Disneyland

Back from our Disneyland trip! Where to start on our crazy adventure. Randy and I left from the Vegas airport, and arrived in Long Beach, Cali 2 hours before the rest of the fam was scheduled to arrive. Unfortunately for us, the family's plane was delayed almost an hour. 3 hours of sitting at the airport doing nothing.

Family finally meets us at the airport, we grab our bags and head to the car rental. We decided we were going to rent 1 van for all 9 of us. Our van was a big 12 passenger van, red in color. This worked our pretty well, and kept us all together. After getting the van, and a car seat for Emily, it was time to find the hotel.

Fighting through California traffic, we finally found our hotel. When we pulled in, we noticed 5 or more police cars in the parking lot. There were police officers surrounding one of the rooms. Are we sure this is the kind of place we want to stay with young kids? We decided that it was to late in the day to try to find another hotel for the week, so we chose to stick it out. Dad checked in, and handed us the keys to the two rooms that would be our home for the next week.

Upon opening the door to the hotel room, the smell of a mixture of kitty litter and mold rushed out to greet us. The ceiling had watermarks on it, as if the tub from the second floor was leaking, and would fall on us at any time. Walking from the door to the bathroom, our socks turned black from the grime on the carpet. The water from the sink had the aroma of sewer water. "Welcome to hell" I thought to myself.

We made due with what we were given. After all, the hotel was within walking distance to Disneyland and was less then $100 a night. Needless to say, most of our time was spent at the parks! Cayson, Emily and Braydan suited up the first night to go swimming, only to find diarrhea floating in the pool, and a dead bird in a bucket next to the hot tub. No more swimming for us!

Monday, we headed to Disneyland. We were 2nd in line to enter the park, and Emily, Braydan and Cayson could hardly contain their excitement! The vigor, eagerness and excitement of youth is such an amazing thing to witness. As we entered the park, you could see the dreams and hopes of all the children there materialize. They were entering a land that was all their own, filled with wonder and amazement.

Our first ride that day was Peter Pan's Flight. Emily watched with wide eyes as we boarded the flying ships, absorbing every movement and moment of the ride. Feeding her amazement with that first ride was like giving oxygen to a raging fire. Emily went on EVERY ride at least once. When I say every ride, I mean EVERY ride! From the gentle Winnie the Pooh ride to Splash Mountain, from Dumbo the Flying Elephant to the Haunted Mansion, Emily soaked it up like there was no tomorrow. Her favorite ride is still Space Mountain, the indoor, dark, space roller coaster.

And then, it happened. Cinderella walked around the corner. Emily's mouth dropped, and her eyes got big. Her childhood idol was right in front of her, so close that should could reach out and touch her! The moment that Emily went and asked for Cinderella's autograph was probably the most memorable part of the trip. Cinderella greeted her, crouching down to Emily's level and calling her "Princess". Emily was speechless.

Tuesday was California Adventure's turn to entertain us. Again, Emily rode all of the rides that she was tall enough for. This included the Tower of Terror. Talk about a brave kid! She loved the ride, but didn't want to ride it again because it made her "feet fly".

Wednesday we went to Universal Studios. I think the boys enjoyed it a lot more then Disneyland. It had a little more "grown up" feel to it. After wearing the boys out here, we headed back to the hotel. Time for a good night's sleep for our last day at Disneyland.

After a good night's sleep, we were off to Disneyland one more time. By this time, we had been on all of the rides, and browsed every shop there was. It was easy to pick which rides and shops we wanted to revisit. Another long day's play, and we were ready to say good bye.