Our 2015 California Adventure

We had been tentatively talking about taking the kids to Disneyland this coming May. It sounded like a lot of fun, and we didn't really have any major vacation plans, and it seemed the perfect year. Then, in December, Brian's parents threw us for a major (happy) loop: they needed more chaperons for their upcoming Utah Ambassadors of Music (UAM) Europe trip. All of sudden, our world went spinning. I needed a passport, a vacation week with my family needed to be rearranged, I needed to figure out what to do with my kids while we were gone, and several other little things needed to be rethought, including our Disneyland plans. Basically, this meant that Brian was going to miss the ENTIRE month of July from work. His company gives everyone the first week of July off to celebrate the 4th, then we leave for Europe for 2 weeks starting on the 6th, and my family camping trip is the last week. Which meant we probably shouldn't go to Disneyland this year.

Or should we?

I had already decided that that is what I wanted to do. So I said, "Brian, let's just go for a day over President's weekend. California isn't that far. We can drive the whole way one day, spend two days, drive back." Which turned into sharing our plans with Lea and Shayne. Which turned into, "We're going the week AFTER president's day because the crowds are better." Which turned into, let's try to go two days to the park. Which then turned into 3 days at the park.  Which turned into, "What if we set a goal to work an hour in the basement every night and reward ourselves by getting a 3-day park hopper?" Which turned into Brian taking a week off of work. The timing was perfect; we left the day after his work release, and the weekend that Utah decided to try out the winter thing. 

Day 1 (Feb. 20) Brian worked from home, since he'd worked late the night before helping with the release. I took Michael to his preschool field trip, bought groceries, packed suitcases and then our car. We loaded up and drove to St. George to stay in our friends' family condo. 

Day 2: We drove from St. George to Anaheim (stopping for lunch in Barstow, CA). We checked into our hotel--a two room suite with bunk beds for the kids and a king for Brian and I just a half mile from the Disneyland Gate. The kids were so excited about the bunkbeds.

 After checking in, we loaded back in the car and headed to the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach. We were going to meet up with my old roommate Natalie that night, but the stars failed to align. It turned out to fortuitous, since it was a little chilly, and Michael couldn't resist getting into the ocean:

 And Rachel couldn't resist shivering uncontrollably

And eventually Michael was shivering uncontrollably too. So, we packed up, made arrangements to meet up with Nat the next day, bought freezer meals and Easy Mac from the CVS next to our hotel, and ate dinner in. The kids loved playing, and we got them to bed on time. 

Day 3: The next morning, the kids woke up in California on Mountain Time (aka 6:00 PST). We easily got ready for church and headed out the door, leaving early to account for traffic. It's a good thing that we did, because when we arrived at the building, it had a sign announcing that that stake was having Stake Conference. We again pulled out the LDS Tools app and located a new meetinghouse that we hoped would be in a different stake. It was, and we made it just in time to start Sacrament meeting, which was wonderful.  After sacrament meeting, we headed back to Newport Beach to do a whale watching tour.  

We didn't see any whales, but we saw lots of dolphins and sea lions, and had a peaceful ride up the California Coast. It was beautiful. Then, we headed over to see the Newport Beach Temple. By then, Rachel had fallen asleep, so we did a quick hop-out to take a picture, and then headed back to Anaheim. 

 We met up with Natalie for dinner at a Pizza restaurant, and then wen to this dessert bar that came highly recommended on Yelp. They had this little photo booth thing set up, so we HAD to take advantage:

  

 It was so great catching up with Natalie again. I've really missed her. We headed back to our hotel, put kids to bed, and I fell asleep watching a movie with Brian.

Day 4: The next day dawned bright and early, and the excitement in the air could almost have been cut by a knife. We all couldn't wait to go to DISNEYLAND!!!! Brian bought a subscription to this site that would told us the best way to take advantage of Disneyland and California adventure. We got to the park early, and eagerly awaited the opening of the gates. Brian and Michael followed the instructions of the App to get right onto the Radiator Springs Racers ride.

 We spent the morning in Cars Land. I made a conscious decision to leave my nice camera home while we went to the park. I just wanted to enjoy our time together and not worry about taking lots of pictures or dragging my big camera onto all the rides. It was a great decision. But, I did have my phone, so every now and then we snapped a few pictures to remember the trip. I can't go completely camera free.

We had a blast hanging out with just the four of us, and we probably rode the most rides this day. We got rider swap passes on the ones that had height requirements, so Michael got to ride most of the big rides twice. He was big enough to ride the Hollywood Tower of Terror, so since Radiator Springs Racers had shut down right before Michael and I got on (and it would have been my very first ride of the day), Brian said, "Why don't you take Michael first, that way if he hates it, you'll at least get to go on it." So, Michael and I headed to the frontish of the line with our fast passes. We got seated in the "elevator" and all the adults smiled at him and had slightly worried expressions on their face. I'm sure they were all wondering, "How is this tiny little guy going to handle this scary ride." I tried to keep my brave face on for my little five-year-old as the "elevator" shot clear to the top, dropped, shot up, dropped. I haven't screamed that loud in a long, long time. I gripped my seat so hard and couldn't wait till the terror ended. When it finally did, the ladies in our seat looked over to see how he liked it. He was grinning! They were impressed. Michael wanted to go again with Brian on the rider swap, and as we were going home that night, he saw the Tower and couldn't stop talking about it. He went again the next day as well. It was one of his favorites. As for me, I refused to ride it again. I can't handle drops like that and my throat really hurt from the screaming. It was worth it though.

 By the end of the night, Rachel was done. She fell asleep in the stroller. We had got a hotel close to the park so that one of us could take her back to the hotel for naps---but nobody wanted to miss a minute in the park.

Day 5: The next morning, we were headed back to the park for Magic Morning in Disneyland. Michael was excited to go by CVS where we had purchased snacks, sunscreen, and chapstick the previous morning.

We headed to Fantasyland for our magic morning:

 A little after 10, we met up with my old Aspen Grove roommate (technically lodgemate) Will, his wife Meagan, and their two kids. Michael met Buzz Lightyear,

 Rachel slept through meeting the princesses,

 And all in all, we had a blast hanging out with Will and his family.

 Day 6: Day three in the park. By this point, we were exhausted, but still excited about heading back to the parks. We met up with Lea & Shayne and their family, and despite a few frustrations which accompany coordinating large groups, we had such a great time with them.

 My favorite ride that day was on Gadget's Go Coaster, or whatever it was called. Sheldon (Shayne's dad) stayed with Rachel, and the rest of us went on this mini-coaster together. We decided that we would hold our hands up the entire time. We laughed the whole way, and it was so short and pathetic compared to how long we waited in line for it, but it was so fun anyway. I love this picture that Lea took of Skyler and Cheryl (Shayne's mom). So cute! Skyler was so excited to be big enough to ride a roller coaster.

We parted ways and our little crew headed back over to Cars Land. We decided to have one of Disneyland's photographers take our picture in front of Radiator Springs. And Mater was a bonus. 

We had such a blast. And Rachel conked out on the way home again--3 for 3. 

Day 7: Beach Day near Balboa Pier. I loved this beach when we went Saturday night, so I convinced Lea and Shayne to meet us there for the day. It started out a little chilly, but it warmed up. The boys couldn't resist playing in the waves and the sand. 

And Rachel joined in the fun too. She wasn't shivering this time. 

 And I couldn't resist driving all that way to not get in the water. Besides, the Pacific is still warmer in February than the Snake River is in August. We had a blast with the four of us playing in the waves. The only scare came when a big wave came and knocked Michael over and then started to drag him out. I dived to catch him, trying to hide my terror by laughinh it off with him.

  It was a perfect, relaxing day, and it was so fun spending it with Lea and Shayne. We laughed about how we had to travel clear to California to hang out together. We parted ways around 5. My crew showered the best we could at the open showers near the restrooms, and then we changed into dry clothes and headed to the end of the pier to have dinner at Ruby's. It was beautiful to eat and watch the sun set over the Pacific, even though it was a little chilly.

When the sun cleared the horizon, we loaded back in the car and headed east. We stopped in St. George again for the night. 

Day 8: We took our time leaving the condo in St. George, but then hit the road again around noon. We were so sad to come back to a very cold Utah, but we were also so glad to be home. We ordered pizza while we unpacked our car, unpacked our suitcases, and bathed the kids (who still had sand in their hair). 

It was hard for me to spend the money on this vacation. (Really any big trip or vacation is hard). It seems so much the opposite of self-reliance and frugality. I kept thinking, "But if we don't go, we can finish___________this around the house." And then I thought about my friend Chelsi and how her husband is fighting cancer. And I thought about how I'm not guaranteed any tomorrows, and if something happened to Brian, I would rather have these memories than another bathroom in the house (or whatever it was). And our kids DESPERATELY needed some time with us since so much of our efforts and spare time has been spent working on the basement. Sometimes, you spend your tax return on debt, a down payment on a car, a remodel, or something responsible. And sometimes, you spend your tax return on something that is fun and that you will hopefully remember forever. Last year, we were responsible. This year, we had a California Adventure, and that's okay.