Little Moments Like This...: March 2012

After Disneyland, we were so close to the beach that we just had to stop by on our way home. We packed a lunch and ate at Newport Beach. This was the best thing to do before our 6 hour drive home.

This boy got wet - really wet. He can't help himself. He sees the surf and has to go for it.

RHM made sand balls and tried to have a sand ball fight with his older brother, but that didn't last long.

Princess loved the surf and enjoyed her time on the beach.

Sweetie played in the sand and tried to look for sea shells.

the water was chilly

but we got used to it

The boys rocked their time on the beach and played and played.

This is our family's happy place.

because of the blisters on the bottom of my feet, I was a chicken and only took one foot and put it in the ocean. The other foot had a popped blister and I didn't want sand in my wound.

My sweet Princess.

She got brave and made her way to the water's edge.

And then she came running back.

I feel so blessed to share our vacation with you. I am grateful for camera phones for all of the pictures from the beach. I am grateful for a husband that downloaded pictures from day one and day two before I lost the camera. I feel blessed to have experienced Disneyland with my kids and husband. I have a great time and I only wish we don't wait another 14 years to go.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

BEST - I was up at 3 a.m. ready to go for our final day in Disneyland. I just couldn't sleep. The two blisters on the bottom of my feet woke me up, so I might as well get ready, right? Packed the lunches, showered, got ready for the day, read a few maps, looked at my Disneyland app on my phone to plan in a show or two, and then woke everyone up at 6 a.m. so we could eat at 6:30 a.m. and be on the first bus to Disneyland at 7:03 a.m. Everyone was up and ready to go.

Worst - We got there thinking the park opened at 8 a.m., but would open at 7:30 a.m. with just the shops on Main Street available and we needed to get a few names on the Mickey Mouse ears we had purchased the day before. WELL, the park opened at 9 a.m., so getting there at 7:15 a.m., didn't make Travis very happy. He never said anything, he just gave me that look. Ya know the one that says, I could have slept for another hour. It turns out that bus was for the convention in town and not for Disneyland, but the bus driver saw us with out ears and just took us to our destination.

BEST - It turned out that getting there early, made us one of the MANY who were first in line at the gates at 8:30 a.m. and they picked our family of 6 to "OPEN THE PARK". What does that mean? Well, we got into the park first. We stood in the middle of the gates, in front of Mickey Mouse's head in flowers and counted down "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, LET THE MEMORIES BEGIN!" It was AWESOME! It gave me chills and made getting there so early, VERY worth it. We took out picture in front of Mickey's head and the train station and we had a lovely moment as a family opening the park.

BEST - We took the train for the first time and got off right in front of the Princess Faire. The family didn't really want to stop there, but with Sweetie I couldn't resist. I stood in line with her and the rest of the family went to find the Miller family near Thunder railroad in Frontier land. Sweetie got to meet Belle again, and Ariel and Tiana for the first time. She took pictures and had the Princess' sign her autograph book that we made. It was magical. Then we stayed in the Princess shoppe and waited for Amanda and Saren (11month) to come. Amanda waited in line for Saren to meet the Princesses and I took Sweetie (5 yr) and Saren to the Princess coronation, where Saren danced with Princesses and did a May Pole Dance with Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). Sweetie just wanted to play with Saren.

BEST - After all that we met Amanda in line and met the Princesses again! This time Sweetie was able to meet Jasmine and the ROCKED! We took pictures and signed autograph books and all were happy!

BEST - I think the next thing we did was meet up with the big kids and dads and then we split again. All the girls went to go meet Rapunzel (one hour long line), and guess who was there with her - FLINN RIDER! So worth it.

BEST - Then the girls meet the boys at Autopia and went around the crazy track in a car. Fun times. We were next to the Jedi training, and guess who got picked to become Jedis? RHM, Jedrick, and Corben - that's who! SO COOL! The other members of the family sat nearby and ate lunch, while the boys fought Darth Mall (sp?) and wore the coolest brown ropes EVER!

BEST - After lunch we decided to take a group shot with both families, ours and the Millers. Jed designed a shirt that we had made for this trip and it was super cute, so we had to take a picture of ourselves in the shot.

BEST - Then we were across from the Nemo submarine ride. We had 2 special passes that the wonderful Disney workers gave us when our family opened the park. These passes gave us a super special fast pass to use for up to 6 people on any ride. There were 12 of us all together, so we used it here. We were able to cut through a 45 minutes line, and just go straight to the front. I felt a tiny bit, bad, but IT WAS SO AWESOME! BEST! Oh, and the ride was great too! :)

BEST - It was potty break time, so we went over near Space Mountain and Amanda and I used this time to go pick out so sparkle Minnie Mouse ears. We wanted to match.

Worst - her husband had to get the family gathered up and walk over from the bathrooms to the store for Amanda to use his credit card. He had blisters on his feet too. Poor guy. I never saw Amanda after that, and we don't have a picture of use in our matching ears. Not sure why, but we don't.

BEST - RHM was able to find his favorite Pluto pillow pet at a store near the bathroom. He purchased it with his own money and loves it.

Worst - the cashier was very patient while RHM gave her over $8 in coins of the $29 purchase, but she forgot to take off the anti-theft device on Pluto's ear. It is an "INK" anti-theft device and Travis tried to take it off later that night when we noticed it was left on - blue ink - YUCK! He decided that Pluto just has an earring and we left the INK thingy on.

BEST - Travis and I decided early in the trip that Friday we would leave the park early and eat off site to save money and I would go back with the 2 big kids to stay until midnight when the park closed. He wanted to do his favorite ride - Indiana Jones - before he left the park for the day/ trip/ maybe his life. Who knows? He took the 3 older kids and Sweetie and I ran into SNOW WHITE!

Worst - We had not seen Snow White all 3 days at the park, so we were so excited. She was walking to the Castle and we were in Tomorrowland trying to go to the bathroom, but we could pass up Snow White. So we walked with her, asked to have Sweetie's picture taken with her while she walked. She did that happily. Then I asked for her autograph, and Snow White politely asked if we could come with her to the castle to sign the book. I said ok. But I knew with my blistered feet and the need for both Sweetie and I to go to the bathroom, we would never get a Snow White signature. Oh well.

Worst - Travis and kids waited in line for the Indiana Jones ride and when they were at the front after a 45 minute wait, the ride broke down. They tried to fixed it, but ended up clearing the whole line for that ride and gave them all a pass for up to 6 people to cut in line for a ride. DANG IT! Travis never did get to have his "last ride" in Disneyland. Oh well.

BEST - Sweetie and I went on the Buzz Lighyear Blaster ride two times while Travis and the kids were gone. Good times. Sweetie really liked turning the seat we were in so it messed up my shooting score. She thought that was great!

BEST - the bus - so close to the exit gate! And it dropped us off right in front of our hotel. I loved the bus, it was so much better than parking at Disneyland like we did the first day.

BEST - the hotel. Karen Berthelson hooked us up with her friends and family discount at the Staybridge Inn, with a suite and a kitchen. I loved this hotel's hot breakfast with Belgium waffles. YUM! BEST EVER!

BEST - cheap dinner - SUBWAY!

BEST - taking a one hour nap, before hitting the park for the second time in one day with teenagers.

BEST - Travis staying "home" with the little kids and taking them swimming. LOVE CA weather!

BEST - hitting California Adventure one more time before it closes at 9 p.m. Going on my favorite ride again, Soaring over California. LOVED IT! Going on the kids' favorite ride - Tower of Terror. Taking the kids picture at night in front of the Tower and a few minutes later in front of Mickey's big ferris wheel. Too cool.

Worst - Getting to California Screaming only to find that they were getting ready to shut it down for Wonder of Color (water and light show - AMAZING). The kids really wanted to hit 3 rides before heading back to Disneyland and we were only able to hit 2 out of 3. That isn't bad, but they both were really depressed after that. I tried to cheer them up, but they were pretty bummed. Next time, if there is a next time, we would have hit CA Screaming first and then the other two rides would still have been open. We didn't know. Next time.

Worst - I was trying the make the best of it and telling the kids what fun we could have in Disneyland at night, when I noticed that I didn't have the camera in my hands. It had been in my hands most of the day. I found that I would miss moments when the camera was in the backpack, so I had carried it a lot. I put the camera in the backpack during Tower of Terror, but got it out again to take a picture of the kids at night in front of Mickey's Ferris wheel on our way to CA Screaming. Not sure where I lost the camera, but I lost it.

Worst - having two blisters and a lost camera (here is the kicker) that I borrowed from a friend! YIKES! I was near the front gate of California Adventure and I just couldn't go back to CA Screaming in the back of the park and look for the camera. So I sat down, and cried. The older kids went backed and looked, but I just cried. I cleaned out the backpack and looked for the camera in the bag, but I knew it was gone. The kids came back. No camera. It was night time and hard to look for a camera. I asked the people at guest services in California Adventure. I filed a report at Disney's lost and found. I got to the window to file the report and I just couldn't talk. The nice lady left and got me some tissues. I was so upset. Agent J had to do the talking for me. I felt so bad. He was there for me and even hugged me after we filed the report. I am crying now just thinking about it. All of those memories lost with the camera. My friend's camera, how do I tell her I lost it. I, of course, will replace it, but still, I lost something she trusted me with. I feel so foolish.

BEST - going into Disneyland and watching the fireworks show and Fantasmic. AWESOME! The kids didn't care for the fireworks, so they went and got a fast pass for Star Tours, another favorite. The kids went on Splash Mountain and Haunted Mansion while I watched Fantasmic. Those shows made me happy. I cried and cried during them, because I was sad and alone, but I was smiling with Disney joy. How can you not smile when you see Peter Pan fight Captain Hook for REAL on a REAL boat! Or when you see Mickey slay the dragon? AWESOME!

BEST - using Travis' "fast pass" on the Indiana Jones ride from when that same ride broke down on him earlier. Sorry honey. It was a great ride the second time - the first time scared me to DEATH! Going on Space Mountain one more time - even if we did wait in line for an hour - totally worth it. That made me smile too! And finally, ending the day on the Star Tours ride and watching Darth Vader stop the ship we were on - totally great ride!

The third day at Disneyland was probably my favorite. I regret losing all of those picture memories, but you can see why I had to document this day in a little more detail since the camera is gone. All in all - it was the best of times and the worst of times. Still I wouldn't trade the memories for anything.