Thursday, Oct 3rd: The kids and I (that's right...Craig wasn't with us and I did it all by myself!!) drove down to CA leaving our driveway at 4:20am. Our first stop was in Cedar City for breakfast, then stopping in Vegas to stretch our legs at a park next to where my brother used to live, then lunch in Barstow, CA. Once we got back on the road in Barstow, both kids took naps that lasted till we almost got my grandpa's house in La Habra, CA. The kids did awesome on the trip and only watched one movie the whole way down - unbelieveable!!
Friday: Spent the morning with my grandpa and my mom who flew down from Ohio to spend the weekend to visit too. That afternoon I left the kids with my mom so I could pick Craig up at the Orange County airport. Later for dinner, my brother and his two kids and my other brother and his wife came over so we could hang out together.
Saturday: Disneyland!! We got a 2-day hopper pass to the parks. We got there right as the park opened and basically walked on every ride for almost two hours. We headed to the picnic area to eat the lunch we brought ourselves and then spent the afternoon at California Adventure. We saw the Pixar Parade that the kids loved because they knew all the characters from the movies. We had dinner at the park eating at the Brea Bakery and I had broccoli cheese soup in a sourdough bread bowl. My mouth is drooling just thinking about it - it was so good!! After dinner, we couldn't decide what to do next since the parks were very crowded and we'd done quite a bit for one day already. So at 7:03pm we headed home. We figured to get a good night's sleep and come back early the next day and hopefully avoid the crowds again.
Sunday: Disneyland!! The park had different hours this day because of some Miley Cyrus Sweet 16 party so it closed at 5pm. Pretty early so they also opened the park at 6:30am. Like I said - crazy hours. We figured only the die hards would get to the park at 6:30am so that is what we did. We decided to head right to the Peter Pan ride since that line in Fantasyland is always packed. We started toward the castle and saw two cast members standing at the foot of the castle once you cross the drawbridge. Once we got to them, they handed each of us (the kids too) a Dream Fastpass badge, one for each park to use whenever we wanted. Each badge had tabs of all the rides that used the fastpass system. Basically we could walk up to any fastpass line anytime we wanted and they would take the tab from our badge. My brother Jimmy and his wife Susie were going to meet us later that morning so we waited to use them once they joined us. When they did, we each took turns watching the kids while the other couple used the passes. We first did Indiana Jones, then Haunted Mansion, and finally Space Mountain before we stopped to watch the Parade of Dreams down Main Street. After that we headed to the other park to do Tower of Terror and Soarin' and then stopped for dinner. They all did California Screamin' while I watched the kids and then we called it a day. We pretty much did everything we wanted at each park. I'm telling you that getting to the park right when it opens is the best thing to do and we did the majority of the rides then because there were no lines - it was awesome!!
Monday: My mom watched Briana while Brandon and I took Craig back to the airport so he could fly to Fresno for work. On the way back, we stopped at Downtown Disney and just walked around and did some window shopping. The rest of the day we stayed at the house and watched the kids play in the backyard.
Tuesday: The kids and I took my mom to the airport and then headed to Huntington Beach to spend the day and night at my brother Jimmy's place. I visited with my sister-in-law Susie while the kids watched movies in the morning and waited for my dad to come over. He had driven from Phoenix the day before to visit for the next couple days. That afternoon I left the kids with my dad and brother Jimmy so I could meet up with some childhood friends, DiAnna and Stacey, for dinner. I have known these girls since I was 11 years old and even though I only lived in the neighborhood with them for 3 years when we were kids, I know that I have friends for life - they are the best!!
Wednesday: Left Huntington Beach and drove to Santa Barbara to visit another great friend, Nicole. We knew each other from Texas having worked at the same company together. We both ended leaving Texas but have reasons to continue to visit Texas so that is when we usually see each other. We had a good visit and took the kids to the beach - their first time!!
Thursday: Drove back to La Habra but made a stop again at Downtown Disney. When I was there on Monday, I regretted not buying these Star Wars action figure toys for the kids so I headed back to get it. Spent the afternoon with grandpa and starting getting packed up for our trip home the next day. That evening while my aunt watched the kids, I headed back to the airport to pick up Craig. I was so tired of driving to the airport - my 3rd time in 4 days!!
Friday: We got a late start since both Craig and I were very tired and took our time in the morning getting ready. It turned out to be a very long day and the kids were not as good this time on the road. We were so happy to finally arrive home and sleep again in our own beds. I'm sure the kids would agree as well since they were towed all around CA the last couple days with me. Overall though, they did better than I had expected. We spent so much time in the car and sleeping here and there that I was surprised how well they adjusted to the changes. I hope this means that as they get older, it will continue to get easier. Here is hoping at least!!
Friday: We got a late start since both Craig and I were very tired and took our time in the morning getting ready. It turned out to be a very long day and the kids were not as good this time on the road. We were so happy to finally arrive home and sleep again in our own beds. I'm sure the kids would agree as well since they were towed all around CA the last couple days with me. Overall though, they did better than I had expected. We spent so much time in the car and sleeping here and there that I was surprised how well they adjusted to the changes. I hope this means that as they get older, it will continue to get easier. Here is hoping at least!!
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