California Adventure Part 1

We went on vacation to California and had such a great time! 

 

We've been wanting to do this for a couple years now but for one reason or another (being pregnant with Rosie, etc.) we chose to wait, and even thought at one point this time that we might have to wait another year.  We tried to plan our trip over Spring Break but it was impossible for Ty to get that time off work (even though we turned the time in very early - I guess everyone else had the same idea :).  Then there was the dilemma over whether or not to take Rosie Posie or wait until she was older to go.  

 

After things fell through over Spring Break, I found myself talking it over with my mom and she brought up the idea of them watching Rosie if we wanted to try again to fit the trip in before Ty's vacation was up (Ty's vacation time is use it or lose it - it doesn't carry over from year to year).  What a heaven send!  Although this meant leaving our baby for days (sniff...sniff), we thought we'd look into it.  This would mean we could use up all the rest of Ty's vacation time we'd saved for a trip and it also meant less stress while we were there (taking a car seat, stroller, etc. on a plane, keeping a baby happy all day and getting everything in that we wanted to, etc.).  So... we took them up on their offer to watch Rosie and...it finally all fell into place!

 

On Friday, May 24th, the day after school let out,  we began our trip by driving to Lava where we got Rosie all situated and comfortable with Grandma and Grandpa and stayed the night there.  The following morning, we woke up bright and early to leave for Salt Lake where we were to catch an 11am flight.

 

We knew from the beginning, we'd want to fly.  When you're a bit limited on how many days you can miss from work, you don't want to spend it all in driving and I thought that if Ty and I were going to enjoy this trip, we might enjoy a couple hour flight more than a what...20 hour drive (rough estimate) each way!

 

The kids were stoked to fly on an airplane and get their own drink and pretzels!  They could just not wait to begin our California adventure! 

 

Waiting at the SLC airport for our plane to arrive and take us to Long Beach.

The second we landed, Cash announced in quite a loud voice, "We're in Disneyland guys!".   The young guy sitting across the aisle smiled and said, "Not quite yet buddy!"  It was so cute! I think everyone on our flight already knew that was our destination by the squeals that came from the kids when our plane did arrive and was ready for us to board and from the huge smiles plastered on their faces!  It's just one of those times you'll never forget - a time when you can hardly contain their excitement for it all!

We had a shuttle take us to our Hotel which was steps away and right across from Disneyland.  Then we took the rest of the day to stock up on munchies and the like and then headed to play in the hotel pool. 

The next day, May 26th, we made our way to Disneyland bright and early to spend the entire day playing and boy did we!

Welcome to Disneyland!

We headed to the back of the park first (to then work our way forward) and passed the whale that swallowed Pinocchio - aaahhh ! :) 

Once we arrived at Toontown, we let the kids just wander and play around for a bit.  This picture is fitting because Vanna loves to pretend she's our puppy...and here our poor puppy's stuck in the pound. :)

 

Look who we found at Mickey's Toontown...Mickey Mouse!

M-I-C...K-E-Y...MOUSE...MICKEY MOUSE...MICKEY MOUSE!

The first "ride" we went on was Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin (not my favorite but anyway...) and right outside it's exit is this toon building you can try to blow up by pushing down on the lever.  Ty and Cash both tried to hard to get the building to blow but who do you think was successful...Vanna Marie!  She was so proud of herself!

 

After Toontown, we headed to Tomorowland which I think ended up being our favorite part of Disneyland!  I was so surprised by Vanna and how brave she was to go on all the rides.  In fact, one of her favorite rides was Space Mountain - even Cash got kind of nervous on that one.  But we all loved Star Tours of course - especially Ty I think.  It was so fun to see Ty's excitement over some of these rides too because he's never been to Disneyland - we were all just big kids there and had a great time!

Ty was our photographer when we rode on the Astro Orbitor because he didn't want to go on anything that spun in a circle in case it would make him sick.  Can't say that I blame him, I don't do so well with things that swing back and forth.
 

We like Iron Man at our house and Ty couldn't pass by them without snapping a few shots while we visited the Innoventions center.

Of course Cash found some video games to play while we were in there too.

After Tomorrowland we headed over to Fantasyland to pound out half of it and finish off the day before heading back to the hotel (the kids were tuckered out).  Vanna was so excited to ride on the Mad Tea Party and really wanted a purple teacup.  I thought it was so funny I caught this face where Cash displays what he thought about her choice of color...
 

 

We loved the Mad Hatter Shop - the kids had a ball trying on all kinds of odd hats!

Call me boring but 'it's a small world' is one of my favorite rides!

 

We caught Cash (with his veins popping) putting forth all his effort to remove that Sword in the Stone - I guess he's just not meant to be the next king!

The whole day was full of fun...well mostly...other than all the fighting between the kids about who was first in line. :)  It was hilarious to hear all the other parents in the park (especially by the end of the day when kids are plain worn out and grumpy) saying the same type of things to their kids that we were: "If you're not having fun, I guess we can just go home." or "What do you mean you're not happy, this is supposed to be the happiest place on earth!" or "There's no reason to fight over who's first in line because you're going to get on the ride at the same time!"  But really, I have to praise the kids on how well they did throughout the entire trip.  Their fighting over who was first in line was literally the only thing we had to get after them for, they really didn't fight, or whine or even complain about being too tired to walk anymore (because they walked all day everyday and I thought surely they'd start fussing but they were such troopers)! 

 

After getting back to the hotel, cleaning up and watching the Disneyland fireworks, we were out like lights...gearing up for the next day of fun!