Summer Vacation 2026 - Hawaii (Part 1- Los Angeles)

We took an early morning flight to Los Angeles and arrived mid-day. We grabbed lunch at Manhattan Beach and took a look around the small aquarium.

Michael found cheap tickets to the Angels game while we were at brunch and we decided to make a detour and visit our 7th MLB stadium. It was Christmas in June and they gave away Angel Santa hats. The Angels played the A's. Neither team is doing great this year, but we still had a great time!

We visited Brewery X inside the stadium and grabbed some drinks and appetizers.

Conor and I shared some Cathy's Cookies while the other three kids had helmet ice creams. We have had a helmet ice cream at every ballpark we have visited. 

We had great seats! It wasn't an exciting game, but we still enjoyed the gorgeous weather watching some baseball.

After the game we made the hour and a half drive to the hotel at Ventura Beach. We checked in pretty late and went right to bed for our early morning adventure to Channel Islands National Park. 

The ferry to get to the park was sold out when we decided on our plan. Los Angeles was hosting the World Cup and the USA played the night before we arrived so it was sold out because there were so many people visiting. Our only other option was to charter our own boat. We kept attempting to book it, but did not get confirmation that we were officially booked until the day before. We really lucked out with our captain, who they had to pull in last minute. He has been the captain for National Geographic and specials for The Disney Channel, so we felt pretty lucky to have him as our guide. 

We ventured into some cool sea caves. 

Our captain was pretty skilled in finding pods of dolphins. We found a pod that he estimated was over 1,000 dolphins. The dolphins in the area are called "common dolphins."

Seeing portions of the National Park from the water. 

We weren't sure if we would be able to set foot on the land at the National Park. Private boats are not allowed to dock. However, our captain felt pretty sure that he could drop us off and then come back and pick us up. We walked around the National Park for a little while in search of the foxes that inhibit the island, but we didn't find any. Still so cool to see the island though! 

After visiting the National Park we went out in search of some whales. We saw so many humpback whales. The highlight was having a whale go underneath our boat and then pop up with two of his friends. It was pretty amazing to see three whales so close to the boat! After the boat tour we grabbed dinner in town on the water and then drove the hour and a half back to Los Angeles. We had a really early flight to Hawaii the next day! nWe really made the most of our time in L.A.  and got a little more accustomed to the time change before heading to Hawaii.

Spring Break 2026 - Albuquerque (Part 5)

We had a late checkout in Pagosa Springs, so we enjoyed our last morning soaking up these gorgeous views 

After a delicious lunch and morning in the hot springs, we made the 3 hour drive to our resort in Albuquerque. The kids all voted to make a stop at Kakawa Chocolate house on the way. We arrived at the resort in time for dinner and a gorgeous sunset. 

We were up bright and early the next morning for something that has been on my bucket list for a very long time! We have attempted to ride a hot air balloon numerous times and the weather has never been right. But what better place to check off this bucket list item than the hot air balloon capitol of the world! We were a little surprised that we took off from a mall parking lot instead of the hot air balloon field down the street, but it must have had something to do with the wind!

We had perfect weather and it was so surreal being up there!

Albuquerque is surrounded by mountains on all sides, so we had beautiful views the entire way. 

This intersection is known as the "Big I." It's one of the most complex intersections in the world, seeing over 400,000 vehicles per day. It's where interstate 40 and 25 intersect. 

I was a little bit nervous about the landing. But there was no wind, so the landing was so easy and was barely even a little bump! 

We celebrated a successful flight with a champagne toast afterwards!

We ate a big brunch and then headed back to the hotel to swim. It was gorgeous day, but a hot one! The kids bounced from the pickleball courts to the pool for the rest of the day. 

That night we took the Sandia Peak Tramway. It is the longest tramway in the United States and second longest single span tramway in the world. We ate dinner at the top at the restaurant. I wasn't expecting much, but every single one of our meals was SO good. 

We had beautiful views all around us!

We also had one of the most gorgeous and longest sunsets I have ever seen. The sunset started while we were eating dinner and was still going by the time we made it down the mountain. 

Just as beautiful at the bottom of the mountain!

We ended the night with s'mores by the fire at the resort. 

We did not have plans for our final day of vacation. So the kids swam in the pool and watched March Madness. It was a great relaxing day to end the best vacation!

I snuck up to the room to enjoy a glass of wine on the patio while the sun set and the kids finished playing. Beautiful view!