Vacation!!!
Last summer Cole started asking if we could go to Disneyland. After a few days he just started telling people we were going. At that point, we decided we should plan a trip. We figured his birthday would be a good time to go and it was set. And so, for a good 8 months, we planned for and looked forward to our Disney trip and Cole told anyone and everyone that he was going to Disneyland for his birthday. He also invited just about everyone.
Two weeks ago it finally happened. We packed up our little car (jam packed it actually) and headed off for 10 days of bliss. Here's how it went down, no details spared ...
On Thursday, April 3rd, Nick worked a morning shift and then we drove down to St. George. We stayed the night at my parents to break up our long drive (plus we never pass up chances to see family!). We enjoyed spending time w/ Grandpa Jack and Grandma Lexie that night.
On Friday morning we wasted no time in getting ready and setting off for Cali. After a long day of driving we made it to Nick's parents' home in sunny San Diego! We enjoyed a very relaxing evening with his parents and his sister Michelle, who so sweetly treated us to some local BBQ for dinner. The kids were entertained, we had great company, and dinner was brought to us. Hard to beat that.
Saturday was super relaxing, which was a great start to our much needed break from real life. We slept in (the kids sleep great in San Diego!), watched a bit of conference with Grandpa G, walked the neighborhood in the perfect weather, spent the afternoon playing at the park (kids + boys) and shopping (me, Kim, + Michelle), and relaxed at home that night. The only downside was poor Cole getting sick at the park:( He ended up with a stomach bug that lasted for about 24 hours. Luckily it wasn't too horrible and it came BEFORE Disney.
On Sunday morning we watched general conference and then headed over to see Michelle and Katy's new place. It is literally minutes from the beach and is so cute. They have big plans for it too and I can't wait to see updated pictures. While at Michelle's we (duh) went and walked the coast. It was fantastic. We all loved it.
Cole had fun, can you tell?
Um, beautiful.
It's gotta be rough living minutes from a view like this.
After the coast we went back home to eat and relax for a bit (poor Nick had a little taste of the stomach bug that afternoon) and then headed to Uncle Kent and Aunt Renee's house for chatting, dessert, and games. Nick's cousins Maelyn and Rafe as well as Krystal, Rafe's wife, were also there. We had a really great time hanging out with them, which we luckily always get to do when we go down to SD. The kids LOVED getting attention from so many people. At one point Maliya had everyone singing her favorite songs with her. Cole and Maliya also conned Rafe and Krystal into playing with them while the rest of us played games, which was an added bonus for Nick and I:)
On Monday Nick and I went on a date! Kim so kindly watched the kids so Nick and I could take off on our own. It was wonderful! First we went to a beach called 'The Cove'. It was beautiful. We saw tons of seals, sea urchins, crabs, etc as well as amazing views.
After the beach we went to Balboa Park. First we bought me the most amazing sandals ever (mine had holes - I'd been waiting to buy new ones in Cali). Then we played miniature golf at a new tiki-themed place. We didn't keep score, but I'm pretty sure I won. Ok, that's a lie. I'm 100% sure I lost, but that didn't matter, I was with my bestie and we were just having fun. After our game we walked some beach shops and then went back home. We don't go on many dates so this was extra special. Thanks Kim for making it happen.
At home we ate lunch with the kiddos and then packed up everything but the kitchen sink (thanks Kim for making sure we were prepared...we actually did need it all!) and went to the beach (this time to actually play). We met up with Rafe and Krystal there and of course had a great time! It was too cold to swim, but we waded, escaped the waves over and over, built sand castles, ate sand (Maliya!), and buried the kids in the sand. Both of the kids loved it. Well, Maliya hated being buried. Besides that she was happy ... until she body dove onto the sand, got sand all over, and then rubbed it into her eyes. That was our cue to leave.
You'd think, by looking at this, that she was probably grumpy for the rest of the beach trip. Nope, as soon as we took her out of the sand she was happy as a clam. The girl can turn it on and off as quick as you can blink (and she does quite often).
Monday night was spent relaxing and prepping for the Disney portion of our trip, which was to start the very next morning!
On Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early and headed to Disneyland. Well, not too early. We figured we'd have to leave at 5:30 to avoid traffic, so we decided to deal with the traffic and left at 8. Tender mercy - we didn't hit ANY traffic and were inside of Disneyland (after parking at our hotel) before 10.
We had a three day hopper pass and decided to spend our first day at Disneyland. It was an absolutely magical experience. Seriously, it was. It started before we even walked through the gates. As we were walking to the park I found myself getting super excited. Going to Disneyland as a mom was a whole new experience for me and I could not wait to show Cole everything! Luckily he was as excited as I was and we were able to all have a wonderful time together. He did get tired, and Maliya had her ups and downs. However, overall it was great. The weather was beautiful, with only about a 3-hour window of super hotness each day, and the lines were super short (we waited for 40 minutes maybe twice, the rest of the time the wait was anywhere from 5-20 minutes), which were more tender mercies that I know added to our enjoyment.
Here are some pictures of our Disney adventure:
DAY 1
All ready to go in their cute shirts.
Cole got his for his bday and Maliya got hers from Grandpa and Grandma G.
As luck would have it, we ran into Mickey right as we entered Disneyland. There were only about 6 kids waiting to see him, so we of course jumped into line. Cole loved getting his autograph. It was the perfect way to start our day.
This is my favorite picture, hands down
After seeing Mickey we headed to our very first ride, the Buzz Lightyear ride. For some reason I was really excited to take Cole on that. I knew he'd be able to ride it and that it wouldn't scare him, plus I thought he'd love shooting things with his laser gun. Again, as luck would have it, the ride only had a 5 minute wait, which we figured was a great way to introduce him to the whole waiting-in-line game. He didn't mind the wait and loved the ride and we were off to a good start:)
After Buzz we hit up Peter Pan and the other rides in that area. Cole complained about being tired on the way to Peter Pan - not a good sign. But after resting in line, filling him and Maliya w/ food and water, and enjoying the ride, he was in much better spirits, thank goodness. He loved all of the rides in that area, I think mostly because he'd seen all of the movies (not the Toad one though - and he asked to ride that twice!) and because the lines were all about 5-10 minutes long (except for Peter Pan, of course).
Sharing a cheesy grin together while waiting in line.
More cheesy (and adorable) grins.
Cole REALLY wanted to ride the carousel. We didn't want to, since you can ride a carousel anywhere, but when we passed it right after lunch and there was absolutely NO line, I had to give in. It was worth it, he loved it.
We weren't smart enough on day 1 to watch a show during the hot period. Instead, we dealt with it and all got a little sticky, as you can tell below.
About mid-afternoon Grandpa and Grandma took a break and went to see a show, so Nick took Cole off to Toon Town to ride the roller coaster (there wasn't a line so they did it twice, per Cole's excited request) and Maliya and I had some girl time at a fun play place in Toon Town. She fell in love with a slide and rode it about 10 times in a row.
After the play place Maliya in I hung out at Mickey's house til the boys were done. It had mega air conditioning and was the perfect way to cool down.
Once the boys were done, we had fun exploring the rest of Toon Town.
Luckily we had Nick and Grandpa, who so kindly took turns carrying Cole and Maliya while the other rode in the stroller. There was one occasion when poor Grandpa probably wished he hadn't offered to carry Maliya. We were in line for Pirates and she was completely wired (I have no idea why). She was loud and wiggly and kept pulling Grandpa's hat off, playing with his glasses, pulling his hair, etc etc etc. I'm pretty sure she also drooled about a bucketful of water on his head. And he kept a smile on his face the entire time. That's a true grandpa for you.
Late afternoon we finally went on Pirates as well as the Haunted Mansion. Cole LOVED Pirates and immediately asked to go again. Luckily we didn't because it ended up breaking down shortly after we rode it. Instead, we went over to the Haunted Mansion and literally walked right onto the ride. During the first part, when we were in a dark room w/ lots of people, the lights suddenly went out completely (on purpose). I reached my hand out to find Cole but couldn't. When the lights came back on he was clinging to Grandpa G's leg. It was pretty funny .... though secretly I think we were all wishing he would've grabbed some random person's leg. It would've made for a really good laugh:) Cole really liked the Mansion as well (though he was a little confused when he couldn't find the ghost in the mirror that was supposedly sitting next to him) and requested a repeat for that one as well.
After pirates we rode the safari boat ride. On the way, Cole and Grandpa made a little trip through Tarzan's treehouse.
Being goofy in line.
This picture is just sad. Miss Maliya was in time-out for bad behavior. Unfortunately this happened multiple times. (I know, who puts their kids in time-out at Disneyland, right? We're horrible.)
I think we took this picture at about noon. The poor girl had wiped out already.
It was a long three days for her but she sure was a trooper (especially considering she was sick Wednesday night and all of Thursday!).
We of course had to take the traditional castle picture.
The 'castle' is one thing that Cole was most excited to see. He asked about it multiple times before our trip, was so excited when we finally found it, and now points out the castle at the beginning of every Disney movie we watch at home ('it's just like the one we saw at Disneyland!).
Our last ride was Autopia. Grandpa G took Cole on it while the rest of us found a shady spot to sit and wait. The ride broke down while they were on it, so we were waiting for awhile. Maliya was wired so she and I walked all over until they were done. She was such a goofball and I had fun following her around. By time the boys were done (about 6:15) everyone was tired and hungry, so we left and headed back to the hotel, which was luckily and amazingly only about a 5 minute walk from the front entrance. After we got settled in at the hotel Kim and I went to a nearby diner, Johnny Rocket, and after a really long wait, finally brought food back to everyone at about 8pm. We scarfed in the tasty food, got our things ready for the following day, and then chilled for awhile before going to bed. {Side note - Nick and I had originally planned to take Cole back to the park after dinner. Yea, that so did not even come close to happening. We were all exhausted and so ready to relax at the hotel. We didn't give Cole the option to go back, but I'm about 99% sure he would have said no anyway. It takes a lot for him to pass up watching shows in a hotel room.}
DAY 2
We decided to spend our second day (Wednesday) at California Adventure. We made sure to get there a few minutes before the park opened, because everyone we talked before our trip said the Carsland fast passes would run out really fast. We didn't want that to happen, so Nick and I even left the kids w/ Kim and Robert and weaseled our way to the front of the entrance crowd so we could zoom to the fast pass line right when the park opened. We did just that ... and made it to 'the' line in record time. The line went really fast and it was only about a minute before we realized that we were in the WRONG line. We had passed the line for fast passes and accidentally gotten into the line for the actual ride, a cute Cars mini rollercoaster. Since nobody was with us, and since I can't ride roller coasters, we sadly dropped out of line and went back to fine our clan. We met up with Kim and Maliya, who were waiting with the stroller while the boys went on a cute 'Mater teacup style ride. They were right by the fast pass line, ironically enough, which was huge. We decided we'd try again the next day (but changed our minds later when we realized Cole wasn't even tall enough to ride the roller coaster!).
Day 2 was a bit slower pace than day 1. I think that was partly due to the fact that California Adventure doesn't have quite as much to do as Disneyland does, and partly due to the fact that we were all a little worn out, feeling the effects from our busy first day.
We watched two different shows. The first was right after lunch, when it was really hot outside. My parents had told us that Aladdin was an awesome production, so we decided to try it out. Wow. They were right. I felt like I was at a Broadway show (not that I've ever been to Broadway, but that's besides the point!). It was fantastic! The singing and music were wonderful, the actors were great, the props and costumes were A-1, and the Genie was absolutely hilarious. He threw in about a zillion little jokes based on current news/events/politics/social stuff and he definitely made the show. The second show we saw was by far the kids' favorite part of California Adventure. It was the Disney Junior show and was MMCH + Sofia + Doc McStuffins + Jake and the Neverland Pirates. It was like watching all of the kids' favorite shows live and they LOVED it.
She sat still for the entire 20 minute Disney Junior show.
Besides shows, we hit up all of the kiddy rides, all themed on different Disney movies. (I just love how California Adventure is designed and decorated!) We also explored CARSland, which is absolutely adorable, and of course spent time on the Pier. It had a really cute 3-D Toy Story live arcade ride that Cole really loved, as well as a ferris wheel that was Cole's 2nd favorite ride overall (behind Pirates). He LOVED that the individual cars moved in circles on their own tracks (I agreed - made the ride much more exciting than usual).
I think this was the first ride we all rode together at California Adventure.
It was a Bugs Life themed caterpillar ride that went about 2.5 mph.
Bugs Life balloon ride
While waiting in line for the Toy Story ride, Cole totally flirted w/ a trio of teenage girls in front of us. Then Maliya tried to sneak ahead of them in line. Luckily they were really nice and didn't seem to mind. I tried to capture pictures of Cole flirting but he, as you can see, did his best to evade my attempts. Maliya, on the other hand, was more than happy to pose for me.
Cole really wanted to ride the Toy Story ride twice, but it was broken the second time he asked for it. Sad:(
CARSland!
Once again, lines were super short for us, which was awesome. The line for the Tower of Terror was on 13 MINUTES! I was so amazed I had to document it w/ a picture! Since I sadly couldn't ride it, I insisted that Nick, Robert, and Kim go instead. You just can't pass up an opportunity like that! While they were riding I got to spend time chilling with my kiddos. We met some characters - Sully from Monster's Inc (Cole jumped out of line as soon as he realized Sully's hands were too big to hold a pen and sign Cole's book), and Frozone from the Incredibles (Cole only wanted his signature, no picture). We also found a shady spot to sit and relax in our shades.
Throughout the day we also got pictures with Mater, Red the firetruck, and Mr. and Mrs. Incredible. Cole LOVED getting signatures in his book.
When Cole started to walk away from Red, Red made a little 'sad' noise because he was leaving. Cole got a kick out of that.
I think Cole thought these were the actual CARS characters. He was really excited to say hi to them.
I think this was during a Monster's Inc ride that I'd completely forgotten about until right now. It was a really cute ride. My favorite part was the end. We pulled up in front of a replica of the slug spy lady and she asked 'ma'am in the back seat, is that really your husband?'. Someone has a fun job:)
At 5 we stopped in one gift shop and then walked down to the Disneyland Resort for our dinner reservation, something we'd all been looking forward to all day! We'd heard that it was completely worth it to do character dining, so before our trip I read through the different dining options available and decided on Goofy's Kitchen. It was recommended by our friends the Topham's and was only one of two character dining places that offered dinner.
Cole tried on some cute hats and tried out lots of toys in the one and only gift shop we visited.
Outside of the hotel
But anyway, back to the point. We made the trek through the Disney street mall, which is really cool, gawked at the Disneyland Resort pool, wishing we could get in, and finally made it to Goofy's Kitchen. After a very short wait we found ourselves taking a picture with Chef Goofy himself! We were then seated and told that the characters would come to us and that we could help ourselves to the buffet in the meantime.
I wanted to take Cole to get some food, but he spotted Snow White as soon as we walked in and refused to leave his seat until she came by. I waited w/ the kids while everyone else went to grab some food. While waiting for Snow White, Minnie Mouse and the Mad Hatter both stopped by to say hi. Cole was SO excited! The Mad Hatter stayed for a good 3 minutes, asking Cole all about his day at Disney and about turning 4 ('does it feel silly?'). It was GREAT. And then, the moment Cole had been waiting for ... Snow White was only 3 tables away ... and then she turned around and left. Cole just about broke down. Luckily Snow White's helper and I quickly reassured him that she'd just gone to get a drink and she'd be back shortly. Cole seemed ok with that. He told us she must've gone to get chocolate milk, and then finally agreed to go and get some food.
We stayed at the restaurant for probably about an hour. During that time we saw the Mad Hatter, Minnie (twice), Goofy (twice), Pluto, Dale, and Snow White (twice). Once Snow White finally made it over, she did not disappoint. She was so sweet with Cole and allowed him to tell her all about anything and everything. He made sure to tell her he'd seen her movie, and when she asked what his favorite part was, he said 'the part where they all live happily ever after'. Precious. I think Cole was completely smitten.
Cole was so distracted by the characters - watching for them, talking to them, getting their autographs - that he wasn't too interested in the food. He did down his chocolate milk, of course, and a little bit of dinner, but surprisingly didn't even want the plate of different desserts he picked out. The rest of us, on the other hand, ate our fill. In my opinion, the food was absolutely delicious. The next day I was already craving it again, even though I'd gotten sick from eating to much! Maliya didn't love the food (we discovered that she was getting sick when she actually threw up at dinner), and wasn't very interested in the characters like Cole was. She had more fun writing and drawing in her autograph book. In fact, when Dale tried to sign it, she flipped! Her little screech totally said 'what do you think you are doing?!'
Don't you just love how completely excited Cole looks in all of the character pictures?
Maliya surprisingly warmed up to Dale after he tried to sign her book.
I only included this to show you the huge turkey leg (and it was already half gone in this picture)! I asked the man carving the meat if I could have part of the leg instead of the body and he gave me the whole thing. I don't usually LOVE turkey but it was SO good. I actually want to go back right now to get another one.
Near the end of our meal, Pluto and a few servers came by to sing to Cole. They gave him a cupcake w/ a candle and sang a cute birthday song. I think Cole felt pretty special. He didn't want the cupcake, but he liked blowing out the candle (w/ Nick's help) and getting the attention. He also got really excited when our waitress brought by some big Goofy's Kitchen pin-on buttons as well as one special birthday button just for him (w/ his name on it!).
After dinner Cole was completely wired. As we were walking away from the hotel he suddenly shouted 'I saw Jesus!'. I figured he meant he saw a man that looked like Jesus, but then he yelled 'He was in the clouds!'. Wow. Luckily it didn't take to long to get to the Lego Store, which he'd seen on the way to dinner. There he was able to focus his energy on building with Legos, one of his favorite things to do. He and Nick got to build a car and then race it, which was really cool. After that Cole and Maliya spent a good 20 minutes building. They were both completely focused and probably would have stayed for another hour, had we let them.
Once we were able to pull the kids away from the Legos, we made our way back to the hotel. Once again, we were all completely spent. After getting comfy and preparing things for the next day, we all collapsed in front of the t.v. for a bit before going to sleep. {Once again, the original plan was for Kim and Robert to take Cole back to the park after dinner. And, once again, that so did not happen.}
{Super random side-note: While walking to the Lego store we noticed something wet on Nick's back. I looked closely and saw that it was baby spit-up. We thought it must have been from Maliya, but then remembered that we'd cleaned up her throw-up before picking her up at the restaurant. Nick then told us that in the middle of dinner, he'd suddenly noticed that he'd felt a little warmer, but hadn't thought much of it. After putting 2 and 2 together, we came to the conclusion that the wet stuff was a gift from the baby sitting w/ the family right behind us. Gross. But also really funny.}
DAY 3
After sleeping in a bit (as much as you can with kids), we decided to start day 3 at Disneyland. We knew we'd be driving back to San Diego that night, so we decided to just stay until we were tired and then head home. I for some reason can't really remember many details from that final day. Maybe because we were all pretty much pooped? I think for the most part we just tried to re-do the rides that Cole liked the best. We'd ask him what he wanted to ride, go do it, and then let him choose again. I know we repeated the Haunted Mansion, the Toon Town roller coaster, and Pirates (twice!). We also watched a show, Mickey and the Magical Map, which was great! I think we all enjoyed it. I especially loved the music. Maliya actually slept through it, but then, she slept for almost the entire day. Poor thing was not feeling well at all. She was a trooper though, and really didn't complain much.
By about 3pm we were all done. Well, we thought we were. We had just finished Pirates and were headed to the exit when Cole asked if we could do the ferris wheel again (as in the one all the way over in California Adventure). Nick made up some excuse as to why we couldn't/shouldn't but Cole was deterred. He just said ok and asked if we could do the Toy Story ride again (again, all the way in California Adventure). I honestly felt like my prego body was shutting down, but how could I deny my boy? This trip was supposed to be all about him! And by golly, if he wanted to do a couple more rides before we left, then he should get to, shouldn't he? Nick and I briefly talked and decided that despite the fact that we had absolutely no desire to head to the far end of California Adventure, we would do it because we wanted to make this trip special for Cole.
We slowly made our way to Cole's requested rides. Sadly, the Toy Story ride was closed. Luckily the ferris wheel was not, or he would have been one disappointed boy. Ironically, Nick and I both sat out while Grandpa and Grandma G. took Cole on the ride. Someone had to wait w/ Maliya, so Nick opted to, and I had to sit and rinse my eye because I'd gotten sunscreen in it and was slightly miserable for a few minutes. Cole, sweet boy that he is, didn't mind one bit. He had a blast w/ his grandparents and was just excited to go on the ride.
After the ferris wheel, we left for good. We drove halfway home, stopped at a mall for dinner, and then made it to SD before 8pm. Amazingly, we once again avoided traffic. Yet another tender mercy! We unloaded, let the kids run off some energy, put them to bed, and then again collapsed in front of the t.v. before going to bed (a recurring theme, I know).
Our Disney adventure was over. That was bittersweet - I'd had a blast and didn't know when we'd be back, but was completely exhausted and ready to be done:)
I somehow only ended up with two pictures from our last day.
(Ferris wheel)
The rest of our trip was a bit of a blur to me. Probably because I woke up on Friday morning with the stomach flu. It was bad. I stayed in bed and Nick had to pretty much force food and water into me. Part of me wants to hash out all of the details, just so you can empathize with me (yes I'm pathetic like that), but I'll spare you the details. Just know that it was really really bad. Luckily I have a completely fantastic husband who took care of me and the kids. Kim and Robert were also wonderful. They took Cole out for doughnuts in the morning, played w/ him and Maliya during the day, made sure the kids were fed and happy and healthy. That evening Katy, Michelle, and Kent's family came over for games. I'm sure everyone helped out with the kids at that point, for which I am so grateful.
I felt quite a bit better Saturday, well enough to move from the bedroom to the living room couch. The first part of the day was very relaxed. That afternoon Kim did her thing (she's awesome). Katy and Michelle came over and Kim put on a little Easter egg hunt for the kids in her backyard. Then she threw a birthday party for Cole. We played the cutest games (all of which were homemade), opened presents, and had treats. I know Cole loved it. I was so grateful to Kim for doing that for him.
Easter egg hunt! Yes, it was in Kim and Robert's backyard. Isn't it divine?
Basically their own little piece of paradise.
Cole got an awesome turtle shell, mask, sword, and shirt from Katy and Michelle.
He put it on right away and wore it all night!
I was going to make an Oreo-only cake for Cole to go along with the chocolate ice cream and ice cream cones that he'd been requesting for weeks. Kim had bought some cute brownie pops though, so we skipped the 'cake' and went w/ brownies and ice cream. If you can't tell by Cole's face, the treats were a hit.
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