What a magical trip we had. We left on Thursday and drove in a really nice rental van for many hours. The kids did great - it helps have treats, coloring activities, an ipod and a DVD player. We did hit LA around 6 or 7, so we did get experience LA traffic - CRAZY!! I told David multiple times that I was glad we were only visiting and not living there. We checked into our hotel and then met my parents at the McDonalds across the street from Disneyland. We all ate dinner at 8pm and Grandma and Grandpa gave the kids each a gift - a lanyard with some pins on it so that the next day in the park they could trade pins with others. They also go David and I Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears. I wore mine almost the entire next day while at Disneyland, but David left his back in the hotel room - silly boy!! After dinner we headed up to bed - the kids wanted to stay up, but we knew the next day was gonna be long and encouraged them to go to sleep.
We got up in the morning at 6:30 and then got everyone ready. Then we headed over to the park. We all got there around 7:45 and easily got our tickets and then got to go into the park. The kids were so excited. My dad and I went off and got me an electronic wheelchair and then we met back up with everyone and off we went to experience the Magic! We went on Pirates of the Caribbean first and let me tell you that was really funny! Vilate was scared, Helaman was very nervous and Nephi watched the entire ride through his fingers that were held tight over his eyes. Gloria thought it was kinda scary because (according to her) she thought all the pirates were real and going to kill us - What an imagination!!! Faith and Hyrum, Grandma and Grandpa, and Mom and Dad LOVED IT!!! Following that adventure David and I took the 3 older kids on Indiana Jones while the 3 little ones got to go with Grandma and Grandpa to Tarzan's treehouse.
The rest of the day was spent going on various rides, eating Churros (yummy!!), eating food and treats and just having a great day! At one point we met up with 2 of Dave's sisters and their families - wish we could've spent more time and then we met up with a friend of David's from many years back. It was great to see everyone. I only wish our trip could've been longer so we could have visited more with family and friends.
Grandma wins the award for standing in the longest line. Gloria really wanted to see the princesses and Grandma volunteered to take her. After the longest hour of our lives, I had joined the line about 45 minutes into the wait, we made it in and boy was it worth it. Gloria was so excited to see Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty and Ariel. She went up to each princess and gave them a big hug and posed for a beautiful picture. When waiting to greet the next princess she would bounce and get so excited. It was perfect! Thanks Grandma for waiting in the line!!
While waiting for this line, the other kids went shopping with Grandpa for some souvenirs and then Grandpa went to get Faith a wheelchair. She injured her foot over a year ago and it keeps flaring up - we have since been to the doctor and they have determined that she has too much room between her 1st and 2nd metatarsals and will need to go to Shriners Hospital to get some custom made orthotics. David then pushed her around in the wheel chair for the remainder of the day.
After the "Celebration" parade Grandma and Grandpa took the 3 younger kids back to the hotel (THANKS YOU GUYS SOOOO MUCH!!). David and I got to stay at the park with the 3 older kids and ride some really fun rides. We rode until the park closed and then took advantage of the extra hour that the store were open and went shopping. The girls needed to buy their souvenirs and so did I!!
On our way out to return the wheelchairs (we had 2 at this point - Faith needed one because her foot was causing so much pain) we ran across a little boy and a double stroller looking for his Dad. We took him to "City Hall" and once he was safe with the security guard, we left the park. So sad were we to have to leave, for we had had such a great day. We were all very tired and got back to the hotel to relieve Grandma and Grandpa. Sleep was very welcome that night for everyone!!
The next morning we slept until 9 and checked out of the hotel at 11 then hit the road to drive back home. The trip home wasn't as exciting as the trip there and there was a lot more, "Are we there yets" and "I'm boreds." But we made it and I must admit that it was a wonderful idea for us to go!! I can't wait until we get to go back!!
There are more pictures posted on facebook if you want to view more of our adventure. I am not a huge fan of uploading pictures to blogger - it takes forever and I really get annoyed with formating the writing and putting in pictures!!
Faith and Hyrum decorated for me. What great kids. I felt very blessed to have these kids who were thinking about me and wanted to do something nice for me.
