We originally had a trip to Boston planned for this summer in conjunction with a business conference for Arthur. He had gotten approval and made reservations, and we had booked our own housing and flights for our family accordingly and had basically planned our whole summer around this big family trip with excursions to lots of US and church history sites.
Well, long story short, they pulled the funding for Arthur's attendance to that conference and we were left scrambling to reconstruct our summer. Feeling rather sorry for ourselves, on a whim, we decided we needed a consolation trip to go visit my sisters Natalie & Emma, Disney and the beach. It was delightful!
Cousins!
Sydney LOVES her little twin cousins Peyton and Kambria. She was holding them any chance she could get and would be sad if she didn't get enough "baby time" each day.
Disneyland/California Adventure
Bennett loved Disneyland more than I thought was possible for a 2-year-old who couldn't go on lots of rides. But we worked it out so the parent staying back with the short kids would take them on a different ride while waiting for the big kids to go on bigger rides, and he had a blast. One of his favorites was the "Ariel Ride."
In line for Screamin'
Waiting for the big kids to get off Screamin' on King Triton's carousel.
Bennett called this the Fish Ride.
Cars Land!
While the big kids went on Radiator Springs Racers, I took Bennett on the Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. (aka "the Tractor Ride.") Bennett was pretty excited about going on the ride with me for a few seconds, and then when he got kind of squished around, he said, "Okay, Mom, I all done." Unfortunately, I couldn't just stop the ride, so he had to endure to the end. Arthur took him on it again later with better success--I think he held him more securely.
Sean bought this hate with his very own money and I asked him where he would wear it if he bought it. He said, "Everywhere." And he has.
This was Sydney's first ride on Space Mountain. She was barely tall enough and all the kids and I were talking about how much we LOVE Space Mountain. But if you look at the picture, you'll notice that next to me, there is a space where Sydney's head should be. She ducked her head and was hanging onto me for dear life for most of the ride. As we were walking out, she said, "Mom, some people like rides, that other people DON'T."
Autotopia with Bennett at the wheel
Natalie braved Disneyland with 2 one-year-olds! She and Emma are the bomb.
Thunder Mountain Railroad
studying the map together
Tarzan's Treehouse
Ariel's Grotto
Sydney REALLY wanted to meet princess at Disneyland, so we splurged and booked a reservation at Ariel's Grotto, where we got to meet 4 princesses in addition to Ariel. It was nice to have some yummy lunch AND a break from the crowds.
"Say Guppies."
(This Ariel was sooooo bored, but Hayden got her to smile for real when he walked past her wearing every single Ariel's Grotto pin from our party.)
Fantasyland
Sydney waited forever to meet Irisdessa, who was very friendly.
I'm sorry to report that MY King Arthur was unable to remove the sword from the stone.
These guys couldn't do it either.
Jedi Academy
The Jedi Acadmey show is always lots of fun, and we had TWO Jedi apprentices this time!
Sean and Daphne were both chosen to participate.
Kinda hard to see Sean in this pic, because we were on the opposite side that he was lined up.
The 60th Anniversary Light Parade was pretty cool!
We loved our three days in the Disney CA parks. The kids were all really good and we had such a great time playing together and spending time with Nat & Emma and the Evans cousins. Bennett has said to us several times, "Mom, get in stroller? Buzz Lightyear ride? Ariel ride? Tractor ride?" Guess we'll see how long we can go before we cave and make another Disney trip.
