Goodbye to Disney

Before we left we spent some time in Downtown Disney.  Mostly to do some shopping, but the Lego Store was great too.

 I may or may not really want this hat...

 Oaks spent her money on these sunglasses

 Kyndi tried on this hat.  (This is really meant to be a hat!)

The boys got themselves some sunglasses - possibly trying to be as cool as their dad

Jersi chose a mini mouse baby...

(Kyndi chose an art set, Morrissa a bunch of treats, and Dayton a telescope and gun)

Our plan that night was to drive to Barstow and stay in a hotel.  2 reasons, a chance for swimming, and a break from doing the whole drive at once.

Well... our car had other plans as 20 minutes out of Anaheim we blew a tire.  Kamron promptly put the spare on but as it was the wrong size, we had to get a new tire before continuing home the next day.

This picture is from being pulled over on the side of the freeway

 The kids got a wee bit of swimming in the next morning in the cold before heading off to get a tire and go home.

On the way home Oaks and Jerz found themselves a new pair of shoes...

 All in All a super fun trip.  (Sharli's family got an extended stay in St George due to their car having a literal melt down on the side of the road in Hurricane)
Now I think I may need a serious vacation from that vacation!

Oh Wait!!  Some super cute random pictures I want included here (Mostly stolen from my sister)...

Sharli, Dan, Mom, Dad

 Oh how I love this little boy!  Atticus and his mouse

 I got to spend some good quality time with Jonah.  I love this kid.  I wish he and Jersi could be best buddies and live near each other!  (This is our angry faces in the mirror)

More of our parade watching...

 More of the carousel!  I LOVE Atticus here!!

 The 5 of us that kept on riding

Man I miss it all already!  But I miss my family even more!

All that is Disney Part 2

California Adventure!  Days 2 and 3!

Kamron all set for a day of fun...

Bugs Life is a great 3D show. Oaklee does not agree.  At one point in the show fog shoots out at the audience which scared Oaks into closing her eyes, when she finally reopened them she was confronted with a gigantic spider lowering itself from the ceiling near her.  It was all over after that.  She was terrified.  And when we went to the show a 2nd time, she was far less than thrilled.

 California Screamin - Pretty sure the oldest 4 (Kamron, Tyson, Morrissa, and Tate) rode this thing 4,000 times in a row.  A few times they were joined by Dan and Sharli, and by the end Oaks and Kyndi joined as well.  They loved it.  Poor Dayton was too short, it didn't matter how many extra socks we stuffed into his shoes, he was still barely too short.  He was heartbroken.

 With all of their 4,000 rides on California Screamin, we were lucky enough to have the carousel close by. We got the chance to ride it 45,000 times!!!  Oaks and Dayton would jump off and run right back in line. Atticus was a big fan of this ride too.

 Oh don't worry, the carousel pictures don't stop there....

 Leave it to Dayton to strike such a pose...

 Sam caught this one of me.  Lovely.

  The Cars ride. Gotta love my Dad's face here...

 It became super windy at some point, which made the crazy Ferris Wheel all the more fun

 Tower of Terror was loved by all...except Kyndi.   I was smart and stayed off all together. (Same with Jersi)  (The bottom picture has all my family in it. Oh!  So does the middle one I think)

 Tate hung out with Jameson and got to snack on a giant turkey leg.  gross.

 In Bugs Land we apparently turned into Chinese food (while waiting for everyone else on some other ride)

  All set for Midway Mania...

 Chasing the Duck. This was actually before the parade at Disneyland the day before

 Oaks got to hold Mary for a bit while everyone else was on Tower of Terror

 She was my number 1 riding partner.

  I got to ride on Little Mermaid with my Little Man Gus (Atticus)

 What does one do at the end of the day when they are completely exhausted??  Remove all shoes and socks and turn backwards in your stroller for a little nap of course!

Waiting for World of Color to start

  Dad got a special invite from Jersi to ride the little Jelly fish ride

All that is Disney Part 1

The three days we spent between Disneyland and California Adventure are a blur of exciting moments.  So I will now simply puke a bunch of pictures your way in completely random order and give commentary as I go...

Traditionally my family goes on The Haunted Mansion very first.  We stuck to this tradition, but soon after found ourselves on Pirates of the Caribbean.  My dad had a FANTASTIC idea to hurry out of the boat at the end and snap a picture of everyone before we exited the ride.  We leaped out and promptly fell on his face.  Hilarious no?  He got the picture taken but in all the commotion, and his slight injury, a few people got left out of this epic picture.  (Not pictured, Sam & Brad, Jonathan, Jen, and Anna) (Mary is the bundle you can see on the far left of the picture)

This is a picture Samantha took on the Pirates ride

 The Junge Safari... this is my cousin Christopher as the Safari tour guide.  Fantastic!

 My kiddos were watching a turtle digging its way out of a hole all whilst a bird was trying to attack.  They did a great job at scaring the bird off.

Watching the Disney parade.  We had all the Littles on shoulders.

 The description on the next picture tells the brief story, but let me elaborate a bit.  Oaklee was thrilled to be the driver, but soon decided all of our fate was in her hands and she could not keep the ride in control.  She became very terrified, begged Tyson to take over the steering wheel and then bawled the remainder of the ride.  Poor girl she really believed she was driving that thing!  And for the remainder of the trip she refused to be in the driver seat on any ride.

 A selfie with Captain Hook (Jersi refused to stand by him)
Tea with the Mad Hatter (Again Jersi refused to be near him)
And the Evil Queen who insulted Kyndi's Snow White outfit and then told us to have a wretched day.

Jersi found herself a Prince Charming whilst waiting in line for a ride...

 I. Love. This. Ride.  Dayton, not so much.  I was reassuring him throughout the entire ride that everything was okay.  Being completely in the dark was a bit scary for him. (He LOVED every single other ride he went on) Oaks opted to stay off the ride with Grandma and Grandpa.

 Tate took a lot of selfies

By far my favorite ride of the day, and perhaps even the whole trip.  We went on it early in the day with everybody.  Then later, Kamron was off with the 2 oldest, so I got the chance to have my mom and 5 kids ride with me.  This was hands down Jersi's favorite ride.  She waved to every character in the ride, complimented them on their singing and their outfits, and danced right along with all of them.  

My favorite picture of the entire trip is the one on the left, first notice Jersi and her freaked out face (I zoomed in below) - No worries she still begged to go on the ride again...   Now notice what my Kyndi is doing to my poor mother in the backseat.  Bahahahahahahahahaaaaa!!   Best picture ever!  I am still kicking myself for not purchasing this picture at the park!!!

 When the day was done and we returned to the house we were completely exhausted. And I mean Completely. Exhausted.

Onto the rest of the trip!!