There's More to SoCal Than Disneyland

Over the past three summers, we have made it a family tradition to load up the car and travel to Orange County to visit Danny's sister and her husband, and to enjoy some of the local attractions available. We have done the requisite Disneyland and Universal Studios theme parks, as well as some of the malls in the area. This year, we decided to do something different.

When Danny was a child, his parents took their family to a theme park called Knott's Berry Farm. He remembered that it was a fun place that he and his siblings enjoyed immensely. I had never heard of it, however I welcomed the opportunity to explore something new. It turned out to be some of the most fun our family has ever had.

We went on a Friday, and because of the current economic downturn, the park was mostly empty. We rode almost every ride, some several times, and only had to wait for one of them. Jacqueline made us all proud by fearlessly riding two (non-looping) rollercoasters, which is an amazing feat, considering she would not even get on a coaster with kids half her age 3 years ago. The fact that she agreed to go on these two rides, and even asked to go on more than once, makes us very proud and happy.

Here are some silly hat pictures !



Nice sombrero, but boo-worthy jersey (because of Kobe Bryant).




It's Nemo ! And he's sitting on Jacqueline's head !

And after this awesome day of thrills and fun, I finally put it all together: Knott's Berry Farm is not only a great amusement park; it is also the maker of my absolute favorite raspberry shortbread cookies.

How cool is that ?

And of course, our main reason for the trip was Danny's sister and her husband, and their beautiful bundle of joy.



Danny's family is notorious for producing the cutest babies, with the most plentiful cheeks anyone has ever seen.

Sweet little Juliana is no exception.