Universal Studios with the Batemans

On Day 2 of this Bateman family vaction we went to Universal Studios! I like Harry Potter, but my sisters are OBSESSED. Like, they have all listened to the audio books so many times I've lost count. Going to Universal Studios but especially Harry Potter world was one of my highlights for sure. Trying butterbeer was sooooo goooood! Being there with the Harry Potter music going on was just magical. Joel and my brother-in-law Ryan were able to take work off, and it was so fun having the whole family there. Emma and William were champs!!

I will say my favorite part was the new Harry Potter ride. To wait in line was at least 120 minutes, and Joel and I thought there was no way our kids would wait (especially in that heat!!) while we waited in line. We had basically given up hope that we just couldn't ride the ride while having small kids. As we took a picture with the conductor in front of Hogwarts Express, he told us about child swap. What we did was go with my parents in the child swap line. My parents waited with our kids as well as Cam and Berks while Joel and I rode the ride, and then we swapped! My parents then rode the ride while we sat with the kids in a designated room. Genius, right??! They even had a movie playing for the kids in this air conditioned room. All together the ride took maaaaybe 20-30 minutes for us to ride the ride. Definitely the highlight of the day!! That ride was AMAZING.

SO MANY PEOPLE

How Joel and I felt at the end of the day haha

Poor Emma. She got a little sunburned the day before at the beach, and her face was a little swollen at Universal Studios

Newport Beach with the Batemans

Playing catchup on the blog!!! I have been REALLY bad at keeping it up to date lately! I'm workin on it ;) be prepared for an overload haha

My whole family visited us in California for a week in July! In total, that is 13 of us. To say my kids were in heaven is an understatement ;) constant entertainment for them, and we had a blast spending time together! We had Monday until Thursday to go to the beach, Universal Studios, and Disneyland. We decided to start off our week by heading to Newport Beach! Spending time on the beach with small kids is no easy task, and somehow it was still hard even with a lot of adults to help. I think it was worth it, although I wish we would have gone to a more mellow beach! The waves were a bit too strong for Emma and my little sisters Cambria and Berkley, so they always needed someone there to be with them in the water. Emma was scared of the waves maaaaybe 80% of the time haha. She freaked out over the water for a while, but then once we got some food in her she perked right up and went back to her happy self! My littlest sisters Cam and Berks hadn't been to the ocean before, so they spent the WHOLE day jumping over the waves that would come in! I don't think I've ever seen them so happy and giddy before. William was a champ all day and rarely fussed. When he did get tired I just fed him some food and put him in his stroller and he was out! I wish someone would push me around in a stroller while I slept ;) All in all it was a perfect day relaxing with my family.

I love her wavy hair! She definitely didn't get that from me!

Berks and Cam had these smiles plastered on their faces all day!