Best Mother-Daughter Date EVER!

With all of the fun and exciting things going on in the Mosier home lately, my blogging is a little behind. Prepare yourself for an epically long blog post and lots of pictures.

We recently had my mom and Katy with us for 10 days, which a much anticipated and wonderful time for all of us. We squeezed just as much fun as possible into those 10 days, leaving us exhausted by the end of the trip, but it was well worth it.

 What is the first thing you want to do in in Southern California? Head to the beach, of course! We spent our first day beach hopping around San Diego. Our first stop was La Jolla Shores, and then we went to Ocean Beach. Since Mom and Katy are used to frigid Oregon beaches, they were pretty excited to splash in our relatively warm water.

 We finished up that day exploring Coronado. The beautiful Hotel Del Coronado is a must-see here in San Diego. I love it.  By the way, isn't my sister gorgeous? I think so.

Coronado has the most pristine beaches I have ever seen. There is a man there who builds sand castles for a living. He builds a new one every few days on the beach for tips, and he also hires himself out for parties, engagement photos, advertising, etc. Is that not the coolest job ever? I am seriously tempted to change professions.

 Saturday, I took Mom and Katy to explore the Navy base and showed them the joys of being able to see movies for free. After church on Sunday, we watched an organ concert at Balboa Park and Kelson and I gave them a driving tour of down town.

 Monday was the big day. We drove up to Anaheim for DISNEYLAND! It really is one of the happiest places on earth. You can just feel the joy bubbling up inside you as you step in the gates. No, I am not exaggerating. I just really love Disney.

Haunted Mansion!

Katy, once again, looking beautiful. She is very skilled at that.

Minnie is my favorite :)

We started off our second day at Disneyland with 2 rounds of Splash Mountain, which had no line that early in the morning. Of course, we got soaked. Forgive our slightly bedraggled state in the rest of the pictures from that day.

Every girl is a princess at Disneyland :)

 By the end of the evening parade after 2 long days in Disneyland, Mom was exhausted, so she left Katy and I to enjoy the last couple of hours in the park. We finished up with a third round of Pirates of the Caribbean and two more rides on Splash Mountain. Of course, we couldn't leave without a picture with Walt and Mickey.

 After Disneyland, it took us a day to recover before we could tackle another park. I failed to take any pictures that day. We explored the area between Anaheim and San Diego-San Juan Capistrano, Carlsbad, Del Mar, Cardiff by the Sea, and everything in between on the coast highway. We got a little too zealous in our beach play at Cardiff and had to drive home with wet clothes.  It was worth it.

Thursday, we had one more day in a theme park-Sea World! While perhaps not as magical as Disneyland, it has its own special brand of wonder. Who wouldn't love to play with dolphins for a living? I know that I would.

Katy and I waiting for the dolphin show to start.

Checking out the tidepools

Giant turtles!

Mother daughter love :)

 At the end of the day, there was no line for Atlantis, Sea World's version of Splash Mountain, so of course Katy and I decided to go twice. By the end of round 2, Katy was soaked, and we were ready to go home, but the ride attendant decided we needed one more, so he just started the ride up again. Since Katy was practically drowning by the end of round 3, we decided that was about enough. I thought it was all pretty amusing.

Friday, we went to lunch at Blue Water, a delicious seafood place in Mission Hills that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  Kelson even sneaked away long enough to join us. Next, we went to the Mormon Batallion museum and Old Town. That is the fourth tour I have given of Old Town without Kelson. Some time I am going to have to figure out how to go there with him.  It was a fun day.

The Wells Fargo museum in Old Town

The view from our balcony. We live in a lovely place.

 Saturday, we finally got to have Kelson with us, and we decided to spend the day in Julian. On the way, we stopped at Kelson's grandparents' house in Escondido and showed Mom and Katy around their garden and orchard. Citrus fruit only comes from grocery stores in Oregon, so it was fun for them to actually get to pick it off of trees.

 I love my mom! She is wonderful. You can't really tell from the picture, but this tree is covered in avocados. Mom was quite amazed.

 Kelson picked these oranges and tossed them to Mom so that she and Katy could try them. Unfortunately, Mom didn't see the second one coming, and it caught her right in the face. She was pretty stunned, and Kelson felt terrible. Luckily, Mom survived without any lasting effects from the orange attack. At least it was a tasty orange.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Ries!

We drove up the mountain to Julian, ate some delicious pizza for lunch, explored the town, and then finished up with some famous Julian pie. What a great day!

The next day, it was time for Mom and Katy to go home. It was a treat to have my two best friends (besides Kelson, of course) here for so long, especially when I am living far from home.  We love you, Mom and Katy!  We are also all very grateful to Dad for staying home and working hard so that the rest of us could have so much fun. Love you Dad!

Stay tuned for the rest of our update. The post on our anniversary trip to Idyllwild should be up soon.