Vacation Day 7 (and a few of Day 8)

We really were happy to spend another day in Disneyland even if Joey's face does not show it. 

 But we were all sleeping like logs after so many days of fun.

 We took advantage of one more picture in front of the Mickey Flower head.

 Arabella wanted to go on Splash Mountain one more time.  You can not see them but that is Peter, Joey, Jon and Arabella racing down!

 Jon wanted to visit Toon Town again and we had a great time.

 Peter really liked Mickey's tools.

 I liked all of the hats.

 Cute Family! Lily on a drum- silly!

 Oh garsh, Goofy!

 We loved seeing Minnie in her polka dots!

 Lily can not talk but we knew she wanted to go on It's a Small World one more time and we were happy to oblige.  She was so happy!!

 The bright sun made the castle picture a bit hard to capture but we tried and in doing so we met Ariel!

 Arabella was so happy!

 We went to do some final pin trading and found all of these characters in their Western wear.

I think Jon would have way too much fun with Chip and Dale.

 Lily was not so sure about the giant duck in her face but Arabella loves Daisy and this one signed her pillow case.

 Jon even kissed Daisy on the bill.

 The kids had been asking to go on the ferris wheel the whole trip.  We finally agreed, waited for 40 minutes,  and rode in a swinging car.  It was actually really fun!

 We told the kids they could have any treat they wanted and the chose the fill your own giant pixie stix.  Whatever?! They were happy.  We are waiting for Peter and Arabella to go on the Tower of Terror.  Arabella loved it and wanted to go again.  The boys had done it once and had no intention of going again.  It is so interesting how kids can be so different. Arabella has a bit more adventure/daring in her.

This was the only we did not have other family with us in the park and the only day we lost one of our kids.  

We came out of Captain EO (Peter's pick) and all of us headed to the stroller except Joey- he just kept on walking.  We had made the kids wear bracelets with mine and Peter's phone numbers on them the whole week.  Well, it finally worked.  He had only gone around the corner to Star Tours but still very nerve wracking.  

 On our way to the airport the next day we stopped at Taco Bell.  do you like their anti-theft system.  That is a serious security window.  Peter put his finger up there so you could tell just how thick the plexi glass was. 

Happy kids that were ready to fly home.

We loved our trip and I look forward to another Disney adventure some time.  Our kids were great ages-everyone (except Lily-who did not care) could ride just about everything.  Arabella was old enough to know and care about the princesses and young enough to believe.  I said so many times while we were there and I will say it here "It was Magical!"

Vacation Day 5

Well, I am a nerd and just published Day 6 before Day 5.

New ride- Luigi's flying tires.  They are hovering over the surface and you have to lean in different directions to get it to go the way you want.

Buzz-sideways.  Star Command will not allow him to do signatures. Sad.

That is a good family picture.

My favorite feature of the cozy cone motel- the detail in Cars Land was awesome!

Mater's Tractor Ride- it was fun!

Lily went on King Triton's Carousel a number of times.

Thank you dum dums for making lines seem a bit less lengthy or for giving us that little pick me up we needed sometimes during the day. My button says Happy Anniversary - which the workers would say to me all over the park- so fun!

Grandpa Bird and Arabella (she is sporting the sparkly mickey ears that she chose as her prize).

Grandma and the boys

Sleeping Lily in line- this happened more than once.  She was such a good baby!

DJ Jon as he would call himself.

This dance party was so much fun.  Anastasia chased Jon around the dance floor saying "Come back Prince, I want to dance with you." So funny!

Street Dancing with the music car from Cars (one of the cars that teases Mack when he is driving).

More pictures of the amazing World of Color show.  I love this and I was so happy we got to see it again!

A better picture of the neon lights.  Peter went on the main Cars ride at night with one of the kids and said the lights looked extra neat.

Another amazing day in Disneyland (California Adventure).

Day 6 Vacation

Sunday, we took a break from Disneyland and headed to the Los Angeles Temple Visitor Center.

It was a beautiful day and we loved spending the day with my parents.

 Lily climbed into this cupboard by herself.  Silly girl!

 I love this statue!

 I love these 4 kids!

 I love these parents!

 This is such a tall temple and it sits on a hill.  When it was built and sometimes still today on a clear day you can see the temple 25 miles from offshore (out in the ocean).

 It was closed, not only because it was Sunday but because they were doing an extensive cleaning.

 Above is a picture of a palm tree (duh?), but check out that height.

Below, Joey holding a palm frond/tree bark piece-huge!

 A random flower by where our car was parked.

 We visited the La Brea Tar Pits.  

Active tar pits in downtown LA.  

They have excavated thousands of animals, remains, etc from post ice age times. It was really cool.  I recommend it if you are in the area.

A wall of wolf skulls- only about 1/2 of the skulls they have found.

 That is a tar pit fenced off.  They have tried to help visitors understand how animals were trapped in pits with these models of prehistoric elephants.  The poor baby elephant is reaching towards its parent.

 Kids Meal prizes at Carl's Jr. Arabella makes a great pirate!

The 3 older kids sharing a shake.  They did not complain, just happily shared the goodness!

 Lily stole my dad's I believe and began to drink and then blow bubbles.

 Obviously making her very happy!

After Carl's Jr, my parents headed to the airport and we headed to see the Newport Beach Temple.

It has a very distinct look but is so pretty!

A really relaxing day!