Crabby Mamma: 2011

On Christmas Day we loaded up and drove to Disneyland. Being in Milford made it possible to drive straight through without stopping and staying the night anywhere.

Road trip!

Well, that was fun.

Stopped in Primm, NV and saw Bonnie and Clydes death car

A road trip on Christmas day is fun but it makes it hard to stop for food. Or snacks or potty breaks! Everything is closed. Even all the casino buffets were closed for Christmas. We ended up eating at a coffee shop in Primm, NV. They had a whole display of Bonnie and Clyde stuff. It was a bit morbid. They had the car they died in. The shirt that Clyde was wearing when he died, complete with blood stains and bullet holes. And pictures of them after their autopsies. A strange way to spend your Christmas dinner but OK. By the time we got to our hotel we were all exhausted. We unloaded and crashed. The kids thought the room was sooo awesome. They had their own room with bunkbeds in it and their own tv. It was pretty neat.

The next morning we got up and FINALLY made it into DISNEYLAND!

My princess was so happy to see the castle!

Buzz Lightyear

Jedi training!

In line for the submarines

On the submarine

Very first thing we did was get my princess into the castle! I didn't know we could go in the castle but they have an adorable walk through in it. All she has wanted to do was go to Wonderland and go in the castle. It was exciting to get her there! Next we went in to Tomorrowland. Got fastpasses for Star Tours then went on a few rides. We went on Buzz Lightyear a couple of times because the line was pretty quick. Zach got to do Jedi Training. I was pretty set on getting him into Jedi Training. Someone told me about it over the summer, before we started planning our trip and I have thought about it since. I didn't know much about it but I knew Zach would love it. He was pretty shy and I had to beg him to raise his hand to be picked, then I begged him to bounce a little to be noticed. They went down the line and picked the 2 kids next to him but not him. So I thought ok, we will come back for the next one! Then they came back and called him up too. He was the last kid to be called up. I was so very excited! One of the highlights of my trip was watching him in Jedi Training. After he was done he came back and thanked me for talking him into it because it was one of the most awesome things he had ever done. Made my heart full of happiness!

After Tomorrowland we kind of wandered a bit. We watched the parade, it was cute. Then we wandered through FantasyLand but it was PACKED. The lines were crazy and you could barely move. So we went to FrontierLand. Zach of course asked if that is what it looked like when I was a kid. They had Santa in there with Mrs. Clause and the reindeer. That was fun to see. We got fastpasses for Big Thunder Mtn. but just as it was our turn the ride broke down. So we ended up missing that. Shortly after that we headed out for the day. We packed a lot in!

The second day we had passes to get in an hour early. So we woke up and got moving. By the time we got through security and the crazy lines it was 5 minutes to opening anyway. But we got on Alice in Wonderland without the huge line. Next we went on the teacups. Kids loved them, Brandon not so much. He begged me to not make him do any more twirly rides.

Tea Cups

Here kitty kitty......

After the couple of rides we had to get moving. We had a character breakfast scheduled at one of the Disney hotels. I was excited for this and it was a ton of fun. When we got there and I saw the prices I was wildly glad that we had ordered them with our package! Holy expensive pancakes batman! On our way to the breakfast Zach found his mecca. The LEGO store! I had to pinky promise to come back when they opened.

Open... Open.... Open!

With Mickey!

Stitch sure liked to mess with everyone!

Silly Stitch!

She wanted to see if Pluto would chase her kitty.

Lego Vader

Sitting on a Lego giraffe foot

The happiest yellow bag ever!

After all of this fun-ness we made our way into California Adventure. None of us had ever been there. Following my moms advice we went and got a fast pass for Soaring over California first thing. It was good we did. The park had been open less then an hour and our pass was for after 7 pm. They were gone pretty soon after.

We headed over to Bugs Life first.

Chip and Dale

Its tough to be a bug show

LadyBug spin. Brandon says PLEASE dont make me go!

Mater and Pa-Pow

Little Mermaid ride. =)

Little green men, they were fun!

The Bugs Life show, Its tough to be a bug, was so much fun. Its a 3D show but with extras. Zach says its a 5D show. It has smells and feels too. At one point the seat stings you, it kinda hurt! Then at the end the bug says for the people to stay sitting so the bugs can get out safely. All of the sudden you can feel the bugs running under your bum. Chelsea started screaming hysterically, it was awesome. I wish I could explain the way she screamed. I will always remember how funny it was. After that we hung out and went on as many rides as we could in California Adventure. We saw the Aladin show, it was amazing. We went to the fort area for awhile. The kids really enjoyed it. They were nervous on the rope bridges but we couldn't get them off of the tire swing things. We finally left when it was time for fast pass to Soaring.

Phineas and Ferb dance party!

Rope bridge (don't look Coco!)

Chelsea was really nervous on the rope bridges.

I didn't know if they would do these.
They had to drag the swing to the top of the hill,
climb on and swing down.

They LOVED it. Had to go again.

Soaring was really amazing. Glad we got the front row. After that we went went back to Disneyland and went on a few rides in FantasyLand. We were waiting for the fireworks. Then they announced that they were cancelled again. =( They didn't have them any of the nights we were there. We finally got back to the hotel and fell into bed. We were out for 15 hours this day.

Day 3, also known as make a list of what we really DONT want to miss day!

Dentists in training.

Purple lollipop tongues.

On the Winney the Pooh ride, Chels and I loved it.

Going on the canoes

My pirated Splash Mtn. photo

Brandon was in the front and got SOAKED. He doesn't think its funny.
You should ask him.

On the Zepher, Chelsea is my daredevil baby!

The 3rd day was fun, I think it was the day we did the most. We got fastpasses for Splash Mtn. as soon as we got there, went on pooh and canoes and then it was time for Splash Mtn. Brandon ended up in the front and got so wet. It took hours for him to dry.

We spent some time in Toontown. The kids liked it but it was really crowded, hard for them to do much in there. The only time I got impatient in a line was waiting for Minnie and the Roger Rabbit ride. Minnie was ridiculous. We waited almost 2 hours. The line wasn't very long so I figured why not, by the time I realized how long it was taking I was too stubborn to leave. That and Chelsea was set on it. Roger Rabbit was right after that and it was long too but I think I was really just frazzled from the Minnie line.

Zach and I got to go on Indiana Jones, I really wanted to take him but Chelsea was too little. Zach and I got fast passes for it and had to wait the whole day for our turn. Then when we got back it was broken down. We were both hugely disappointed. I told him we would go have dinner and come back after to see what was happening. Luckily it was back up after dinner.

Toontown

Mickey Mouse!

Minnie Mouse

In line for Roger Rabbit

Weasel

Dip em!

Rebel!

Long day!

Its a small world all done up for Christmas

Amen.

It was really an amazing trip. We had a wonderful time. I couldn't have asked for anything better. It was crazy crowded and we had to spend a lot of time in lines but we knew that was going to happen when we booked it and we were ok. I am so thankful for this trip with my family. I couldn't come up with a better Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday also!

Happy New Year to all of you!

Our Christmas was spread out over about a week. Which is really exciting for me. I had every intention of making a blog post for each day separately but, as you can probably tell, that just did not happen. I was too exhausted at the end of each day. So be prepared, you are in for one heck of a blog post!

On our first day of Christmas my dear mom gave to me.... A Very COCO Christmas!

I love Christmas with my family! It is the day that makes it feel like Christmas for me.

She was kind enough to move it up a day for me so I could fit everything in.