Disneyland (Day Three)

We got up early!!!!!! We took advantage of the early entry into the park. It was wonderful to have an uncrowded park. We got to explore tomorrow land and fantasy land a ton.

Myra even got to ride on Space Mountain!! My kids are short so we had lots of issues and disappointment in the "am I tall enough" department. That is a story for another time. Anyway, I went on Star Tours with Vi & Ashton. Ewwwwwwwwwwwww. I literally almost barfed all over. If you have motion sickness, this is not the ride for you. Ashton & Vi had a great time, I was green for 75% of the day because of it. Blech!!

Nemo was fun, Vaughn really liked it.
Fantasyland my kids loved, especially Myra.

There were princesses and villans and toys and just so much to take in!

Later in the day we got to watch a Christmas parade. It was fun, except when one of the floats broke down. Santa was stuck in front of us, but man, he was good. Kept the crowd busy and happy. The reindeer were great too. It was all so professional and well choreographed. Good times.

Storybook was one of Darin's favorite. I mean, they even put tiny little wreaths on the doors of the tiny cottages!! Wow. He also took a lot or pictures of the architecture.

We had decided that we were going to go back tot he hotel for a mandatory "nap". Everyone slept except for me and Ashton. He was content to play games on the itouch, but at least he was off his feet. We wanted to be able to stay up for the fireworks that night. The Christmas fireworks were over the Castle. The castle lit up at the end with different lights and was so amazing. i loved it. The kids enjoyed that they recognized several of the songs.

In the evening while we were waiting for the fireworks we checked out toon town. We went on the Roger Rabbit ride. The kids liked it but had never seen the movie....so it wasn't quite as fun for them.

Vaughn had a hard time staying up for the fireworks, but we managed to survive! It was a fun day.

Disneyland (Day Two)

Our very first day going to Disneyland...ever!!! It was so fun. The kids and especially Darin (he had worked all night on Thursday night, and stayed up Friday travelling and didn't sleep at all for like 40 hours) we exhausted so we didn't get quite the early start to the adventures as I thought. Plus the kids kept waking each other up all night. But we got into the park and it was Magical. All decorated for Christmas....wow. We tried going on Indiana but it kept breaking down. It was weird, but I guess Tom Sawyer's Island is now a Pirate Island. The kids loved that place and probably would have stayed all day if we hadn't pulled them away kicking and screaming. Here are some pictures on the island, and near there.

We went on Pirates (the kids LOVED that ride!) and wandered around a bit. Then headed over to California Adventure for a work lunch. There we got to meet Mickey and Minnie!! So much fun!
Ashton did not appreciate getting his picture taken with characters. :( After the wonderful lunch and festivities, we spent a lot of time in CA. We found Sully!!! That must be the most awkward and hot costume there is!

Lisa & Erik met up with us and showed us the ropes. We went to Bug's Life area and spent so long there. The kids enjoyed all the rides that were just right for them. It was fun that everything was "big" and I felt like a tiny little bug! :)



Bugs and more bugs!! We went on more rides once we left there. I think we for sure took the most pictures this first day!!

We found Jesse, Buzz walked by and we missed him. Next year, I will Stalk find Buzz to get a "family" picture!

Then we found these Humungo ice creams. They were wonderful!! The kids made fun messes, but look at those grins! The Ferris wheel was really large!! I felt like I could see all the way to Utah!

While we were eating, there was some Fineus and Ferb street dancing presentation. The kids loved it.....it was very Disney Chanel! I can't wait for Radiator springs to be finished! It looks so fun.

We went back to Disneyland and got stuck in a traffic jam of people. A Christmas concert had just finished and holy people batman. It took forever trying to get anywhere. Buzz lightyear ride was the last thing Vaughn was kinda ok with doing. Lisa and Erik stayed up for the fireworks. Our kids were wasted once it started getting dark. Vaughn was flipping out. We took the monorail back to the hotel (which was cool to see all around the park). We ordered Pizza for dinner and it was wonderful! Thank goodness for Domino's!

Disneyland (Day One)

We took our first trip to Disneyland. I am glad that we went. It was not always easy and far from stress free, but was all made it home safe with some cute pictures and lots of great memories. My parents were wonderful enough to buy us an early Christmas gift, a new digital camera. I still love mine, but it is big and bulky, while it would have taken great pictures, I was afraid of harm coming to it. My parents got us a perfect one that fit nicely into a pocket or purse.

Ashton and Myra had never flown before, but now they are "old hats". Flying with 4 kids is intimidating. Lots of gear and things to manage. Our seats weren't all together sot hat was challenging. We got to stay at the Grand Californian Hotel. It was amazing. 6 people sleeping in one room was interesting, but somehow we managed. :)

The hotel had comfy beds, lots of pillows and lots of Disney Chanel. That kept everyone happy. I was thrilled to be close to the ice machine so I could keep feeding my ice habit. The hotel was gorgeous. The cute Disney pictures on the wall, and log cabin feel was so fun. Even the shower curtains had Bambi on them, as I recall. We had a little balcony with a table and chairs. It was great to be able to soak in some sun. While we were in CA, Utah was in a deep freeze. What a nice break!

There were huge staircases, lovely fireplaces, and a Christmas tree that seemed about a thousand feet tall. It was enormous! Beautifully and perfectly decorated too. Everywhere was all dressed up for Christmas.

There was a mini fridge which saved us with Vaughn, because he loves milk. My wonderful, fabulous friend Lisa me me the fist night. We got to catch up and go tot he grocery store. It was the best thing in the world. I bought snacks, breakfast stuff (which saved our bacon in the mornings with cranky kids) and drinks and things for the park. Holy smokes it saved us money and so many tears and empty tummys. Life Saver!!! I did gather that the store wasn't perhaps in the best part of town since the baby formula was kept under lock and key. Creepy! Did I mention how wonderful Lisa was for taking me? She lives nearby. We have been friends since about 3rd grade. We have had so many good times. Here is a picture of me and Lisa, back in High School.

(Me, Lisa, Liz & Charlene on Cruise to Mexico)

(Me, Lisa, Charlene & Becky on Ferry in San Francisco)

Both of these pictures were taken in 1999. Lisa currently sports red hair and it is very becoming!

Halloween

Look how many pictures I took this Halloween:

Yep, that was all of them. Whoooooooooooooooops! Well, get your imagination on and think Vi - orange butterfly - Ashton - Pirate - Myra - Pirate - Vaughn - Puppy (Elaine's old costume). Yep, they were all repeats. We went trick or treating around our neighborhood. Vaughn lasted one block. Then we ditched him at home with Dad and kept on going.

Before Halloween we went to a costume party and made this.

If you look closely, it has a rib cage, heart, internal organs of all sorts.....it's nasty.

Yup, our team won. I wonder how it tasted.........Blech!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a fun pumpkin patch during the week when the kids were off school. We were able to take some fun pictures. I had take Elaine here many moons ago, and it was fun to go back. The weather was lovely, we did a corn maze and played on all the fun things. Myra loved to jump, Vaughn loved the corn.