We packed everything in secret and put it in the van the night before. Then the next afternoon we had to pick up and take Uncle Brian to the airport (he was flying with us). When we got there we told the kids to get out and say good-bye to Uncle Brian, which they did. Then while Brian was taping the whole thing Evan feigned surprise at our suitcases being in the back. He asked the kids why the suitcases were there? Then told them our surprise. "We are going to take these suitcases into the airport and get on a plane right now. We are going to fly to California, and we are going to Disneyland!" No squeals of delight, nothing from the kids. They all turned to me and said "Mom, is that true?" Totally not believing dad. I assured them that dad was telling the truth. Then they erupted with excitement.
Here we are a few minutes after finding out about our trip waiting for the bus to take us to the airport.
The kids can barely contain themselves, and they have to wait for about 2 hours! We got through security very quickly because we got to use the "you have lots of kids" line. Glad we didn't have to spend our time in line and could instead spend it in the terminal.
This was Chris, Spencer, and Rhys' first time on an airplane. The plane was totally packed so that made everything take a long time. We discovered (ok we already knew) our kids are very impatient. The 3 older kids all got window seats but hardly looked out them since they had some sort of electronic device to keep them occupied. On the way home they enjoyed looking out the windows much more. Luckily Rhys fell asleep most of the trip. Overall everything went well for which we were grateful!
We stayed the night at Russell and Mandy's apartment and then went to the beach the next morning (posted below). The following day we went to Disneyland!
Obligatory family picture in front Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
Our first ride was Dumbo! Good times.
Of course Chris, Spencer, and Sophia had to try their luck at pulling the sword from the stone. Not this time. Maybe next time.
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride really is wild!
After spending a good bit of the day in Disneyland we went over to California Adventure to see the Aladdin show and go on the new Little Mermaid ride!
Sophia's favorite princess is Ariel. She has been begging to go to Disneyland to ride the new Ariel ride since it opened. She was not disappointed. It was lots of fun and the line was SHORT! We went on this ride back to back every time we rode it. I think this was Rhys' favorite ride too. He pointed to everything and had eyes round as saucers. All the kids still quote the beginning line from Scuttles and think it is so funny!
We were hugely disappointed went we discovered Pirates of the Caribbean would be closed during our stay. We did get to listen to this pirate band sing though, which Spencer loved.
Chris has always loved these benches. I think it comes from the first time we came to Disneyland and told him about "hidden Mickeys". He was only 5 so didn't see many on his own but he picked these out, though I'm not sure they are so "hidden" :)
The second day we decided to brave the "Princess Fantasy Faire" which we heard had horrible lines. Sophia was so excited to wear her beautiful princess dress and meet the princess. We didn't have to wait too long and she got her chance.
One problem though, Sophia wouldn't even go near them! We met Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) but Sophia tried to pull us away and would only consent to pictures if Dad was with her and between her and the princess. Maybe when she is older we'll have to try it again?
Spencer pretending to steer the ship in Tarzan's tree house.
We went to Tom Sawyer's island/Pirate's Lair and had a lot of fun running around and checking out the caves and other exciting things. Everyone had a mishap and got stuck in a cage made of bones!
Kids working to pull up the treasure.
After searching for awhile we found it!
We saw lots of characters this time, many more than we had seen on any other trip. Pluto wasn't too busy so we got to get a picture with him.
Taking the train around the park, in our newly acquired ears! I had to be very quick taking the picture because Rhys would let his ears stay on his head for about 2 seconds and then rip them off so sorry Evan's head is cut off :)
Rhys actually liked the Merry go Round even though the picture makes you think otherwise.
The highlight of the second day was getting to see World of Color. It's a water/light show they have in California Adventure. It was really neat. Unfortunately Rhys had had it by then and had to be walked around. Poor kid. His schedule was so messed up during the trip but overall he did as well as you could expect a 15 month old to do. It sure was nice to have extra hands to pass him off to when we needed a break. Thank you, thank you!
Evan's family only went to Disneyland 2 days but on our third day Bonnie and Chris were starting their vacation and met up with us. Up until that point our Chris wouldn't go on the Matterhorn and Spencer had only gone once and wasn't sure he wanted to go again. Sophia had braved it too but cried for about 10 minutes afterward poor kid. Uncle Chris LOVES the Matterhorn and convinced they older boys to go with him. He knows the ride backward and forward and told them when any scary parts were. They came off the ride loving it almost as much as Uncle Chris and went on it a few times more with him.
Uncle Chris' enthusiasm for rides really rubbed off on the boys and they went on rides they either hadn't/wouldn't go on, or they had gone on but weren't sure they wanted to again, and came off begging to go again. Chris and Spencer's favorite rides were Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, and Indian Jones. So glad Uncle Chris could show them how much fun these rides are.
Sophia really had fun with Aunt Bonnie, who couldn't ride the more crazy/grown-up rides because she was 6 months pregnant. I think it was nice for Sophia and Rhys to just have some down time and Aunt Bonnie was willing to help out with that while the rest of us rode the bigger rides. Thanks!
One of the kids favorite rides is the Toy Story Mania ride. Here they are with their "sweet" 3-D glasses all ready for the ride.
Chris' mom had told him about the Paradise Pier soft serve ice cream and had deemed it "the best" so we had to try it out. Yummy!
On our way out of the park we walked by the Grizzly River Rapids ride, which we hadn't gone on yet but had wanted to. There was no line (duh, it was almost 8 pm, dark, and getting chilly) so Evan, Chris, Chris, Spencer, and I braved it. I'm sure it would have been even better in the day so we could see better but overall a very fun ride. Here we are victorious. What a great, crazy way to end our time at Disneyland. I'm sure we'll never forget it.
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