WE ACTUALLY GOT TO WEAR SWEATSHIRTS!

For the first day of our family vacation to The O.C. we took a harbor tour in Newport Beach. We had originally planned a 2 1/2 hour whale watching which was cancelled because of the wind. This was a good thing since #3 & #4 barely lasted the 45 minutes for the harbor tour.

Afterward we strolled down the beach with all the other tourists visiting the shops and sampling the donut and ice cream vendors.

The kids begged to go on the ferris wheel for $3.00/person.

"Are you kidding? We're going to Disneyland tomorrow?!"

We succumbed. $18.00 and 4 minutes later I'm thinking about how many other things that money could have bought!

Later we walked down Newport Pier and ate dinner at the grill there. The sun was setting, the wind was blowing, and I was actually cold! Then we experienced one of my most favorite "life's simple joys." We all ordered mugs of hot chocolate.

I don't consider myself a chocolate type person. I'll always take Skittles over Snickers, but there is something so wonderful and soothing about slowly sipping a cup of hot chocolate while you're cold. After the last drop had been drunk and feeling especially generous I ordered 6 more mugs! Nevermind how much it cost! I was sharing one of those moments with my family when everything feels right and as my dad would say, "it don't get no better than this!" This is my fondest memory from our trip.