We decided it was time to take the family to Disneyland again. It had been three years and I was ready to go! We went the last week of February to escape winter. It was nice and sunny there!
The kids did Matterhorn (even Emma) then had Todd take them on the tea cups while I went on Matterhorn. Todd did not feel so great after these babies!
The advantage of having tall kids is that they are tall enough to ride lots of rides sooner than some kids. We took ALL our kids on Space Mountain. Sarah's not much of a roller coaster lover but she loved it! Mitchell was a bit nervous at first but as we disembarked (love that word) his eyes were huge and he said it was awesome and he wanted to do it again! I just love Mitchell's little head peeking over the seat in this picture.
Mason made his first purchase and so did Emma.
We went over to California Adventure to meet up with my sister Lynda and her family.
We braved the Tower of Terror.
Emma loved the Tower, Sarah did not. Mason liked it better than three years ago!
This is a picture of the picture snapped as we dropped. I love how Emma is waving goodbye to the world.
Todd and Mitchell went on Tuck and Roll while the rest of of were terrorized.
The end of the day waiting for our shuttle back to the hotel. We were worn out but had a great day!
The next day we drove down to Sea World. My oldest two had been to Sea World in Florida about 5 1/2 years ago and Todd had only been as a kid so we were excited to go. It was not crowded at all, a wonderful break from the Disney craziness!
Mason has a thing for penguins so we had to do the penguin encounter first.
Shamu has always been my favorite.
Back by the penguins again.
As much as they wanted these huge penguins they had to settle for something smaller.
Mitchell enjoying (I think!) some cotton candy before the Shamu show.
Mitchell loved touching the star fish.
Touching the rays.
All done for the day.
For our second Disney day we did just California Adventure.
Mitchell thought these benches were great so we had to take a picture.
We saw a few characters. Some of us braved California Screamin (great roller coaster!).
We had not gotten fast passes to the Radiator Springs Racers so we took our chances in the line. The sign said 75 minutes as we got in.
Waiting..
Waiting...
Waiting...
Still waiting...
At least the line was interesting and shady...
Getting bored...
Really bored....then the racers had a problem. We could stay in line and hope they opened soon or get out of line. We stuck it out.
Finally, in the car, a red one!!!!
Such a great ride!!!!
Exiting the racers. It had taken us a total of 2 hours. Shortly after we finished we heard it broke down again. We were lucky to have gotten to ride!!
Radiator Springs was so well done!
Sarah & Mason got cozy cones with a drink inside. Mitchell & Emma got their lunch in a Lightening McQueen lunch box (we then had the pleasure of hauling these around the rest of the day).
To wind down our day the kids got their Wilderness Explorer Badges.
Mitchell begged for a giant lollipop all day.
We saw World of Color. It was really neat.
We went back to Sea World for another day. Here we are under the sharks.
Mason is such a penguin fanatic we decided to go on a special tour. We lucked out and were the only three on the tour (the younger kids could not come on it so Todd stayed with them).
We got to pet this fellow, Macaroni 176. He was really soft.
We were able to go into the penguin encounter and hear the sounds (loud) and smell the smells (fishy). This is King Tut. He's a king penguin that is about 30 years old. That means I probably saw him when I came here as a kid. He apparently loves the tour groups and attention.
We had a great time learning more about penguins!
We had to see the Shamu show again. There was a baby Shamu that was only 2 weeks old.
Mitchell eating popcorn this time.
We sat in the splash zone. Luckily we did not get too wet!
This fish was just creepy!
Flamingos. Mason loved the roller coaster that's in the background.
We tried to touch the dolphins but had no success.
Here are some tired kids on the shuttle for the last day of Disney fun. We just went to Disneyland for our last day.
The carousel.
The Jungle Cruise.
Mickey Head pretzels.
Indiana Jones.
The Haunted Mansion. We did pirates too but I don't have any pictures. We want to eat in the restaurant in pirates one of these times.
It was a warm enough day we braved Splash Mountain. Emma was really nervous about getting wet and did not enjoy the ride. We did not get very wet at all so hopefully she'll be more excited about this ride the next time we go.
Buzz Lightyear.
Mitchell almost fell asleep eating his dinner.
Final ride on the teacups.
Watching the parade.
Emma's favorite float.
Back in the hotel having a bedtime snack.
We started the LONG drive home the next morning. We stayed at the Luxor in Las Vegas for the night. I really don't like Vegas but Mason really wanted to see the Titanic exhibit there.
The exhibit was neat to see. There was a huge section of the Titanic on display as well as various things brought up from the wreckage.
The next day we drove home. I'm ready for a vacation again, maybe without kids?!
