Disneyland - 2012

We feel extremely - even absurdly - blessed to be able to be part of Randy's company's annual convention in Disneyland.  It's an experience we most likely wouldn't be able to enjoy without being invited, so we try to make the most of it!  If you have ever wondered what the daily details of such a trip for a family of four looks like, just scroll on thru:)

Last year we started the practice of recording our rides and goings on, and the boys were eager to see the tradition continue.  We write down everything once it has happened...

Thursday

10:22 space mountain

10:46 star tours

11:00 astro blasters

11:15 bathroom break

11:27 thunder mountain

11:53 haunted mansion

12:20 pirates

1:00 lunch at critter country

1:32 Indiana Jones

1:50 jungle cruise

2:02 snow white

2:08 pinocchio 

2:34 dumbo

2:53 mr toad's wild ride

3:24 go coaster

3:50 roger rabbit

4:10 train

4:17 meet mickey!!

4:25 downtown cinema

4:55 Mark Twain

5:35 space mountain

5:44 bathroom break

6:15 star tours

7:00 dinner break

7:17 indiana jones

7:40 pirates

7:55 big thunder mountain

Friday

9:45 splash mountain

10:00 haunted mansion

10:20 pirates

11:00 soaring over california

11:30 tower of terror

11:55 muppets 3-d

12:34 lunch at taste pilot

12:39 bathroom break

12:52 little mermaid

1:05 goofy's flight school

1:35 fast pass for splash mountain

1:55 big thunder mountain

2:05 fast pass for star tours

2:49 captain EO

3:08 splash mountain

4:00 fast pass for indiana jones

4:30 ice cream break

4:43 parade

5:10 indiana jones

6:13 space mountain

6:20 bathroom break

6:50 peter pan

7:30 dinner at jolly holiday

8:00 pirates

8:30 star tours

Saturday

9:10 train

9:21 splash mountain

9:41 haunted mansion

10:03 pirates

10:10 fast pass for indiana jones

10:25 big thunder mountain

11:09 tom sawyer island

11:34 indiana jones

12:05 lunch at stage door

12:12 bathroom break

12:25 fast pass for soaring

1:16 talking with crush

2:29 alladin

3:20 goofy's flight school

4:00 california screaming

4:26 soaring over california

4:48 bathroom break

5:00 flag ceremony

5:41 shopping

These lists might be very boring for you, but if you pay close attention to them...some details begin to stand out.  One obvious one is that there are no princess rides, parties or parades involved in our day.  I'm not sure we even know where that stuff happens:)  Another detail is that we only take 2, count them, 2 bathroom breaks the WHOLE day.  Is it just me, or is that a little crazy.  The last detail is - and this might not be much of a surprise for those who know Randy - we do not dilly-dally.  We are in line, on the ride, off the ride, and walking to the next ride before you can flick your magic wand. 

Ok - enough words.  Here are some pictures to prove we were actually there...

 Space Mountain is still one of our favorite rides.  I always think that I will make it to the end without laughing my head off ... but I don't.

 Mathias' first time on Dumbo!!  Randy and Garron were too cool to ride with us ... lame!!

 Garron wanted to pretend that he was too cool for Mickey too, but alas, NO ONE is too cool for Mickey...

 See:)

Doesn't Garron look so old in this picture?  Oh wait, that's not Garron!  That's a cute, 84 year old man that comes to ride splash mountain twice a week, every week.  Garron was a bit trepidatious this year about riding some of the rides with big drops in them.  We're trying to not be too upset/worried about it.  

 On the other hand, Mathias loved going on the rides that had bigger drops in them.  He was too short for some of them last year and it kinda bummed him out.  He was a pretty good sport about it and all, but was quite relieved to discover that he is no longer shorter than any ride requirement:)

 This smile says it all...

Zippety Do Dah!  We sure love Disneyland:)

Blue and Gold Banquet

This year's B&G Banquet was pretty fun - especially for the boys.  They chose a lego theme, and it seemed like a huge hit.  Garron has been out of cub scouts for a while, so maybe the break helped us as parents to be a little bit more excited about it than normal:)

Can you tell how stoked Mathias is?  He's not just happy about finally joining the land of the living again (he had been sick for 5 days previous to this night).  Nope - he's excited because he knows, with all the confidence an 8 year old can muster, that he's about to win the top prize.  

You might say that there is no such thing as top prize at the Blue and Gold Banquet, but if you're really honest with yourselves, you'll concede to the fact that everyone secretly wants to win the "Best Tasting Cake" award - And you'd be right!  So, our plan was to not go overboard on decorating and instead utilize all of our energy for the insides.  Ultimately such efforts really make this competition unfair.  Why??  Because we have a secret weapon, and his name is Gumpy (a.k.a Lee Watson, a.k.a nicest man on the planet).  Gumpy has demonstrated to us time and time again - with ANY combination of batter and frosting flavor - that he makes the most delicious cakes on earth.  It seemed foolish to even try another recipe...so we chose his traditional vanilla cake recipe combined with a butter/cream cheese frosting...Aaaaaaannnnnnnddd Mathias won!  You should have seen the judges eating his cake - there was a lot of pointing, mmmmmhhhmm-ing, and sheer satisfaction involved:)  

This was one of my favorites - so creative!!

Besides being able to 'build' their own tacos for dinner, the boys also got to bring their lego creations to display.  Mathias and Randy built this ship together over the Christmas break, and since we hadn't taken it down yet, or stuck it in storage, we were able to join in the fun!

Hurry up...

It's rude to stick your tongue out!

A Year in Review, by Garron

These are the most important highlights that I remember from this year:

My Aunt Carrie's wedding

Mathias' baptism in Las Vegas

Getting the priesthood


Other than that, this is what we spent most of our time doing:

Dad took a LOT of pictures.  For example, in his last semester of classes he took over 9,000 images.  This may or may not seem like a lot, but for comparison this is more pictures than he's taken in all of the previous semesters combined.  I'm in a lot of his work, and I don't even make him pay me (I'm considering changing that practice the next time he asks).  You will see some of my favorite pictures included in this post.

Mom spends most of her time helping Dad, Mathias and me.  There are a lot of car rides weaved into her day.  There's also a lot of help with homework shuffled in there too.  Even Dad needs help with papers and editing and all that photography stuff.

Mathias spends most of his time teasing Grandpa Hahn.  I have a lot of fun watching him imitate everything Grandpa does.  Mostly because it's funny - but it's also enjoyable because it means that I never get in trouble with Grandpa.

I spend most of my time doing school stuff.  For example, I'm working really hard to improve my mile time for PE.  My best time this year (and EVER) is 6:07.  I really want to have under a 6 minute mile.  My teachers are giving me lots of tips to help with that goal.  At church I am working on passing the sacrament better.  I'm also the first counselor in the deacons quorum.  I'm working on scout requirements too - even though that stuff is not my favorite.

The end

smiley face :)

enjoy the pictures...

Labor Day Hike

Garron's Priesthood Ordination

(Click on images for normal view)