Is this Disneyland?

How it all came about...

Ever since our last visit to Disneyland back in 2005, the boys have asked, "When can we go to Disneyland?" We kept telling them, when Sadie is three and is tall enough to ride all the rides. Well, after years of waiting, that day finally came! With the unstable economy, we were a little unsure how things would play out, but thanks to Matt's hard work and a few perks from his work, it all started coming together. Matt worked so hard and earned these points at work; enough to pay for a hotel in California for an entire week. Sweet! Way to go honey! you are awesome! So we decided we could work out a trip. When the boys went off track in February, we hopped in the car and headed south!

So how did our parents survive long road trips without DVD players? I just have no idea. These little miracles were a MUST on our long adventure. The boys watch everything from Garfield to Harry Potter. And Sadie, well, let's just say, once she likes something, she refuses to deviate from it. She watched Dora the Explorer ALL 10 hours there and ALL 10 hours back. I brought several other choices for her to watch, but she refused. She watched the same 3 Dora episodes over and over and over and over. Thank heaven for headphones.

Poor Sadie, having never been to Disneyland before, had no idea what it looked like. Every time we stopped she would point to a building and ask, "Is that Disneyland?"

On our first day traveling we decided to stop in St. George to break up the drive a little bit. My Uncle got us a sweet deal (next to free) at the hotel he works at. (Thanks uncle Mike!) We were extremely pleased to open the door to this...

And a full kitchen....

It even had 2 separate bedrooms with (this is Spencer's favorite part) flat screen TV's in both rooms. Yes, Spencer was in TV heaven. What is better than the cartoon network and the Disney channel? Having them in your own room. It was like Christmas morning...

After pulling the kids away from the TV, we ventured out to the awesome pool. It was so great to be outside without a coat and to see green grass and trees. Swimming was awesome.

This is Spencer flexing his muscles under the waterfall. He insisted I take a picture. What a little stud.

Of course, Ethan had to follow.

And sweet Sadie enjoyed kicking around the pool. And yes, as we walked out to the pool, she asked if this was Disneyland.

After a great night in a deluxe hotel, we hit the road again for another afternoon of driving. When stopping at Costco in Victorville for gas, again Sadie asked, "Is this Disneyland?"

We finally arrived to our free (thanks Matt) hotel in Anaheim. It was a beautiful building and the landscaping was awesome. We stayed in a standard room, (so Sadie slept on the floor) with a great view of the pool. And again of course, Sadie asked if we were finally at Disneyland.

The next morning, Matt got up early with the boys and took them out for an early swim before church. This is the view of the pool from our room...

After church, it was finally time to show Sadie what the real Disneyland was.....Finally!!

Here we are, entering the gates of the "happiest place on earth." It couldn't have been a prettier day. It was 84 degrees and we soaked up every last bit of sunlight we could. The vitamin D replenishment was so badly needed!

It was so great to finally tell Sadie....THIS is Disneyland.