California Adventure

The next day we spent most of our time at California Adventure.  The new Cars Land had just opened a few months before and since we have major fans of all things Lightning McQueen and friends that was the first place we went.  Let me just say that place was A-mazing.  The detail in everything from the movie was fantastic and the boys kept yelling out everything they recognized.  The first thing we tried out was Luigi's tire ride.  You get on these big tires that inflate and float on a huge bed of air, almost like a giant air hockey table.  You had to lean forward, backward, and to the side in the direction you wanted to go.  It was tricky at first but once we got the hang of it it was fun to try and crash into each other.

We also liked Mater's little tractor spin.  It was mostly just spinning in a couple of figure 8 patterns with Mater singing some silly songs, but for some reason it was right up Zachary's alley.  He giggled and giggled and loved every minute of it. We were sure to go on that ride a couple of times.

The big ticket item was the Radiator Springs Racers, a roller coaster type ride where you sit in one of the Cars and race around Radiator Springs.  It was over an hour long wait and kept breaking down throughout the day, so we didn't get a chance to ride it.  It looked like a lot of fun though.

Next stop was back to the carnival area where mom went to ride the huge roller coaster.  Kevin doesn't ride most roller coasters, so while I was hanging upside down he took the boys on the huge Ferris wheel.  The boys thought it was great to be up so high and looking over the park.

We went to Toy Story Mania where you get to play carnival-type games with 3-D glasses.  Andrew was a fan of this one because it had a gun.

Here we are at the Aladdin show. It's like a smaller production Broadway musical based on the Aladdin movie that I wanted to see. The boys were nice enough to go with me and I really enjoyed it. I think the boys did too.

Later that night Kevin and Matthew tried to get on the Cars roller coaster again, so I took the little ones and we wandered around the park for awhile.  We got to see Red and see Radiator Springs at night.  It is almost cooler at night because of all of the neon.  Unfortunately the Cars ride broke down, so we met up with Kevin and Matthew and finished our walk around then headed back to the hotel to prep for our last day there.

Disneyland!!!

Well, the long awaited day had finally arrived.  We were headed to Disneyland!  We got up early to eat breakfast and be on our way so we could be ready for the bus to take us from our hotel.  Lots of other people had the same idea, but that's part of the fun.  Pretty much everyone is in a good mood when they are headed to such a happy place.

Here we are waiting for the shuttle.  The boys could hardly contain their excitement and we had to show them a line on the sidewalk that they absolutely could not cross.  Otherwise I think they would have jumped onto the road and skipped all the way there!

I have been to Disneyland a few times, but I have to say so far Halloween time is my favorite.  The park is decked out in pumpkins and fall decorations - my favorite.  I was practically doing a dance while waiting to get into the park.

Our first stop was the Town Hall to get ID stickers for the kids.  Kevin was also sweet enough to get me a birthday button to wear around for the day, although my birthday was the day before.  It was fun to walk around and hear "Happy Birthday" from everyone.  Matthew and the boys were very serious about planning where we were going to go.

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters - I'm certain this was the ride we went on the most while we were there.  It was especially fun to see Andrew's blaster-slinging skills.  It was obvious he learned from his older brothers.

Of course we loved the carousel and all the classic rides (Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Dumbo, etc.)

And we had to go to the Jedi Training Academy.  Matthew was lucky to be chosen the first time we went and had fun battling Darth Vader.  We tried really hard to get Ryan in, but it seemed like no matter where we sat the crew always chose the kid right next to him.  He was pretty sad and my heart was sad for him, but then Kevin said maybe we could get a special treat a little later and that made everything all better.

We were also big fans of the Winnie the Pooh ride.  Andrew loved it and couldn't stop talking the whole way through.  We couldn't understand much of what he was saying, but he was definitely very excited..

It was a fun first day and the boys couldn't get enough.  They also loved the Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster, Pirates of the Caribbean, Small World, and the absolute fave for Ryan and Matthew was Splash Mountain (of which we apparently had too much fun and forgot to take pictures).  It was also nice to know that we still had a couple of days to be there, so we could take our time and enjoy spending time together.  On to California Adventure the next day!

California, Here We Come!

After years and years of saving, we were finally on our way to the west coast.  The boys were SO excited.  We left early on Sunday morning the 7th and were able to listen to general conference in the car on the way down.  We actually got to pay attention to a lot of it this time around!  The kids were really good for the first half of the trip.  In between conference sessions we played games in the car and watched Disney movies.  Matthew and Ryan were excited every time we entered a new state and Zachary liked looking at all of the cars on the road.  Andrew chilled out, played with lots of noisy toys, and was bribed by lots of M&M's.  :)  I wish I had gotten some pictures of us in the car.  For some reason I just don't think about it, but I am going to be better in the future.

The last hour in the car was pretty brutal, but we made it to the hotel and the kids were much happier when they were able to stretch their legs a little.  The funny thing is, we broke in the room fairly quickly.  We immediately had to put the phones away because Andrew thought it would be fun to call room service.  The boys also made many trips to the bathroom, Ryan being the last of the bunch.  He had been in there a while when all of a sudden we heard him yelling for help.  We open the door to find Ryan standing in the tub, fully clothed, with the toilet flooding over and about one inch of water on the floor.  This meant that Ryan had seen the problem, jumped into the tub and watched the bathroom floor continue to fill with water until he realized he wouldn't be able to get out without getting really wet.  So we made a call to the front desk and eventually got it taken care of.  Funny boy.

 

The next morning we got up bright and early and headed out to Legoland!  It was about an hour drive to Carlsbad and the kids weren't super excited to be in the car again, but we kept them busy with I Spy and the promise of seeing the ocean along the way.  Before long we arrived and were excited to check out the place. 

The boys were excited to see all of the creations and ride some of the rides. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent most of our time, however, at the Star Wars Miniland.  There are dozens of Star Wars scenes built out of Legos that the kids were drooling over. I have lots of pictures, but here's a couple to get the idea. 

 

 

Ryan was especially delighted with the Endor scenes that featured little Ewok villages and hidden Storm Troopers.

Watch out for those Sith!

 

 

Some other fun things - The White House and some of New York

 

And what would Legoland be without the chance to build something?  I'm sure they had gone through withdrawals during the long car ride, so the chance to create was very welcome. 

 

 

Andrew just hanging out.  He did get a chance to get out and walk around every once and awhile and had a great time at the Duplo Factory, but I think Kevin had the camera with the other boys at the time so I didn't get a picture.  I'll have to check for video.

 

All tuckered out

 

Overall, the kids had a fun time and it was interesting to see everything made out of Legos, but we will probably not be visiting again.  The kids were ready to move on by the end of the day and were more excited for Disneyland!

Where is Andrew?

I sing this song to Andrew while changing his diaper to keep him occupied.  He recently started using his hands.  Very cute!

This little boy...

We had to get a new camera before the Disneyland trip, so of course Andrew decided to model for us.  This little boy loves to ham it up!  These were a couple of my favorites.