Oh Disneyland!

We recently took a wee family trip to Disneyland. A six day trip to Disneyland. Some may think this excessive. We do not. We adore Disney, as do our kids, and consequently have a wonderful time there.

The only glitch in this trip was that we drove. From Utah to Southern California is a 10 hour drive. On our way down, we wisely stopped in Vegas for the night and continued the next morning. On our way back, we did not. Hmmm. Still, it was nice not to have to be on a tight schedule dictated by the airlines and to be able to pack what we wanted due to the avoidance of airport security.

When we arrived, our hotel room wasn't ready (is it ever?) so we just headed over to the park (walking distance from the hotel, the only way to go!). We ended up spending 6 hours there the first day! Ha! It started out a bit rough as the kids were tired from the drive but it was a grand day out.

Will and Lizzy just as we arrived at the park. I thought we were in for it. As soon as they saw some of the rides, they rallied ;).

One of the things I do NOT adore about Disneyland is the existence of "stupid" rides, like the rockets below, that the kids love so very, very much. It has to be said that there are not many of these at Disneyland, a great deal more at Disney World. These rockets are one of Lizzy's favorite rides. I HATE them will all my heart. They allow a very few people on at a time and when you finally get on (after a minimum of 20 minutes wait) the rockets are tilted to the side to let you in. It is horribly painful for the parents whose kids are leaning up agains them and pressing their flesh into the hard sides of the rockets. Pain! Ah, the things we do for our kids. I got to go twice. Hooray!

Lizzy and I standing in line for the Rockets (I don't even know the real name of this ride).

One of the most hilarious/annoying things about this particular trip was that Lizzy flatly refused to walk. Or stand. We have a double stroller which she is pleased to sit in, like a princess, until we park it to get in line for a ride. If we did make her walk, she put on a limp. No joke. She would scream and say her legs hurt and start limping around like the Hunchback of Disneyland! Amazingly they stopped hurting whenever she saw her friends and wanted to run to them.

Here she is hitching a ride on Steve while we waited for Story Book boat ride.

We ended up splitting up from time to time because Will is big enough for rides like Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain... and Lizzy is not. It was very sad for her not to be able to go on those rides so one of us would take her by herself and go on the little kid rides while Will had his way with the "Mountains". She was big enough for the Madderhorn and thought she was the bees knees! So cute!

Here's Lizzy posing on the "L" in California as you go into California Adventure. She got very into posing and insisted on posing on or with every letter. Honestly.

Steve and the kids on Dumbo (after the endless line that ALWAYS precedes this ride).

The kids and I in Toad's car. I love Mr. Toad. His ride ain't bad either ;). I love Lizzy's face here!

While there, half our neighborhood was there as well. Honestly. It was great. We'd been planning on going and so had Steve's brother and our friends the Morgans so we sort of coordinated the dates and then my friend Liz's husband was going to be out of town, so she joined the group and before we left, we found out some other good friends of ours, the Bertolas, were going to be there too. It was fabbity fab.

Here are Liz and I in our matchy matchy jackets. Nerds? Not us.

Our fam with Mickey.

Will with his besties, Luke and Ellie (Liz's kids), on the Story book boat ride.

We spent a good deal of time with Steve's brother Dave, his wife Cinda and their little boys and also with Liz and her littles. We had a blast. One day we decided to get everyone together that we knew and have a little communal lunch at California Adventure. Good idea, huh?

Here is a small contingent from the Morgan Clan.

And the Bertolas...

And Dave and Andersen...

Steve and Will on Autopia. Huh? I think not. I let Lizzy drive and ended up in ridiculous amounts of pain from bopping about the car. Ah well, she thought it was grand fun.

On our last day we went on a few "last chance" rides that the kids wanted to go on... again, and bought their souvenirs. We decided this time to wait until the end of the trip to allow them to get anything because they want EVERYTHING and this way they had to choose one really cool thing. We let them get their faces painted as well. They thought this the most fabulous of all the things ;).

Here they are just after the face painting. Lizzy is doing her "beautiful face". What? And Will is being serious because that's how pirates are.

Here are the littles again doing different faces. Will's mad eye just cracks me up.

After the park we went to the beach. Duh. It was 65 degrees with hurricane force winds (not really, but almost) and the water was 58 degrees. It was NOT a blast. We spent about 10 seconds there and then went home and showered.

The day before we left, we met up with our friends Cory and Nicky and their littles, in Pasadena. We went to lunch at a place with the scariest bathroom known to man (in a very dark and possibly haunted basement). Then we went to The Gamble House which is one of our favorite places ever. It's a house designed by Green and Green (famous architects of the arts and crafts movement), designed for the owners of Proctor and Gamble in 1908, and is one of the most beautiful houses on earth. We'd been before but I had to leave the tour because Will (who was about 15 months at the time) couldn't hack it. This time I made it through. The house, and its furnishings, are unbelievable. I was so glad I could see it all. We then made our way to a little ice cream shop, ate like pigs, and said adieu. It was great to see them, as always.

Here's a picture of the house. Not a very good picture but a picture nonetheless.

And finally, Steve and the kids on the grounds of the Gamble House. The weather was so lovely.

Our final evening was spent with Steve's sister Sue and her family. We had dinner and shopped at some of the surf shops (always filled with a variety of oddities (people)). Sue and clan were just beginning their Disney adventure. Lucky.

All told, another successful trip to Disney. We love Uncle Walt ;). I also really love California. Why can't Utah be so warm and delightful (but without the drivers)?

Peace out,

Heidi