Disney

My, another little break in my blogging.  Nothing new, right?  Well, at least this time I have a good excuse.  We were at Disneyland.

Now, if you know me, you know I am one of the least spontaneous people out there.  I like to have a plan, and I stress out if my plan goes awry.  But we threw out the idea of Disneyland and 24 hours later were on the road.

Last Sunday morning, Dan found out he needed to do some work in St. George Monday morning.  He said we should make a trip out of it.  And my reaction was no.  (It wasn't in the plans!)  Then he threw out the option, since St. George is almost half-way to Disneyland, why don't we go there.  Again, I thought no, but then I thought, well, it is the last week we have where we wouldn't have to pay for the twins.  And the idea was set in motion.  Dan found a hotel, we enlisted the help of my niece Jenica, and set off.  We drove all day Monday, went to the parks Tuesday and Wednesday, and drove home Thursday.  We had a few horrible hours, but overall it was so fun and I'm glad we did it.

My favorite things:

• My absolute favorite memory was riding Small World with Carter.  He was so excited about it.  I loved seeing the wonder he had for it.
• Funny story: we climbed up Tarzan's tree, but on the way down Carter had to check every stair to see if it was open or not, if there was a riser or open air.  Jenica and I couldn't stop laughing at him.
• I was the winner at Toy Story Mania, and I even had a baby on my lap!
• Brady and Carter waving to the characters on The Little Mermaid ride.
• Trying a Tigger Tail and a Dole Whip for the first time.  Both were so yummy!
• Watching Brady and Carter meet Winnie the Pooh and friends and Mickey Mouse.  I wish we would have met the Toy Story characters.
• Jackson was again an angel baby.  Slept, had bottles, went on the rides he could.
• Getting Tyler to go on Tower of Terror with me (which he didn't really like.)
• Going on some of my favorite rides: Soarin', Tower of Terror, Pirates, Peter Pan.
• I just love Disney--it feels magical there. 

And let's keep it real, the horrible moments:

• The drive.  On the way down, we got caught in traffic leaving some music festival in Vegas.  It added almost 2 hours to our trip.  And then on the way home, we got caught behind a semi that caught fire.  We were only about 15 cars away from it.  That took an hour and a half to get help there and the fire out.  
• Trying to keep kids quiet in a hotel is hard!
• Disneyland doesn't rent double strollers.  I really wish we brought ours, but instead we had to rent two singles for the twins.
• Dan was so stressed about leaving work suddenly, he about gave himself a panic attack a few times.  That man needs to learn to relax!
• Pictures.  I have no point and shoot, and so that leaves me with my phone or dslr.  There was no way I could balance a big camera along with wearing a baby and holding the hand of an almost three year old, so that left me with my phone.  I missed being able to get some good shots.  Then again, I was so worried about not losing anyone, I rarely had the thought or time to even grab my phone.  So alas, hardly any pictures to document our spontaneous vacation.
• Tantrums.  I knew the twins could have a meltdown or two since they were going to get tired and over-stimulated, but Brady threw an epic one.  It was our last hour and Dan was taking Jenica and Tyler on one last ride.  Brady screamed for that entire last hour.  Yes, we were that family.  Crowds literally parted as we walked and when we were stopped, we had a nice big open area around us.

So was it worth it?  Yes.  Was it crazy at times? You bet.  Am I glad we did it?  Absolutely.  Will we do it again?  Of course.