Disneyland Part 1

I'm going to try and get caught up here over the next few days.  We got back from California this weekend and boy am I struggling to get back into life.  This trip was awesome and I can't wait until we go next year.  That is right, we already have our trip planned.  Seriously can't wait!!

We left on Saturday September 21 to head to St George.  We met up with Shaun and Lisa down in Saratoga Springs and were on our way.  We arrived in St. George in the late afternoon time.  It was nice to get there early enough to be able to get settled in and relax.  Brayden and the girls wanted to go swimming so Shaun, Josh and I took them to the pool.  The baby was sleeping so Lisa stayed at the condo with her.  We got up Sunday morning, went to a sacrament meeting, took the sacrament then were on our way to Anaheim.  We got to Anaheim in the early evening time.  Shaun and Lisa were able to book our rooms through a timeshare they are involved in.  We each had our own rooms but were next door to one another so that was nice.  It was a pretty nice room.  Had a master suite, kitchen, microwave, dishwasher, the couch in the living room pulled out and a nice closet and bathroom area.  I wasn't sure how B would do sleeping but he actually did awesome.  He slept in the pull out bed every night without any problems.

Monday was our first day in Disneyland.  The plan for the week was we had a 3 day hopper pass for the parks, Sea World, Legoland and the beach.  We did Disneyland Monday, California Adventure Tuesday, Sea World and the beach Wednesday, Legoland Thursday and back to the park Friday.

Monday morning the park opened at 10am but we wanted to get there early to get in line as well as get Brayden's medical diagnosis taken care of.  We took it to city hall right inside the park entrance and because of his autism they gave him a guest activity pass.  He basically got a front of the line/fast pass for every ride.  With the pass, we could have up to 6 in our group so it worked awesomely for us 3 as well as Shaun's family.  We didn't have to really wait for much of anything.  Even in Cars Land where the wait was 95 minutes at one point.  We waited less than 5 minutes in each line.  It was amazing!  It was pretty obvious immediately that Brayden is older and much more aware then the last time we went and he could not have waited in the lines so I'm thankful we chose to put our pride aside and take the diagnosis.  I told Josh that being special needs parents really sucks at times, but for this week in Disneyland it was awesome to feel as though my son's needs were being taken care of.

The park closed at 8pm and we planned on opening and closing it that day.  And boy did we!  I've never done that before and it was so much fun.  Being there with the excitement as they open the gates and being there when they close at night and riding Splash Mountain, Pirates and Indiana Jones while it is dark outside.  Pretty cool!  We were pretty much exhausted after this first day and welcomed getting back to the hotel and going to bed knowing we'd have a similar day on Tuesday.

So my birthday was on Sunday the 22nd.  I turned the big 35! I have the best hubby and son.  Once we got settled into Anaheim, Josh went to the store and got a few things so we could celebrate.  Nothing says love like chicken strips, fries, diet coke, ice cream and cupcakes :)

We've arrived!!!  

Walking down Main Street

They were a bit excited to go on Splash Mountain

My pirate!

Right after we got off the Buzz ride

So a pretty cool thing, in the Star Wars store he got to custom make his own light saber.  I'm not sure who was more excited about it, Josh or Brayden :)

This encounter by The Haunted Mansion was great.  He talked to Brayden for a few minutes.  Asked his name where he was from what he was going to be for Halloween.  It was pretty cool to see Brayden actually answering him back and not bottling up like he normally does.  

Over in the Innoventions, they had a whole armory of Iron Man gear.  They were both a bit giddy here :)

Riding in the submarine with Nemo and friends 

As we were waiting to enter the park the first day

It isn't Disneyland without a ride on the tea cups

Hulk...Smash!!

We flashed our U's in this photo.  The Utah football even liked this photo on Instagram.  We are kind of a big deal now :)

We Are Surviving

I knew this week would be busy, but now that is is actually here, I'm counting down the days until Sunday night. The RV show is going on and Josh is busy running the show and trying to keep his head above water. Love that man so much! He is amazing and such a hard worker. The show starts today but the last few days have been spent at the expo center setting up and making sure all the RV dealers are getting setup without a problem. Having one car for the most part has not been a problem however it's week like this that a second car would be nice. We've had to get Josh to the expo center early every morning and pick him up later in the evening time. Tomorrow he has to be there at 5:30 am, but thankfully we don't have to take him. He's still had to cover his shift at Walmart too so he goes from the show to Walmart to home. I can tell he's tired but surviving. The show ends Sunday afternoon. Saturday he has to work an 8 hour shift at Walmart then go immediately to the show until the evening time. The Utes play that night so we are going to that together. Yay for date nights!!  Sunday he will be gone all day into the evening time and then the show will be over for another year. Our trip is in 9 days and at this point, that is what is getting us all through this week. Brayden has been so awesome all week. I've had to wake him up early every morning to get Josh where he needs to go and he's been such a trooper. I can tell by the time I get him from school and the evening time rolls around, he is tired. Homework has started this week also, so that and our nightly reading has kept he and I busy.

End of Summer..

I've been lazy about posting pictures the last month or so.  This post is basically just a picture heavy post of different activities we did through out the summer.  Enjoy!

My parents got a brand new swing set last month and the kids have really put it to some good use.  By the way, when did this kid get so tall?  Seriously!?!

Todd and Whitney's little boy turned 1 a couple of weeks ago.  The party was Disney/Mickey Mouse.  What would a party be without Mickey and Minnie there?  It really was a fun little party and they really went all out for it.  

He had a Guys Night with Josh recently.  He was so excited for it!  All week leading up to it he talked about it.  I love that he and his dad are the best of buds.

For Guys Night, they went to the comic book store, the nickel arcade and Toys R Us.  Josh said this was his favorite game at the arcade.  Love that face!!

Sunday dinner at my parents house.  Sure do love these boys!

The dollar theatre has become our new favorite place.  All the summer movies we missed are now playing there.  This night we saw Iron Man 3.  I think they are a little excited..don't you? :)

First day of 5th grade!  He looks so grownup here.  Makes me a little bit sad.  However, he has done awesome so far and he has such an amazing teacher.  Here's to having a great school year!

I love that he is smiling while cleaning the bathroom.  He really is such a great help when it comes to cleaning.  He's almost as OCD about cleanliness and organization as I am.

Totally random, but this was all from one batch.  It made me laugh to myself.  I bet you can't guess who we kind of like.

We had our 2 favorites over for some cousin time a few weeks back.  Brayden's new favorite obsession is Angry Bird Star Wars so they all enjoyed building with those things and coming up with there own creations.  

Helping out with chores.  

For family night a few weeks back we went fishing at Daybreak Lake.  Brayden loves to fish.  We ended up fishing for a couple of hours.  I think in total he caught and released 8 fish.  He was pretty pleased with that.