On day 5 we hung out with our friend Captain Bill at the fire station. I've been on many fire station tours, but this one took the cake!  Captain Bill showed us and taught us everything from how the firemen live in the firehouse, to who cooks, who cleans, where they sleep, work out, play games, how they train, where they have meetings to what they do when they get a call. He talked to us about how they lay lines; break into homes on fire, how to save people from fires, wreckage and more!  I left that fire house wanting one of my kids to grow up to be a firefighter one day!   Oh, AND something I found a little shocking  - Hubby had NEVER been on a firehouse tour!  How is that even possible?!

We had an amazing day at the fire station.  A special thanks to Captain Bill and to all the other Firefighters out there that help keep us safe!  (Just on a side note, Boy 3 is now not sure he wants to be a teacher when he grows up, he is now thinking of becoming a firefighter in 13+ years.)  Thank you Captain Bill for the AWESOME tour!

I hate to be the one to say it, but I'm going to...California Adventure park is SO MUCH MORE FUN than Disneyland.  Really, I'm not joking.  To be totally honest I was a bit disappointed in good ol' Disneyland.  Is that because we have been to Disney World?  Maybe.  I don't know.  It just wasn't impressive. California Adventure on the other hand was full of fun!  Our first stop was......

And all six of us rode it.....

The bellhop waiting to escort us to the elevator...

And here we are on the elevator.....

Boy 3, you know our tough guy?  He was so tough this entire ride, didn't cry once, but was absolutely scared to death - a side of him I have NEVER seen.  When the elevator door opened and we saw ghost, he said with HUGE eyes, "Mom that is my nightmare"!   Boy 2 was on the other side of me hanging on for dear life.  I have never felt another person shake so much in fear as that boy was shaking.  I'm surprised he didn't break his little hands he was holding onto the bars so tight!

After getting off the ride Boy 3 told me again that was his nightmare and he was certain he would not ride The Tower of Terror ever again.   Everyone else ran around and got in line again. 

Another thing I LOVED about CA is the 'little' parades that kept coming around!

A bugs life, so much FUN!!  And maybe I'm biased, but I have some pretty cute bugs!

The 'kids' had lots of fun running around in Tarzan's Tree House!

About to hang with the Muppets!!

I can't believe I forgot to show you this!!  The candy is a jaw breaker.  This is the BEST deal at Disney.  We bought them on day 1 for $2.99, the biggest jawbreaker we could find!  It comes in a closeable package and hangs around the neck.  The kids all had one (well except Boy 1) and they licked and licked on these things....this one is about 1/3 of the way complete.

The cutest box of toys I have every seen! 

Ahhh, what a great fun filled day at California's Great Adventure!

As you enter the park, this sign says it all.......

Can you believe we have never taken a family trip to California?  Hubby has been several times, I have been a couple of times, but we have never been together as a family.  How can that be?  Well we fixed that problem this week.  Spring break + block leave = VACATION!!

Our California vacation started off a little hairy.  I don't know what I was thinking when I booked our flight out of Austin at 6:30AM.  That means we had to wake up at 3AM - OUCH.  Seriously - what was I thinking?  In the end it all turned out fine even though we ALMOST missed our flight due to the MANY, MANY spring breakers and the ending of South by Southwest – the Austin airport was a ZOO! I have never seen it so busy!  I’m sure we gave a few people a good chuckle as we were running to the gate without our shoes on.  I’m telling you we looked like the Clampetts  (you know, from the Beverly Hillbillies) back packs flying everywhere, Hubby dragging Boy 2, me dragging Boy 3 and trying to make sure we had picked everything up as we went through security, me yelling “where is girl”…it was quite a sight. (Thank God we had Girl! ;o)

Upon arriving into California I couldn't believe how green and plush everything is!  There are fruit trees everywhere!  Ahh, I could get used to this.  Boy 3 told us California reminded him of Hawaii and Boy 1 is thinking California might not be a bad place for our next PCS move - I couldn't agree with him more! 

After getting a little rest & catching up with an old friend we decided to hit Hollywood!   Along the way we saw Capitol Records......

When we reached Hollywood Boulevard there were all kinds of people dressed up as characters...I didn't realize they were 'working' for money at first, I just thought they were freaks.  ;o)

The boys enjoyed hanging out with Shrek....

And seeing his star....

Mickey was a favorite of all the kids!

Here we are hanging out in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre.  It was once stated that “to visit Los Angeles and not see the Chinese is like visiting China and not seeing the Great Wall.”   I don't know about that, but it was pretty cool.   

Where else could I get this close to my main man John Travolta (sorry Hubby)?  It was almost like I was holding his hand.

And it was fun running into Marilyn Monroe!  (With my friend T that I haven't seen in 20+ years.)

I had read on Trip Advisor that when you visit the Kodak Theater you could go to the 3rd or 4th floor and have a great view of the "Hollywood" sign.  I'm glad I drug everyone all over that mall to check out the sign.  See it?  It is WAY in the back.  ;o)

We finally happened upon Hollywoods Oldest Italian Restaurant, since 1949 & decided to stop in for a bite to eat, and it was well worth it!! Everyone LOVED their meal.

And look!  We saw a STAR!  This dog was so cool, just haning out in the back of his human's truck.

After hanging out on Hollywood Blvd we headed out to get up close and personal with the Hollywood sign.  The kids were so excited when they 'thought' we were there.

Little did they know we were going to 'explore' all the way to the top!  The security guard at the bottom of the hill told us it was a 30 minute walk to the top.  I don't think that security guard has ever hiked to the top...this took us a good hour to get to the top, but it was fun and I'm glad we did it, even though I was wearing (super cute) heels...

After about an hour we are finally at the top and behind the Hollywood sign!  The kids have never been more excited!  Check out that view! 

After a long day in Hollywood, we headed back to my friend’s house, put the kids to bed and headed out to dinner.  I have been dying to have GOOD sushi since being back in the states and after doing a little research I was determined to eat "Sushi on Fire!" - Everything I read about this place was positive and it was ranked #1 on Trip Advisor for best sushi in Huntington Beach. Sushi on Fire did not disappoint.  This was the best sushi I have eaten since being back in the states....plus, you get free sake with your meal so it is a win/win!