The (second) Happiest Place on Earth

I say second happiest because it is always so nice to come home--home to our own beds and our sweet lonesome cat. (She got kitty depression while we were away--she didn't eat or play with the cousins who came to visit her.)

The trip started with a night in Las Vegas. We always stay off the strip, but unfortunately, the kids still saw some of the sin Vegas has to offer. We saw a few sights and had ate at the MGM Grand Buffet where Jessi ate nothing but shrimp. We survived, but I could do without ever going there again.

We did three days in Disneyland--the perfect number in my opinion.

Jessica loved that Disneyland had Michael Jackson. She loved Captain EO.
Christian got a few stares as he went to town on his turkey leg (that he shared with Mike.) It was almost as big as his head.
We decided to bring the stroller. Best decision ever. The babies used it often--especially when they got tuckered out.
The highlight of the trip for Jessi was meeting Tiana. She wore her Tiana dress and we got to see the real Tiana perform.
A favorite ride was Screamin'. I think Andrew and Bev did it ten times.
It was one of my favorite rides. I am becoming a bit of an adrenaline junkie--I loved the roller coasters. Christian decided to try it. He got on the ride and it was about to take off when he changed his mind and got off. When we got back from the ride, he was sitting with two other little boys who had also changed their minds.
We saw lots of Toy Story characters. The longest wait we had in line was the new Toy Story 3 ride--about 25 minutes.
The girls did matching nails for the trip--red with sparkles.
Hollywood Tower of Terror--another favorite. I love Andrew's wide eyes in this.

Jessi's birthday was Tuesday, so she got to wear a special badge. As we went through the park that day, she got a lot of "Happy Birthday's" from the park workers. She loved it.
I had the kids wear these t-shirts all three days. It wasn't my plan, but it just made it so darned easy to see them. I bought them before we left. They were quite the hit. We got a lot of comments about them. One of my favorites was a man that said we had too many kids so I had to number them to keep track of them. I forget that when we leave Utah, many people think a family with four kids is freaky.
December is a fun time to be there. Everything is decorated for Christmas.
They enjoyed being driven around the park. I found myself wishing for an adult stroller and someone to drive me around all day.
By the end of each day our stroller turned into the Griswold vacation stroller--snacks and jackets and bags hanging off of it.
Sometimes I forget that Christian is only six. He is such a beast--so brave and athletic--that I forget he's still just a little kid. He didn't like the roller coasters at all. He stayed on this merry-go-round for a good 20 minutes while the older two did Screamin'. He also loved the Buzz ride and Autopia.
We did Jessi's birthday lunch at Ariel's Grotto. She got to see several princesses. She was so grateful--she kept saying, "Thanks for taking me here."


One of the favorite rides is the river run. They all got soaked at about 9:30 in the morning on the coolest day we were there. I ended up going back to the hotel for dry sweatshirts.
All four kids list Splash Mountain as one of their favorite rides.
Mike takes the role as the hunter--he makes a plan of attack, gets us to all of the rides and gets fast passes. At one point the first day he had fast passes for six rides. It made it so we did every ride as many times as we wanted. We have also learned that it pays to get there when the park opens--those first two hours are golden.





I loved the rides and the fun, but the best part was spending so much time with Mike and the kids. We had some good conversations, got in a few snuggles, and played a lot. It was a good, good time.