A quick getaway

We decided at the last minute to go away, just the 4 of us. We surprised the kids, I got us all packed up and told them to get their suits on cause we were going to the beach. We went to Mandalay in Oxnard. When we parked and walked into the hotel lobby the kids were confused and then after Jake got us all checked in the kids asked, "are we staying here?" Yep! "we are?!" There were huge grins and pure excitement. They were so excited when we got in the hotel room to see every little thing. "Look at this, look at that!" We LOVED every minute. So fun to be together and spend that time. I told my little family as we were walking on the beach together that this is heaven on earth, being together in such a beautiful place.
This is us in the hot tub...
We were at the pool first and then we were at the beach and then back to the pool.
Showered and went and got pizza.
Picked up a liter of icecream and 4 spoons.
Got free nachos and popcorn from the hotels Happy Hour.
Went back to the hotel room and ate icecream, nachos and popcorn. What a combination! :)
When we checked in the reception upgraded our room to ocean view, THANKYOU!
We watched the sunset from the balcony of our hotel room.
We watched Yogi Bear.
Went to sleep.

Totally worth the one night, would do it again! :)
I LOVE this little family of mine!

Mandalay Beach

This year for my birthday and for Jake's birthday we decided we wanted to go away to Mandalay. On Monday we packed up ourselves and the kiddos and drove to Oxnard, to Mandalay Beach and stayed 2 nights and came home today. We have gone there several times over the years with my dad and Tori but never by ourselves. Mandalay is a great beach and a great resort. We always have the time of our lives. Every morning you get a free breakfast and this includes a freshly made omelet to your liking. Jake and I got an omelet with potatoes both mornings. The kids would get a smorgasbord, a piece of bread, some fruit, a muffin, a pastry (Ashton called it a donut), Sierra would get bacon and sausage and some Fruit Loops. My favorite part of being there by ourselves is that my kids played together so nicely. We got there on Monday afternoon and put our stuff in our room and then headed out to the beach and then to the pool. We went to the Whales Tail for dinner and brought back with us a slice of chocolate cake to share. When we got back to the hotel we ran out to the beach and sat on the sand wrapped up in a blanket and watched the sunset, then we walked down the beach a ways and then went back and watched Night at the Museum 2 and ate chocolate cake. Yesterday the sun was out the moment we woke up. Me and the kids went to the beach at 10:00am and Jake met us down there about 11:00am, he doesn't love the beach quite as much as we do :) and we were at the beach or the pool all day until about 5:30pm we headed back to our room to take showers and then we went out to have pizza. We all got a little sun toasted that day! Today we packed up our car after breakfast and then went out to the beach for about an hour and at the beach we saw dolphins swimming in the waves and jumping and playing so close to shore just like we saw at Point Dume about a month ago. When the kids started complaining about all the sand in their suits we went to the pool for a bit and when the kids were done we left. We enjoyed every minute!

I just love this man of mine!

Looking for sand crabs...





This is Sierra's garden, she made and was watering it with the watering can...


This is Ashton's garden that he made and was watering it with the other watering can...


This sand way back here was so warm...


This was our hotel, The Embassy Suites

Ashton is swimming in the giant spa

I played paddle ball with Jake and I played a little bit with the kids but this was me most of the time; relaxing, reading and snoozing.



There's Ashton's cute little crack again :)

Jake is a FUN daddy!!!

The kids made these "stick warriors" yesterday and they were so thrilled when we went back this morning and their "stick warriors" and their gardens were still there.

A GREAT VACATION, GREAT MEMORIES!!!