Did I mention we went to Disneyland?

Yeah, like a year ago.  I've done so good at keeping my blog updated, except for this one big blog fail.  It was such a big thing to blog about, and I never had a chunk of time big enough to do it, and then I started forgetting, and now it's a year later.  So, I've come to accept that this post will need to be in no particular order.  It won't be a walkthrough of our day by day adventures.  And, if you know me at all, you know that's going to drive me somewhat crazy.  But at this point, it is what it is, and I guess we will see what was really important enough to remember.

We planned this trip for a long time beforehand.  We had done Disneyland before and it was always crazy and exhausting.  I'm not sure the word "exhausting" can be eliminated from a Disneyland trip, but we found a way to make it much more manageable.  We took my brother's idea and planned a week long trip with five day park-hopper tickets to Disneyland and California Adventure.  We stayed at the Best Western Park Place Inn, which is literally across the street from the main entrance.  It took about five minutes to walk from our room to the front gates.  This was great because we were able to come back in the middle of the day for lunch and naps.  Although we didn't do that for the first couple of days and we kind of paid for it with Damon and Arie.  We were in the park almost exactly a year ago, from April 29th-May 3rd.  Natalie was almost 8, Kelton was 5, Damon had just turned 3 (which meant we just missed being able to get him in for free), and Arie was 6 months old. 

When we got to California, Christy and Tennyson were nice enough to let us come over and make us dinner.  We had fun visiting with them and the kids had fun playing with Hudson and Easton (who was going to bed when we took the picture below). 

Nate's parents actually came to Disneyland with us for the first three days of our trip and stayed in the same hotel.  It was very fun to have them there with us and helpful to have the extra hands.

Waiting for the parade.  I believe this was on Wednesday, and Melanie and Jade were actually in the park that day too.  We all watched the parade together and then went on a few rides afterward.  At one point, we took Jade somewhere with us and we looked like completely crazy people walking around Disneyland with 5 kids ages 7 and under.

Maybe this would be a good time to mention that we only lost children twice.  And never permanently, so that is good.  Keeping track of four small kids at Disneyland could be considered a full time job.  It does seem like we were constantly saying, "where's... (insert child's name)" but they would be right there.  But once, Damon walked off and it took us a couple of minutes to find him.  Then once Kelton walked back into the exit of one of the rides to look at the pictures and we left not realizing he wasn't with us.  That one was a bit scary, but Kelton stayed put when he realized we weren't with him and we were able to find him relatively quickly. 

One of the last days of our trip, after Nate's parents were gone, Tennyson and Hudson joined us for part of the day.  We did the Jedi training and Natalie got picked the first time.  We went back again later and Hudson and Kelton both got picked to participate.  I think the guy thought they were brothers and that's why they both got picked.  They all thought it was really fun.

Natalie fought Darth Maul.

Kelton fought Darth Vader.

Oh, do you remember what I said about Disneyland being exhausting?

To make our vacation a little more fun and special, we had something new for the kids almost each day.  Mostly, it was clothes that we bought in advance (at a 1000% discount over Disneyland prices).  On the first day, we had matching shirts for the whole family, except Arie because for some reason they didn't make a baby size of that shirt.  On another day the kids got new pajamas, that they actually needed anyway.  They got a second new shirt-- the boys' were similar and the girls' were similar.  It was a lot of fun.

Here we are in our matching shirts.  You would never be able to guess that this picture was taken at the end of a very long, eventful, Day 1 as we were leaving the park.

We also had both of our moms help with this gift for the kids.  I bought $5 plain, hooded jackets from the store and had my mom, with the help of Nate's mom, embroider Mickey Mouse on the boys' and Minnie on the girls'.  They turned out so cute!  And we ended up using them several times while we were at the parks (and a lot of times since).

Arie, at six months old, proved to be a bit more of a challenge than we expected.  When we took four month old Kelton, he just slept the whole time.  Arie wasn't as happy to sleep when she was tired and required a lot more effort to keep happy, or asleep.  I think the only real naps she got were when she was in the baby carrier.  Like in this picture with us and Hudson riding the Disneyland Railroad.  And by the end of our trip, she cried when we even approached the stroller.  :)

Let's move on to the Tower of Terror.  First of all, let me just say that I don't enjoy this ride.  I don't find it fun to be repeatedly dropped.  I really only enjoy the dropping, "free fall" feeling as part of a fast, exciting roller coaster.  Falling straight down just to fall is really not my thing.  So, Tower of Terror is a ride I am more than happy to just pass by.  But, for some reason, Natalie and Kelton both had it in their mind that they really wanted to go on this ride.  Nate and I explained what it was in detail and they still wanted to go.  We even stood them in front of the ride and had them watch the people falling and screaming and they were as excited as ever for their turn.  So Nate took Kelton and I took Natalie. 

They don't even take the picture when you are actually falling.  Otherwise, I would not be smiling.  I am smiling because of a conversation with Natalie. She was so funny because she was so excited, but as soon as they dropped us that first time, she looked at me and said with great desperation, "Uhh, I don't like it!!"  It was as if she wanted me to somehow make it stop.  But then they drop you several more times and one of the times they were pulling us back up, Natalie said, with the same desperation, "Oh no!  Not again!"  Kelton liked it about as much as Natalie.  It was funny though because they were both smiling once it was over.  They just never wanted to do it again.  I can live with that decision. 

Natalie was the only one tall enough to ride the only real roller coaster, California Screamin'.  I rode it with her, and she screamed non-stop.  I was worried that she was traumatized.  When we got off she said she didn't like it.  But for some reason, she went ahead and used the rider-swap pass to ride it with Nate.  I think she was afraid if she didn't go with him, he wouldn't get to ride it, even though I told her I could go again.  So as much as she hated it, she went on it a second time with her dad just minutes later!  I wasn't able to take a picture of our picture, which was a good one, so I waited at the picture station to take a picture of Nate and Natalie's.  This is what I saw:

I scrutinized this picture trying to find my daughter, while convincing myself that there was no way that she could have fallen out.  I decided that she must have backed out and not gone on it again.  Come to find out, she hunched over and curled up on Nate's lap, not looking, for the entire ride.  Silly girl.

We went on the new Radiator Springs Racers ride and really liked it.  I wish I could have gone on it a few more times.  But, it was notorious for breaking down while we were there.  It broke down twice while I was in line trying to ride it for a second time.  They wouldn't even give us our fastpass back because we had the option of waiting in the line for it to get fixed (which they estimated would take an hour!).  I really wished Damon would have been tall enough for this ride.  He would have loved it.

At California Adventure they have an Animation Academy.  I only knew about this because of a Disneyland guidebook I bought.  I was so glad to find out about this.  We didn't do it until the last day.  It's something that Natalie and I would have liked to do a few more times, but didn't have the chance.  Throughout the day, a Disney animator teaches you how to draw different Disney characters with step by step instructions.  I went with Natalie and Kelton while Nate was napping with Damon and Arie at the hotel.  Poor Kelton didn't come close to finishing his drawing because the perfectionist within couldn't get past the first step--drawing a circle.  He wanted it perfect and the instructor, of course, didn't stop and wait for him.  Natalie loved it. We drew the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.  Here's Natalie's drawing:

And here's mine.  Nate looked at it and told me that I missed my calling in life.

The only photos I have left are about a hundred character photos.  As much as I know you are dying to see every single one of them, I will only select a few and intersperse them with whatever stories I can remember.

We were very sad to find out that both Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain were closed during our entire trip.  Thunder Mountain was undergoing renovations for the whole year.  Space Mountain was supposed to be open, but Disney voluntarily shut it down shortly before our trip after a run-in with OSHA.  (some spot on the outside of building where maintenance workers work was supposedly unsafe.  The ride itself was fine.)  A year later, I am still bummed that our older kids didn't get to go on Space Mountain.  It is my favorite ride, followed closely by.... Thunder Mountain.  Next time...

Damon will still tell you that his favorite ride is the Gadget Go Coaster and he can describe it in pretty good detail.  This is a mini roller coaster that is made for smaller kids.  He laughed the whole time he rode it, and we rode it several times just for him.  I can't wait until he is taller and can go on the Mountain rides.  He will love them.  Another thing with Damon that made us laugh was on Pirates of the Caribbean.  Years ago, when we went to Disneyland and Natalie was about Damon's age, we went on this ride, forgetting that there is a little flume near the beginning.  It terrified Natalie and she only wanted to ride Small World for the rest of the day.  We later figured out it was because she thought we were going over a waterfall, which is very scary, if you happen to watch cartoons.  Anyway, when we went down that little dip, Damon started giggling hysterically and exclaimed, "we just went over a waterfall!!"  He thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Over the course of our five days, we went on everything we wanted to, and a lot of things were done multiple times, like Small World.  I lost track of how many times we rode that one.  But I enjoy that ride, I don't find the song annoying, there is usually not a long wait if any, it's cool inside, and all the kids, even Arie, really liked it.

Nate's parents watched the three youngest kids while Nate and I took Natalie on Indiana Jones.  It was fun for just the three of us to do that together.  After being in Disneyland for a few days trying to keep track of four children, it was a bit odd to remember that there was once a time when it was just the three of us.  Natalie liked the ride and screamed nice and loud when the snake came at us.  We happened to get her on the side of the jeep that is right next to it.  The lady behind us in the jeep was getting as much enjoyment as we were out of listening to Natalie on that ride.  It was pretty funny.  She said that was one of her favorite rides, along with the Matterhorn.

Kelton loved Star Tours and it is one of the rides we went on several times.  I really like that ride too, especially with the newer renovations they've made to it.  I asked Kelton this morning what his favorite rides were, and he mentioned Toy Story Midway Mania.  I would also agree that this was one of my favorites too.  There's not much to it, but there is something very fun about the carnival style 3-D shooting games inside.  The longer line at that ride prevented us from riding it more than we did.

I know there is so much more, but that's the most of it.  We did watch Fantasmic...what we could see of it anyway.  We caught a little bit of the fireworks afterward.  We didn't get to see World of Color, which I really wanted to see and knew the kids would like it too, but it just started too late at night--our kids would not have been able to make it.  Oh, we did see Aladdin at the Hyperion Theater.  It is a Broadway quality show that only lasts about 40 minutes.  I thought it was great.

On Saturday morning we woke up and headed home.  But first we went by Christy's and then by the beach.  It was a bit cold outside.  Kelton's not in this picture because he wanted nothing to do with the cold sand.  He wanted to stay up where the sand was dry.

Our vacation was very fun.  It will be fun to go back again as a family.  We already have our next Disneyland trip in the works, but it won't be this year.  We have for sure decided that we probably won't ever do less than five days again.  It was so nice to have plenty of time to see what we wanted to see without getting completely worn out in the process.