Makenna's Beach and Disneyland Birthday!!

So, I always wait until I have time to post pictures and do everything and then I realize it's been like two weeks since I blogged so I'm just going to write! Our little surprise for Makenna's birthday turned out soooo well!! Thursday morning, the 15th, we just got ready like normal. I had everything packed in the car except my toiletries so Makenna didn't really suspect anything. She didn't understand why her Dad was still home when she was up and ready for school though. Usually he leaves so early that she doesn't get to see him or only for a minute and then he is gone. I just kept telling her that she woke up way too early!! I even snuck their pillows and bears into the van when she wasn't looking. She finally started suspecting when we were loading up in the van and they saw their pillows and blankets and activities ready for them to do. Makenna started to get really excited and asked if we were going to the mountains. We decided that since the mountains aren't that far and in the opposite direction of where we were going, we instead told her that we were going to the beach!! She has been wanting to go to the beach for awhile since her cousins moved to Cali so she was beyond excited about that!! Her and Jordyn both screamed! Little did they know that it was only half of what we had planned:) We got all loaded in the car and headed towards Cali. They asked many times....are we there yet??? We didn't have any directions really. We just put Huntington Beach in the GPS and went. We ended up asking the toll booth guy for a map and looked for a spot ourselves!! We just drove down Pacific Coast Highway until we found a sign that said Parking and followed it. We really have no idea where this "parking" was but as soon as we turned in, the beach was right there and just to the right (across from some houses), there was a perfect parking spot right at the end. We literally parked right off of the beach. I couldn't believe it! And it was kinda semi private! Later on, as we were driving to our hotel, we saw the "BIG" parking area where everyone parks:) I guess it was either Newport Beach or Hungtington or somewhere in between. Anyway, this was nice because all these houses lined the beach and it was so pretty!! The girls were beyond excited! I had either stretchy pants or shorts on the kids so they could walk through the waves breaking on the beach! Even Aiden got his feet wet!! That is until a HUGE wave came in and wiped them all out!! Yup...they all got soaked (well except Jor...she didn't get too wet:) and then they were freezing!! I stripped Aiden down to his diaper and then put his sweatshirt on and wrapped a towel around his legs. I had a change of clothes for them all but was going to put it on them after we were all done! We had just gotten there!! So I took Kenna's shirt off and put her jacket on her to try to keep her a bit warmer. That seemed to do it but her teeth still chattered. It wasn't too cool but it sure is once you are wet! That water was freezing!! Anyway, the girls had a blast running through the water and Aiden loved exploring and playing in the sand! I made a cute castle for him! They complained about the sand and salt in their pants once we were all done though and I tried to get as much off of them as we could when I changed them into warm clothes for our trip to the hotel. It still wasn't pleasant because Kenna kept asking every five seconds how much longer we had to drive;) Thankfully, we ended up being only 11 miles away from our hotel!! How's that for not really planning:) We got to our hotel and all showered to get ready for the real surprise the next day which was her actual birthday!! I think I was more excited! She just thought we were staying the night and going back to the beach for a bit with Grandma and Papa the next day and then going home! Little did she know.....;)