Disneyland 2015

We took a trip to Disneyland the second week of June.  It was such a fun trip!  The kids were at great ages!  We realized this was our first trip to Disney without a baby.  We didn't need any bottles, formula, baby food or diapers.  It was so nice!  That's probably one of the reasons why we all enjoyed it so much.  Here's a recap of our fun week there.

DAY 1:

We left early in the morning (around 4:00 am) to begin the long drive down to SoCal...

Once there, we checked into Candy Cane Inn (our favorite place to stay down there) and hit the pool.  They have a great little pool, hot tub, and kids pool...

Cohen, of course, had to do a few flips into the water...

And Vivvie got brave enough to jump into Daddy...

My view from the side lines...

That evening, we walked over to Downtown Disney and hit up a family favorite--The Lego Store.  The kids had a blast building lego cars and racing them against each other...

Vivvie won with this lovely car...

Walking through Downtown Disney...

We ate at Rainforest Cafe, and had waaaaaay too much fun with the kids' hats.  They look kind of freaky when they're worn upside down...

After that, we went home and got some sleep so that we had tons of energy for our first day at Disneyland.

DAY 2:

We headed over to Disneyland in the morning.  We just happened to be there during Disney's 60th Diamond Anniversary.  Everything was decorated for the occasion...

Vivvie didn't feel like smiling, apparently...

But, she sure smiled when we met Snow White right inside the front gate...

Nana, Viv and me on the Winnie the Pooh ride...

Splash Mountain...

Ummm, yeah, I'd say the person in the front gets wettest...

I love Cohen's face in this pic...

The boys on Main Street...

Vivvie, Nana and Cohen on the train...

Playing on Tom Sawyer Island...

Thunder Mountain Railroad, which by the way, is awesome with all the new changes!  The ride is much longer now and isn't nearly as rickety as it used to be.  We loved it...

Vivvie and I on the Alice in Wonderland ride...

In the late-afternoon, we found a seat for Mickey's Soundsational Parade.  Poppy started, very sarcastically, showing us how excited he was to watch the parade...

The rest of us thought it was cute...

Vivvie and Cohen loved waving to their favorite characters...

And having them wave back...

After the parade, it was back to riding more rides.  First up, the Matterhorn.  The boys had tried to go on it before the parade, but it broke down right as they got in their seats.  Luckily, they gave them a pass to come back without waiting in line when they got it operating again.  I was able to go with them.  It was the first time any of us had been on it since they remodeled it.  I liked it, but wished they had made it a little smoother.  I guess I'm just getting old.  I think Cohen was a tad nervous to try it out for the first time...

That evening, we left the park because it was getting so busy.  That was how it was for our entire week there.  The park would be pretty dead in the morning, and then just get busier and busier throughout the day.  We decided that there were probably a lot of people coming just to see the 60th Anniversary parade and fireworks show, and going on a few rides while they were there--which made the lines REALLY long.  But, we were pretty tired anyway and had been able to do a lot that day, so we were happy.

DAY 3:

The next day, we were back at Disneyland early in the morning.  This time, we met Ariel right inside the gates...

Vivvie loved meeting her...

We hit up the Finding Nemo Submarines...

The Cars...

And Space Mountain...

Along with all the other Tomorrowland rides.  Then we made our way into Fantasy Land and tried our hand at pulling the sword out of the stone...

They all failed.  Then we went on a bunch of the Fantasyland rides.  Viv showed off her newest accessory that Nana bought her while waiting in line...

Sweet Viv in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle...

She sure loves her Daddy, and he loves her even more...

We went on Dumbo...

And Viv decided she should put her hands up while riding the flying elephant...

After that, we made our way into Mickey's Toon Town to have a little fun...

While there, we met Pluto...

Walked through Mickey's house...

Met the big man, I mean mouse, himself...

Got a few squeezes in...

Viv went on her first roller coaster, Gadget's Go Coaster.  She loved it, and had her hands up most the time...

We went to Minnie's house...

And had a tea party...

And then got to meet the lovely lady...

More squeezes...

I decided that Disneyland really IS the happiest place on earth.  Case in point--my 12-year-old held my hand for the first time in years!!!  I had to take a picture to document the occasion...

That afternoon, we took a break from the park and went back to the hotel to swim and cool off...

Vivvie took a nap in the shade next to the pool, with towels as a blanket...

The rest of us played in the water for a couple hours...

And had belly flop contests too.  Here's Connor's attempt...

Cohen's attempt...

And Aiden's attempt...

Then they all jumped in together...

After that, we headed back to the park to go on a few rides and watch the 60th Anniversary parade and fireworks show.  First ride was King Arthur's Carousel...

And then, my and Vivvie's favorite, It's a Small World...

See, happiest place on Earth.  Where else can a Nana get three grandsons to walk down the street holding hands with her?!?

Waiting for the parade to start...

It was a really fun parade.  It was a light parade, sort of like the old Main Street Electrical Parade...

After the parade, we stayed where we were for our perfect view of the fireworks show.  Unfortunately, they had to call it off because the winds aloft were too strong.  Lame!  So, we all headed home and hit the hay.

DAY 4:

The next morning, we went back to Disneyland--but this time, we hit up California Adventure.  The boys went on the Radiator Springs Racers, while Nana and I took Vivvie on some of the rides in Bug's Land...

Then we met back up with the boys and went on one of our favorites--The Toy Story ride...

While we were there, we just ran over to King Triton's Carousel for a spin...

Then, Mike, Nana & Poppy, and the boys went on Tower of Terror while Vivvie and I headed back to Bug's Land and cooled off in the splash pad...

Then went on a few rides.  Yes, we match.  No, it wasn't planned that way...

Here's the Tower of Terror picture from everyone else.  They're on the back row, and Aiden and Cohen are both totally hidden, but still a great pic...

After that, it was on to the Monsters Inc. ride...

That afternoon, we went to Ariel's Grotto for a character dining experience.  It was our splurge of the trip, and it was worth it to see Vivvie getting to interact with all her favorite princesses.  When we were seated, we got to meet Ariel on our way to our table.  Viv was super excited, even though it doesn't look like it in this picture.  It kind of looks like she was crying, but, I promise, she wasn't...

Then, several other princesses came to our table to meet us and talk to us.  First was Rapunzel...

Then Tiana...

Next Belle...

And then Cinderella.  I'm pretty sure Connor thought Cinderella was cute because he shoved Aiden out of the way so he could stand next to her in the picture...

It was a lot of fun and the food was yummy too!  It reminded us of all the character dining we did when we stayed at Disney World in Florida.  So many fun memories!

After our tummies were stuffed, we hit up more rides in California Adventure.  We had to go to Cars Land, of course!  The last time we went to Disneyland was the week before Cars Land opened, so this was our first time seeing it.  It is so cute...

Then we went for a spin on the Radiator Springs Racers.  It was such a cute ride...

Then Mater's Junkyard Jamboree...

Viv was pretty pooped at this point, but we just kept moving along while she snoozed in her stroller...

Cohen on the Golden Zephyr, making gang signs of some sort...

Taking a turn on the Silly Symphony Swings...

Vivvie woke up just in time for the Pixar Play Parade.  Can you tell Poppy is super excited to be watching yet another parade?!?

At dinnertime, we left and went back to the hotel for another evening of swimming to our hearts delight...

DAY 5:

We headed back to Disneyland this morning.  As I mentioned earlier, we discovered that Disneyland was pretty quiet in the mornings and got busier as the day went on.  California Adventure stayed quiet all day long because none of the 60th Anniversary activities were held there.  So, we got smart and started going to Disneyland in the morning and then switched to California Adventure in the afternoon.  It was awesome!  First ride we hit up this day was the Storybook Land Boats.  I have always loved this ride and love how they keep adding all the new Disney stories to it.  I think it's different every time we visit...

Then we took a spin on the Mad Tea Party...

After that, Poppy wanted to relive a part of his childhood by taking the boys to the shooting range in Frontierland.  He remembers visiting Disneyland as a kid and spending all his money at this shooting range.  The boys loved it...

And, we discovered that Aiden is an excellent shot!  He hit just about every target he aimed for, including some of the really difficult ones...

After that, Nana & Poppy went on the Mark Twain Riverboat with Vivvie and me, while Mike and the boys went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad again...

Then, we switched places and Nana and I went on Big Thunder with a couple of cute boys...

Jungle Cruise, anyone?

Aiden looks slightly concerned about that dude with all the shrunken heads...

Then, at lunchtime, we switched parks and went back to California Adventure to ride Grizzly River Run.  Nana and I came prepared for this ride with ponchos.  Yes, that's us in our protective gear--along with Mike and all the boys not wearing any protective gear and making fun of us for wearing ours...

But, afterwards, when Nana and I were almost completely dry, we got the last laugh...

Then Cohen went again with Poppy.  And, yes, Poppy took a poncho with him...

After two runs, Cohen was drenched from head to toe...

While the kids dried out, we decided to head over to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.  The kids rain on rope bridges...

Rode tire zip lines...

Went down slides...

Figured out what their "spirit animal" was...

Climbed through tunnels...

And, did some rock climbing...

Once everyone was fairly dry, we went on more rides, like Mickey's Fun Wheel--or, as Connor likes to call it--Mickey's Death Wheel...

I don't know what the big deal is.  They just throw you in a cage and then swing you back and forth as you ride around an extremely tall ferris wheel.  Shouldn't be a big deal to someone slightly claustrophobic and scared of heights, right?  The rest of us enjoyed it...

And, actually, so did Connor by the end of the ride...

Here's a picture Nana and Poppy took of us in our little cage...

The kids had fun while waiting in line for the Toy Story ride again...

And, anytime we ride Toy Story, we always ride King Triton's Carousel too.  Why not?  They're right by each other and the carousel always has absolutely no wait...

While we were riding California Screamin', it started pouring on us.  Let me tell you, when you are going 60+ mph, raindrops feel like rocks hitting your face...

That night, we tried to go back into Disneyland to see the fireworks show, but they ended up cancelling it again because the winds aloft were, once more, too strong.  Stupid winds aloft!  We decided that since we were there anyway, we'd go on a few rides.  First to Mad Tea Party...

And then Small World...

DAY 6:

We finally took a break from Disney for a day to go play in the sand and surf.  We drove down the coast about an hour and a half to Carlsbad, where we like to stay every few years.  It was a little cool and overcast the day we were there, but we still had a lot of fun...

Our beach beauty...

Seriously, this girl can rock the beachy wave hair...

The boys built a sand castle, of course.  Vivvie named it "Ariel's Under the Sea Castle"...

Connor went out into the cold Pacific water to about his chest and was pretty chilly when he came back to shore...

Viv was pretty happy to stay on land and just play in the sand...

Poppy, Vivvie and Cohen went on a walk to find seashells to use in decorating the sand castle...

The finished product...

Oh wait, the castle probably needs a little seaweed too.  Scratch that, it needs a lot of seaweed...

And more seaweed.  Aiden is the seaweed master...

Aiden actually found a dead bird in one of the seaweed clumps he pulled out of the ocean.  Gross!!!  The kids felt bad for the poor little bird, so they decided to dig a grave and give it a proper burial...

Here they are "mourning" their little friend as Dad covers him up...

They even tried to make him a little cross to mark his grave too.  Haha...

As the tide rolled in, everyone sat and watched Ariel's Under the Sea Castle slowly disappear.  Here was the first wave to break through the protective wall...

Aiden decided they needed to reinforce their protective wall with some seaweed...

As you can see, it didn't protect it too well...

Trying to reinforce the wall on the sides...

That didn't work so well either...

Dad to the rescue...

Nope, even Dad can't stand up to Mother Nature's force...

Vivvie had fun being buried in the sand as we watched the sand castle be destroyed...

Viv being buried actually turned into Vivvie becoming a mermaid...

The continued destruction of Ariel's home...

And another cute mermaid shot, just for fun...

The final state of Ariel's once glorious Under the Sea Castle...

After that, Mike and Poppy tossed a football back and forth to each other...

And Cohen got buried as well...

And there was a little paddleboard game too...

In Vivvie fashion, she found a comfy place and took a nap...

Then we headed back up the coast to Anaheim, and hit the pool--because, apparently, we hadn't had enough water fun for the day.  And the kids thought it might help clean the sand out of their swimsuits.  But, I'm pretty sure it didn't because we brought about 293 pounds of sand home with us...

Then we walked over to Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  Nothing hits the spot like some Avocado Eggrolls...

DAY 7:

Time to head back to Disneyland and take one last ride on all our favorite rides.  We followed our strategy of going to Disneyland in the morning and California Adventure in the afternoon.  It worked great, once again.  Here are the boys on Splash Mountain...

Cohen still looks terrified, but at least he kept his hands (sort of) up the whole time...

Vivvie and Poppy walking through Tarzan's Treehouse...

We also took a few family pictures by Sleeping Beauty's Castle...

Nana and Poppy took a pic with the grandkids...

My love and me...

Alice and Wonderland ride...

Can you tell how thrilled Connor is to be on this ride???

He was just as thrilled about going on Small World again...

He made the best of it by humming "It's a Small World" into a kazoo an employee had given him.  He did it throughout the entire ride...

All of us on the train...

Too cool for the train too...

Cohen and I getting ready to ride Star Tours...

Mickey's "death wheel" again...

King Triton's Carousel--again.  Like I said, there's never a line so it's an easy one to jump on...

That evening, we went back over to Disneyland to try to see the fireworks one last time.  While we were waiting, Vivvie and Cohen discovered Pixie Hollow and had fun playing on all the flowers, mushrooms, and in between the blades of grass...

While they were doing that, Mike, Connor and Aiden took one last ride on Space Mountain.  Connor pretended to be sleeping for the picture...

And, guess what? That night, we FINALLY got a chance to see the 60th Anniversary fireworks spectacular.  It was awesome!  It went on for a long time, and they made the castle look awesome...

Oh my gosh!  Does life get any better than this???

I actually started to tear up during the fireworks.  Yes, I cried!  I just didn't want our vacation to end.  My kids are at such perfect ages right now.  I wish I could freeze them right now--just as they are.  It also hit me really hard that night just how fast life is flying by!  Connor will be out of the house and in the big, bad world in only six years!  SIX YEARS, people!!  We usually go to Disneyland every three years, so that means I have one or maybe two more Disneyland trips with him before he leaves the nest.  It just hit me really hard that night, and that's what I thought about as I tried to soak up every last little second of the vacation as it came to an end.

DAY 8:

Time to go home.  {{Sad face}}  We got in the car about 8:00 am to start the long drive home.  We stopped in St. George to give the kids a break while my Nana ran a quick errand.  We went to the kids' favorite splash pad and spent some time there cooling off and stretching our legs...

Unfortunately, Aiden stepped on a bee at the splash pad and got stung.  First bee sting ever for him.  He spent the time soaking his foot in the cool water to make it feel better...

The other kids ran around and had a good time...

We weren't sure if the stinger from Aiden's bee friend was stuck inside his foot or not, so Mike did a little tweezer surgery while Aiden held Nana's hand for support.  Poor kiddo...

Shortly after leaving St. George, we saw a sign saying that I-15 was closed because of a bad car accident, so we took a little detour through Hurricane and back to I-15 further north.  Part of the drive was very curvy.  Viv got car sick and threw up.  At that point, I was finally ready for the vacation to be over and just wanted to be home.  Haha!  We finally made it home about 10:00 that night.

It was such a fun trip--one we will always remember.  We love you , Disneyland!  Hope to see you again in another three years!  --Lindsay