Disney Trip!!

We left on Saturday March 14 to head to California! We went to see Mulan Jr. at Diamond Fork Jr. High because Jayme did the choreography this year, and Saturday was closing night. We drove to St. Geoge and spent the night. Then we went the rest of the way to California. We stopped and visited with my Aunt Kathleen and her family. We had a really good visit with them! We could have stolen Joanie's littlest boy and kept him, he is a doll! I was able to see my cousin Jimmy and his wife Jill, and I haven't seen them for a long time. Their son, James and daugter Joanie were there with their families too. It was fun to see them all.

Monday morning we got up early and headed into Disneyland! It was crowded!! I had checked to make sure it wasn't spring break in California, but who knew I had to check for Arizona's spring break too? Jordyn's first ride was the carousel! Then we had to go on Dumbo of course. Matthew wanted to go on Autopia, so the boys went in one direction, while the girls waited an HOUR to see the princesses. We saw Aurora, Mulan, and Snow White. Alas, no Cinderella. We did see lots of other characters that day though. Pluto, Goofy, Chip, and Minnie Mouse to name a few.

We got an electric scooter for my dad to ride on. That was a great thing! We were able to go in the exit for a lot of rides, and bypass some of the long lines! Jordyn was soooo funny, she'd get in line for a ride and then get scared. She'd whine and say she didn't want to ride it, but then after the ride, she'd say "that was my favorite! I want to go on it again!!" The only ones she really didn't like were Space Mountain and Tower of Terror. She loved Splash Mountain though. Strange child... She'd say things like, "I'm not afraid, I just want to hold your hand."



I love this picture! The big kids had gone over to California Screamin' and Matthew and Jenn were being silly, pretending to be afraid. The funny thing is that Matthew really was afraid! He got on the ride and officially freaked out! Needless to say, that was a one-tripper for him.

Here we are after standing in line for an hour to meet the man in the ears!

In California Adventure, we had our one and only picture taken of all of us together. We discovered our official favorite ride. TOY STORY MIDWAY MANIA!! What a fun ride! We all loved it, too bad the line was always so long! We also loved Soarin' Over California. We met Handy Manny and Mr. Incredible, and Jordyn was finally able to see Playhouse Disney Live on Stage! Notice Jordyn doing her "princess pose".

One day while we were standing around, trying to decide what to do next, we had the most blessed event of the trip. Jordyn still hadn't been able to meet her favorite princess -- Cinderella. We were about ready to stand in line at the Princess Fantasy Faire for another hour, without any guarantee that we would meet her. Not my idea of a fun time. The stage we were standing near had just finished a show, and who should walk off of the stage right in front of us but Cinderella! We all just swarmed over to her and finally got to see her!!

That night we were able to see Ron and Rhonda Riley and Brad and Shannon Bradford for dinner. It was so nice of them to come and meet us. Brad and Shannon's little boy, Nathan, and Matthew just hit it offand were instant friends! It was fun to see them.

By Friday morning, everyone was pretty worn out. Ammon and Michael stayed in bed while the rest of us went over to the park. We went to Pirate's Lair (it used to be Tom Sawyer Island) and explored. It was fun.

After leaving the park, we drove out to the outlet stores for a day of shopping. As we were driving, I looked in my rearview mirror and see Ammon with his head out the window. Next thing I know, there are brown chunky things flying out of his mouth. Ewww! The poor kid totally emptied his stomach, half of it on the floor of Jenn's car. He wasn't sick, just random puking. The funniest thing happened while we were shopping though. We were in the Gap outlet, and talking with the sales lady while she was ringing us up. When she found out that I had six kids, she about fell over! Then she said, "Honey, I'm giving you an extra 15% off!" Funny, funny.

Saturday morning we got up and went to the swap meet for some more fun shopping and then the long drive home! It was a great vacation. My dad was grateful for Dennis deciding to stay home so that he was able to go with us. The kids were mostly good, and really tried hard to get along and look out for each other. They looked after their grandpa and me too!