We just returned home from our highly anticipated Disneyland trip. If you asked me halfway through the vacay how things were going, I probably would have had a slight emotional breakdown and asked you to take my 2 year old so the rest of us could have fun. Luckily, she figured out that none of us had fun when she didn't get a lot of sleep and changed things.
We started out on Thursday. We drove to Vegas and stayed with the ever-generous Hills. They were nice enough to let the kids sleep on the floor in their room so we could all fit. And Aleena made a great dinner and breakfast. We never get enough time with Geoff and Aleena, but we'll take what we can get!
Holly, Aria, and Alli
Brynne and Laila
Friday morning we took off and drove to L.A. Alex's work convention is in L.A. next year, so Alex arranged a site inspection with the hotel, who provided us with a 2 bedroom suite and dinner at the hotel grill. We got spoiled. The hotel also sent up a platter of cheese and fruit for Alex and I, and milk and cookies for the kids.
We took a couple hours to explore Manhattan Beach, which was really cool. We pretty much just walked down to the little pier and looked in cute shop windows. I wish I had more time to walk through some of the shops, but dinner reservations cut our time a little short.
The girls enjoying the milk and cookies.
Manhattan Beach
Saturday morning we headed out early and went to Disneyland! Overall, we had fun, but Brynne was going on 2 nights of not enough sleep and was a bit of a pill. Alli and Holly were able to go on pretty much all the rides. Holly was too short for Indiana Jones and California Screamin', but she's looking forward to those rides next time! Alli LOVED Screamin'. I think she went on it 3 times. Both girls also liked Tower of Terror a lot.
One of my favorite memories from Saturday is Alice in Wonderland (dubbed "Wonderful" by Brynne). This was the last ride before I needed to feed a hungry baby. We got on the ride, made it into the building, then stopped. We got stuck in the ride. They turned on the lights and kept announcing that someone would come help us soon. Tyson started crying, so I nursed him on the ride. Alex was embarrassed, and it made me laugh. Finally someone came to help us and we made it off the ride.
Taking a quick break outside Space Mountain.
Outside the Jack-o-Lantern Mickey
I don't even remember why Holly was so mad here, but this is a classic Grumpy Holly face.
So, my least favorite part of Saturday was when Alex decided he just couldn't miss out on the BYU game. He went to ESPNZone in Downtown Disney while the kids and I hung out at California Adventure. It had potential to be really fun. It just wasn't. We tried to go on the bumper cars, but each kid needed an adult with them and Brynne and Tyson were too little to go. So scratch that one. So we got in line for the ladybug ride. We actually made it on this ride and survived it. We got in line for another kid ride, and Brynne decided she was done behaving. She was climbing under the railings, running away, yelling. Yikes. I decided I wasn't going to deal with it, so I buckled the screaming toddler and tired baby into the stroller and we went down to the animation building where the kids spent time drawing and looking at scenes from Disney movies. Luckily, Alex met us there and took the little ones so I could do some fun things with the older two. Amusement parks aren't meant for a tired mom with 4 little kids!
In line for the ladybug ride.
We stayed at a hotel close to Disneyland that night and attempted to go to church in Huntington Beach the next day. We got out of the hotel late, and had a little trouble finding the church building. We finally found it, but there were no seats open in the chapel so we sat in the foyer. After Tyson had a blowout and Brynne had a freakout, we called it a day and went on a drive. We eventually made it to our next stop, the Newport Coast resort, and settled in for the afternoon. That evening Alex went to pick up his mom from the airport, who joined us for the rest of our vacation.
Monday morning we headed back to Disneyland. It was perfect weather! Overcast and cool, but not cold. Fantastic. The kids fought over who got to ride with Grandma. We LOVED having her company and help! Here are a few pictures from the day:
Brynne was scared of most rides, so I was SHOCKED when she actually agreed to give Minnie a hug. I love this picture.
My cousin Tina joined us for a few hours in the afternoon with her son, Soren. Here is Brynne and Soren hanging out while we're waiting for the other group to come out of Splash Mountain. It was so great to see Tina and Soren!
Monday night we saw World of Color at California Adventure. Brynne was scared of it, but it was an amazing show! It's awesome what they can do with water and lights!
Tyson was mesmerized.Thanks to Brynne figuring out how to sleep, and lots of help from Grandma, Monday was a much calmer day for us! We love Disneyland!
Tuesday it poured all.day.long in Newport Beach. It stopped raining for about an hour and a half, and we took that opportunity to go swimming. I wasn't sure I wanted to leave the hot tub...it felt so good!
That night we found an amazing Mexican restaurant. We were 2 for 2 in Costa Mesa with restaurants! We found a good BBQ place there that we loved, too.
We drove home Wednesday. Long drive, but the kids were great. What did we ever do before car dvd players? Our poor parents.
Here's one last picture of Brynne the Monkey hanging off the bar stools in Newport Beach.
