DISNEYLAND!!

I feel like I should entitle this post "The Unexpected Journey" because, like Bilbo Baggins, we had no idea we were going on a trip until the day before we departed.  On Monday we found out about an opportunity we had to go to Disneyland with Rob's parents and two of his sisters and their families.  Well, when someone calls and asks you if you want to go to Disneyland, the answer is sort of a no-brainer, right? So of course I said "YES!" last Monday when Rob asked if I wanted to go to Disneyland the next day and stay for a week. 

Since we had to leave on Tuesday in order to give us enough time to drive down to California, I spent all of Monday cleaning, packing, and making arrangements on the phone to cover Zumba, babysitting appointments, Hallie's school, church obligations, and accommodations for our stay.  I tell you what, I have never packed for so long a trip in so short a time! And I didn't even forget anything important!

So Tuesday morning we got on the road at about 10:30, a little later than expected, but not too late.  We were bound for Las Vegas to stay with Chris and Rachel for the night.  The drive turned out a lot longer than expected, due to all the stops.  There was a stop to pick up Rob from work, a stop to change the oil in Evanston, a stop at the Distribution Center in Orem, a stop to see Tamera and William for a few minutes, and lots and lots of bathroom breaks.  When your newly-potty-trained two-year-old says she needs to go potty, you stop.  I think we stopped about once every hour for the entire 9-hour drive (which turned into a 12-hour drive).  But she had zero accidents on the entire drive to California!  Which is good, because she was wearing panties and if she had peed in her carseat, there wouldn't have been a really great way to clean it.  And we also found that she can hold it for a considerable amount of time, because we made her wait if it had been less than an hour since her last bathroom visit, or if there was nowhere to stop for a long time.  I think she used it as an excuse to get out of her carseat. 

We finally arrived in Las Vegas at around 9 PM local time, which was about 10 PM Wyoming time.  It was really great to see Chris and Rachel and Jake, although we were sort of losers because we were so tired (Rob had woken up at 3 AM that morning so he could put in a full day of work before he left, and I had stayed up late packing and gotten up early).  It was our first time seeing their house in Vegas, and it is so beautiful and it was so fun to stay there.  While there, we joked with Rachel, whose baby girl is due February 25th, that she should just have the baby while we were in Disneyland so that we could see the baby on our drive back through Vegas the following Sunday.  Wednesday morning we stayed and visited a little longer in the morning because we weren't actually going to Disneyland until Thursday.  So in the morning we got to see Denise and Gerry, Tim, and little Timmy before we finished the drive to California.  Rach and I took a cute pregnant picture together right before we left.  But it was on her camera, so you'll have to find it on Facebook!  

We arrived in Anaheim in the late afternoon, and after checking in to our hotel, we went to Downtown Disney to walk around a bit and get ourselves excited for Disneyland the next day.  Our hotel was the Anaheim Plaza Inn and Suites, across the street and a block down from Disneyland.  Everything we did was in easy walking distance from out hotel. We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with the Gerrards and Alexis, the only ones already in California at the time. 

At a fountain in Downtown Disney.  The girls threw in pennies and made a wish.

We are so excited to be in Disneyland!!

Resting up for a fun-filled day at Disneyland tomorrow!

Disneyland Day 1: Bright and early Thursday, we walked to Disneyland at around 8:30 so that we could get in for the "Magic Morning" at 9 AM.  Since the park didn't officially open until 10:00, it was fun to be able to get in early when the crowds were minimal and the lines were short.  When we first walked in, all the members of the original Mickey Mouse gang were there doing autographs and pictures, and we took our opportunity to see Mickey, Minnie, and Donald.

We're really here!

Mickey was, of course, first.

M-I-C,  K-E-Y,   M-O-U-S-E!

Then Minnie's turn.

Evie loved meeting the characters.  They were very real to her and she was very expressive in how exciting it was for her to meet them.  Very cute!

The weather was absolutely beautiful while we were there--sunny, mid-70s.  Perfect!

Donald Duck came next.

Then it was off to explore the park!

Evie taking the first turn on Grandma Kelly's awesome scooter--all the kids loved it when it was their turn to ride with Grandma.

Let the magic begin!

Alexis and Hallie

That's me and Claire on the Dumbo ride.

The Gerrards

About midway through the day, we got a text from Chris and Rachel saying that she was in the hospital in labor!  A short time later, Brooklyn had been born!!  We were of course thrilled for them, and very excited to have the opportunity to meet the new arrival when we drove back home. 

On the teacups! I love this ride and I was so happy I could still ride it pregnant! Daddy got us spinning really fast!

Walking into Frontierland, we met Jessie. 

Carsten watching the ducks with me and Evie while the big kids went on Thunder Mountain.

The girls right after riding their first roller coaster: Thunder Mountain.  They were ecstatic! They were jumping up and down and saying "Mom, that was so awesome! Again! Again! Again!"  They love roller coasters, just like their momma!

Evie being cute while we waited for everybody to ride Splash Mountain.  Since I couldn't ride any of the big rides, I was the designated stroller-watcher and babysitter.  Which usually worked out pretty well because it was nice to get a little time to rest my feet every once in a while.

In Critter Country, we saw Tigger...

And Pooh!

Off to New Orleans Square where we rode Pirates of the Caribbean (which was a bit scary for Evie), and also Haunted Mansion, which Hallie and Claire both rode without getting scared!  We decided not to take Evie on that one.  After that, we headed to Adventureland, where we climbed Tarzan's treehouse.

Going on the Jungle Cruise with Grandma and Papa.

We got lucky and didn't have to wait in line at all to see Aladdin and Jasmine!

Also in Adventureland we went to the Tiki Room, which was a major favorite with all three girls.  They are still talking about the Tiki Room, and I think it was the most popular attraction we did the whole week.  I wish I would have taken a few pictures, but it was a bit dark inside.  Claire and Evie were both dancing almost throughout the whole performance.  Too cute!

At night, as we were leaving the park: Disney Main Street with the castle at the end.  It's all so well done.

As we walked out of Disneyland and to Millie's for dinner, Evie crashed.  She slept through most of dinner. 

Walking back to our hotel after dinner.  Yes, this stroller is designed for one child.

 Disneyland Day 2: We started off the day with a ride on the Disneyland Train and a visit to the princesses.

I love my family! :)

Princesses waiting to see the princesses!

Princess Belle!

And Princess Ariel

And Tiana.  She was very chatty and nice.

In line at Pixie Hollow. They have a cool fountain there.

I like Pixie Hollow because it magically transforms you to the size of the fairies.

I liked Fawn a lot.  She was so cute!

Catching some pixie dust with TinkerBell!

In Tomorrowland, Claire and Hallie played Just Dance on this fancy Kinect that shows your whole body on the screen, what you're wearing and everything. 

They danced to Michael Jackson's "I'm Bad".

Later in the day, we headed over to California Adventure.  Here we are waiting for the Bug's Life 3D show. 

They changed the show since the last time we were at Disneyland.  All three girls were absolutely terrified during the Bug's Life show, and they were all screaming.  Not our family's favorite attraction.

About to get on Mickey's Ferris Wheel at Paradise Pier. Also at Paradise Pier we rode the swings--one of my favorite rides that I was thrilled to still be able to ride pregnant. 

In line for the new Ariel's Undersea Adventure ride.

The spraying fountains in a Bug's Land.

Evie--post-fountains.

"From way up here you all look like little ants!"  -Heimlich.

On the Tuck and Roll bumper cars.

Bumper cars round 2, we met up with all the rest of the family and they all went at the same time. 

Riding the ladybug ride--similar to the teacups ride.

The girls liked it so much that we rode it twice because there was no line. 

In line for the Toy Story shooting ride at Midway Mania.

It was a super fun ride, and we probably would have ridden it again if the line hadn't taken 45 minutes to get through.

Disneyland Day 3: Group shot!  This was taken Saturday morning.  Saturday was the day the park was most crowded, and also the coldest day--temperatures in the high 60s.  Some of us even wore jackets!

On the raft headed to Pirate Island.

Hallie right after we came out of the cave called Dead Man's Grotto.  It was pretty creepy and she was very scared. 

We found the treasure, mateys!

About to board the Mark Twain riverboat.  It is so huge!

At the Disney Junior show: definitely a highlight for our girls!

All of them were mesmerized, but Evie was most into it. 

Riding King Triton's carousel at Paradise Pier.

I know these next couple pictures are a little blurry, but she was being so cute!

Later that evening, we went to the World of Color show, which was my favorite part of the whole Disneyland experience! We saw it last time we came to Disneyland and we were in awe.  They have since changed the show, but it has not decreased in awesomeness, if anything it was better this time! So. Amazing. And we had a really good view this time, right smack in the middle of the first balcony level--not so close to the water that we got wet, but close enough and high enough to see the whole show clearly.  I love that show!! And after the show, as we walked out of California Adventure, we got to watch the fireworks from Disneyland, which was also really fun.   That night after the show was the only time the whole week that Hallie and Claire complained about walking.  I was so impressed with them because they walked the whole time and never complained.  Only on Saturday night, when it was way past their bedtime did they start saying they were tired.  Such troopers!  I love my good girls!

Disneyland Day 4: Departure Day.  Sunday morning we packed up all our stuff and then told the girls we could go to Disneyland for a little while before we had to get on the road to Vegas.   So they each chose their favorite ride to ride again and we stayed in the park until midday, then we all got in the car and bid good-bye to the place where dreams come true. 

Hallie chose Thunder Mountain as her favorite ride that she wanted to do again.  Daddy, Hallie, and Claire rode it together.  You can see Rob and a little piece of Claire in this picture. They are in the last row of the first car.

Claire wanted to ride Space Mountain again, and Evie wanted to ride the rockets at the entrance to Tomorrowland.  So Dad took Claire and I took Evie, and Hallie decided she wanted to ride the rockets with me and Evie so she came with us.

That's the great thing about Disneyland: It has something wonderful to offer to every age group, regardless of if you are 2, 6, 15, pregnant, or a grandparent!  It's a blast for everyone!

We got lucky! On our way out of the park, we caught Cinderella with almost no line!  Evie was already asleep, but Hallie and Claire got to say hi.

On the way out.  :(

We love you Disneyland! Thanks for the magic!

So we drove to Vegas that afternoon and got to meet tiny baby Brooklyn.  She was so sweet and beautiful and perfect, just like a newborn should be! Hallie said our family prayer that morning and she prayed that baby Brooklyn would be awake when we got to see her.  So sweet.  Heavenly Father must love sweet little girls, because lo and behold Brooklyn was wide awake when we arrived in Vegas and remained so for a good hour or two after we got there.  Hallie said "It's because I prayed!"  Such simple faith!  Unfortunately, our camera was buried when we got there, and we didn't dig it out to take any pictures of the little one.  See Rachel's Facebook page. 

Denise was kind enough to offer her home to us that night, since Chris and Rachel had a baby while we were gone! :) So we stayed at the Omers for the night and got on the road first thing the next morning to finish the drive home.  The girls were fantastic travelers, as usual, and we made it home by early evening.  What a trip!  We all had a fantastic time! We felt so blessed and grateful to be able to make such great memories with our family!