In July when Blake and I went to california we had decided we'd get annual passes for disneyland and go back in October with the boys over fall break. We decided we'd keep it a secret and not tell the boys. We told them we were going to go to st. george to go visit mike (my brother) and Kim and their kids for the weekend. The boys were quite excited to go see their cousins, so our plan worked out really well. Aunt Kim had just had surgery a few days before we got there so it helped our story to say after we had been there for a few hours playing that it was time for us to go find a hotel since Kim was still recovering. (thanks for helping us with the story Kim, hope you get to 100% fast!) The boys bought it and were good to get back in the car somewhat sad that they were saying goodbye to their cousins. So about 8:00pm we got back into the car and started the long drive to california. After we'd been driving for a while the boys started asking "when are we going to get there?" or "how long before we get to the hotel?" We told them to relax and go to sleep and that it would be a little bit longer.
We got to the border of California at the produce stop where they check your fruit so you don't take fruit flies in with you and Ethan, still awake, asked, "why are we stopping?" Blake before he could really think about what he was saying replied "in california they have gotten rid of fruit flies and so they don't want people bringing certain fruit in so they don't have fruit flies again." Ethan (aka Mr. smarty pants) in the back seat said "why are we in California?" D'oh!! We did so good to not spill. Blake's quick answer back was that we were going to this cool hotel that he had gone to for business a while back and he wanted to take the boys to see the coi pond and such. Ethan accepted that answer and FINALLY fell asleep. We got in to the hotel about 2:00 am. The next morning we let the boys sleep in as much as they wanted and once they were up, we asked if they wanted to go swimming? They were happy to say yes and then Blake asked them if they wanted to go swimming at the beach? They were stoked and were ready to go in the blink of an eye. We stopped and picked up breakfast on the way to the beach and took it with us. The boys are true boys and Blake and i were talking that the beach was created just for boys/man. Water, sand, mud, being half dressed, beach bunnies, sun, surf....truly a man/boys paradise.
The beach will always be a favorite place to go for all of us. And this trip was exceptional. The weather was a little warmer so being out on the beach was perfect/comfortable. And having breakfast on the beach, watching the surfers, and playing in the water ourselves was awesome! It's at moments like that, that Blake wanting to move to california someday sounds really nice.
After we got back to the hotel got showered up and checked out (since we were still about 15 minutes from disneyland and our hotel for the rest of the stay) we told the boys we wanted to go to this place where we could take some pictures of the family. We headed to the disney parking and along the way asked the boys what they wanted to do over the next couple of days. When we started pulling into the area of the parking there were signs saying "theme park" with an arrow pointing the direction. Ethan said "i want to go to the theme park." We asked him what he meant and the boys started talking about a fun house and said it was that way. Once we were parked the boys of course had noticed the disney characters but we said we were just going to go get some pictures. We got to the tram and ran into Blake's Samoan extended family while we waited for the tram. They said disneyland a few times, but I'm not sure if the boys really caught on yet. Once on the tram the driver said something about that we were heading to the disneyland plaza and to have a nice day. We just reminded the boys we were going to the plaza to get some pictures. It wasn't until we were in the plaza (the area between disneyland and california adventures) that the boys were like "hey, we want to go there!"
Blake: "what do you guys want to do?"
Ethan and Sam: "go to disneyland and california adventure!!!"
Blake (to Ryan): "do you want to go to disneyland and see mickey and ride on rides?"
Ryan: "yeah and ride on rides."
Blake: "ok, lets go!"
I think Ethan was the first to have it process in his head. His eyes grew big and i think had he been a girl he might have squealed with excitement. And then Sam started hooping and hollering.
Blake: do you think we should go for 3 days?
boys: YEAH!!! wha-hoo!!!!
Blake: do you think we should go for 4 days?
boys: Yeah!!! yeah!!!
Blake (to Ethan): how would you like to get an annual pass?
Ethan: Really? YEAH!!!!
Sam and Ryan: Yeah, ME TOO!!!
Blake: was this a good surprise?
Ethan: Totally good surprise!!
I think if the surprises would have stopped there the boys would have totally been happy. But the surprises and happiness just kept coming. Saturday afternoon as we were heading over to space mountain we "ran into" Nate (Blake's brother who lives in Oregon) and Anne and the kids. The boys love those cousins too. Then on Sunday we went to the building where Blake served his mission and the boys really liked hearing some of the things about Blake's mission and they even got to see one of the places Blake lived. Sunday night we popped some popcorn in our hotel room and watched the disney fireworks from there. Then on Monday we did the whole day at Disneyland, Tuesday part way through the morning we "ran into" Jaimi (Blake's sister who lives in Arizona) and Jeff and Summer! Then later that same day we "ran into" Hailey and baby Jake! And then that night at dinner we "found" grandma and grandpa Young. This trip was a complete blast. For the miles and miles of walking we did it, worked off the extra treats we consumed since we were in Disneyland and on vacation. We won fast passes 2 different times for several rides in both parks for the day. We took time out of the park on Thursday afternoon and went to the beach again to enjoy the sun and water and to cool down.
Ethan loved all the same rides as he did before, loved the time on beach, time with the cousins, and goodies and fun. Sam loved Tower of Terror (his new favorite-replacing space mountain now to be his second favorite), loved the Jedi training that he and Ethan did, loved the light saber that he got to build with his saved money, and of course loved the beach. Ryan was finally tall enough to ride most of the rides, however he is not a fan of any that are dark, go into a cave, or are too fast (yes, yes, i know, that is most of the rides). He was absolutely happy to be there though and good to wait while big brothers went on the fast/dark/cave rides. He did like talking to crush, and the new toy story ride/game, and of course was more interested in the Disney characters this time around. He loved chasing the birds on the beach and playing in the water. Ryan being as small as he is tired easily, but understandably, since for every step we take it's two or three for him. He wanted to be carried a lot by the afternoon but didn't want to ride in the stroller when it was available. He was so tired on Saturday night we sat down to watch the fireworks and half way through them he fell asleep. One of the perks of the boys loving all of it so much was they were out with in minutes of their heads hitting the pillows, and they slept in too. Too bad all things must come to an end.
Our hope is that we will be able to go back in March or April when Blake is sent back to California for business again and let the company pay for the gas and part of the hotel to make a second trip out pretty cheap. But this trip was totally worth it. We enjoyed almost every minute of it ("every" would be exaggerating a little since there are down times).
Although i absolutely love Disneyland, the beach, and the chance we had to go there with the boys and meet up with some of the family, i have to argue their phrase: "happiest place on earth". After being gone for a week, i was truly happy to be back home in my own house and in my own bed. So, today, my house is the happiest place on earth. But really anywhere with my family is the happiest place on earth. Home sweet Home!
(pictures/slide show to follow)
