Spring Break 2008!

Well, we all made it back on one piece after what the kids said was the greatest spring break ever! We went with our neighbors, the Slemboskis, who have six kids. 4 adults and 11 kids aren't great odds, we soon discovered. So here goes our "vacation" log (Jimmy said we should call it our California "trip" not "vacation"!)

Day 1 (3/10): We woke up at 5:15 and got on the road at 6:30. After some confusion and waiting around, we met the Slemboskis at the "in and out" in Annaheim, checked into our hotel (Desert Palms--1 block away from Disneyland) and finally made it to the park at about 3:00 pm--the kids were dying by then! We forgot our camera that day. Nat and the little kids and I went back to the hotel at about 8:00 pm while Steve, Jimmy, Syd, Berlyn, Dryden, and Asher stayed until 11 to ride the big kid rides.

Day 2 (3/11): Disneyland all out!

Jo Jo and J.J. in Fantasyland

Syd and Ber being cool

In line for Peter Pan. Bridgie was sooooo good the whole time!

Beautiful Nat and Jude

The kids trying to pull Excaliber out of the stone. Here's Ellie.

Gabe. He was very difficult the whole time! He ran away a few times, one time the security found him before we did. He wasn't afraid at all after being lost about 15 minutes. I was freaking out--one second he was there watching the Jedi show, and the next minute gone.

Asher had a great time, but got pushed too far by his sister. He wanted to ride all the rides, but couldn't bring himself to ride the California Screamin'.

Jo J0--I rode the Tower of Terror with him and I couldn't stop screaming, while J played it cool and said he wasn't even scared.

Dryden

Syd

J.J.

Baby B asleep on top of the double stroller

And here she is again--oops!

My favorite part of the second day was taking Gabe on splash mountain. He wouldn't admit he was scared, though I could feel his heart beating and he was squeezing my arms around him. After the big hill he said, in a shaky voice, "that was totally fun." No fear!





Day 3 (3/12) This was my favorite day of the trip. Ellie fell off the bed and cut her eye open and had to get stitches, so the Laytons went alone to California Adventure. I had never been there before. The weather was perfect, and the park was not crowded at all--we walked on all the rides without much of a wait. We loved Bug's Life. We met up with the Slembo's at the Aladdin show. It was so well done--even Asher loved it (he told us the whole time that he only liked rides, not parades, shows, etc.) Gabe and Jo fell asleep during the show, and that was good too!

Gabe with his 3D bug glasses. The 3D shows were his favorite, and ours too because he sat still and we did have to chase him for a few minutes!

The kids rode on the Bear River Rapids over and over and over again. It was getting cold so I didn't want to get soaked.

Jo Jo soaking wet!

Asher soaking wet!

At about 5 pm we all headed back to the hotel and ordered pizza for the "kids only" party. Then the adults went to the Cheesecake Factory. We had been planning this forever, and we were supposed to meet up with the Dahl's, Chalmers, and Goodrich's, but they were over an hour late and we were starving and wanted to get back to the park alone before it closed, so we ate without them. They said something about having to get kids ready, blah blah blah...(talk to the hand!). May I strongly suggest the vanilla bean cheesecake with strawberries on the side--an almost spiritual experience! Anyway, the others finally showed! Nat and Jimmy and Steve and I went to California Adventure to ride California Screamin'. Nat held her breath and closed her eyes the whole time and almost passed out/threw up. She couldn't open her hands afterward and said that the same thing happens to her when she has a baby! We then headed to Disneyland and met up with our other friends for the amazing fireworks and a few other rides before the park closed. I've always wanted to go to Disneyland with just Steve. It was fun just to hang out for a few hours without chasing children.


Day 4(3/13): At this point we probably needed a break from the excitement! Jonah looks happy in this picture, but a few hours later he had a major melt down!

Here we are waiting in line for an hour for Playhouse Disney show. Gabe LOVED this though. He was waving to all the characters and singing the songs. He was the perfect age for this!

While we were in line Jonah wanted me to take a picture of him being sad because he lost both arms and legs.

Gabe at Mickey Mouse Club House---"come inside it's fun inside!"

We were planning to go back to Disneyland for the 7 pm parade and 9:30 fireworks, but then the total meltdown happened while we were eating dinner, so we settled for the Pixar parade at California and called it a day.

That night the kids were tired! Here's how you fit 5 kids in a king sized bed!

Day 5 (3/14): Jimmy took Steve to play streetball at Newport Beach for 4 hours, so we all stayed back at the hotel and swam and played with bugs. The kids actually really needed to hang out and do nothing for a while!
Ellie with her stitches and a bug.

The boys and their snail pile

That day B had her first Oreo--let me just say I am sick of snacks and junk food! I am going to detox this week!

Later that afternoon we packed up and went to the beach. B then ate her first sand!

Gabe's typical pose--so dramatic!

The beach was beautiful. Here's our kite!

We didn't think it would be warm enough to swim so we made the mistake of not bringing swimming suits. Of course the kids got in the water anyway and then suffered hypothermia and whine-o-thermia later.

Jo in a sweatshirt!

A romantic stroll on the beach? Not this time!

My little angel!

At this point we parted ways with the Slembo's for a while--their kids were in much better moods than ours. We went to the hotel and changed and had a family prayer because everyone was falling apart. Gabe said the prayer and made it sound like he was bearing testimony and crying "Please bless us to go to church....(sniff sniff, fake crying).....and to go to bed (sniff sniff...)" What a character!!! We then went to a Mexican restaurant and a guy came up to us and said "I just want you to know you have such a beautiful family." I almost started laughing! I guess it is beautiful sometimes!
Jimmy and Dryden playing something--what is it called?

All in all, good times! We found out that the Slemboskis and we have similar "vacationing" styles--we don't get up early and we don't stick to a schedule! We would definitely do it again, but feel that four days of Disney is too much without a break somewhere in between. We also didn't get to go shopping, but oh well! We got season passes (it was cheaper that 5-day passes!) so we will be going down again this year--anyone want to come babysit?(grandmas, grandpas, hint hint!:0)