Disneyland!!

   Whew, what a great vacation! We had an amazing time at Disneyland and California Adventure. I give a huge thanks to the company we booked through (recommended by a friend)...Get Away Today. Highly recommend them for anyone but especially for those of us with larger families! 3 day park hopper x 6 people, 5 days/4 night in the hotel for less than $1,500! Do the research...it saved us tons!

   On the way down we stopped in Las Vegas to let the kids get out and stretch a bit...big mistake. I thought since it was during the day things would be more family friendly...and in some ways it was however when my daughter asked me why there were naked cards of girls on the ground (causing all my boys to look at the ground) we cut it short and got back on the road. Gag clean up your streets please!

   But finally we arrived!!  We got there on Sunday and got jacked up for Disney on Monday. It was busy but much less than I had anticipated. We have a brother and sister in law who live close to Disneyland and found out that luckily our Spring Break was different from there's so the crowds were a bit smaller.
Westen and I kept saying over and over what a perfect age our kids were (8, 5, 5, 4) to do this kind of vacation. We kept seeing the babies and toddlers and were so happy it wasn't us...especially on the 16 hour car trip. We literally rode everything that was open in both parks in 3 days...one bummer was that Splash Mountain was closed :(  Of course this was one of those rare times that we pulled the Deaf card. If you have a "disability" you can get a special pass that jumps you to the front of the line and you typically have a 0-10 min wait as opposed to some of the waits that were up to 90 minutes. Now for all of you thinking that we are cheaters don't pretend you wouldn't rather hop to the front than stand in 85 degree weather for 30-45 minutes with 4 children asking how much longer...don't lie. By the 3rd day we were pooped! Grownup legs were exhausted so I have no clue how the kids did so much walking for 3 days!

 Speaking of kids...they were great! There were some of the typical whines of 4 children but overall they were great troopers and we all got there and back in one piece. Avery got to meet a ton of princess' so she was super happy...the little boys almost had to be leashed they were so hyped up...and Jacob had to be forced to take pictures with the characters because he was "too old for them", I told him too bad I want picture so hush up and smile.

   On our way out of town we stopped at Huntington Beach so the kids could play in/see the ocean...we do live in Idaho, these chances are a bit rare! The kids were in awe of it...Dexten said "wow mama that's a huge lake!" The water was cold but the sun was hot...about 90 degrees and our white, winter, Idaho bodies did get a bit red even with sunblock. Well worth it!

   I am so thankful to have such wonderful memories that we have been able to make as a family! The look of wonder and excitment on the faces of my children when we first walked in made my eyes well up and I told myself to get a grip...then I told myself nope it's okay to get emotional because this moment will never come again, so take it all in, feel all the emotions because sometimes it's okay to 'just be'.