Off to Disney! We split the drive into two days. Wyatt wasn't feeling well as soon as we left...not a good sign. But the kids all did great on the drive. Here is Wyatt and Avery at a lunch stop in
Redding on our first day.
We stayed at a Naval base and then motored our way on the next day to Disney. Avery is all set to go.
Wyatt after making a square on his face with a sunscreen stick.
When we got to Anaheim, we went straight to see our good friends from Okinawa-who also were our neighbors in FL. We miss the B family! So good to see them...at least 5/6 of them!
Here are the two youngest of the crew. They are almost a month apart in age exactly. Such sweeties.
We checked into our hotel and met up with Grammy and Grandpa who flew in to join us. Aunt JJ
came too and she arrived early afternoon on the next day. A picture at the Lego store at
Downtown Disney. And the back of A's head. :)
Elana braved the craziness of Downtown Disney and met us for dinner with her four kiddos in tow.
That is our hotel in the background.
A balloon maker conveniently appeared as we were finishing dinner and he said he could make a T-
Rex balloon or a shark balloon so we just couldn't say no. Of course Disney employs the world's
best balloon builders! W picked a T-Rex, J picked a monkey on a tree, A picked a turtle, M picked a
crown and J picked a shark. Such wonderful little people.
It was too short of a visit but so happy to see Elana and her wonderful kiddos (Mike was out of
town).
Day 1 of our passes: We didn't get as early start as we were hoping on bc the boys
slept longer than usual and we didn't want to wake them up. W still wasn't feeling 100% but he
perked up and we left the hotel.
It was so nice that we could push the stroller right out of the hotel enter California Adventure. Since
"Cars Land" is the newest and busiest place at the park right now we went there first and got in the
50-minute line for "Radiator Racers". Here is W looking a little ghostly from the SPF50 sunscreen
we slathered on the him and J during our long wait.
We quickly learned that announcements at Disney Land are not a good thing. They suddenly announced that the ride was temporarily closed! Uhh. What?! So we waited in line a little while longer...and they reopened the ride-yes! Then they closed it again. Oh. No. Not a great way to start Day #1. So we had a slow start...but we redeemed ourselves on that ride the next day. More on that later...Aunt JJ arrived!
Back to "Radiator Racers". We looked up on a Disney app that the ride had reopened so we got there as early as we could and Geoff got in line for the Fast Pass. I bet he waited 25 minutes for the passes but which is certainly better than an hour plus!
Here is a good view of Cars Land. Seriously. Cool. It felt like we were in Radiator Springs.
While we waited for our turn for the Fast Pass we rode on "Luigi's Tires". We split up for the tractor ride versus breakfast. Then we returned to the busiest ride at the park. I think the line for the Racers was now over two hours.
And the boys got to ride it three times in a row! Jan, Jenette, and I went with the boys the first time and the ride is awesome! So fun! Then we used our baby pass...a pass you get before getting in line showing that someone has to stay back with a baby. So we used those passes and the Fast Pass so Geoff, Mark and the boys could ride next...see them in the dark blue car below. Apparently the ride controllers felt the ride slowed down to early at one point on their ride so they let them go immediatley again. Oh yeah.
The boys enjoyed swimming during the afternoons every day. It was nice to cool off and they could practice all of the skills they learned in lessons this summer. We didn't think we would swim at all but the boys would get tired of the crowds, the lines, and the heat midday.
They have conquered going underwater which opens a whole new world of swimming possibilities. Jack rocking the slide:
At night, Avery loved playing around on the bed but wanted nothing to do with her pack 'n play.
More shots of Cars Land:
It was Mark and Jan's anniversary on Tuesday so we celebrated their anniversary and the boys' birthday at dinner one night. Birthday sorbet!
According to the next couple of pics, Disney could also be known as "the most exhausting place on earth".
We are so glad we brought the BOB. Do you see how hot and sleepy these guys are? Day 3.
in Grandpa's arms.
Here is a button! What? It is your birthday? Here is a button!"
Submarine ride...
It's a Small World...
The boys surprised us and went on Space Mountain (they didn't like it). And a couple of other roller coasters. I will try to upload some hilarious videos Geoff took during Radiator Racers and Goofy's Flight School. The boys were so excited about the Lego Dinosaurs, Lego jet and Lego Pirate Ship they received for their birthday that they would say "I want to go back to the hotel and play with our Legos." The overall trip was fun but tiring. We had a great time. Drove home in one day. And the very next day after we returned home Geoff and the boys worked all day (with breaks in between) build the Black Pearl Lego pirate ship.
