Disneyland!

At the end of September, Randall and I took the kids to California for a little vacation.  My parents were kind enough to go with us, and we had a GREAT time.  We spent the weekend visiting my Vegas family and High School girlfriends, then headed to Cali on Monday morning. 

We drove to our hotel, checked in, then made our way to Huntington Beach.  The beach was a little bit stressful for me (some of the waves were GINORMOUS), but everyone had lots of fun. 

Carter LOVED playing in the water.

 This is a picture BEFORE a massive wave came...

 This is a picture after -

Randall was pulling Cameron out of the water during this pic.  Unfortunately, Lydia lost her canes during all the craziness.  Randall found one of them about 30 yards out and halfway buried in sand, but the other one is now a part of the sea.  

I'm such a mean Mom, I made the little ones scoot back after they got wiped out by a wave.  Here they are hoping for a big wave to come so that their feet would get wet.  I DID let them go back in with Randall holding their hands after he gave up his cane search, so I'm not THAT mean. ;)

 I personally was a lot happier when they wanted to play in the sand... 

 

 They made a beautiful sand castle.  I especially like the feather and seashell accents. 

 Some of the kids got a little chilly when the sun was going down...

 

 

We ate lunch at Ruby's diner (the building at the end of the pier).  The food was really good, and it obviously has a great view.

We spent the next four days at the happiest place on earth - DISNEYLAND!

Not really sure why Tink was wearing a sweater, because it was super HOT all week. 

Grandma bought a bubble gun and water spray fan to help keep everyone cooled off and entertained during down-times. 

 Carter was SO brave again this year.  This is his "I'm-totally-not-scared-even-though-we're-really-high-and-this-cage-wobbles-back-and-forth" face. 

We ate at the Cafe Orleans one of the days.  Randall got the Monte Cristo sandwich, which was basically a ham and cheese doughnut with powdered sugar and a berry dipping sauce.  It was good, but a little heavy for me.  My mom's salad was really good too, but the best thing there was the pommes frites (parmesan fries).

2 Moms + 2 cameras + Disneyland= TONS of pictures!

 

Gotta love It's a Small World!

 Carter giving a salute before riding Soarin' over California

 Lydia got her favorite - THE DOLPHIN!

 Meleah's happy with her pink bejeweled seal. 

 

We signed Carter up to take a class with the Youth Education Series while we were there.  It saved us A TON of money, and he said it was pretty fun, too.  It was 2 1/2 hours, and they watched Captain EO (outdated and dumb, according to Randall), went through the Abraham Lincoln Expo (interesting), and rode the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (fun).  Unfortunately, this is the only picture Randall took, and it turned out blurry. 

Lydia went on the rapids ride with us even though you get wet.  Fortunately, she didn't get too soaked, so she had a fun time.  (She HATES getting wet.)

We were so tired on the last day that we rode the train around the park twice while we waited for Randall and Carter to get done with his class.

 Cameron pretending to be "in jail" while we waited for the Peter Pan ride.

Everyone waiting for me to bring back Dole Whips.  I think Cameron was a little tired.  What do you think?

 Still waiting for Dole Whips...

 Cameron didn't make it. 

 I didn't take a picture of our delicious Dole Whip floats, but Meleah decided to use her umbrella as an accessory. 
Side note:  Why don't they have more than 2 employees working at the Dole Whip Stand?!

 We all loved "the Ariel ride."  Savanna kept pointing at everything saying "ook!" (Look)

 

 Toy Story Mania had a hideously long line all week, but it's a favorite, so we went on it twice. 

Carter obviously didn't think it was worth the wait...

 Carter worked hard around the house to earn money so that he could make his own lightsaber this year. I love his serious Anakin face.

Lydia was tall enough to drive her own bug!

All of us waiting to watch the Aladdin play.  The flying carpet was broken this year, but it's still a REALLY good show.

 I was a little surprised how crowded it was for September.  I think there's still a lot of people coming to see the new Cars Land that just opened in June.  I'm sure it was MUCH better than it was in the summer, but it was still a little too crowded for us.  I think we'll aim for January/February again next time to avoid crowds and have cooler weather.  Cars Land WAS pretty dang awesome, though -

 

We went to the park early so that we could get in line for fastpasses for the Radiator Springs Racers ride before they ran out.  It was a really fun ride, and worth the wait. 

I absolutely love this picture. Doesn't he look so adorably happy?

 

 

 Apparently Cameron thought something was scary on the ride -

We came back to my parent's house on Saturday, then drove home the next day. 

Grandma and Grandpa gave all the grandkids these cute little Disney figures.

The kids and their "soubeneirs" (as Cameron calls them).  Meleah and Lydia chose matching princess dolls that "transform" from Ariel to Aurora.  Cameron chose Bullseye to go with his Woody doll, Carter built his massive lightsaber, and Savanna chose an Aurora doll.   

 It was such a fun trip, but I'm always happy to get back to my own bed.  We keep telling the kids we're not going back again for 4-5 years, but we'll see if we can hold out that long!