Funny Story...

So the other day Matt told me a funny conversation he had with Spencer. It went something like this....

Spencer: So Dad, you are kind of in charge of other people at work, right?

Matt: Yeah, pretty much.

Spencer: So when the people aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing, do you put them in Time Out?

Matt: laughing uncontrollably....I'd sure like to do that Spencer!!

Disneyland Picture Extravaganza

WARNING: If you don't like looking at pictures or collages, I encourage you to close this page now. The following images may become boring, tiresome, and could in fact cause blurriness to the eyes, or cast a sleepy spell. Be warned.

Well here it is....the MEGA Disneyland blog extravaganza....

A family vacation lasting 9 days including 3 days of traveling, 8 nights in a hotel, 1 day at the beach, and 5 days in Disneyland Parks with 1 Photographer for a Mom equates to around 1275 photos taken...plus video. So understand how difficult it was to "narrow it down". I love pictures! What can I say!

Highlight's for Spencer:

Spencer had lots of new favorites this trip. He loved Splash Mountain last time, and loved it this time, but he began to like some new rides. Matterhorn for instance, he HATED last time. We almost couldn't get him to go on it. And now...loves it! Thunder Mountain Railroad, he hated it before and now loved it. Some new rides he had never been on before that he loved were Space Mountain, Indiana Jones and last but not least...California Screamin'. His new favorite ride of ALL time. Check out his reaction after riding it for the first time...

Another highlight for him was attending Jedi Training. I don't think I've ever seen him concentrate so hard on memorizing something. He unfortunately wasn't lucky enough to get picked, but he said he didn't care. He, "learned everything he needed to know." I found it really entertaining to watch Darth Vader take on a 3 year old. It was great!! (the 3 year old won...of course!)

Spencer was on a Donald Duck kick. He HAD to meet Donald. Day after day, we couldn't find Donald Duck, until one morning....Spencer was screaming with joy. He got to meet Donald. And it's the one and only time I've ever heard a character talk. Donald was hilarious and grumpy. Spencer loved every minute.

Highlights for Ethan:

This is the first trip Ethan is really going to remember. He is starting to really love a lot of the bigger rides and isn't afraid of all the characters. Ethan LOVED the Matterhorn. He only got to ride it 2 times since it was only open 1 and 1/2 days during our 5 day visit.

Ethan LOVED Splash Mountain. Despite his face in the photo, he really does love it! He even wanted to ride at night, when it got chilly. He loved it.

He also LOVED Thunder Mountain Railroad. He rode several times. He said he loves the up and down and the tunnels.

Ethan also loved Indiana Jones. On his first time riding it, he got to be in the front seat! I looked over at him during the ride and he was totally freaked out! His knuckles were turning white and everything! But after we got off he said, "Mom, that was awesome. I thought that ball was really going to hit us!"

Ethan also LOVED Space Mountain. He wanted to ride over and over. He said he thought the stars were so cool.

Ethan loved meeting all the characters. Especially Mr. Incredible. He thought that was awesome.

Highlights for Sadie:

Sadie talked for a solid 8 weeks about going to see Sleeping Beauty's castle, and meeting Cinderella and of course, meeting Tinkerbell. It was so cute, whenever she saw any of the princesses she would say, "MOM! It's a princess! Look how beautiful she is!" During the evening show of Fantasmic, she said, "Mom! It's Little Mermaid! Look at her! Hi, Mermaid! It's me, Sadie! You look so beautiful!" So this was heaven for her....

And then, her long wait was over....Tinkerbell meets Tinkerbell...

I really have to hand it to Disney. The characters are the nicest, most patient people. Tinkerbell spend SEVERAL minutes talking with Sadie, dancing with her and giving her a big hug. Sadie was in some sort of shock the entire time and could only force a smile. This was definitely the best moment of the trip for Sadie. She still talks about meeting Tinkerbell.

Sadie didn't like many rides we went on. This was her face on almost every ride.... I'm not sure why the Finding Nemo Submarine ride was scary for her, but for some reason, she did not like it...Here's the only rides she didn't cry on and actually loved...

And finally, the Carousel. If you ask Sadie what her favorite ride is, she will gleefully tell you, the Carousel. She road countless times and always insisted on a pink horse, of course!

I loved listening to Sadie's little chatter. Whenever we would get in line for something she would ask, "is this a show or a ride?" She was TERRIFIED of every other ride. I don't blame her. She road Space Mountain, the Matterhorn, and yes, even the Tower of Terror. I may be a mean Mommy, but we waited until she was 40 inches tall to go, so she was riding everything!! Ok, I admit, I did feel a little bit bad, but it was over really quick, so it's ok right? Please notice Ethan's face in the picture. He did NOT like Tower of Terror.
After playing in the parks all day, each night we would take the shuttle back to the hotel. One night, it was like 10:30pm and Sadie was so tired. Ok, EVERYONE was tired. The shuttle bus was packed with people and even had passengers standing in the aisles. The bus was so quiet, because everyone was tired. When we pulled into our hotel parking lot, Sadie asked, "Is this our hotel?" "Yes, Sadie, it is." I told her. And then the cutest thing happened. Sadie in a sweet little voice, but loud enough for many people to hear, she said, "Oh YAY! We made it Mommy! We made it back to the hotel! I'm so excited!" Everyone turned and looked at Sadie and smiled. What a cute daughter we've got!


Beach Break:

Midweek, we took a break from the backpack hauling and stroller pushing and headed to the beach. It was a little cool, (63) so the locals were wearing coats and scarves, but we thought it felt great! Ethan and Spencer loved being buried in the sand and Sadie loved playing with all the sand toys. It was a great day!

Ever wondered where Santa goes on vacation? Apparently he goes to Corona Del Mar beach! He was having his picture taken to prove to everyone he really does take a break!

We also enjoyed the fun amenities our hotel had to offer. The kids LOVE going swimming in the pool. Sometimes I think we could just drive them down the street to a hotel and tell them it was California. If it had a pool I think they would love it just as much!

Here are the highlights we all enjoyed.....

The Pixar Parade in California Adventure park was AWESOME!!!!

I think we met every character there was! It was AWESOME!!!

Goofy was HILARIOUS! He joked around with all the kids and after signing their books he would throw them over his shoulder. Spencer laughed so hard, he was rolling on the ground!

Highlight for Matt and I:

Have you ever seen Billy Hill and the Hillbillies? Most of you probably have. But if you haven't, you are missing out on the best show in all of Disneyland. It is, to say the least, HILARIOUS! We've seen them before and made it a point to not miss the show again. These guys have figured out how to entertain. They are amazing. And they are funny while they do it. If you haven't seen em...you gotta! Spencer has successfully learned how to make the great funny faces!

Now for the final highlight for all of us. It was Friday night. Our last night in the park and our last night in California. We were, to say the least, very, very tired. After walking miles and miles each day and standing in line after line. We were done. We decided to ride the Monorail. We hadn't been on it for a dozen years or more and we were in for a real treat.

As we got in line the worker told us where to stand. He asked, "How would you guys like to ride up front with me in a private seating area and see me drive the Monorail?" My jaw hit the floor, my eyes welled with tears. "Of course!" So we waited 5 minutes for the Monorail to pull up.

The doors opened and all the passengers got off. Then they opened the gates and started letting everyone aboard. The Conductor came up to us and said, "right this way." He typed in a code and opened the door to the VERY front of the Monorail. It's all windows and you can't get a better view.

At the end of the ride, we thanked the conductor. We told him this was our last day here and he had made a memorable ending to our already amazing trip. Of course I started tearing up. I couldn't have dreamed of a better way to end the perfect week. Thanks Mr. Conductor Dude.

So thanks people for letting me journal our trip. I know it's long and there are a TON of pictures, but don't say I didn't warn ya!

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.