M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

We finally were able to make the trip down to Disneyland in October! We have wanted to go in October for years. I guess I should say, "I" have wanted to go for years. Something about mickey mouse pumpkins and Halloween decor :) We had been going back and forth with the idea to go this year but wasn't sure how to pull it off. Luckily a lot of things went our way and we were able to go. We decided we were not going to tell the kids until we were ready to leave to Vegas. The kids had been told we were going to Vegas but had NO idea we were going to Disneyland! It was so hard to not tell them we were going. Two days before we were going to go to Vegas, we had the kids meet in Logan's room for a meeting. The kids were a little nervous. Morgan got the video camera out and we headed up stairs to have a little talk. We told the kids that we were not going to Vegas any more but that we decided to go to Disneyland instead. At first, I don't think it registered because they started crying because we weren't going to Vegas. Then when Carson realized what we said he started screaming, "we get to see Buzz and Woody!" Then I heard Loagan say, "well are we still going to Vegas?" I'm thinking, come on kid you would rather go to Vegas than Disneyland?? Needless to say when it all finally sank in they were super excited, especially when we told them that we get to go to Vegas too.
We started our vacation with a stop to see our good friends the Patton's in Vegas. It was fun to see them again even though we just saw them a week before, when they came down for my surprise birthday party :) I swear we get to see them more than some of my other friends who actually live in Utah. We stayed with them for two days, and then made the rest of the drive to Huntington Beach California. We stayed at Morgan's grandmas house for three days. Her condo is only two blocks from the beach. On our first day there we went to the beach. It was kind of a crappy day and the water looked so cold. All of the surfers had their full body wet suits on. The kids wanted to go down by the water and the plan was to only get their "feet" wet. Yeah that didn't happen! The water was surprisingly warm and the kids were feeling brave. This was Avery's first time at the beach while being able to walk. She had NO fear of going into the water. We had to watch her closely or she would have been swept away!




Bay and Logan went in completely. So much for, "we just want to put our feet in"

Before

After

The next two days that we were in California were spent at Disneyland. We had such a good time. Our first day in the park we rode everything we wanted and only had to wait in line for no more than 10 min. But the second day, it rained all day and that meant that people stayed home. So we walked on to every ride! My kids never complained about being cold or wet, and luckily we had brought an umbrella and rain ponchos. We rode all of our favorites 3 plus times and watched a few 3d movies. Including Captain EO. Good old Michael Jackson :)

Logan was so brave and rode the Tower of Terror three times in a row. Carson loved the Buzz lightyear ride and could have been fine if that was the only ride he got to ride while we were there. Bay loved Pirates and we rode that ride about 5 times. Avery was scared of anything dark and loud which was about every ride. She didn't cry but she sure held on tight to who ever was holding her on the ride. I liked it. It was cuddle time.

Splash mountain was super fun. I love the look on Logan's face the best. Bay hated this ride.
I LOVE this picture! I had the kids wear their Halloween shirts for the full effect :)
I had to talk Morgan into riding the famous tea cups. This is his least favorite ride at Disneyland.
This time Carson actually stayed awake to see Mickey Mouse. A few years ago when we went to Disneyland Carson was only 18 months old. We went during UEA. Bad idea. It was crazy! Anyway, we waited in line for about 45 min to see Mickey and when it was finally our turn to see him, he had fallen asleep and would not wake up.

Avery has a very special place in her heart for "Rella" We waited in line to meet the princesses. They have a new area where you are guaranteed to meet three princesses. You don't know which princesses you will get to meet until you get behind the castle. We were hoping we would get to at least meet Cinderella. I thought for sure with our luck, that we would get Jasmin or Mullan, princesses Avery has never seen. When it's our turn to walk behind the castle, Avery sees her Rella! I put her down and she says, rrreeelllaaa (in a soft whisper) and runs into rellas arms. I have to say for some reason I got a little teary eyed.
Not only did we get to meet Rella, we also got to see Sleeping Beauty and Snow White
A little star struck
They had this action figure box in California Adventure. We are so tough!
This is what we saw while we waited to get into the park. Super cute!!

I'm so glad we had such a good time at Disneyland. And yes, the decorations were exactly like I envisioned lol