Family Vacation!

Okay, people. I took well over 300 pictures on our recent family vacation. I'm not cool like a lot of you - I don't know how to do cute little layouts with multiple pictures - and I don't really have much desire to learn right now. So, here come a WHOLE bunch of pictures for the grandma's to look through and enjoy!!! :)

To be honest I was hesitant about this trip. The kids have never sat in the car for more than about four hours, and that was pretty horrible. A trip to California seemed a little crazy, but we decided to do it. My mom was a life-saver and gave us our early Christmas present - duel DVD players for the van. The kids were AWESOME on the trip. Movies saved our lives.

We left around dinner time on Oct. 23rd (Friday). We were heading out with our friends who planned to take the trip with us as well, and we were staying at their parents house that night which is only about 3 1/2 hours South. After a frustrating stroller situation (Dennis had both of our monster strollers tied to the top of the van, and that needed some definite tweaking about 20 miles into the trip) the rest of the trip went great. We slept there Friday night and spent all of Saturday there as well.

Kaiya and Emmie both have November birthday's, and we've been telling them all along that Disneyland is their birthday present this year, so we decided to celebrate a little early. Their adoptive grandma had the CUTEST cake made for them and we had a little princess birthday party. They were completely thrilled.







Sunday morning (the 25th), we left for Las Vegas. We went to Circus Circus so the kids could play games and see a little clown show. Kaiya, Emmie, and their friend Camille got to participate, so that was cute. While we were playing games there Claire asked, "Is this Disneyland?" Oh sweetheart. They each won a stuffed animal, and then we were off to the Rio Buffet for lunch.



After that came the drive I was somewhat dreading - from Las Vegas to our hotel in Aneheim, CA. I have to say, I think the kids did better than I did. We got stuck in some SERIOUSLY crazy traffic right before hitting the California border and it lasted for about 40 miles in to California. That may not sound that bad, but when 40 miles takes over 2 hours you start to think you may not get there at all! Jillyn was kind enough to call me to say she'd been calculating that if we continued going 5 miles per hour the entire way, we'd get to our hotel just a bit before it was time to leave and come home. So comforting.

Anyway, traffic finally eased, my panic attack abated, and we made it to the hotel - albeit a few hours later than we'd anticipated. We put the kids right to bed and prepared for our first day of Disneyland in the morning! They had no idea what to expect.



Monday morning we woke up bright at early - and by woke up I mean Emmie jumped in our bed at 5:40 a.m. after ever-so-kindly waking up all her little sisters. We packed lunches, unloaded the single AND double strollers, and walked to Disney...

The first day was awesome, just because it was something we'd never experienced, and a little frustrating just because Hayden was a stinker. She was tired and grouchy, but after a nap in the stroller, and after she'd realized that standing in line was part of her new life now, she was much better behaved the rest of the trip.











The first ride we went on was Peter Pan, and I have to say I almost teared up a little. I was so excited to be there with my girls and the wonder on their faces made all the stress preparing for the trip seem totally worth it. We did all of the "storybook" rides that first day, then moved on to some of the bigger stuff. SO FUN. Here are the girls at Alice in Wonderland's house-





Hayden kept knocking on the door and trying to get in-



That first day we also got to meet Minnie AND Micky! The girls especially loved playing in Minnie's house.















We went on the Pirates of the Carribean ride that first day, and I have to say I was completely in awe. I've never seen anything like it! We all loved it. Even Hayden was completely enthralled and would clap and yell with excitement.

Tuesday morning we decided we were going to have a day at the beach. It turned into a morning at the beach and an afternoon relaxing at the hotel, because it was pretty chilly out there! The kids still had a great time in the sand. Ug, the sand. I almost had a nervous break-down there over the sand being everywhere - like in the stroller, my purse, Hayden's mouth - but I tried to not be so neurotic and just let the kids have fun. Then we got back to the hotel and I had Dennis run and do a load of laundry PRONTO.

The girls first time seeing the ocean...







Where's Claire, you ask? She wouldn't go near the water. I even had to coax her to come down close enough to get damp sand for her sand castle.







Hadyen having fun in the sand...









And then getting a mouth-full of sand...





More beach fun...















Wednesday was our "princess day". We'd scheduled a princess lunch at Disneyland, so the girls all got to dress up for the day. They looked so adorable! Kaiya was Tinkerbell, Emmie was Ariel, Claire was Belle, and Hayden was - just Hayden dressed as a some random princess.









Here are the other two cute little princesses we spent our vacation with! Cinderella (McKenna) and Snow White (Camille)...





Here are the girls meeting Ariel. They were so excited!...







Then we continued on to lunch, where we got to meet a few more princesses! Claire went up to Belle, tugged on her dress, and whispered, "You're my vewy vewy favewit."

















Here are Dennis and Kenny getting ready to go on a ride and trying to look all tough. It's all a facade...



Whew, okay, on to Thursday. Thursday we went to Sea World. I grew up going to Sea World multiple times, so I was pretty excited to go again. I knew that Kaiya, especially, would really love it there. It was a nice break from all the craziness of Disney Land, and the kids had a blast. Even Hayden sat very nicely for the shows, which was a pleasant surprise.





















The girls really enjoyed the shows there. They LOVED the seal lion and the whale.





The "magic caves" at Sea World. The girls could have played in there for HOURS.

Hayden says, "Where's Kaiya?"...



There she is!...





Friday was our last day at Disneyland, which was kind of bitter-sweet. I loved it there and felt like we were finally in a good groove. The kids were used to standing in line, we knew which rides we loved and wanted to go to again, and Hayden was very used to being good and taking naps in the stroller. On the other hand I was exhausted and starting to feel ill, and longing for my own bed and my own home.

So, despite the fact that I wasn't feeling too great, we tried to enjoy every little bit of Friday. We went on our favorite rides - Kaiya's was the California Screamer Rollercoaster, Emmie's was the Tower of Terror, and Claire's was Peter Pan, and we went on the few rides we hadn't made it to yet. And of course we had to do the Toy Story Ride again (EVERYONE'S favorite) and go to a couple of shows we hadn't had a chance to see.

Here we are on the "Jungle Ride"...









Hayden LOVED LOVED LOVED this show. She was jumping around and clapping and beside herself with excitement...





Finally, after standing for what felt like forever and ever in a crazy-huge crowd, we got to see "Fantasmic". I had heard from neighbors that it was a must-see, but I have to say that after the long day we'd had and not feeling well, and then standing around for an hour and a half waiting for a 9:00 p.m. show, I was feeling like I'd rather be back at the hotel. I am SO glad that we stayed! It's not something that can be captured on film, but it was absolutely amazing. It involves a stage, pyrotechnics, lights, and these amazing spaying walls of water that have scenes projected on them. There was the ship from Peter Pan with real-life action, the princesses sailing by dancing with their princes, and as Claire likes to call them, the "scary sandwiches" (witches). Kaiya and Emmie got to stand up front to catch all the action, Claire was on daddy's shoulders, and poor Hayden slept through almost all of it. I'm SO glad we stayed! It was amazing!









After the show Dennis and I caught the fireworks show on the way out of the park. Kaiya was a trooper and walked with us, but 30 seconds after getting in their strollers all the other girls were fast asleep, and stayed that way on the entire walk back to the hotel...







The next morning, Saturday, the plan was to drive to Vegas and stop for lunch, then drive on to our friends parents house and stay the night. By Saturday morning I was feeling so miserable I begged Dennis to just get me home. I was worried about how the kids would do on such a long drive, but they were little troopers. We left California around 10:15 a.m. and arrived home a little after 9:00 p.m. As much as I wanted to enjoy the last little bit of our vacation, I was feeling yucky enough that I just wanted to be home even more. Dennis was awesome for driving the whole way in one day and taking care of me once we got home. Not the ideal end to a vacation, but so glad we went!

By the way, thanks so much to our friends for going with us! It made it so much easier to have another couple there. They were kind enough to trade off with us a lot so someone was always watching Hayden, and Dennis and I could go on rides together and with our children. I'm sure it was a lot of extra work for them, but it was very appreciated and made this trip such a great one for our family! Not to mention the fact that our girls got to have their sweet little friends with them! We love you, Whitehead's!

This trip was full of craziness but I'm beyond happy that we went. I hope these are memories that the girls will cherish for years. If not, I'll force them to sit and look through 300+ pictures with me until they acknowledge what fabulous parents they have.