Disneyland

I had the brilliant idea some time back to take a trip to "the happiest place on earth" for Spring Break.  I reasoned that it was really the only time we'd be able to squeeze in a vacation before baby comes.  I was beyond giddy at the prospect and possibly more excited than the kids about going.  Our previous trips had been downright magical and I couldn't wait for our younger kids to experience the thrill of Disney.  

This was our experience waiting in line for the first ride of our first morning.  It was unfortunatly indicitave of the rest of the week.

The fairies, minus Tink, had an amazingly short line.

Seth was afraid of every single dark ride, even Winnie the Pooh.

The big kids enjoyed the thrill rides with Dad.

One of Ben's former students made a little magic for us by letting us skip the long lines at Dumbo!  What a gem!

Meilani making a wish I think.

Seth's favorite ride: the carosel.  Yep, the same ride that we can go on at the mall for a whole lot less.  

Goofy's Kitchen.  One of the more peaceful moments of the trip.

Ammon really liked the characters.

The last time we went to Dinseyland as a family, 5 years ago, Sariah was too short for Splash Mountain and was in a mound of tears about it.  One of the cast members gave her this ticket which Ben has carried around in his wallet since.  We finally cashed it in and even convinced Seth to go on it, telling him it's a really fun ride with singing animals!

We maintained the tradition of getting a new fun hat.  Eli went for the pirate Mickey.

Seth really wanted the Princess hat with a long sheer thing that he thought was hair.  After much convincing he went for the Davy Crockett hat after I told him the tail was like hair.  For almost a year he's been wearing a felt basket we have at home just like this, so we figured he needed the real thing.

Our not so traditional girl went for the Perry hat.

Liam's hat glowed with the light show.

Our little pre-teen and her not-a-kiddie-hat selection.

Ammon was a Houdini with the stroller.  He kept escaping at every turn and really really protested being confined but the park was WAY too busy to let him walk at all.  Overall we only lost Seth once for a few minutes which was really a feat in my book!

The only time these punks fell asleep.

Seth didn't know who Handy Manny is and was a little reluctant.

Dancing with the Green Army Guys.

A moment of freedom while the rest of the bunch rode something with Dad.  We couldn't count the number of cast members who told us he needed to wear shoes.  You know, the shoes he continually kicked off every single time we put them on him.  One cast member even threatened to kick us out of the park over our barefoot rebellion.

At the World of Color Show

Yep, I am as tired as I look.

They told us we were sitting in the section where there was a light mist.  It was more like tourrential rain.  We were literally soaking wet when we left that night.  All the kids were crying and complaining about it.  All Ben and I could do was laugh.

Another favorite carousel.

Ammon's favorite 10 minutes of the trip.  Playing in the Up area.

We loved the Cars Racers.  Wouldn't have loved them if we'd waited in the 3.5 hour line, however.  

All in all I think we wished we'd booked a beach house somewhere instead of traipsing around an overcrowded amusement park for Spring Break.  It was hot, Ben and I felt like we were in a tag team wrestling match with Ammon all week, and I was super tired of preggo waddling by the third day in the park.  On our final day there I made Ben walk back to the hotel with the little boys to get the car so I didn't have to make the long trek.  Once he got there though, he realized I had the car keys in the backpack I was carrying.  Alas I had to make the walk anyway.  In hindsight the kids have fond memories of our trip, but we came home wishing for a vacation from our vacation.  Family memories were made though, and that's what counts in the end.