California Trip

Last Saturday we all piled in the van and headed down to California. The kids have been asking to go to Disneyland for ages and we finally had a time when we actually could. We made the drive all in one day. Pretty risky for four kids 7 and under but we made it and it was not anywhere near as bad as I imagined it might be. I'm sure that had, in part, to do with the ability to watch movies and play Nintendo in the van. The kids thought Disneyland was fabulous! The first day at Disneyland we just went intending to spend the entire day, but by late afternoon the kids had just had it so we went back to the hotel. Our second day at Disneyland, we planned it much better. We went in the morning but we came home after lunch and let the kids have a little nap/down time. Then we went back after dinner and stayed until after the firework show. It was much better that way. We hit as many rides as we could. Dalton was the only one tall enough to do the Indiana Jones ride and he decided that it was scary, but fun. Holly was the only one who dared to do the Matterhorn with Dad and with a little prep work, she decided that it was great and that it was her favorite ride. Jeremy had talked to her about how none of it was real and if it got a little scary to scream at the monsters. She screamed through the ride and thought it was great! Allison loved the Dumbo ride but had a great time on all the rides. She was our little trooper. By the end of the second night, Dalton and Holly were complaining about how tired their legs were and how they needed to ride in the stroller, but Allison skipped all the way back to the car and was just as happy as could be. Dalton's favorite part of Disneyland was the Jedi Padowan Training. It is a show they have just outside of Star Tours and they pull kids out of the audience to train to become Jedi Knights. It was so fun! Dalton was the first one picked. He got to fight Darth Vader. Unfortunately, I couldn't get any pictures of Dalton fighting Vader because people were in the way, but Jeremy got it all on video. Yea!

The other couple of days we were there, we drove down to Newport Beach and played on the beach. It was wonderful! The first day we were there it was a little overcast and therefore a little chilly. We lasted until about lunch time and then the kids were done. So, we took the kids to see Up instead. The next day we hit the beach it was much better. It was sunny and the weather was perfect. The kids played in the ocean, looked for sea shells and played in the sand. They made a sand castle and an alligator. It was the perfect way to end our vacation.

The drive home went very well. The kids slept better on the way home than they did on the way out. I'm sure they were wiped out from the trip. Here are a few more pictures:

This is how the stroller often was filled. Holly was not at her best at this moment.
Jackson had a great time! A few times the ride would scare him and then he would turn around on my lap and put his face in my chest. It was hilarious! He thought the Pirates of the Carribean was pretty scary.
My princesses in front of the castle.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip that I would be easily persuaded to do again someday. Maybe we'll do San Diego next time.