Disneyland Trip!

DAY 1!

DISNEYLAND

Olive's dance studio was dancing at California Adventure so we decided to make it a family trip since we haven't been to D-land since Tanner was a toddler. We gave it to the kids for Christmas and they were ecstatic. We bought tickets for January 27, 28 and 29. Thursday-Saturday.  Unfortunately, Travis got sick the weekend before. He is the type to go to work sick, but he was down for the count and missed 3 days of work, sick in bed. I finally made him take an at home covid test and it came back positive. Then, lucky me, I caught it the day before we left. I had a pounding headache and my whole body hurt. But when I took the covid test it came back negative. We didn't know what to do.  All the arrangements had been made and the kids were so excited. It felt cruel to cancel. I don't know how the heck I got us all ready. Laundry, cleaning, packing. You know the bit. All I wanted to do was lay in bed. Travis had gotten three days in bed so he said he could drive. We pulled out of the driveway, with me, barely hanging on and I thought we were crazy. After a few hours I asked Collin to change seats with me so I could lay down in the back of the car. Somehow, we arrived at our hotel late Wednesday night. Thursday morning dawned and I still felt awful. Collin knew we were both sick and kept stressing and saying how he felt so bad, over and over. Which made me feel bad that he felt bad!! Haha. Great stuff. But when your're the parent, you just suck it up and act like everything is OK. And honestly, once we got into our groove, I really didn't feel too terrible. I think the kids' excitement took over and helped. I was blessed, for sure. Our hotel had an awesome breakfast buffet complete with Mickey waffles to start! We tried to take the customary pictures at the front of Disneyland but the sun was so bright and the kids couldn't open their eyes. The pictures crack me up, haha! We stayed at Disneyland the first day and had so much fun! It was our first time being there with the new Star Wars land and the crowds went straight to Rise of the Resistance. We tried, but by the time we got there the line was insane. So we went to the Millennium Falcon and basically walked right on. It was a cool ride! It was just our family in the spaceship or whatever and the kids were eating it up!

Then we went to Thundermountain and I think Tanner was on the fence about that one. I just held onto him, afraid he'd fly out! 

Treat break! I'm here for the raspberry macarons. And peanut butter squares at Poohs Corner. The sneaky winner though, was this toffee bar at Pooh's Corner that was ah-mazing!!

Tanner, coincidentally, is obsessed with old Mickey Mouse cartoons so it was fun watching him see Mickey in person at the parade!

Big, hand dipped corn dogs for lunch and Tanner ate THE WHOLE THING. 

In case you were wondering, the Monorail is still a car accident in a mountain. Woof. Chiropractors must have stock in this ride. We took a family picture in front in honor of Aunt Jael! :)

Dad took Tanner on some smaller rides while I took the other 3 to Space Mountain. 

Yep, I bought us all Mickey shirts to wear, but Olive's didn't come in time so our neighbors came in clutch with some cute Mickey dresses and jean jacket. I forgot to have the boys take off their jackets so I dragged them all back later for another round of pictures. My family sure puts up with a lot from me! And Travis is always, always so patient and accommodating. 

We had dinner at Cafe Orleans to get our Monte Cristo fix, but be warned, they changed their portion sizes! It used to feed two people, easy, but now it's much smaller. We made Collin and Weston share but they could have put down their own. 

We tried to get in line for Rise of the Resistance but it kept getting shut down for technical problems. Bummer! At least we got to see Wooky. Or whatever this creature is called. 

It was open until 10 or 11pm but we were exhausted at 8pm. I wanted to crawl into the stroller we had brought for Tanner. We had nothing to prove, so we started to head out when the big, light show started! Couldn't miss an opportunity to dance! It was a fun way to end the day! 

DAY 2

CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

I woke up feeling worse than ever. Like, I didn't know how I could possibly do another day of walking 10+ miles. My body had rallied for yesterday, but now it was waving a colossal white flag and protesting stronger than the evangelists on the corners of the Mesa Easter pageant. I forced myself to get ready then just started crying. Travis gave me a hug and I collapsed in his arms and sobbed. I could not do this. But what choice did I have? Olive was dancing today and I couldn't miss it. I did her hair and makeup and put one foot in front of the other until we were in California Adventure. Can I just say that managing the Disney app and all the fast passes and Genie passes is a freaking full time job?! Ugh. Why do they have to make it so difficult? OK, rant over. The kids LOVED the Incredicoaster. It was their favorite ride. Sadly, it was one of the few Tanner couldn't do. I tightened up with first time I rode it and didn't really enjoy it. But the next time, I focused on relaxing and it made a world of difference! It was so fun! Perhaps a metaphor for life. I don't know. Haha. 

Olive's face, hahahahahaha. So good. 

We all fit on the Inside Out balloon ride!

The look of a bored teenager on a kiddie ride with their family. Collin is a good sport!

Next, we waited a long time to do the Ferris Wheel. Olive FREAKED. Legit panic attack happening here. Bless her soul. She gets it from me. I do NOT care for Ferris Wheels but, again, I had to buck up and be the parent here. Nothing to fear, darling. So fun swaying in the wind, 160 ft. up! 

Time to dance!! She had to go early so we did the Guardians of the Galaxy ride while she was gone since we didn't think she'd like it. It used to be Tower of Terror. I HATE it. But I make myself go every time, partly to see if I've changed my mind and partly to be brave and face my fears. Why? Why do I do that? I think I'm done with doing things I hate now. I sat next to Weston and he wouldn't let me hold onto him!!!! Rude. 

Guys. I was legit screaming like someone was sawing my leg off and beating me with it. There is nothing to grab onto in that cursed ride!!! I was just bent over, screaming manically, wishing for sweet sweet death. I honestly think the man next to me thought I was special needs. I was embarrassed for myself. Look at the picture! I look like the girl off The Ring. Tanner did better than me. I'm pretty confident that there is nothing I hate more in this life than free falls. When people say they like that ride, my brain doesn't understand. They HAVE to have a screw loose. 

Olive did great on her dance!! It was to the music from Rio and all the girls in their multicolored tank tops gave it a tropical feel. It was fun to see her on stage!

As we were walking to Cars Land, a performance started. I think it has to do with Star Wars?? I'm not really sure. But they chose Weston out of the audience to come up! She asked him if he was strong and he said yes. She asked, "What makes you strong?" And Weston replied immediately, "My family." 

Awwwwww!!! What a sweet boy! He thought quick on his feet! Collin admitted that he would have said "protein drinks" Hahahaha! 

I remembered these mac and cheese cones being better before. Eh. 

That's one way to eat it, Tanner!

Who's favorite ride is California Soarin'?! My arm is way way in the air. I want to ride it over and over and over. Actually, I think it's called something else now because it goes over the whole world. Olive flipped when we saw the Eiffle Tower!

Mmmm, clam chowder bread bowls. But the real MVP was the cherry cheesecake bread pudding! Sad that it was a seasonal item because we were sword fighting with our forks for every bite.

In case you were wondering, the new Spiderman ride where you fling your arm to send spiderwebs into the ride was just OK. Not worth the massive lines. 

Yasss, gimmee the chocolate fudge brownie sundae and nobody gets hurt. The kids opted for a treat from the candy store nearby. Smh.  We watched the big water fountain show around 8pm and headed back to the hotel. Wish we could say we were late night party animals, but our beds were calling our name!

DAY 3

CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE & DISNEYLAND

Our final day! Luckily, it didn't start with me having an emotional breakdown. Perhaps my body had resigned itself to the trip by now. We started in CA Adventure then ended in Disneyland. 

The Little Mermaid ride is underrated, in my opinion. I love the music and sets!

Olive attended a dance workshop and we tried out drawing at the Animation Academy!

When I uploaded this picture, Tanner pointed at it and said, "Who's that?" I was like, "I don't know... Stickman?" And he furrowed his brow and looked at me concerned, like I wasn't very smart and corrected me, "No, mom. That's Groot." 

Ohhhh. Sorry.

Tanner and I shared a Buffalo pretzel and went on the jellyfish ride while the others went on dumb Guardians of the Galaxy.

I was told the Num num cookies by Incredicoaster were good. Guess what. They were right! I was going to eat half of one. But somehow the whole thing jumped into my mouth before I could get back to the family. So I gave Trav one and made the kids share the other one. Poor chaps. You should have heard the dialog. "Hey, you're eating too much! Save some for me! That was my bite!" It pays to be the parent.

The moment they've all been waiting for... turkey legs!! Collin is an avid fan of the turkey leg but I guess he got sick after this so he's sworn them off. Once you cross him, food wise, you're dead to him. 

For sure we did the Incredicoaster more than any other ride!

I was SO SAD they were sold out of raspberry macarons the last day, so I got this salted caramel as a lame, last resort. Andddd it blew my socks off. The intense flavor of the kettle caramel with salt was amazing. I guess it's not a staple flavor though, which is a darn shame.

More Wooky.

We did it! We finally rode the Rise of the Resistance!! It didn't break down this time! Now, I know next to nothing about Star Wars but this ride. Um, this ride is the coolest thing I've ever been on. It's like an entire experience. I was beyond impressed. 100% worth waiting in long lines for. So glad we got to do it!

If this was any indication of how Olive will be as a real driver, we should all be very, very afraid. Haha. She's the cutest.

"Save me a piece of that corn, eh?!" This buttery, paprika-y corn made everyone's night!

But not this cheap, dry excuse for a pretzel! Mickey, please!

OK, confession. My big regret of the trip is that I didn't take Tanner to ToonTown sooner! By the time we got there, Mickey's house and Donald Duck's house.... all the houses were closed! It was such a bummer! I think Tanner would have loved it. Consolation prize was pumping the fake dynamite box until the house had fireworks go off and riding the cute, little roller coaster with me with no lines, one million times. Trav had the other kids on Space Mountain. 

Dole Whippppps!! Can't go wrong.

Dang straight, he's the cutest in the galaxy!

Tanner and Weston got magnetic Ratatouilles for a souvenir.  

Collin said he didn't want anything and Olive couldn't decide so I told her we could order something Disney related from Target for half the price of here. But as of this writing, we've ordered nothing. Oops. 

It was such a fun vacation and even though the timing was rough with us being sick, we had such a great time together! We don't get many trips with just our family so I treasured the memories we were making! The kids' ages are really ideal right now. It's a good life!