DISNEYLAND!!!

(Sorry for the long post with lot's of detail but for journaling purposes it has been included!)

So our long awaited trip to Disneyland has come and gone and we loved every second of it and are so sad it is over. It has been what we have looked forward to for so long. It was worth all the wait and worthy of all the anticipation and excitement. I'm not sure who was more excited to go me or the kids! We built our countdown chain a month and a half before we left but hey can you ever start counting down to early when your talking Mickey and the gang. Nana and Papa took the entire family to California for a week. Even Aaron and Amy and the kids were able to fly in from Arkansas to join us! We left on Friday and drove to St.George. We stayed the night there and enjoyed a little trip to the Brick Oven and a stop to show the kids the temple. My sweet kids were just as excited for a night in St.George as they were Disneyland. The next morning we ate breakfast and headed out to California. The drive went quick with no problems other than Our choice of lunch spots in Barstow! (Who picked the Barstow Station anyways! Seriously!) We were so excited to get to Our Hotel and out of the car. It was warm and sunny and we were glad to be there. We settled in and made our way to the airport to pick up the rest of the family flying in. We were so excited to be together. We really enjoy our one week a year together. That night we made our way to the IHOP down the street from the hotel with our quaint party of 22. After a chaotic but fun dinner it was time for bed.

Sunday morning we woke up happy to see that the Easter Bunny had found us in Cali. We were a bit worried but he didn't let us down. We enjoyed the day visiting the LA Temple and the Newport Beach Temple (which is absolutely beautiful!) After the temple tour we had an Easter Egg Hunt at a park in New Port beach then we made our way to Huntington Beach to see the Ocean. We walked down the pier and then went down to the water so the kids could see it up close. We even managed to squeeze in a 7.2 earthquake while we were there. We wanted to give our kids the full California experience. They loved the beach and the Ocean even after a few wipe outs! Then it was back to the Hotel for some dinner and a few phone calls to insure our loved ones we were alive. Monday we made our way to Legoland. We were really excited and had heard so many great things about the place. It wasn't all that we had hoped for but despite a rain storm, a few ride malfunctions and a really expensive hot dog we still had a great time. The kids loved the fire show the best. We played hard and were ready for bed that night!


Tuesday was our first day at Disneyland. No matter how many times you have been it never gets dull. I love walking through the gates into a magical world. We spent the day in the park getting as much into the day as we could. Stratton got his train ride with Papa so if we accomplished nothing else we were okay. That is all he had talked about doing and he grinned the entire ride! Brooklynn survived the Haunted House after making herself sick about going on it. (Note to self never tell your child a ghost is going to ride with them. It makes for a really long wait in line with a child sick out of fear!) When it was all said and done and she saw the ghost in the mirror she looks at me and says "you could have told me that is all it was." (ya my bad! I should have told ya the ghost wasn't real.) We had lot's of fun and despite it being very crowded we squeezed a lot into our first day. The kids were all so good and had so much fun being with their cousins. We only managed to lose Stratton once which was enough for me. He was so good and had been all day and we came out of a ride and he got following someone else and got lost. It lasted about 5 minutes but for a mom who realized her 3 year old is lost in Disneyland on one of the most busiest days of the year it felt like eternity. Thank you to some really nice strangers who saw my panic and stopped to search they were able to find him and get him back to us! (Like I said we were going for the full experience!) Not such a fun few minutes but aside from that the day could not have been any better!

Wednesday we went to California adventure. I was finally able to experience the great roller coaster I was deprived of on our previous trip because I was pregnant. It was so fun. Who doesn't love some G-Force like that. Brooklynn rode with me on that one and once again she was very nervous which I don't blame her. The sweet thing thought she was going to die and spent a majority of the ride just saying "mommy, mommy." So I felt a little bad for making her go on it but hey I was just teaching her no regrets. That which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger right. Needless to say she didn't want to do that one a second time. Dax loved Soarin over California and laughed through the whole ride. We finally made it into the Playhouse Disney show after a long wait in line with Nana and Papa and 10 kids and an almost small fight with our newly dubbed "Tijuana friend." She made me just a little mad. But we are happy to report Papa and I bit our tongues (mostly) and no fights(only a few verbal exchanges) later we enjoyed the show. Papa especially liked sitting Indian style on the floor for 30 minutes in a really crowded auditorium! Good times! That night all the boys went to the Angles game. Phil was so excited for Dax to see his first Major League game. They enjoyed a great night at the ballpark while all us girls enjoyed a great night of dinner and shopping.

Thursday was our last day in Disneyland. Our passes allowed us to go one morning before the park opened so we got in Early and were able to get on a few rides before it got busy. Papa, Nana, Aaron and I took the little kids on all the little rides while everyone else went on a few of their favorite bigger rides. We had a fun morning. Brooklynn got another ride on Splash Mountain and Dax got to see the Jedi Training so they were happy campers. We spent the morning in the Park and then did some shopping and made our way back to the hotel for some swimming and naps. That night we went to Goofy's Kitchen for dinner. This was definitely the highlight of the trip. We had so much fun there and the food was really good to top it off. The kids thought it was the greatest thing to have all the characters come see them at their table and sign their autograph book! So much fun!! That night we watched the lights parade and took in a few more rides before the fun had to end! We had such a fun day and such a great trip. We couldn't have asked for anything more. Great weather and great company! Thanks Nana and Papa for spoiling us and making this trip possible for all of us! We loved every second of it!