We got a late start and headed out in search of good donuts and great coffee. Coffee Bean here we come! The hotel put on an Easter egg hunt for the kids, not once, but twice, leaving Ally and Hudson asking us every five seconds if it was time for the hunt. Good thing they had two hunts, because between both, my kids got about two eggs a piece....thanks to all the older kids who snatched almost every egg within 1 minute of the start time. Lucky duck H found an egg with $20 inside, so we let him buy our lunch. The hotel had brought in bunnies for the kids to feed and pet. Hudson was smitten. I have a good idea of what might be on his birthday list this year. Ally rounded up all the blow up bunnies and pinwheel decor, while Hudson stayed bent over, admiring and petting the bunnies.
After all the Easter excitement, we dined at the snack shack on the beach. Dan tried talking me into moving to CA, but as tempting as it was, Washington is our home. The second day at the beach was much cooler. I planted myself on my towel, then wrapped everyone else's towels around me to keep warm. It was cold! The temperature had no effect on my chidren. They happily dug in the sand and even went into the water. Brrrr.
For our Easter dinner celebration we ate at Dukes, the restaurant right on the pier of Huntington Beach. Dan named their coconut shrimp the best he'd ever had, while we gazed out the window to the beautiful view before us. We reminisced our entire trip, asking each other what our favorite parts were, and felt sad it was our last night. After dinner we walked down the main strip, checked out all the cute surf shops, and in true Keller style, ended up in the ice cream shop. By the time we got back to our hotel, the kids were due for bed, and I had the fun job of packing up everyone's suitcases. Our trip had come to an end.
The next morning we said goodbye to our new favorite Huntington Beach destination, and headed towards our last Coffee Bean experience for awhile. With pastries and caffeine in hand, we hit the road to LA.
The travel part of vacation is always the worst. It's no fun lugging car seats, suitcases, and two little children through rental car companies, on and off shuttle buses, and through airport security. But it had to be done. We managed to make it to our airport gate in record time, leaving 60 minutes to spare. Dan took off with H for snacks, while Ally and I waited. I looked up and noticed Ally's kindergarten teacher sitting across from us. It's a small world after all. Ally was thrilled to see her teacher in the faraway land of LAX. Mrs. T had spent the week relaxing in Palm Springs. How nice. She asked about our trip and I quickly rattled off our vacation. Suddenly her spring break in Palm Springs sounded much more relaxing than the way we had spent our last 7 days. We had walked miles and miles through the parks of Disney, waited in more lines than I'd like to count, removed sand from places I never thought possible, all the while dealing with tired, overstimulated children out of their regular routines. From that day forward, I decided traveling with kids is not a vacation, it's a trip.
Our trip had been filled with precious memories, delicious desserts, and more fun than we could have ever anticipated. The missed naps, the expensive dinners, the bathroom breaks that had to be made right as we got to the front of the 90 minute wait lines, were cancelled out by all the special moments we had spent the last 7 days creating. We boarded our plane, waved goodbye to LA, and by the time we were up in the sky, Dan was already planning our next visit.
"What if we went back for Christmas?" I'm not kidding, Dan's words exactly.
You never know, this year's Keller family Christmas card might come with 4 sets of mouse ears.....
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