Disneyland Part 3

Friday morning we had breakfast with Mickey and friends in the Paradise Pier hotel. The kids were so excited to see Mickey. First thing we got to do was get a couple pictures with Mickey. I didn't mention this before but we did take advantage of Photopass. These are people that are in special spots all around the parks and will take your picture and will even take pictures with your own camera. Then after your trip, you can view them and buy them. Very handy... we did notice though that they don't take as great of a picture with your own camera. haha. One guy cut off Brian's head. haha. Oh well. This breakfast I wasn't as impressed with but we did have a fun time seeing the characters. We got pictures with Stitch, Minnie, Daisy, and Pluto. During the breakfast, they would have breaks where the kids could go and dance with the characters. Matthew was too shy to do this but Kimmy got into it. She looked so cute.

After breakfast we decided to hit Disneyland again cause we missed a couple lands. Well this was not the day to try and get to Tomorrowland (good thing we hit this the other day). This was the grand opening of Star Tours. You should have seen the line for it. People were waiting 4 hrs for this ride and they had to block off part of Main Street just for the line. And I have to say... Friday or the weekend is not the day for Disneyland. Man I swear you could tell there were 1000s more people there just that one day. We ventured into Adventureland (like that) and first thing we saw... Jasmine and Aladdin. So we got our picture with them. Then we hit the jungle cruise. Hilarious tour guide... made you laugh the entire time. When the kids get older, we totally have to try Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Carribean. Brian and the kids climbed in a tree house but Kimberly got a bit scared of the heights so they came down quickly. We got a chance to ride a pirate boat and after the rapids the day before, Kimberly was a bit leary of boats and water. haha. It was a nice peaceful ride and pretty cool boat. We then went by splash mountain where Kimberly was dead set she wasn't going on that ride. We rode Winnie the Pooh and then Brian rode splash mountain. They had a great deal... if you were a single rider, you could enter thru the exit and only wait about 10 minutes. Much better than waiting the 60 + minutes like everyone else. I was going to ride it after Brian but luck would have it that Jacob got fussy. haha. We checked out everything we could (and missed a bunch cause of scared kids). The kids were really whining that day and Matthew just insisted all day that he couldn't walk cause his legs hurt. We did get a chance to ride the monorail (not as fun as I remember) and that was about it.

Grandparents and family were sweet enough to give all of us some money for souveniers. So we really needed to spend this money and get our treasures. This is what we spent the rest of the day doing... that and swimming. Funny thing about young kids... they have no concept of what souveniers are. The kids wanted to buy toys at every store. Brian and I let them buy one toy but the rest of it we wanted something to remember our trip by. So we got some shirts, jewelry, pens, color books, hats, etc. Here was a funny while were shopping. The kids were really whining and wanting toys and what not. Brian and I were very tired of hearing it. So we were checking out with whining kids underfoot and Jacob was in the baby bjorn on Brian. Well I guess my sugar from the day before got to him cause he projectiled spitup right on Matthew's head. Oh man... that broke the tension. Brian and I busted up while trying to clean off Matthew. Matthew was a little grossed out so he just shut up for a bit. Kimberly couldn't stop laughing, mainly because it didn't happen to her. And Jacob just had a bit smile on his face.. he probably felt a lot better. I guess we needed that moment! haha

By this night, we were tired and ready to head home. We can't wait to go back when our kids are a bit older so maybe we can hit those other rides but we totally wouldn't have changed anything on this trip. Well worth the money and time.

Saturday morning we got up early and headed for home. We were tired and ready to be home so we didn't stop long when we did stop. By the 11 hour of driving, Jacob had had his limit. He was screaming so bad. We felt bad but had no other option but to get home. I have to say what a wonderful feeling it was to start seeing the Wasatch mountains come into view. When we hit Salt Lake, we felt like we were home.

The trip was wonderful, the drive long, but all in all... perfect. Now I need 5 more years to recover before we plan this again!

Disneyland Part 2

Thursday was the morning that we didn't have a breakfast planned but we did have early access to Disneyland so we still got up early so we could get to the park. What a treat when we got into the park... many characters were lined up to take pictures with right when we walked under the tunnel. The lines weren't long and we were able to get some cool pictures. That morning we also were able to get FastPasses to World of Color thru our hotel so while I ran back to the hotel to get those, Brian and the kids went to Tomorrowland to ride a couple of rides. Matthew really wanted to ride the rockets. After a couple of rides, California Adventures opened up so we decided to check it out.

Right in the middle of California Adventures they are building a couple new attractions. One I didn't pay much attention to but the other one was Cars. Next year they will have an awesome Cars attraction. From the ferris wheel we could see down into the construction and could make out some of the things they were building. Pretty neat! But in the meantime, they have a little area that you can get your picture with Lightning and Mater. We timed it right when it opened and were the second people in line. They were pretty cool replicas. Then Brian and the kids went to check out the Pier while I went to the baby center to feed the little one. Of course the first attraction the kids found was the merry go round. But they sat and watched the California Screaming and both kids said no way! haha. They were not about to get on a roller coaster. From there we got in line for Toy Story. The line seemed long but it kept moving so it wasn't too bad. Jacob could go on it and it was pretty fun. Then we decided to try our hand at the midway games next to Toy Story. Our 1st time pins came in handy here. The first game was just our family and we should have won a little prize. But the lady was so nice and happy it was our first time, she gave us the big prize... Bullseye. The next game was a baseball game and Brian didn't really want to do this one but Matthew did. The worker came out and let Matthew throw all 8 balls for free. Matthew almost made one of them. Then the next two places we were able to get some more stuffed animals. We had money on the card left for one more game so we went back to the first lady and Brian won another Bullseye. The kids were so happy.

Next stop after potty breaks and watching people... Ariel's Grotto for lunch with the Princesses. Kimberly was so excited for this moment. Right when we walked down the stairs, there was Ariel and you got to have a picture taken with her. She was really cute and Matthew was being very shy with her. Then lunch was fantastic. That was probably my favorite meal of everything we ate. They brought out 3 tier appetizers that had fruit, veggies, salad, meat, and cheese. Then the meal was yummy and filling. Then they brought out a tray of many kinds of desserts. Now some of you might know this but I haven't had sugar since Jacob was born in December. (All my kids tend to spit up bad when I eat sugar so I was trying to be good with Jacob). Well this is where I splurged and tried a few things. Oh it was so good and so worth it. During our meal, the princesses came out one by one. Kimberly was so happy but once they came to our table, she turned into the shy gal. She couldn't even talk so she was so star struck. It was so sweet to see her that way. And I have to say... man they picked pretty gals to be the princesses. Once Jacob woke up, he was really interested in their pretty dresses more than anything. Matthew just liked them all and got used to having a picture taken with each one. Great times had by all.

After lunch we headed to bugs land (per a helpful worker's advice). The crew went to try the 3-D bugs life attraction and only made it 5 minutes. Too many things started scaring the kids and they had to leave. haha. But the rides were fun and we had a great time. Then we walked around and found Monsters Inc. This ride was fun cause it was just like the movie. At the end, the head lady (animatronic) was standing there and she was talking to the people. She told Brian what a cute monster he had (he had Jacob in his arms). They were so funny. There was Mr. Potato head just like that at Toy Story... making fun of people.

By this time the kids were itching to try the big ferris wheel so we ran to that ride. Along the way, we came across tons of press trying to get a glimpse of the new Little Mermaid attraction that was set to open the next day. Talk about a busy place. The ferris wheel was very big and fun. We were smart and got in a car that didn't rock. Seriously you had to see the ones that rock to believe what I am talking about. Scary! But the ferris wheel was high and fun and just a nice family moment.

Okay so I am a little scared when it comes to rides (didn't use to be this way). But I talked Kimberly into going on Grizzly Bear rapids with me. I have no idea why I wanted to ride this ride but I did and I wanted Kimberly to experience too. We had to wait a bit for the ride but it was worth it. I seriously think Kimberly would have freaked out on the ride if it hadn't been for the people on the raft with us. They were so funny and cute with her. We got soaked... Kimberly especially. She got a bit scared but we both had a blast together. Good thing this was our last ride of the day cause she was wet and freezing. While we rode this ride, Brian and Matthew went shopping and back to the room. To get warm, we told decided it was a great time to go swim and the hot tub. After dinner in our hotel room and a nice rest, it was time to head back into California Adventures for World of Color. This was probably one of my most favorite parts of our entire trip. WOW is all I can say about it. The water works, the sounds, the movies, the pictures, the lights.... so much to take in but it was neat. Where Kimberly was, she couldn't see everything... good thing I taped it. During the show, they had bubbles going everywhere when they were doing a water scene... they had fire during a pirate scene... water was coming from everywhere. If you were close, you definitely got wet. haha. We were also blessed with being around some really nice people. After the show, everyone was so tired. Once again, 5 minutes after hitting the pillows, snores were heard around the room.

(This is how Jacob watched World of Color!)

More to come.

Disneyland Part 1

This past week we went on a family vacation. In 2008, Brian and I were lucky enough to go to New York and there we decided our next trip will be a family vacation to Disneyland. We were fortunate enough to save for our New York trip ahead of time so we had no debt after the vacation (a first for us)! So that was our plan for Disneyland. We saved our pennies and were ready for a fun filled trip. My parents gave us a great Christmas present... hotel rooms at Grand California and 3 day hopper passes. That gave us extra spending money for souveniers and what not. We were so excited.

We left around 3 a.m. Tuesday morning and lucked out with good sleepy kids until 6:15 a.m. We stopped at Fillmore for some breakfast. We ended up there for about an hour eating, feeding, and stretching our legs. Our next stop was St. George. Just a quick potty break and then head into Vegas. The kids were so in awe at Vegas. The buildings and what not were so neat to them. So we decided to take a bit and stretch our legs and get a bite of food. Well the fun of Vegas wore off pretty quickly when we decided to walk up to look at the fountains at the Bellagio. It was hot and a long walk and we ended up turning around and heading back to the car. So Vegas wasn't as fun as we thought it would be. Oh and I am a little bitter at Vegas. When did they decide to get rid of the slot machines with coin slots. I wanted to put in a quarter for my Jon-Jon and there was nowhere to put in a quarter. You had to use cards or dollars. Sorry but I am cheap.

(They look so small in Vegas!)

A quick stop in Barstow and a long drive thru the desert and we finally made it close to Disneyland. I say close because we were like 30 minutes away and got caught in rush hr traffic. I thought we would never make it off I15. The kids were driving us crazy by that time. They were so excited to get there and get out of the car. Jacob was pretty good on the drive but he too was very ready to get out of the car seat.

We finally made it and were surprised how much you can't see Disneyland from the road. The walls and trees hide it pretty well. We pulled into the Grand California and were treated pretty well. The people were so nice and when we checked in we were treated to a surprise. They had balloons for all of us, 1st time buttons for us to wear to the parks, and an autograph picture of Mickey and Minnie. How neat. Oh and the girl that helped us went to USU so she was so excited to meet someone from Logan. I have to tell you about this hotel. Very nice... very pretty... and catered to children. The lobby had a piano player, fireplace seating, bar, etc... but they also had a tv playing Disney cartoons with kid rocking chairs. They had kid rocking chairs at the fireplace too. They had a play room (baby sitting room) for kids to do crafts, play games, watch movies, etc. They had an arcade room. They had 4 big pools, two slides, and 4 hot tubs. They had a ton of fun stuff. Each room was equiped with a pack'n'play for your baby. When housekeeping turned down your beds, they put cute chocolates on your pillows with Disney characters on them. We won a bunch of stuffed animals the one day and when we came in after our beds were turned down, housekeeping had arranged all the stuffed animals on the kids bed so cute. I loved this hotel.

(Us cheesing it before heading out for the day)

Since we had a long drive, we grabbed a quick dinner at the snack place and Brian and the kids hit the hot tub. Jacob was so tired by that time that he was ready for bed. Our older two weren't quite ready for bed so we went out on the balcony and listened to World of Color and watched a little bit of what we could see from our balcony. It was a late night but we didn't care. We were so excited to be there.

Wednesday morning we woke up and got ready for our breakfast with Chip and Dale in our restaurant. Jacob slept thru part of the breakfast but was pretty happy to wake up and see characters. During breakfast, Chip, Dale, and many friends came by our table. We got pictures with them all and had a great time. This was a true test how the kids would act toward all the characters and they enjoyed each and every one of them. Even Jacob loved them. He would grab their noses and smile at them. What a delightful way to start out our trip. After breakfast we sunscreened up and headed to Disneyland.

(Just one of the many pictures we got with characters at our breakfast)

Disneyland was everything you could imagine and more. Brian and I were there when we were 10 and 11 years old and we don't remember much. So this was like our first time too. Our 1st time buttons came in handy because people were very eager to give us tips and advice. Very helpful but totally not up Brian's alley. He isn't comfortable having strangers talk to him constantly. I didn't mind but then again, he calls me miss social butterfly. haha. We headed straight for the castle to get some pictures and just awing everything we saw along the way. As soon as we went thru the castle the kids saw the merry go round and had to go on it. Thank goodness the line wasn't long. It was one of the few that day. After the merry go round, the kids and Brian headed to Dumbo. They waited 45 minutes to ride for 1 minute. haha. The kids loved it. By that time, Jacob was hungry so while Brian and the kids rode the tea cups and shopped, we went to the baby center. Let me tell you about this place. This little building had a room with high chairs to feed infants, a changing room with 5 padded changing stations, 2 mini bathrooms for toddlers potty training, and a private area with big wicker chairs for nursing. Oh and did I mention it was air conditioned. I was in heaven here. I wish more places would have a nice area like this for moms.

(They were so excited to be there... it was hard for them to stop looking around for a picture)

After feeding we found the crew and were ready to ride the storybook ride. I was really surprised how many rides Jacob could go on with us. This was one of them. Kimberly sat on the front of the boat and she loved it. It was fun. The next ride was the kids wanting to go on the tea cups with me. I am not much of a rider but I braved it for the kids. We had a great time. Then it was snack time before more rides. Its a small world was our next ride and boy that song sticks with ya. haha. This ride was probably Jacob's favorite ride. He loved all the things to look at and since the song repeated over and over, he fell sound asleep by 3/4 of the way thru. We decided to hit toon town next. Now this was a crazy place. Not really the place but the people. Man it was packed and hot. We really wanted to see Mickey and Minnie and low and behold, there was Minnie taking pictures in her front door. So we got in line to see her and it took about an hour to get thru this line. Minnie was a diva (Brian's words) because she had to take 2 lemonade breaks while we were in line. We were a bit tired of the heat by the time we met Minnie. So much so that we didn't even try for Mickey. We heard the line was worse for him. We did get to see Goofy while waiting in line though.

(Us on the tea cups)

(Before the parade... Brian having a Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich)

(Kimmy's favorite part of the parade. Her favorite princess Aurora waved to her)

By this time we were all hot and tired. The kids and I decided to take the train to the front of the park while Brian and Jacob walked back to the hotel. It was a fun train ride and met some people that went to BYU. Disneyland was fun but it was time to go to the hotel and hit the pool. Lots of fun swimming but it was time for dinner and a parade back in Disneyland. We heard they just changed their parade so we were excited to see it. It only lasted 15 minutes but it was a lot of fun. Kimmy was loving how everyone would wave to her and Matthew. We really wanted to stay for fireworks but by 8 the kids were whining and tired. So we decided to call it a night and head to the hotel. Great first day and it didn't take 5 minutes before we had snoring children. haha.

More to come.

Matthew turned 4 yrs old

On Memorial Day, Matthew turned 4 years old. He got a brand new green bike with a new Lightning McQueen helmet and a bell. He was pretty excited. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate. He had to ride his bike in the garage for the first few hrs. He did get out onto the sidewalk and was in heaven.

I know the picture isn't the best but you can get the idea of his excitement about this bike from his face.

Then the grandparents arrived with more presents and he was a happy kid. Grammie and Grampie spoiled him rotten with a battery powered tractor. Too bad they didn't think about the battery part though. It needed 18 hrs to charge before his first ride and we didn't have that time before we were leaving for vacation. So he had to wait almost a whole week before he could ride his tractor. But he was pretty happy when he did get to ride it. Now him and his sister trade turns on riding the tractor and the 4 wheeler.

I can't believe he is 4 years old. It doesn't seem too long ago when he came into this world. He was a chunky little fellow. He was my hardest newborn. I would say he is pretty easy to deal with now but he has hit his rotten 4s and is a total stinker most days. haha. All boy for sure. He loves sports and I swear he will try and play every one in his many years to come. His excitement for the summer... to go 4 wheeling with daddy. He just can't wait for the snow to melt so he can go ride.

This big box is the tractor. This is also one of the few pictures I was able to get of him not making a goofy face. What a stinker.

I love him so much!