Disneyland Trip!

Well, getting there wasn't too easy. We arrived at the airport around 5:15 am and didn't get on the 6:20 am  flight (They would have let ONE of us on. Like I was going to send my 12 or 13 year old? No thanks.) But things looked good for the 11:45 flight - except it was delayed THREE HOURS. So we waited.....

And waited.....

And made it to Long Beach around 5 pm - instead of 7 am. 

That's okay.

We had nothing planned.

We picked up our rental car, found our hotel, decided to try and figure out where Disneyland is - and our GPS got us slightly lost - which was baffling. Disneyland is SO BIG. How could I not find it? We figured it out then we stopped for dinner at a divvy Mexican food place and went back to the hotel to get to bed.

We just happened to accidentally book ourselves in the same hotel as the kids on choir tour. What are the chances? 

(You should have seen Austin's face when this information came to light. I promised I wouldn't spy on him!) 

The next day..........Disneyland!!

Waiting to get in.....

And inside!

First ride.....Star Tours.....3D!

Then Space Mountain.....

We hit Indiana Jones, Pirates, Haunted Mountain,  Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain all in the first 1.5 hour!! Amazing!!

Alex really got wet on Splash Mountain.....

Waiting in line for Mr. Toads Wild Ride.....

In front of the castle!

Perry the Platypus Hats.....no we did no buy these....

Then we went to California Adventure....

Tour of Terror

We met up with Devree - who was sick and tired of her roommates by this time - and she hung with us for the rest of the day. (We never saw or heard from Austin on day one.)

Bugs Life 3-D movie.......

Posing in the Toy Story Box.....

Eating a Turkey Leg.....

The next day we hit Space Mountain right off!

Posing with Sully.....

Tower of Terror.....again.....

Then we saw Devree & Austin Perform....

They did fabulous!

I did hear from Austin on day two because I had brought in Subway foot-longs. Then we saw him again when we were sitting on Main Street waiting for the parade. He came over to see if we had any food.

We stayed late and were exhausted after two straight days. 

That night as we were watching Fantasmic - Alex had to sit down. After FIVE times on California Screaming roller coaster and three times on the Tower of Terror - he had a tummy ache. But he sure has come a long way since his first trip to Lagoon almost three years ago - when he would only ride the baby rides. I asked him what had changed? And he told me that now he knows the rides are safe. (I think before he was terrified he was going to die?) 

The next day we slept in and then decided to hit the beach. But it started raining. Down pouring by the time we drove to Santa Monica Pier so, we put the Ripleys Believe It Or Not Museum in the GPS and got lost. In the hills of Hollywood. Great fun.

We finally found  the museum and it was not worth the $42 to get in.

It was lame.

You can tell just how lame from the look on Alex's face.

We stopped in some scary parts of town a couple of times to use a bathroom and to wait for the rain to let up. Homeless people outside, crazy ladies listen to transmitter radios rubber banded to a long stick telling us that God told her the world would end in 90 days. Fun stuff.

We made it back to our favorite Hotel Current in Long Beach and ordered Pizza and went to bed. 

The next day we were up bright and early to get to the airport and we got on our first flight and even sat together!

All in all, a very successful trip.

I did miss having ALL the family there - especially James - but it was nice to just focus on my littlest bambinos. 

One of my favorite memories will be Rylee deferring to Alex when it came to what to ride. "Alex, you pick. It's your first time here." 

What a sweet sister.

I had told the kids that if riding standby on JetBlue was a nightmare and we couldn't get home - I was quitting! When we got on first thing Monday morning to go home and even sat together, Rylee turned to me grinning, "I guess your not quitting mom!"