Day 1:
We left on a very cold, snowy Sunday afternoon and headed down to Vegas. It was nice to run away from the bad weather. We made great time and were able to relax that night in the Vegas Condo. PJ’s mom cooked us an awesome steak dinner and later that night we checked out the strip.
Day 2:
The next day we hit the outlet’s in Primm and drove the rest of the way to California. We meet up with Vicki and Andy (Dane’s parents-our adopted parents) for dinner. They treated us to Bubba Gumps in Universal Studios. We had such a great time and our kids loved walking around all the stores.
Waiting for dinner...
Scary Shrimp Guy
Dinner with Andy & Vicki
The closest Mckay & Madi will ever get to having a real dog.
After dinner we drove to Anaheim. Mckay was so excited for Disneyland that he could not sleep.
Day 3-Disneyland
Disneyland was absolutely amazing. There's a reason why it's called the happiest place on earth. Honestly, it took self-control for me not to skip and break out in song as I walked through the gates. We had so much fun and the kids were so good. The lines were amazing. On several rides we were able to walk right on. Everything was decorated festive for the holidays. I highly recommend going in October. It was by far the best trip to Disneyland I've ever had.
Disneyland Gates
Beautiful Madi
Waiting in line to see Nemo. Madison adsolutely loved all the fish. It was one of her favorite rides.
Mckay was so excited to meet the "real"Buzz Lightyear. He was Mckay's favorite character.
PJ, Madison, Mckay, Hailey & Julie
Goofy was the friendliest of all the characters and made us laugh.
Poor Madison was scared to death of Mickey!
Waiting for captain Jack! We waited for almost an hour for him to show up.
Captain Jack Sparrow holding Madison's baby in a loving way.
Mckay, Jack, and Peston. Mckay loved going on Pirates of the Caribbean ride and after meeting the "real Jack" he decided he had to be Captain Jack Sparrow for Halloween. It was a fun suvenior to take home from Disneyland.
Wild Toad Ride
Madison loved the carousel in Fantasyland.
The end of an awesome day.
Day 4-Disneyland
For our fourth day, PJ's family took Madison down to the Oceanside Condo and PJ and I were able to spend a whole day with just Mckay at Disneyland. We were so grateful for them being willing to do this. We had such a good time with Mckay. For the first half of the day we spent it over at California Adventures. Mckay was fearless! He went on every ride that he could. After going on the Tower of Terror, Mckay said, "That was awesome!" When we asked him if he was scared, he said, "only a little." (I was still shaking!) We also loved going on Soarin California and the Toy Story ride. We were also able to meet a ton of characters in just a few minutes.
For our fourth day, PJ's family took Madison down to the Oceanside Condo and PJ and I were able to spend a whole day with just Mckay at Disneyland. We were so grateful for them being willing to do this. We had such a good time with Mckay. For the first half of the day we spent it over at California Adventures. Mckay was fearless! He went on every ride that he could. After going on the Tower of Terror, Mckay said, "That was awesome!" When we asked him if he was scared, he said, "only a little." (I was still shaking!) We also loved going on Soarin California and the Toy Story ride. We were also able to meet a ton of characters in just a few minutes.
Cruella Devil was just as witchy in real life. When we asked her to sign her autograph in Mckay's book she said, "If I must Darling!" I think that she was scarier to Mckay then the Tower of Terror.
The Queen of Hearts LOVED PJ!!!
Mr. Incredible & Mckay showing their stuff!
Handy Mandy
Waiting for the Bugs Life movie
After the Bugs Life 3-D Movie, we had some lunch in a hanger by Soarin California and headed back over to Disneyland to catch the Woody's Round Up show.
After the show we grabbed some fast passes for Splash Mountain and went on the safari ride. The whole time we were on the Safari boat ride Mckay kept asking over and again, "Is that real?"
After a few short hours we headed back over to California Adventures to ride the Toy Story ride one more time and catch the parade. Unfortunately the lines were too long on the Toy Story ride, but we did get to go on the Grizzy River Rapids. A lady in line gave me her pancho. I felt like such a dork--but I did stay dry!!
Poor Mckay and PJ got soaked!!!
Moral of the story.....It's worth looking like a dork!
Poor Mckay and PJ got soaked!!!
Moral of the story.....It's worth looking like a dork!
Later that night we ran back over to Disneyland to go on Mckay's favorite ride Splash Mountain. We also able to hit a few other rides and to pick out some souvenirs.
The end of a long, fun day. Mckay was so sad to go he couldn't hold back his tears. We couldn't blame him. We are already hoping to make the trip again in a few years.
Day 5-Oceanside
This was such a relaxing day. We were able to sleep in, hit the pool, and play tennis. Later that day we walked to the beach and had so much fun playing in the sand and water with PJ's family. That night we went out for Red Lobster and enjoyed being lazy.
Mckay Boogie-boarding
Beach Babes!
One sandy bum!
Day 6-SeaWorld
Sea World was a lot of fun too, not quite as magical as Disneyland, but our kids had a good time and we definitely got plenty wet!
Feeding the Dolphins
Madi was not quite sure what to think
I even got brave enough to touch one.
Madison looking like a California babe in my sunglasses at the Dolphin Show.
We are not quite sure what Mckay is doing here....
Shammu & the trainer. The kids insisted that we sit in the splash zone, and everyone got soaked. The kids thought it was halarious!
Not just a warning.... (Mckay, Andrea, Debbie, and Preston)
This ride is similar to Disney's Grizzy Rapids but you get a lot wetter. It was my favorite ride at Sea World because of Debbie. She was laughing so hard it was contagious. Every ounce of us dripping wet. We had a good laugh over it!
This ride is similar to Disney's Grizzy Rapids but you get a lot wetter. It was my favorite ride at Sea World because of Debbie. She was laughing so hard it was contagious. Every ounce of us dripping wet. We had a good laugh over it!
Jon & Julie
Mckay Debbie, and Andrea
Preston & PJ
The Sea Lions show had a Halloween theme and was one of our favorites.
Silly Madi
Preston & Debbie
Our family after a very fun & wet day!
Day 6 and 7-On the road again...
The next day we packed everything up and hit the beach for one more time. Our drive to Vegas seemed a little long, but luckily we were able to break it up with some outlet shopping in Barstow. That night in Vegas we just relaxed and had short cake from one of the casinos.
The next day we woke up earlier and spent most of the morning looking for a church to go to. We finally found one close to the Las Vegas temple. The ward members were so kind and inviting. It was a good example to us of how we should treat visitors. After church we drove the rest of the way home and read the 3rd Fablehaven book aloud.
Overall, it was such a wonderful trip. We felt so blessed to be able to go and hope to go on many more like it in the near future.
