Long Beach

This post has a ton of pictures, which I was feeling like people would think was annoying, but heck, I don't think anyone really reads the blog anyways! :) Plus it's our family journal, and it's pictures I want to remember from the day and have printed in our book someday, so be it! Enjoy my bad habit of taking too many pictures!

The Saturday that Matt's parents and brother were here, we decided to go to Long Beach to the Aquarium of the Pacific. It was a fun aquarium and the boys loved it and thought it was all so cool. It was enjoyable just being with the family and checking out the aquarium and the area around.

When you first walk in to the aquarium, you are greeted by the large whale, as you can see in the above picture. The bottom picture is a manta ray in one of the touching pools they have.

A few of the sharks there. I wouldn't want to be swimming with them!

If you're ever in dire need of a penguin or seahorse purse, the aquarium has you covered. I had to take a picture of the penguin purse, as my parents, or I should say pop, tease Matt about liking penguins, as we once had "The March of the Penguins" at our house when they were visiting. So I thought my mom would love to have this purse. I do actually think they are cute, though not my style. 

One of the HUGE aquariums, and the family taking a little 5 second break from the walking around.

Quinnie showing me his stamp he got and Winston getting a ride from dad. 

A picture of the coral. I loved the one coral that reminded me of a rose.

This was probably my favorite thing we saw at the aquarium. Ha! The divers, and this guy was quite the hoot. He kept waving to the kids, and having them give him high fives through the glass, and then he took out his breathing thing so he could smile for my camera. That cracked me up! (I also like in all these pictures, you can see Quinn's reflection.)

Then he had to turn upside down and give Quinn high fives again. I thought they were very entertaining to watch.

A view of the divers as we were walking away. I would have probably stayed the whole time they were in there to watch them. Ha!

They had a little tank with seahorses and then right next to it, a tank with these 1 week old seahorses. They were so very tiny and cute. I loved how some of them were hanging onto the plants. I just couldn't get over how tiny they were. I showed Winston the baby seahorses and he kept saying, "baby" to them and talking in his baby voice. It was funny.

The top picture is not a great picture of them, but it's a picture of the sea dragons. They were so cool looking. I thought they were very interesting. I just had to take a picture of the Seal named Milo. I was happy to see they named him after my brother! :)

After we had enough of the aquarium, we went across the street and ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. I've seen them several times, when we were in Florida, and various places here in Cali, but we've never been. They have the Run Forrest Run sign and if you flip it over, there is a Stop Forrest Stop sign. That's how you can get your waiters attention if you need anything. I thought that was funny. Matt's holding the ping pong paddle, which had the dessert and drink menu on it. Our waitress gave us a quiz on Forrest Gump trivia, and for the kids, a trivia quiz on Finding Nemo.

I think my kids usually drink more pop then they eat food at a restaurant. Though Malcolm did eat a lot of crab and shrimp Matt had.

When our waitress found out the reason of Matt's family visiting for Matt's graduation, she told Matt that they'd have to bring out a sundae later and sing to him. She did not disappoint, and they even made him dance. It was too funny!

After Bubba Gump's, we decided to walk over to the lighthouse and have a little stroll. We at first had thoughts of going to the beach, but I think we were all too tired from the slow stroll through the aquarium.

I love the name of this fishing boat, Provider. I thought it was a cool looking boat. 

I can't get enough of palm trees, and soon I won't get to enjoy them any more. It makes me so sad!

The family strolling along with all that beautiful scenery. 

The family again, and proof that I was there as well, with my shadow. Hehe! Those are the best self portraits of me. You can even see my guns! ;)

When we got to the lighthouse, Malcolm decided to roll down the hill. His brothers did it as well, but Malcolm rolled right into some mud. All over his arm and shirt. Grandma got him mostly cleaned up with some diaper wipes. I'm glad I still carry those around.

A couple different shots of the lighthouse itself. 

Love all the sailboats docked. They are just so cool looking with the palm trees as well. Also a picture of the Queen Mary. It would have been cool to go there as well, but only so much time and money!

Boys will be boys, and so the racing up and down the hill began. Quinn is so funny, as he gets so frustrated when Malcolm always wins. So dad had to get in on the action and beat Malcolm.

Poor little Win took a tumble. The kids food at Bubba Gump's came in a little paper boat that held it all. Winston and Quinn had to take them. Winston was enjoying playing with his, when he dropped it, and then the wind kept blowing it away from him. You know the classic scenario when they bend down to pick it up, and then at that moment the wind moves it away. He kept doing that, and thought it was pretty funny, until he tripped and fell smack down on his forehead. The poor boy had quite the bruise and scuff on his head.

Love the sailboat with the beautiful buildings in the background. Then several other boats on the water. It was quite smoggy, so that's why the big ship in the background looks cloudy.

I think trying to get back to the cars took longer then anything else, as the boys had to keep stopping and exploring. I get so tired out from the slow walking and stopping all the time. I like to walk fast so I can stay awake and upbeat! Love this little Winston on the boardwalk, and his cute saltwater sandles enjoying the sand between his toes.

The boys steering us away on the boat of life. They all had to work together to turn that thing. The bottom is Nate, Cynthia and Quinn. Such a cute picture of them.

More palm trees, I just can't get enough of these beautiful wonders. Soon I won't get to see them anymore, and I won't get to enjoy that warm sunshine all the time either. I'll have to frame palm tree pictures for my house to bring the warmth and sunshine. ;)

I love all the different kinds of palm trees. I never knew they were all so different before we moved here, or how ugly they are if the dead palms aren't pruned off. The movies only show you all the beautiful ones, like these on the pier that are well taken care of.

When Matt and I were dating, he used to tell me he just wanted to live on a houseboat with his son out on the water someday. So we found him his houseboat. Looks like a nice one!