A couple weeks ago, we went to Disneyland with my family. It was so fun to see everyone, especially since it had been a year since we were all together. Naomi had so much fun with her cousins, and of course she just loved Disneyland. She still talks about Disneyland. Everyday since we've been back she says, "I want to go to Disneyland again."
So this is how we spent our vacation.
Day 1 (Tuesday)We drove over to California, it was a quick 6 hour trip. I know 6 hours seems long in the car, but it really wasn't too bad. We got there and hung out in our rooms. Then we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was fun, the food was good, and the cheesecake was delicious. We tried not to stay up too late because we planned on getting into Disneyland when it opened.
Day2 (Wednesday)The next morning we woke up. Everyone was excited. We walked across the street and waited in line to get into the park (yes I said across the street, our hotel was across the street, it was awesome).
Here are Elise and Naomi as we wait in line.
Once we got in we raced to hit the rides we wanted to before they got too busy. Of course we rode Indiana Jones, and my oldest niece was just barely tall enough to ride. We rode Pirates, Dumbo, the Carousel, the Teacups, Buzz Blasters, Winnie the Pooh, Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and so many other rides I can't even remember. Here are some pictures from some of the rides we rode.
We also went to Mickey's Toontown. We walked through some of the houses. The kids met Mickey and Goofy. The kids spent some time in jail, it's probably because they tried setting fireworks off in one of the buildings (okay so the jail and the fireworks thing is all part of the fun of Toontown).
They met Mickey and Minnie again later. They met Fairy Godmother, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter. They also met a lot of princesses. They even met Silvermist, Tinkerbell and Terrence, there was a little drama while waiting in line but we survived.
We had so much fun in Disneyland! We were very tired, but it was worth it.
Day 3 (Thursday)We spent Thursday in California Adventure. Most of us had never been there, needless to say we were all really excited. The girls were especially excited since we had reservations to eat at Ariel's Grotto and meet all the princesses. It's a little pricey, but totally worth it. The food was great and the time the girls had with the princesses was awesome. They had all the kids get up from all the surrounding tables and learn a princess dance. Then the princesses came out and stopped by every table to talk to the kids, take pictures and sign autographs. The girls loved every minute.
After eating, we headed straight to Califoria Screamin, which was awesome. Then over to Toy Story Mania (which is similar to Buzz Blasters in Disneyland), which was also awesome. The kids rode the carousel. We rode Soarin' Over California, Monsters' Inc. and tons of other rides that I can't remember. But my very favorite ride of the whole trip was The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It was so awesome, I screamed like a maniac but it was worth it.
We played in A Bug's Land. The kids loved it. They spent the whole time playing in the splash pad area. Then we moved farther into Bug's Land to ride some rides, but we found another splash pad area and spent the rest of the time there. No rides, we'll just have to ride them next time.
The kids met more characters: Jessie and an Army guy, Pluto, Chip'N'Dale, Mr. Incredible, Lightning McQueen, and Mator.
That night we quickly spent some time in one of the gift shops. Naomi used her money she had been earning from doing chores and got a deluxe Princess and the Frog figurine set. I got the Mr. Potatohead Disney accessories. I think this will be my new tradition when we visit Disneyland, to get more Mr. Potatohead pieces. They are super cute and Naomi loves them too. After a little shopping we quickly got dinner then headed back for the "World of Color" show. It was amazing. The water, the images, the music was spectacular. The kids loved it, we loved it. It was a great way to end a great day.
Day 4 (Friday)Friday was our beach day. We all woke up got ready to take family pictures at Huntington Beach. We found some lady on the pier to take our picture. We chose her because she was holding a huge camera and taking pictures herself, we figured she knew what she was doing. And she did a great job, we found out she was there taking pictures of her son doing a Triathlon and that she was LDS.
After pictures, we hurry and got lunch and headed to Bolsa Chica beach because Huntington Beach was too crowded. It was windy and chilly, but that didn't stop Cory or my brother-in-law Brett from jumping into the ocean. They convinced my little brother and me to jump in to. It was so cold it took my breath away, so I decided I would play in the sand with Naomi and my nieces. I tried to help my niece, Maddie, build a sandcastle but I found out I'm not very good at it. Later Cory and Brett came up and made sandcastles with the girls.
After sandcastle building and destroying, they decided they should jump back in the ocean one more time. Maybe not the best idea, since Cory came out of the water bleeding and thinking a fish bit him. It wasn't too bad but my dad and I decided to go to the lifeguard tower to get a bandaid. Well lifeguard Scott told us it wasn't a fish, it was a sting ray. Yes, you read that right a sting ray. He came over and checked out Cory's foot. Luckily the sting ray only got grazed, so they lifeguard cleaned it off and put a band aid on it.
Cory wasn't in any pain, so they lifeguard told him if it started throbbing to soak it in hot water and left. We cleaned up all of our stuff and left to go see the house where my dad grew up (it was only a mile away from Disneyland and our hotel). We had a half hour drive back and Cory figured he'd be fine so he drove since the sting was in his left foot and not his driving foot. Shortly after leaving, Cory's foot started throbbing. You wouldn't think that a little scratch from a sting ray would be that bad, but oh it was. Cory was in so much pain, I hadn't seen him like that since we were first married and he had to have a minor surgery. He didn't think that a sting from a sting ray was this painful. By the time we got back to the hotel his foot wasn't throbbing as bad (still painful) but it was super swollen. As soon as we got to the hotel, Cory hobbled to the room and filled the tub with super hot water and stuck his foot in. He said the pain immediately went away and the swelling went down.
Even though Cory got injured at the beach we had a fun day!
We had so much fun seeing my sister, Jen, her hubby Ryan, and her 5 daughters, my sister Hope and her hubby Brett, my brother Brad, and my parents.
On the drive home, Naomi said she wanted to visit Grandma Dorie at home. I told her we couldn't go to Utah. And Naomi said, "No, grandma lives in Disneyland." She is so funny. I know Naomi loved it.
Thanks Grandma Dorie and Papa Steve for planning such a fun trip!
