1/31/2014

{INSTA Disney}

Since my favorite lens broke, and my camera has limited use,
my phone camera got used quite a bit on our trip.

Here's the insta summary of the fun...


All the bags are packed- the Ziploc system totally worked!  
One bag per kid per day- all sealed up and ready to go.


Hair is cut.  Van is fixed & loaded.  Drink is filled.  Next Stop: Sunshine!




My rear view.  Kids are happy!  Only 12 more hours to go...



First Stop: St. George

We stayed at the Inn at Entrada in a beautiful condo with an amazing view of the red rock.
Not used to working out with mirrors around, but you can't beat the view!
Must burn some calories before feasting.


We explored the Sugar Loaf in the 57 degree weather.
The kids were in heaven climbing and and playing together.




First time to Swig.
And we hit it for the second time the same day.
Peach Coke- FAVORITE!
Mango Mountain Dew- DELICIOUS!




We made it to Anaheim and the Castle House & are ready for the magic!
The moms were the most excited!!!


First day at the Happiest Place on Earth!




Jeni was the tea cup hero!  She took all of the kids on it and let them spin their hearts out!



The Dumbos...




Day #1 was absolutely perfect!
Highlights included: Everyone having a riding buddy, Henry driving his own Autopia car, Stella meeting a princess, and James wanting to ride "Squash Mountain" over & over again.  And you couldn't beat 80 degrees and having the park to ourselves (pretty much) for over an hour!




Our 2nd day was California Adventure.  After we got fast passes to the new Radiator Springs Racers, we headed to a family friendly favorite- Toy Story Mania!  The kids loved modeling the glasses and the adults loved beating the kids at all of the games.


I did not want to ride the Swings, but I knew Preston couldn't ride the swings in his dizzy state.
I took one for the team and got to see this cute site...


Stella felt right at home at the Disney Jr. Live show.
She LOVES Doc McStuffins, and she picked a Doc McStuffins Doctor Kit for her souvenir.  
She took it to the show, pulled it out, and sang along to the theme song...

And, the boys were off riding the big rides, so it was just Stella and I having some girl time.
She was loving it!


The new Cars Land was adorable!  My favorite was the lights along the street at night.  Preston, for some reason, loved this Tow Mater Tractor ride that he rode over and over again with his little riding sidekick, Stella.


The Fun Bunch in Cars Land- best group shot of the trip!
I love these people so much!!!




We sent the dad's back to the house a bit early to get the vans to come pick us up to get dinner.  I got texted this picture.  They just had to hit up Mickey for a picture on the way out...



One of my fears of going on this trip was that Stella HATED the characters last time.  She freaked out big time when we went a year and a half ago.  Well, times have changed.  She LOVED getting autographs and was especially excited to visit Mickey and Minnie's houses and take a picture with them.




The Radiator Springs Racer ride is so much fun!  It tells the whole Cars story and you get to go on a super fast car ride.  We tried to hit it every day we were there and was really the only ride with much of a line.  We loved fast passes!




On the evening of Day 3 of 4 days in Disneyland I realized Stella still hadn't met Cinderella- and that was the one thing she really wanted to do (besides meet Elsa and Anna from Frozen- which I wasn't willing to wait in a 2 hour line).  We walked into Disneyland at 7pm and just as we approached the gate, out walks Cinderella!  It was perfect timing and Stella ran to see her and get her autograph.
I'm so glad she got to meet her!




On Day 4 we took a break from Disney and hit Legoland.



My boys LOVE all things Lego, so we were really excited!
I must admit it wasn't my favorite place---it was pretty run down and the rides weren't really made of Legos, like I thought they would be, but it was still worth it to go....maybe just once in a lifetime though.  It was pricey! They did have some big rides that the kids enjoyed and they were happy happy happy to get to build their own minifigures as a souvenir before we left, but it just didn't have the charm of Disneyland.  


We were very happy to be heading back to Disneyland for our last day in Sunny California!
We had a 20 minute walk from our house to the park but our kids were ready to go early every morning!

Our last day encompassed hitting all of the kids favorite rides multiple times.
We rode Splash Mountain 3x in a row....just because there was no line and the kids love it.
We had to get all of our favorite treats and watch the fireworks, of course.


James had to hit Tower of Terror, even though his eyes stay covered most of the time...


This trip was a dream come true!  I did not want it to end.
We got to go with our best friends to the Happiest Place on Earth!
....and I couldn't be happier about it....
and can't stop thinking about doing it again....soon.

We were exhausted after a week of walking, walking, walking...
and waking up early and staying up late.
But it was so worth it!
We made some great memories!

We headed to Las Vegas on Saturday to watch a friend's soccer tournament.
Isn't it crazy that we went from 80 to 60 in one day and were freezing?...
This was us huddled up, keeping eachother warm, as we watched the soccer game...


And on Sunday we made our way back to Utah...
The kids were exhausted too and slept half the way home.
Except for my gamer who needs very little sleep.
Preston drove the whole way, and I did a lot of planning and a little reading.


And it's back to reality...

1 comment:

pamela said...

you're KILLING me. oh man. i miss you guys. my favorite picture of the whole trip is todd on the splash mountain ride, looking genuinely happy.

i seriously wish i could afford to go every year!!