We all decided this was the best park of the three we went to.  It was less crowded and had more exciting rides for the thrill seekers in the family with plenty of good ‘sort of exciting’ rides for the the less adventurous.  My favorite thing about this park is how much they have recreated many of our favorite movies like Cars and Bugs Life.  You felt like you were walking into the movie screen.  This park had all the next generation of Disney and our kids were excited to see the movies they love come to life.

First ride of the day for Liberty was, you guessed it, CA Adventure’s version of the Tea cups! 

That cute smile disappeared when we passed by Ursula on the Little Mermaid ride.  This was her face then.

Sorry it’s blurry, I was laughing really hard.

Meeting Goofy

Waiting in line to ride the Ferris wheel from Hell Heck. 

This was Levi’s face before we started moving.  This was also Reagan’s face before starting.  His did not change.

This was Levi’s face after we started moving.

I hate Ferris wheels; the regular, hardly move at all, Ferris wheels.  This was the Ferris wheel to beat all Ferris Wheels.  It is huge, and the cars rock and slide all over.  I didn’t know that when I agreed reluctantly to go on it “as a family”. If you look closely, you’ll notice my foot there in the picture.  I was bracing myself because there was nothing to hold onto and I wanted to throw up.  Even Levi, who went on almost all the big rides, couldn’t handle this one.  I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally got back to the bottom, only to be swung up and around a second time!  Rock, Liberty and Cade had a blast.  Cade grinned from ear to ear and kept saying, “This is the coolest ride ever!!” while the rest of us wanted to hurl and couldn’t even open our eyes.  I’m pretty sure I will never go on a Ferris wheel again.  That was enough for a lifetime. 

This will give you an idea of what the cars did.

It was beautiful at night, though.

Next stop was Radiator Springs from the movie Cars.  It was so fun to walk down the street and see all the places from the movie.

The Cozy Cone

Luigi’s Tires

The town hall/police department

The Radiator

And the Ride
Everyone loved zooming around the red rock hills and seeing all the characters from Cars.  Well, everyone but Liberty. This was the picture from the one drop on the ride.

Libby was holding on for dear life.  So was Reagan. Yeah, so was I.

On our way out of Radiator Springs we ran into this guy

The fastest, biggest, craziest ride was California Screamin, which only Cade and Rock were brave enough to do.  Here is the picture from that ride.

The scariest ride was the Tower of Terror and here is the picture from that one.

Cade knew when the camera was shooting, so he posed for this one. 

One of the neatest things at the park was the Wilderness Explorer playground.  It was a huge, kid size ropes course/log jungle gym in the middle of a forest.  Levi wanted to go back several times.  This zip line was pretty fun.

I took Liberty to lunch at Ariel’s Grotto to try one last time to meet Sleeping Beauty.  We had a fun lunch and got to hug a lot of princesses, but no Sleeping Beauty.  When she asked the waiter where she was, he told her that he’d tried to wake her up that day, but she just wouldn’t wake up.  Her beauty sleep was too important.  Liberty was totally ok with that.  Never a tear or a whine.  I love my laid back little girl.

We headed back to the hotel at 8:00 that night after the parade and water show, put all the kids to bed and sighed with relief.  It had been fun, but we were worn out and ready to go home. 

I’m so grateful we could give them this fun trip. 

And one last funny one I couldn’t resist putting in.

You would think that once we started on our 14 hour journey home, there would be nothing exciting left to report except the occasional brawl in the back seat or ear splitting toilet flushes.  But you’d be wrong.   After driving almost 900 miles safely, we hit a snowstorm in Idaho and slid out of control two exits from home.  We slammed into a cement barrier, spun around almost 360 degrees and came to a stop perpendicular to traffic.  Luckily there were very few people on the road at 2:30 AM so no one hit us.   The bumper did what bumpers are supposed to do, and we were able to drive home ok, though all the kids were now wide awake and freaked out.  Rock and I were pretty freaked out too.  But nobody was hurt and we are very grateful the only damage was to the car.  We’re also grateful for insurance! 

The kids ended their epic California vacation (in 70 degree weather) with a snow day here at home in 14 degree weather.  Not bad for as weeks go.

We took it slower on day four of the trip.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed their breakfasts at the hotel and this day was no exception. 

We took some pictures of the palm tree lined streets outside the hotel on our way out of town.

And then we headed down to Carlsbad to Legoland.  The kids loved it, but I was right about them liking the other parks more.  They’re favorite thing about Legoland was getting to see the studio where they made The Lego Movie. Since I didn’t even go in that one, and Rock doesn’t ever take pictures, I don’t have anything to show you.  But here are the other picture highlights from that day.

One of the “lands” in Legoland is “Miniland”.  It’s a Lego reproduction of many of the famous buildings in the world.  Very cool.

They did have a statue of Liberty out in the “harbor” but I couldn’t get a good shot. 

If you look closely you can even see Jefferson!

He really was happy to be here.

At every park we found some version of the tea cups!  Libby loved it!  Here are the Lego tea cups.

Believe it or not, she did meet a few girls at Legoland.

When I tried to get her to stand next to this guy who was twice as big as her, she wouldn’t do it.  Can’t say that I blame her.

Cade had decided by this point that he wanted to go on only the biggest, scariest rides.  So he and Rock went on the X Factor.  If you listen closely you can hear Rock holler as they drop.

While Rock and the boys went on another “dark, loud and scary” ride, Liberty and I rode these cute little airplanes.  She would giggle with glee every time they swooped around the corner.  We went on this ride 3 times in a row!

 
Christmas was in process at Legoland too.

Star Wars Lane

Levi and Liberty loved got their Legoland License.

Legoland closed at 5:00 that day, which was just perfect for us after our exhausting day at Disneyland the day before.  We went to dinner with Aunt Kathy and Uncle Carl at the Oceanside Pier.  Waaaaay out at the end of the pier is a Ruby’s Diner which is where we ate.  It was a fabulous place to end our day.  I only wish I’d thought to get pictures with Aunt K and Uncle C! 

This was the first time in Liberty’s memory to see the ocean.

As we walked out onto the pier further and further away from the sand, Levi would only walk on the middle of the planks.  I had to explain to him how thick the planks underneath him really were before he would rest easy and walk on the cracks.  And for those who are wondering if Reagan freaked out way up high out over the water, you’ll be glad to know he did not.  

Stay tuned for Day 5!

Now on to the fun stuff!  We planned this trip for early November because according to all the research we did, Disneyland has smaller crowds at that time.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are very crowded and summer too.  So even though I had misgivings about making this trip with OUR kids (the fighting, the arguing, the overstimulation), I did not have misgivings about the crowds.  In other words, I had low expectations of what would happen with the kids this time (unusual for me) and high expectations about the number of people we would have to deal with in the park.  I was not disappointed in my expectations of the kids.  Well, I was disappointed, let’s be honest.  But apparently the whole country had the day before Veterans day off and they all decided it would be a great day to go to Disneyland.

We hit the park as it opened and headed straight for Star Tours because it’s always a popular ride; one I’ve had to wait hours to ride before.  We got there so fast we zipped right through the line.  There is something very satisfying in walking the zigzag of theme park lines super fast.  You feel like you are cheating fate.  It was the last time we enjoyed that feeling all day, at least for most rides.

The boys loved Star Tours.  But it was just the first of many rides that Liberty did not like.  Basically she didn’t like any dark or loud rides.  This eliminates a LOT of rides at most theme parks.   So I got to spend the day riding the little dinky rides with her and Reagan, because even though we don’t mind the dark rides, Reagan was not a fan of the loud ones and neither he nor I like big roller coasters.  The drops make me sick.  I am, after all, probably the one person you know who has actually used a barf bag on an airplane.  We did make her go on several she didn’t like, though.  You can not go to Disneyland without going on Pirates of the Caribbean.

The Dumbo Ride-very tame.

Everyone had to take a try at King Arthur’s sword. Levi’s faces are hilarious.



 

The Swiss Family Robinson Tree is now Tarzan’s Tree house.  Whatever it’s called, it’s still the coolest tree house I’ve ever been in!

Disneyland was already decked out for the holidays.  Poinsettia was everywhere!

Levi and Cade LOVED the big fast rides, so while Rock took them to ride the Matterhorn and Splash Mountain we tried to find Sleeping Beauty.  No Princess, but we did find Minnie Mouse.

Later that day Liberty also got to meet
Ariel

Snow White

and Cinderella

No Sleeping Beauty, though.  

In the hopes of catching a glimpse of her we tried to  to watch the parade that evening.  We were supposed to meet up with Rock but there were so many people and so many sections had been blocked off, we could not even get to the spot where we were supposed to meet.  To make matters worse, both our cell phones were dead. (I will just say here that I do NOT know how our parents ever survived before cell phones.)  So we tried in vain to find each other.  It became almost impossible to steer the stroller around and I finally decided, to heck with it, I was going to stop in the aisle in a place that was out of everyone’s way, no matter what those D-Land workers with their big light sticks were telling me to do.  But the worker bees would have none of it.  I was so fed up with the crowds and the impossibility of getting around all day that I lost it.  I did something I’ve never done in my life.  I told that twerpy 18 year old worker that I was not in anyone’s way and I would not move.  He made up some excuse about fire lanes and since I did not have the energy at that moment to argue the fire code,  I moved.  My little rage against the machine was pretty pathetic I suppose, but I was tired and grouchy.  We gave up and rode the tea cups instead.  Ironically enough, they turned out to be Liberty’s favorite ride of the day.  She rode them three times in a row.  “Let’s do it again, Mommy!”  is so much better than plugged ears and crying.  While in the tea cups who should ride by on her parade float, but Sleeping Beauty! 

A few hours later we crammed into main street to watch the fireworks over the castle.  Disney did not disappoint. The fireworks were amazing and at the end, as the last firework fell to the ground, it started to snow!   Up and down Main Street snow fell from the tops of the buildings.  That was the most magical moment of the whole day.  Nice touch, Disneyland!

We went back to the hotel after that, feet aching and utterly wiped out.  The kids fell asleep before their heads hit the pillow and for our kids, that’s a miracle.   My overall impression of Disneyland this time around was, I admit, frustration.  The crowds and lines are harder to handle as an adult herding kids around the park.  But Rock and the kids had a great time.  I will always remember the snow on Main St. and the kids faces when they realized it was “snowing”.
Stay tuned for Part 4-Legoland!

Despite the airplanes and the dog barking, we were able to get a reasonable night’s sleep in Vegas.  The kids were beyond wild the next morning while I tried to get them ready for church.  It was like herding cats and and I kept hushing them and trying my best to keep them quiet.  Finally at one point I thought, “Ya know, I am so tired of  killing myself to keep them quiet and behaved in all settings.  It just doesn’t matter that much except to me.  I just make everyone miserable.” For those of you who know me, you are cheering right now for this little moment of self awareness. My husband the most.  So I stopped trying to fight the losing battle.  Not five minutes later, we got a phone call from the front desk telling us that we needed to be quieter because the people below us were complaining.  Yeah, it was pretty much as mortifying as I always knew it would be.  So much for self awareness.  Mother Witch returns.  Sorry, Husband.

After church we headed south again.  At some point throughout the day every child asked, “Where are we going?” To which we would smirkingly answer, “To Disneyland!!”  But that answer wasn’t good enough for them.  They wanted us to tell them either how much longer we’d be driving or what city we were in. We’ve decided it’s just the next generation version of “Are we there yet?”  They are smart enough to know we aren’t there yet.  They want all the info in between. 

I have to put in this little tidbit about Libby and auto flush toilets.  She is deathly afraid of them.  They are usually loud and obnoxious and as soon as she is done, she jumps off the dreaded toilet and plugs her ears.  I have a hard time getting her to go until she is desperate.  As you might imagine, we had to use them a lot on this road trip.  She was getting  pretty gun shy and on 0ne particular  potty break, I had to reassure her over and over that it would be ok, that THIS one wouldn’t be so loud.  Poor girl, that toilet flushed no less than three times while she was still sitting on the toilet!  I used to be grateful for auto flushing toilets.  I’m not really anymore.

Here we are after dinner that night.  Jack in the Box did not agree with me and Liberty was just super tired.

As we pulled into our hotel Sunday night Liberty said, “That was so long!  We could not even have walked here!” 

Nope.

We headed to Las Vegas today, our first stop on the road to Disneyland.  While packing last night Reagan actually spent 20 minutes trying to convince us that he needed his own room at the hotel.  This is wrong on so many levels I don’t even know where to begin.  His audacious display of entitlement almost made us cancel the whole stinking trip!  Ok, not really, but we seriously thought about leaving him home. 

This morning when we finished packing the car and told the kids to get in, Liberty asked, “Where are we going?”  To which Levi answered, “We’re going to Disneyland!!”  Duh!!  Not five minutes into the trip they were asking for food and before we even got out of Boise, Cade was asking, “Where are we?”   However, once out of Boise, for a good hour, we had glorious peace and quiet while everyone read a book or colored.  It was awesome!  That’s when you know you are in a good place.  Obviously, since that gloriousness did not last the other nine hours, we are not in as good a place as we would like to be.  But I can’t complain.  I think we made it the whole day without anyone asking us if we were there yet.  And we only had to stop for one roadside pee stop!

 
The kids definitely paid homage to the electronics god today, and then some.  But oh, what an easy day it was because of it.

When we pulled into Vegas for dinner the kids were all super excited to see their first palm tree. 

Then finally, after fighting over who would sleep on the couch, smearing toothpaste all over the bathroom counters and yelling loud enough to wake all of our hotel neighbors, the kids settled into bed.  We are now looking forward to a lovely night sleeping directly in the Vegas Airport flight path and next door to a barking dog, because apparently at the Marriot Residence Inn you can bring your dog. 

Stay tuned for more…

We told the kids today!!!

As is typical with our children, there were more questions than surprise. 

And, as is also typical of our children, Legoland is the big draw. 

Another Halloween has come and gone.  It’s amazing to me how fast time flies.

Here is the star studded cast this year.

The Beautiful Princess.  Second year in a row

The Adorable Soldier (don’t tell him I said that)

The Studly Secret Service Body Guard

And President Ronald Reagan

Every president needs a bodyguard

They totally came up with this themselves. 

The Trading

And here it is Wednesday and the candy is already gone!

I don’t remember my mother ever carving pumpkins with us.  Maybe she did, but I only remember my dad doing it.  The same was true of camping. Now I know why she never did either of them!

Liberty was very happy to let someone else clean out her pumpkin.

Cade and Levi would have been too, but we made them do a lot of their own.  Note the absence of smiles on their faces.

The finished product. 
Taken two nights later because Reagan spent SOOOO long carving his masterpiece.

Reagan was at scouts when we took this, so we had to catch him later.

Don’t you just love how he’s oozing enthusiasm!  I LOVE tweenagers!!!  And I am sure I will love teenagers EVEN more!