I have been anxiously awaiting the time where my kids would be old enough to take to Disneyland. It was a family trip that my family went on often and was a wonderful memory from my childhood, so I couldn't wait to take our kids. We had planned on leaving Sunday, but I convinced Jason that we should leave Saturday. We drove down to Valencia and stayed at a Best Western. We ate at a really yummy place we found on Yelp called Rustic Eatery, and afterwards Jason took the kids swimming while I got the baby to bed. I had been kind of sick with a fever on the way down and I didn't feel so well that evening. Hadley was up every 2-3 hours, so it was a pretty miserable night for me.
We got up the next morning, had breakfast, and I took the boys swimming again. We then got on the road and headed to the Los Angeles temple.
Ollie spelt out Disneyland with some wiki stix.
We loved the visitors center at the temple. It was interactive and very cool.
After that we headed down to Oceanside for dinner with our friends from Provo, the Henrys. It was so great to catch up with them. We haven't seen them for a few years, but we picked right up where we left off. Only difference is now there are six kids between us! The kids got along great, we just had the best time with them.
Scarlett was SO sweet with Hadley, it was adorable.
All the kids.
Dan, Ashley, Jason and I.
We got to our hotel (the Best Western RIGHT across the street from Disneyland), put the kids to bed, and then Jason ran over and bought our tickets for the next day. The park didn't open until 10, so we got up, had breakfast (hotel buffet) and headed over about 9:30. The park was a little busier than we had expected, but still not too bad. We never waited more than 30 minutes or so.
I'm really bummed about this picture. We hurried and took it and thought we would come back for a better one but we never did. You can't even see Max or Hadley :(
As we walked down Main St, the boys were in awe of everything. I took a couple pictures of them pointing at everything and saying, "look, look."
Jason and the boys in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle.
I took the kids on all the spinning rides since Jason gets motion sick. Ollie was kind of a scaredy cat on a lot of the rides, even the little kid ones. He got better as the day went on.
I was so excited to see characters. I found the autograph book that I used for a couple of years as a kid, so we used the blank pages in that. Some of the Disneyland employees noticed how old my book was and were VERY interested in my signatures. Especially since a lot of the characters are no longer at the park.
Mickey was REALLY cute with Hadley (maybe cause she was dressed as Minnie). He spent a lot of time playing with her and she just grinned at him the whole time. It was pretty cute.
This picture ended up being one of my favorites since we are all looking and you can see the kids Mickey gear.
Hadley was such a trooper.
The boys each got a sucker and were totally in heaven. After dinner the suckers fell out of the stroller and shattered :(
Max hardly ever takes naps, but he was worn out. I thought maybe he was getting sick cause he slept so long and said his tummy hurt, but he was fine.
Ollie playing with the Ironman suit.
The boys loved running around Tarzan's treehouse.
I love this view of Disneyland. Seriously so nostalgic for me.
After Disneyland we headed to this pizza place near our hotel that had really good Yelp reviews. While we were there I saw a girl I went to high school with. In fact, I went prom with her brother my sophomore year. Kind of crazy. The pizza there was AMAZING, Yelp comes through once again! We ordered an extra pizza and took it into the park with us the next day since the food we had at Disneyland was expensive and terrible.
Our kids love staying in hotels. It is one of their favorite things about vacations. Ollie tested out Hadley's crib.
This particular Best Western had a really good breakfast.
Tuesday we spent the day at California Adventure. I think the kids liked it better than Disneyland because it has rides and characters from all the Pixar movies, which is what they mostly watch.
Max made this face in every picture we took (unless we threatened him with some kind of punishment).
Jason and I took turns riding the adult rides. I seriously love California Screamin'. I couldn't stop smiling.
The boys loved the Toy Story ride.
Hadley fell asleep during the ride.
It was so warm that day. Probably around 80 degrees. It was so nice. Hadley loved having her legs free of clothing.
Hanging out with Woody.
The boys were waiting to see Lightning McQueen when he left and Mater came. Jason said they were even more excited to see Mater.
I snapped a pic of McQueen as he was leaving.
We had a lot of fun on Mater's ride in Cars Land.
Ollie and I in line for the Radiator Springs Racer ride. We got fast passes for this ride so he got to ride it twice. We also ran into our friends Matt and Jamie Brasher and Gary, Jennifer and Conner Bowden.
Ollie and Max in front of Stanley.
Maybe when our kids grow up they will go to Monsters University :)
Here we are waiting for the Pixar Parade.
The boys loved it. I think my favorite part of the whole vacation was watching the boys experience everything. It was awesome.
After we left the park we headed to Fountain Valley to stay with our friends Chris, Lucy and Mathilda. It was so fun to catch up with them. Wednesday morning Jason and Chris went for a motorcycle ride and we took the kids to a park. Then we headed to downtown Huntington Beach for lunch. We headed out around 2pm to beat the LA traffic.
We had a great trip. Now starts Jason's busy season :(
