Brian and Devri: Our Own Eden

Back in 2019, you may recall, we made a surprise, quick trip to California to go to Disneyland. Provo airport has flights to LA on Saturdays for pretty cheap, and the kids didn't have school the following Monday, so it seemed the perfect opportunity crowd wise and timing wise to go. We had so much fun doing it that we decided to do it again in 2020. This time, however, we didn't surprise the kids, AND we were able to convince Nana and Papa to come along for our adventure! We finished up the final park t-shirts and ears, bought some snacks, and headed to Provo to catch our plane.

We ran pretty late to catch our plane and barely made it in time. Nana and Papa were wondering if we had bailed on them! Thankfully, we made it aboard (and my stomach stopped tying itself in knots of anxiety) and were soon on our way!

Just before we took this trip, news that Covid-19 had been found in the U.S. made us pretty nervous. Should we cancel our trip? We didn't want to put Kirt and Julie at risk, but we were also really excited to go. A day or two before we left, there was a case reported at LAX, the airport we were going to be flying into. After some debate, we decided to go ahead with our trip. Somehow though, we followed an obscure sign directing us to an elevator and baggage claim, and we found this empty tunnel that took us clear through all the craziness of LAX. There was hardly a soul in sight, and we were able to get straight to baggage claim without being around very many people.

Last year, we decided to take the metro buses to Disneyland. That was a bit of a disaster, so this time, we got a shuttle to take us.

Our flight was much earlier this year than last year, so after checking into our hotel and getting some food, we headed to the park for the rest of the afternoon. And who did we meet right off the bat?

We wanted to go to Star Wars land first, and we went by way of the castle and had our picture taken by a Disneyland photographer (and I grabbed another one as we were walking through the castle).

We were all really excited walking into Star Wars Land!

We had to stop again to take our picture in front of the Millennium Falcon.

We geeked out after seeing Chewy and R2D2!

The queue for Smugglers Run had so many fun things, and we got to see the top of the Millennium Falcon.

And we were all REALLY excited to get inside the Falcon!! And then get to "fly" it was pretty awesome too, even though it made Julie and I a little sick.

After the ride, we wandered some more, you know, just chillin' next to speeders and spaceships. No big deal.

The line for Splash Mountain was super short, so I talked our most of our crew into going. Julie took Gabe over to ride Winnie the Pooh while we went. Brian volunteered to take the brunt of the water by riding in the front. After this, we learned we needed to lean into the other side so we didn't block Rachel and Michael. They're there, we promise!

After more rides and fun, we walked back to our hotel, which was just across the street from the main gate.

First thing the next morning, Brian took the kids and rushed to the park to try to make it onto the new ride "Rise of the Resistance." He didn't make it, but he took the kids on some spinning rides that Kirt, Julie, and I weren't interested in.

We followed them onto Nemo's ride, but they were in a different Sub, and much further ahead than us.

We got out in time to see them come to the finish line in Autopia.

We headed to California Adventure, where Brian, Michael and I rode the Incredicoaster.

And we all rode the gondola on the big Mickey Wheel. Michael originally wanted to ride in one of the swinging gondolas, but we said no way! He was glad after, because the stable car freaked him out quite a bit.

We got lunch

and I realized that if we lost Gabe, it would be hard to find him since he hasn't memorized my number yet. After lunch, I took the opportunity to write our numbers on his belly with a Sharpie. He thought that was pretty funny. Thankfully, he never had to show anyone his belly.

We went to Cars Land and got our official group photo of the day.

We went to Radiator Springs Racers, which is my favorite ride in the park. Brian and I rode by ourselves

and Kirt and Julie rode with the kids.

Nana and Papa watched while we went on the other rides in Cars Land.

And we went to Midway Mania:

We convinced Papa to try the Incredicoaster.

While Nana bravely hung out with Gabe and Rachel on her own. They rode Little Mermaid a couple of times. As soon as we were off the Incredicoaster, Brian raced to find his mom and the kids so she wouldn't get too overwhelmed. The four of them got to meet Spiderman.

Papa and Brian took the kids to ride the Guardians of the Galaxy ride while Julie and I waited on a bench.

Then, the big boys (AKA Papa, Brian, and Michael, headed back to Disneyland so Michael could build a droid (the thing he saved up for). Julie, Rachel, Gabe, and I took our time, and met a few people on the way.

Meanwhile, across the galaxy--I mean park--Michael got to build his droid.

And they had a little area that he could play with it while in the park. The rest of the time, he had to keep it in its box.

We met up again and explored Sleeping Beauty's Castle and rode Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which always cracks me up).

We got separated when the parade went through. Rachel and I got to squeeze into this area to watch while everyone else ended up somewhere else.

Thank goodness for cell phones and battery chargers! We were easily able to find each other again.

Gabe was tall enough for Space Mountain, so we were able to take him on it (Trust me, he's next to Brian in the picture).

We got food.

We did Star Tours.

And we went back to the hotel. It was a fun, but exhausting day!

The next day, we slept in a little bit, went to church in two different cars (Thank you, Uber!), and then we went to brunch at the Storyteller's Cafe. The food was so good, and we got lots of interaction with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Chip & Dale. They also did a little parade for the kids to participate in along with the characters.

We couldn't help compare with our experience at Goofy's Kitchen, which we loved so much last year. The party atmosphere at Goofy's was much more exciting for the kids due to all the dancing, but the food was far superior here. Since we did brunch, we had breakfast options AND lunch options, and all were SO good! I just wanted to keep eating and eating! They even had an omelet bar, which was SO good!

The characters came by several times. Dale always brings the laughs.

We all have a soft spot for Chip and Dale after Goofy's Kitchen last year where they pulled my then 9 year old, who was thinking he was too old for getting excited about Disney characters, back into childhood and gave him a lot of one on one attention. Michael remembered and was all on board to interact with the characters.

You're never too old to get excited about Disney Characters! Especially when they take their time and make a big deal about you!

Gabe's face with Mickey right here is the best!

We only got to see Pluto once, but it was good to see him.

After brunch, we headed back to Downtown Disney, which involved going through security. By this point our kids were used to the routine, but we had to laugh when Gabe pulled his leftover fruit loops from brunch for the workers to inspect.

We did a little shopping, and enjoyed the fountain.

And then made our way back to the room to play with our new toys and games,

and, of course, to sleep. Thank goodness for this two room suite!

The next morning, we were at it again, getting there in time to get through the gates to try to make it onto the Ride of the Resistance. Julie had the lucky tap with the app and got us all onto the ride! This was a really fun day too because Cal and Cassidy met us at the park, and we got them in our boarding group. Cal got pooped on by a bird, which we think is the reason for our luck.

It was a little chilly in the morning, so Rachel borrowed my coat.

We rode Jungle Cruise

And Matterhorn (except for Nana, Papa, Gabe, and Rachel. I'm not sure what fun things they did while we went on Matterhorn).

And finally it was time for Rise of the Resistance. We headed back to Star Wars land, this time rediscovering the whole thing with Cal.

The ride was amazing! So so so so fun!!! See Cal's face below? It kind of says it all.

This was the most amazing part!

We were taken prisoner, and there were the meanest Disney cast members you've ever seen in here, but none of us could stop smiling!

We found more characters

and even helped secure a door so Kylo Ren couldn't get through.

Disney is so good at all the details. It was so fun just seeing everything and feeling like we were in a galaxy far, far away.

We did Space Mountain with Cal and Cassidy (and some random lady. Cass and Rachel are in a different picture that wasn't nearly as good as this one).

Brian took them on Astro Orbiters (I don't do spinning rides anymore.)

And we took the raft over to Tom Sawyer Island, which might actually be called something different now, thanks to all the Pirates of the Caribbean references all over.

We got caught up in the parade as we were trying to head to California Adventure, but that meant Rachel got some interaction from some of the characters.

We went to Cars Land again.

This time with Cal and Cassidy. I loved that the yellow car below is ALL my family. And I love that I got to go with Cal!

I think we've all lost track of how many times we've ridden the Little Mermaid ride with Gabe and Rachel. Kirt and Julie were champs to take them on it so we could all ride the Incredicoaster!

When it was bedtime, Kirt and Julie took all three kids back to the hotel and put them in bed so we could have a Park double date with Cal and Cassidy. The lines were super short on a lot of the rides, and it was just SO fun being in the park with my brother. This was the first time I'd been in a Disney Park with one of my siblings, and I relished every minute. Thank you so much, Kirt and Julie for giving us this adult time!! We all flew in the Millennium Falcon together in Smugglers' Run, a ride where 6 people get to do a mission. The two extra people were entirely too competitive and were definitely not very happy at our skills, especially me as the pilot. Bless their hearts.

We walked onto Pirates of the Caribbean, and so many others. We stayed until the park closed, and then headed our separate ways.

The next morning, you guessed it, we were back! This was our last day, and Kirt and Julie actually had to go to the airport around noon. It was a rainy day, but we once again made it into a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance, thanks to a bird pooping on my shoulder. Unfortunately, our group didn't get called up before Kirt and Julie had to go. They rode the railroad while we all went on Space Mountain together.

We met them back up in Toontown, and enjoyed exploring there.

And we got to take Papa on Gadgets Coaster.

We had a Fast Pass for Soarin', so we headed back to California Adventure. When we got out, it was POURING!!! Brian liked my makeshift poncho skirt.

Since we were already pretty wet, and there wasn't a wait, we decided to go on the Grizzly River Rapids. Kirt came along with Michael, Rachel, and I while Gabe, Julie, and Brian watched under a shelter. It was Kirt's last ride of the trip.

After saying goodbye to Nana and Papa, Rachel, Michael, and I hopped onto the Rapids again. It's one of my favorites, and again, we were already decked out in ponchos thanks to the rain. We got stuck on the raft at the end because the ride broke down, but it was still a blast.

We did another ride on Radiator Springs Racers.

And went back to Disneyland for Big Thunder Railroad, another favorite of mine. I love that all our kids are tall enough to ride some of our favorites!

We met up with TJ and Lacey and their two boys for dinner in Downtown Disney. They were in town to go to Disney too, and we couldn't let the opportunity pass us by. We couldn't remember the last time we'd seen them. I think it was when Lacey was pregnant with her twins, who were three then.

After dinner, we went back to the Park!

Brian took the kids to ride Smuggler's Run. I passed because it makes me dizzy.

Since we already had our ponchos, we decided to take a final plunge down Splash Mountain. Gabe really didn't want to do it after hearing all the screams, and we dragged him to the ride kicking and screaming. I sat in the front this time. This was our final ride, and I LOVE Gabe's face in it! Despite his terror at the drop, he loved the ride, and he happily played the soundtrack for the ride for several months after we got home.

While we were heading back, we happened to catch the water display and fireworks.

It was the perfect end to our trip.

We hadn't meant to stay that late, but we love Disneyland and can't ever bring ourselves to leave until they kick us out.

The next morning, we packed, got some kind of transportation, and went to Long Beach Airport to fly home (since the airline we flew to California on only flies from LAX on Mondays and Fridays and this was Wednesday).

Before and after take-off, we got emails that General Conference would be virtual due to the Corona Virus. All the things started getting cancelled, and they announced that Disneyland would be temporarily closing on Sunday. Two weeks after we got back, we breathed the final sigh of relief that Kirt and Julie didn't get the Virus from our trip, and now we can look back on it with untainted good memories of an amazing trip with Nana, Papa, and our kids...just in time for the world to shut down.

As we were preparing for Disneyland and trying to motivate our children to earn money for possible souvenirs, Rachel and I looked at the Disney Store so that she could get a feel for how much things cost. I was a little surprised that she was drawn mostly to jewelry instead of the toys. After thinking about it and talking about it with Brian, we decided that maybe it was time for Rachel to get her ears pierced. So, I did a little research, and most people recommend going to a tattoo parlor instead of the stores in the mall that offer free piercings with earring sets. The general consensus seemed to be that tattoo parlors use single use needles instead of a gun that is difficult to aim and difficult to sanitize. So, on March 4th, I led my three children into a tattoo parlor, and we all watched as Rachel got her ears pierced.

She was understandably nervous. What will this be like? How much will it hurt? The staff there was so incredible and seemed so excited to have little people come for a visit. We watched as they sterilized the table and pulled out all their equipment. The stuff they used was very reminiscent of medical packs.

The guy that pierced Rachel's ears put a dot on each ear and consulted with me about if that was where I wanted the holes to be. Once we both agreed that they were right and even on both ears, he got ready for the actual piercing.

The needle they use is special in that it's kind of like a donut cutter. Instead of just putting a hole in the ear, it actually removes a very tiny bit of the ear. There was even a bit of numbing agent that they used before piercing, possibly on the needle? I don't remember. They cleaned her ear with iodine to help ward off infection, and then he pierced her ear.

They also used a special earring that was slightly longer than a standard earring so that there would be plenty of room to move it back and forth so it could heal more quickly.