Sep 22, 2009

DISNEYLAND!!

Finally! Warning...lots and lots of pictures! Sorry they are in no particular order. I am very proud of myself for remembering to snap pictures - 5 days of magic! Captions underneath.

Overall this was an amazing trip! The kids did great on the drive (gotta love iPods)...we were lucky to be able to break up the driving into 2 days each way. Thanks to the Biglers and the Stums for hosting us! We loved visiting with you! The time of year for Disneyland was perfect...since school had started already the crowds weren't bad - most of the time we didn't wait more than 5 minutes for a ride. Some of them we walked right on over and over. And it was still hot enough for the beach! Our hotel was awesome...we could walk back in the afternoon and take a break, go for a swim, rest, and then head back to the park again for the evening. The pool also had a waterslide that the kids loved. We had 2 strollers (thanks Andy & Steph!) so at all times 3 out of 4 kids were riding. Josh was a trooper and walked! This also helped with keeping track of everybody. Even though we had 5 days in the park we never got sick of it & we were able to do lots of things we never had time for on previous trips. This has to be one of the best vacation spots ever - we all can't wait to go back again! Enjoy!


Riding on the Disneyland Railroad - never done this one before - it was fun & saw some cool new things!

On the way home after our trip we stayed in St. George with Justin & Kristen...here we are by the Erastus Snow (Mark's ancestor) monument near the tabernacle.

Mark at the Beach. We went to Laguna Beach and it was such a beautiful day!

Em trying to enjoy the beach but unfortunately Ammon hated the beach & cried most of the time, which meant I wasn't very happy either.

Josh playing in the sand

Holly looking like a natural

Ella having fun

Ammon played in the sand for a few minutes before deciding the beach was not his thing. Honestly I don't know how it can be fun for anyone in a diaper!

My tough boys with Mr. Incredible himself

Lovely Alice

We waited entirely too long to meet tinkerbell but at least we have a photo to remember her by!

Traditional castle shot

One of the characters Josh was happy to meet - Alladin!

Sailing on the Mark Twain Steamboat...this was something we'd never done before - it's neat!

Ammon's favorite ride - DUMBO!

Stopping by to see if the White Rabbit is home...

Of course we all loved the teacups

Faster Daddy!

We girls had lunch with the princesses at Ariel's Grotto - it was fun to have some one on one time with each princess! Holly was worried that Jasmine wasn't modest :)

Aurora... very classy

Snow White ...very sweet

Cinderella taught the girls how to pose...very charming

And of course Ariel - their favorite!

I love this picture! Golden Zephyr...California Adventure. We stayed at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel & when they saw how many little kids we had they gave us a complimentary upgrade! Our hotel room looked right out over California Adventure - it was especially cool at night. What great service!

Grizzly River Run - Mark is waving. Great ride!

Holly & Josh were both picked for the Jedi Training - it was great! Here Holly is getting ready to fight Darth Vadar! Does she look a little nervous?

Josh fighting Darth Mal (sp?)...He was totally into it!

Bad guy from the front...looked so real

Relaxing a bit in Toon Town

Mark wants to grow a pumpkin this big in our garden next year

Love this shot...Josh and Holly did that without prompting!

Meeting Mickey Mouse - notice Ammon is staring at him...we made sure Ammon liked Mickey Mouse before our trip but I guess the life-sized version was a bit of a surprise!

Enjoying the funny dishwasher in Minnie's kitchen

Minnie's house

Minnie Mouse - hooray!

Goofy gave lots of hugs

Pluto - in Toontown

Ammon totally loved the carousel. He doesn't look super thrilled in this picture, but he loved the "horsies"!! We rode them lots and lots

In line for Peter Pan. One of the perks from staying at a Disney hotel was having Early Entry into Disneyland three days while we were there - so worth it! Lines are so short & you can get tons of rides done.

Cute sisters

Cute sisters again!

O Josh

See how quiet it is? Only on an early entry day!

Miracle: A stranger took a picture for us and it actually turned out great! Ammon didn't cooperate but overall, a good shot eh?
Fun little clip of the teacups

Another cute clip of Ammon on the carousel

Sep 15, 2009

It's coming...

I'm trying! A post about Disneyland is on its way...soon...I hope...
(Mark was out of town last week & again this week so single-parenthood is demanding all my time!) We did make it to the State Fair last night...but no pics...darn. Hosting R.S. Cooking Group tomorrow night...maybe Thursday I can blog? Oh wait...laundry day......