California Day 3

I was so giddy to go to the beach! One summer I spent a month with my cousin at my uncle Bob's house in Mesa Verde. My uncle had to work and so to keep us entertained he would drop us off at the beach every day. I loved that summer! We had the time of our lives and I couldn't wait to go back! We decided on Huntington beach. It was a slightly cool day and the beach was empty but that didn't stop us from enjoying our time there!

Ian was not so sure about the water

Adam and Matthais body surfed. There was no way I was getting that wet, it was cold!

Ian was content in the sand

Matthais just happened to be wearing a Huntington Beach shirt.

After the beach we went to the hotel, rested, showered and then headed to California Adventure park!

Ian had this dollar he would not let go of. He carried it around all day and held on to it on all the rides.

We KNEW we would have to find Mater. We found him just as they were preparing to close this part up. Ian was enthralled. I wish we would have had more time for him to enjoy it!

He wouldn't take his eyes of him! Lightening McQueen was right next to Mater but I dont' think Ian even noticed!

I hate, Hate, HATED this ride. Ian was not happy to go on it and discovered right away that the seat belts unbuckled just like the ones in the car. I spent the entire time with my eyes closed, holding Ian's hand with my legs over his praying he would stop fighting me and not unbuckle the seat belt. The ride itself might not be that scary but this was definitely one of the scariest rides I went on!

Owen wasn't tall enough for this one! we rode the carousel instead!



One of our favorites! Toy story mania!

 

I knew we had to see world of color but our fast passes weren't until 9:15. Adam had no desire to hang around that long so we went to Ihop for dinner and then I went back with these 3. I would definitely say it was worth waiting around for! We had front row seats (yes we got wet) and it was amazing!

We came back to sleeping boys, Ian with Mater in hand! So sweet!



California Day 2

...We slept as late as we could, no alarm clocks on this vacation! We took our time getting ready and headed to the hotel breakfast. It was a nice, hot breakfast with eggs, sausage, waffles, toast, hashbrown, oatmeal and lots of other things. Then we walked the two blocks to Disneyland. The whole time we waited in line to get our tickets Ian said over and over that he wanted to ride the train. So, the first stop (well, the first stop after getting our much love G.A.P) was the train!

We figured we save ourselves from the constant chatter about the train and avoid any possible meltdowns by getting on the train. We headed to toon town after getting of the train.

We really only rode a few rides and stayed long enough to see MICKEY! I mean, what is Disneyland without seeing MICKEY!!

We left toon town and headed straight to a classic...It's a small world! It's one of those rides you just can't miss, especially since this was Owen's fist visit. Ian and Owen loved it and even thought Millie and Matthais complained a little, I know they loved it too!

Owen wanted a picture of the elephant. Don't really know why?

Ian was so enthralled!



I thought it was really neat to see all the new Disney characters they've added. I don't know how long ago they did that but it wasn't that way when we went in 2004. It was fun to look for them and point them out to the kids.

Other Disney highlights that day...

Splash Mountain



In front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. We walked through it this year! That was kinda cool!



Halloween at Disneyland!

We left Disney and walked across the street. We ate at the McDonald's right next to Millie's. We had to get a picture!

 After lunch we walked back to the hotel and Adam, Matthais and Ian napped while I took these two swimming in the hotel pool. I think they were just as excited to swim as they were to go to Disneyland!

 Then, after dinner, we headed back to Disney.

Autotopia license's

Space Mountain. A little freaky for me!

While we waited for Adam and the older kids to go on the Matterhorn again (Owen was too afraid to go again) he crashed. I sat with him on this bench while Adam took the other kids and did a few rides. It had been a long, busy, magical day! The walk home carrying Owen was no fun for Adam though!  

California day 1

I don't know if I'm truly caught up or not but since our California trip was over a month ago it's time to post about it.

Adam had won a travel voucher at work and used some of it for his ticket to Alaska but there was still a significant amount on it. One day, out of the blue, he told me to plan a trip to Disneyland. I was excited at the possibility of taking our family there and FLYING! Of course I wanted to go right away and started looking into flights for the the end of May. Keep in mind it was April when I started looking and nothing seemed to work out. We knew we didn't want to go in June, July, or August so I decided we would just wait and go over fall break. We booked and paid and THEN I realized that I had looked at last year's school calender and we were actually going the week BEFORE fall break. Oh well, we couldn't change it. We did, however, have to keep a secret for a really loooong time. We decided not to tell the kids until we arrived at the airport and that day seemed to drag forever. This is how it went down...

I had the kids packed and everything loaded into the back of the Tahoe. We told the kids that we had to take Adam to the airport (since he travels once a month this was very believable) and that we would go do something fun after we dropped him off. I was surprised that no one really questioned this and just came along but I was glad I didn't have to make up more stories. We arrived at the airport, pulled into long term parking and Adam told the kids goodbye. I asked them what they wanted to do next. They gave a few ideas and then I asked them if they wanted to go with Adam and fly on an airplane instead. I honestly expected this BIG, HUGE reaction from the kids. I expected screaming and happiness and jumping up and down. I don't know why, my kids don't really have that kind of personality. I just didn't expect the reaction we got. Matthais seemed unfazed. Owen, although initially happy, started to cry. Millie just looked at us in disbelief. And Ian, well, he had no clue what was going on. It wasn't until we actually walked to the ticket counter that the kids were excited and finally understood that yes, we were about to climb on a plane and fly to California.

Finally, they were all excited and we were on our way to California. Our flight left around 5:30pm and so we arrived in California and it was near dark. The flight went very well and Ian was so good! (another big worry). We flew into Long Beach and the airport was unlike anyone I had been too (not surprising since I never fly!). It was weird to un-board the plane onto the tarmac and then walk into the building but it was cool for the kids to see the plane up close. We grabbed our rental (a very nice Sienna) and head to our hotel in Anaheim. We stopped to eat and arrived at our hotel in time to unpack and settle in for bed. I wish I would have taken more pictures at the hotel but I don't have one! bummer. It was just your typical hotel but it's part of the memories right? That night everyone slept well and the next morning....(stayed tuned for California day 2)