Disneyland 2009!

We are finally back. It seems like we have been gone forever! I am so tired, but thought I would share a few thoughts, photos, and highlights of our vacation!

First off I will share the things that I did NOT like about our vacation:

-me getting the stomach flu the first day we were there…yah, not fun at all. I was sick the whole time. Not a great feeling to get stuck in a long line and suddenly have the urge to puke. I really didn’t want my kids to remember me being sick at all on their first vacation, so I tried really really hard to just fake feeling good and keep up with them.
-everything costs 3 times as much as you think it will.
-there are TOO many people at Disneyland…and in CA in general.
-It was cold. I was seriously freezing the whole time…but maybe that was from being sick, but still, I wanted to get a tan and wear shorts!
-It is a LOT of work to go on vacation. The planning, anticipation, packing, traveling, unpacking, in and out, this and that….it is all exhausting. I need another vacation to recover from my vacation.

Okay, now the things and highlights that made all the work worth it! :

-just getting to go on vacation was so great. Our first real family vacation (minus Kayler) will be so memorable.
-we traveled so safely and efficiently. The driving, flying, etc. all went off without a single problem, I am so happy about that!
-Kayler was safe, happy, and healthy while we were gone.
-Hallie and Gavin were at the perfect ages and heights to go to Disneyland. They went on every ride they wanted to, and were so patient to wait. They did SO well, so that made it very enjoyable. I saw the families with small kids, babies, etc, and was so glad I was not them. If you are thinking of going there, I would highly recommend your kids to be at least 6 year old and 46 inches tall.
-Kids say the funniest things, especially when experiencing new things. While on the plane I asked Gavin if his tummy was tickling and he very loudly replied, “No, my tummy doesn’t tickle but my private’s sure do!” When we first got to Disneyland Hallie had the hiccups. Gavin said, “Well at least you don’t got the farts like me.” Then he saw a set of extremely chubby and short twins. Hallie was just getting off a ride and walking towards us, and he yelled, “hey Hallie, look at those super fat little boys that look just the same!!!” …….yah, lots of fun!
-We were the hotel’s Big Kahuna family. What is that you ask? Well while we were checking in, the guy was acting strange. He kept going to the “back office.” I thought there was a problem with our room or reservation. Then he suddenly appeared around the corner with a huge bouquet of balloons. He gave us a big folder with special pins, upgraded our room to the best one, we got a phone call from Goofy, turndown service, humongous Mickey Mouse rice krispies, and special treatment everywhere in the hotel for being the Big Kahuna Family of the week. I thought they might do that for everyone, but I talked to my friend who had stayed there a few months ago, and she said they didn’t do it for them, so I will feel special for now!
-My kids seriously enjoyed every single ride. (Except “It’s a Small World”-Hallie said it was very “lame”) Since I had been on all the rides before, I just took all the time I could to look over at them and see the excitement and wonder in their eyes. They were so happy and content at just being there.
-We had so much fun going to medieval times. It is a dinner theater thing, and Hallie caught a carnation from our knight. She was so cute about it.
-All the yummy food. Even though most of mine came right back out, it was fun to see all the fun and different things. We ate at some fun character meals. My kids were petrified of the characters. They just sat there when they would talk to them. The characters would ask for hugs and they would stiffly go over and just pat them…lol. G.J. videoed a couple of them just to show the kids later how silly they were!
-Coming home. Yes, it was good to go, but so so good to come home. Even if it is a lot of work to unpack and sad to come home to snow instead of palm trees, Vernal is home, and I was so happy to sleep in my bed last night. Even better, Kayler was SO excited to see us. He kept taking my face in his hands and looking at me and saying, “mommy, your back! I love you! I miss you!” It was so cute. He loved all the prizes we brought him. He keeps running up to me and kissing me, even today. I was so glad to be home to him.

So, I imagine there is much much more I could tell, but I still don’t feel all that great, we even skipped church today to try to recover. I imaging G.J., Hallie, and Gavin’s stories and highlights might be different than mine, but all that matters is that we went, had fun, made it home, all is well, and we can look forward to next time….in 4 or 5 years!!!







p.s. We have over 100 more pictures. G.J. said he was not going to let a moment go by without a picture! He took a ton of pictures, video, etc. I will have to make a Disneyland book with all of them in it.
p.s.s. I did read everyone's blogs but I am sorry if I didn't leave comments...catching up from a whole week on everyone's lives is a lot of work!