My family and I recently returned from a vacation to Anaheim, California. When I tell people that, their first question is always about Disneyland yet I can say with conviction there is a lot more to the Anaheim area than just Disney!
What did we do in one week?
We had a swashbuckling Pirates Dinner Adventure
We petted sharks and fed stingrays at the Aquarium of the Pacific
We discovered the science of rockets, Ripleys, hockey & recycling at the Discovery Science Centre
We explored the Queen Mary and appreciated her history, elegance and grandeur.
We watched people in parkas in Southern California experience ice skating at the Chill
We got our toes wet and sandy at Huntington Beach and ate some pretty epic fish tacos
We visited the USS Iowa, a WWII era battleship
We spent a few hours at the Nixon Presidential Library including the 37th president’s birthplace and burial ground.
We visited Knott’s Berry Farm, the original American theme park and had dinner at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant. It was some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had!
We went to Universal Studios where we did the Jurassic Park and Transformers rides twice each and had to beg the kids not to go a 3rd time!
And of course, we did Disneyland too!
That’s a heck of a lot of activities to pack into one week in Southern California but we came back happily tired with a wonderful sense of renewed family togetherness. It’s a really cool feeling, making memories together! From now on, whenever the children are acting up, my husband says “Stop this foolishness” and they will reply “What sort of foolishness do you want to see” because it’s a line in the Muppet Vision 3D attraction that struck them as hysterical.
We can say:
Remember the time the big wave splashed you at the beach?
Remember when mommy and daddy made us go on the Tower of Terror?
Remember riding the roller-coaster 4 times at Knott’s?
Remember how cold the ‘heated’ pool was?
Remember the giant LEGO Belle & Beast?
And we are all instantly transported back to this time together. Remember; it’s an awesome word!
Over the next two months, we’ll be sharing more memories of our California adventure so stay tuned!
Thank you to the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau for helping arrange our visit to this fun-filled part of sunny California!
For more great ideas of family fun things to see and do in Southern California, be sure to visit www.anaheimoc.org
