California - Day Three

We started out day three with a splash . . . on Splash Mountain.

Not a big hit with the kids!

After the tears stopped we headed over to one more their speed, the Winnie the Pooh ride.

They really liked this one. We even got to stay on the ride and go again since there was no one waiting in line.

Ellie's favorite part of Tarzan's Treehouse, the JAGUAR!!

There was a motion sensor that would make it growl at you. It scared her at first but then she loved it.

In Frontierland they have converted Tom Sawyer's Island to The Pirate's Lair. The kids loved exploring the little island, going through tunnels and caves, and walking over the bridges.

"What's going to work? Teamwork!"

McKay working to hoist up the treasure with attached skeleton at the Pirate's Lair.

McKay doing his "Good Fingers" that is what he calls thumbs up.

Ellie releasing the prisoners.

We are rich!

No more Bajio! . . . If only!

Meeting Snow White.

Waiting to meet the princesses was the longest wait we had the whole trip.

We didn't know that the first week of November was the perfect time to go to Disneyland, but we will surely remember that for the future.

I would have thought Ellie would be more happy to meet Jasmine since she loves the movie. Maybe she would have been more happy to meet her pet tiger.

This is who I would have thought McKay would have loved to take his picture with, NO. He didn't even want to get close because of the roaring engines.

Driving the Bugs Life bumper cars.

King Triton's carousel.


Ellie didn't make it back to hotel awake one night. We really wore them out.

This Explains A Lot!

This was e-mailed to me and I thought this was COOL enough to share! Plus it breaks up Disneyland a little. This is my little add to the blog. I contribute everything else to Mandy's genius. Enjoy.

When you view this clip you'll get a good feel for what happens to an airplane when it hits a concrete wall. Many of you have seen the Michael Moore-esque website that asks the question; 'If it's true that a Boeing airliner hit the Pentagon, what happened to all the parts of it? Why did we not find more pieces of it? Where did all that mass GO? Well, for those who question what happened to 'all the mass of that airplane', .watch. It's an Air Force engineering test of a concrete barrier that was to surround a nuclear reactor dome, to see if it would indeed survive an aerial attack. With the high speed cameras rolling, they attached an F-4 Phantom to the sled and then pumped up the speed to 500 MPH. and... 'What happens when an 'Unstoppable Force' meets an 'immovable object'?' Watch in slow motion as the F-4 turns to vapor. You'll play it more than once just to believe it. Where did all the 'flying parts' go?

California - Day Two - Disneyland

Our first morning in California the kids woke up nice and early ready to go to Disneyland. Ellie woke up and asked "Mom, is Disneyland just outside that brown door?" pointing to the hotel room door into the hall. I told her it was a little farther than that, but it was really close. Unfortunately, the park didn't open until 10:00 am so we went to Target to kill some time until we could get it.

On the shuttle ready for our first day.

Classic Disneyland picture, it's a must.

McKay driving crazy on Autotopia.

Our first ride of the day was the new Finding Nemo Submarine. It was not a huge hit. Ellie was scared and McKay left in tears. We decided that driving cars out in the open would lighten the mood.

Cinderella's Castle.

Mr. Toads car. Beep, beep!

Ellie said she wanted to meet Goofy but once it was her turn she decided otherwise. She felt safe enough with Dad standing in the middle.

Taking a mid-day break for a nap.

Mickey was there to meet us when we returned.

The Mad Hatters Tea Cups

One of the kids favorite rides. Not so much Ryan's. He sat it out next time. For being such a strong man he sure doesn't have much of a strong stomach.

Obviously Ellie was having a good time.

It's a lot of walking for two little feet.

Other favorite, the Buzz Lightyear ride. Watch out for Emperor Zurg.



Waiting for our table at Rainforest Cafe.

It was a long, successful, first day. They couldn't wait to get back.

California Here We Come!!

McKay has year round school and to take advantage of him having off the whole month of November we planned a family trip to Disneyland. We left Clara in Utah with her Grandmas so we could have more fun.

The kids had been anticipating this trip for about two months. For the last month before we left we had a calender in the kitchen where we would put an X on everyday and counted how many days left til Disneyland. To say the least they were very excited to finally be on our way.

Ellie on the plane with McKay in back checking out the planes.

We made it to California. First we made a couple of shopping stops, but then we headed to the beach. We just picked a beach at random but ended up at a local favorite, Corona del Mar. It was a cool day but the kids loved playing in the sand.

I had forgotten how my hair reacts to humidity and done my hair for the day. Lets just say my hair was back for the rest of the trip.

Wonderful self portrait.

Family shot on the beach.

McKay found a big hole in the sand that someone else had dug and enjoyed playing in it the entire time.

Ellie enjoying the beach.

After the beach we headed over to the house of a high school friend of mine that is settled in the area, Jen Sven. It was so fun the see her in her beautiful home with her cute family. Thanks for the hospitality Jen. To bad we didn't get any pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween

Ellie all dressed in her Tinkerbell costume for her preschool Halloween party.

McKay ready for school. He was Optimus Prime from Transformers, and yes he has seen the movie.

"Stick um up!"

Every year since we have lived in Reno on Halloween night we get together with our friends for dinner and joint trick or treating. It's a fun tradition.

Clara the ladybug.

All the kids ready to go.

left to right: McKay, Ali, Lilly, Arie, Brooke, Jared, Alexis, Clara, Ellie

The kids love these big blow up lawn ornaments. Many times we had to walk around the neighborhood after dark to see all the decorations lit up.

Ready to go.

Clara had to finish early. She was at her limit of fun for the night.

The kids got so much candy that their buckets were actually overflowing. They got to eat their fare share and then Ryan took the rest to work.