to visit the sea lions!
We could hear the barking as soon as we got out of the car, and that got the kids super excited to see them. As soon as we peeked over the cliff, we found some friends, basking in the sun!
Directly below the sidewalk were some birds nesting, and while most of them were laying on their eggs, there was one Mama who had two hatched babies with her (middle)! It was awesome to watch.
We made our way to the point, and I took Nolan down for a closer look. There were lots of little baby sea lions, which we both fell in love with! One in particular was waddling around, back and forth, until he fell into the cracks of the rocks with a tiny splash! Luckily, he made his way back up and found its way back to Mom.
Nolan went for the waves instantly, while Acelyn was a bit reserved with the water... she wasn't too sure about this whole beach thing, and needed some time to warm up to the waves. The water was pretty rough, and there were constant lifeguards on duty to regulate how close people were getting to the pier, as well allowing people to go out only a certain distance because the waves were just so hard and high.
Acelyn never really did love the waves, but she did get braver and touch the water with Grandma, and enjoyed running away from them as a game each time after a while. Nolan absolutely loved running in and out of the water, kicking and splashing with each entry.
Soon enough, we decided to hit the sand and bust out our buckets and shovels, where the kids entertained themselves for some time, digging, pouring, and repeating. They were super serious about their sand work, and completely loved spending our time there for a little bit over an hour.
They passed out on the ride to the hotel, which ended up being a way longer drive than expected since we hit some major traffic, as well as a huge memorial processional on the freeway for a local fire chief. When we arrived in Anaheim, we checked in to the hotel, changed and headed down to Downtown Disney for some walking around and dinner. We met up with some friends of my Mom, who also have a son a few years older than Nolan. They suggested dinner poolside at Disney's Grand Californian, where we ate outside and the food at White Water Snacks was surprisingly realllllly good!
The kids were ready to burn some energy, so we took them down to the Lego Store in Downtown Disney, and Nolan loved looking at all the huge lego displays.
We went separate ways from our friends, as they were heading for a late night in the parks, and we were going to head back to the hotel to rest up for our big day at Disneyland! On our walk back, we grabbed some churros (btw... the rose gold churro is the best!), did some window shopping, and watched some festive candy apples get put together at Marceline's Confectionery. YUM!
Back at the hotel, I drew up a quick bath while the kids watched the fireworks from our hotel window. We were all SO excited to visit the park bright and early the next day.... Stay tuned!
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