Year: 2012

Days 14, 15, 16: San Jose to South Lake Tahoe | Total Drive Time: 4 hours | Total Distance: 190 miles

The last time the Holt brothers camped together was May 2006. There were no kids at the time and we spent Memorial Day weekend at Yosemite National Park. This trip had the addition of four children, which always kept us on our toes.

Our short three days at South Lake Tahoe’s Camp Richardson were filled with family time, s’mores, bike riding, beach time, fishing, watching bats in the evening, riding the trolley, and lots of imaginary play around the campground.

Days 12, 13: San Jose, CA | Total Drive Time: 0 hours | Total Distance: 0 miles

Our couple days in San Jose were spent celebrating birthdays and relaxing.

Ethan celebrated his 5th Birthday and Laura her 33rd Birthday with my family. We BBQ’d, swam, ate cake and finished off with the pinata. To Ethan’s surprise he received his first bicycle and loved it! All the kids rode their bikes before the evening was over.

Days 9, 10: Catalina Island | Total Drive Time: 0 hours | Total Distance: 0 miles

Our visit to Catalina Island was relaxing and low key (except the part where we thought my Grandma gave the condo to someone else for the week and we were suppose to leave a day early…but it was a mistake, so we unpacked our bags again). After visiting for a few decades we don’t have a lot of new activities that we plan. We have a routine that we enjoy.

This visit was about showing Autumn and Ethan the simple fun activities to do in Avalon. We spent a lot of time at the beach where they built sand castles and played in the water. We spent Thursday morning walking to the Casino. It’s a great location to view scuba divers, see the Avalon skyline, and take in ocean views. I thoroughly enjoy it out there. On Friday we took the kids for a drive in the golf cart. We headed to Wrigley’s Mansion where there are more wonderful views of Avalon and the surrounding area. A visit in never complete with a stop at the arcade (skeeball anyone?) and a soft serve ice cream cone.

Day 8: Disneyland to Avalon, Catalina Island | Total Drive Time: 2 hours | Total Distance: ???

Final day at Disneyland and we found Ethan’s favorite ride: Cars Land Radiator Springs Racers. Laura and I both agree that it was also our favorite.

We had planned on doing the Racers today since we had an early 7am pass to California Adventures, but after arriving at the park, signs showed that the Racers would not open until 11am due to maintenance. We weren’t going to wait until then without a Fast Pass. Lines without a Fast Pass have been 2-3 hours for the 5 minute ride. I jumped into the Fast Pass line where I had to wait 50 minutes (Fast Pass line opened at 8am) to get a 11:35 am-12:35 pm time slot.

Day 7: Disneyland and California Adventures | Total Drive Time: 0 hours | Total Distance: Lots of walked miles

We opened Disneyland at 7am. Closed Disneyland at 12am. What a long, exhausting, and terrific day!

I’ll let the photos do the talking, but here are some highlights of our second full day at Disneyland and California Adventures.

• Ethan rode his first “adult roller coaster style” rides. These include Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. He loved both of them.
• Ethan met Tigger and was very giddy about it.
• Ethan loved the Pixar Parade. Autumn cried and hung out as far as possible from the roaming characters.