California Fun

Part of the reason we really wanted to move to Utah was so we could go on vacation to places other than Utah. We've lived here nearly two years & had not really gone anywhere, so we decided to be brave, bite the bullet, & get out of the state!

We went to California for a week. We decided to drive. I think we'll fly next time. That drive is just a bit too short to break into two days & just a bit too long for one. We opted for the one each way.

Saturday morning we were ready to go & Emma started throwing up. Great. Do we go or stay? We went. Poor kid was sick for about 7 hours (poor mommy dealing with her!). She was quite quiet though, which is not usual for her in the car. I went through half a large bottle of hand sanitizer & lots of clorox wipes during the drive (so gross!!!).

Sunday Emma was feeling just fine. We braved the beach. Silly me for thinking it was a mere 60 degrees & the kids would not want to get wet. Mason was wet right off, Sarah soon to follow.

Monday we braved Disneyland. The kids were so excited. They had seen some Disneyland home video of their cousins from last year & could not wait to go themselves. I had not been there for about 15 years, Todd about 24 years, so it was time for us to go to Disneyland (we had braved Disneyworld in 2007).

The kids did really well all day, from opening at 10:00 to closing at 8:00. Emma had one meltdown, but that was it (much better than expected!).

Mitchell got sick Monday night in our hotel. Poor kid. He seemed ok on Tuesday.



We spent Monday & Tuesday in Disneyland. Tuesday we went in early for the "magic morning" where a "select" few guests can get in early. Ha. "Select" meaning everyone from out of town who had multiple day passes, so pretty much everyone. I don't plan to try that again!
Emma loves this picture of herself on the carousel.



Mason on Thunder Mountain (I think). He loved all the roller coasters. He'd go on one with Todd, then go on it with me. Sarah did not want to try any of them.
On Wednesday we braved the California Adventure Park.
I dragged Mason on Tower of Terror. He HATED it!!!! He did go on California Screamin 6 times. He obviously LOVED that ride!
Sarah with her umpteenth bag of cotton candy. We gave each of the kids $50 to spend, but we of course covered all the food. Good thing for Sarah or else she would have blown all her money on popcorn & cotton candy (I'm sure we spent at least $50 on those treats!).

Wednesday night after our fun day at California Adventure, Mason, Todd & Sarah all got sick. It was a LONG night. I was grateful to be feeling ok but very worried about when my turn would come! Luckily for me my turn never did come.

We'd planned to go to Legoland on Thursday, but since we had some sickies in the family we did not. I took Mason & Emma to Disneyland. We did some calm rides. I was nervous that Mason would get sick, but he seemed fine. He even downed a churro.

Emma was worn out after our day at Disneyland.
We bought Mitchell a baby Micky (Mitchie Mouse). Mitchell had spots all over his face & body from a sunscreen reaction. Poor kid! He looked horrible! It was probably a good thing I left him at the hotel instead of taking him to Disneyland that day.

Friday instead of doing our final Disney day as originally planned we went to Legoland. We had fun seeing all the Lego creations & riding the rides. We were a bit bugged by the height restrictions that did not allow Emma on some rides that she really wanted to go on, but overall we had fun & were happy to be well. Now that we've been home the kids have actually played with their Lego sets they got for Christmas.



During the entire trip we'd used a stroller with a very bowed wheel. We'd used this same stroller through Disneyworld 3 years ago & the wheels about had it. One has since fallen off & we got a replacement part from the company. Well, the other back wheel was pretty wobbly during our entire trip. I had a replacement part with me. The stroller survived the entire trip until Saturday morning as we loaded it into the car & that poor wheel popped right off. We thought that was a perfect ending to a kind of not so perfect but still pretty fun trip.

We drove & drove & drove on Saturday with the feeling we'd never get home. Emma had been a much better traveller when she was sick. Mason & Sarah were tired of all the movies they had packed (I'd told them to pack more!). Mitchell was a good little traveller.