california part two: october 2016

We haven't been to Disneyland since April of 2008 and decided to take the kids while in California for fall break. We were thinking the crowds wouldn't be too bad on a Tuesday in October, but I'm convined that the entire state of Arizona decided to go on the same day (we ran into a few people we know).  We had a great time (although it was pretty exhausting, especially with Truman). Rob and I have already planned that our next visit to Disneyland will be with Truman when he is eight years old and in late January--ha!

We got there right as it opened and got through several rides right away; we were really organized with a plan and used fast passes all day. We were able to ride everything we really wanted to without waiting too terribly long.  I didn't take a ton of photos, but got a few. Poor Truman spent a lot of time waiting for the big kids to ride things he wasn't old enough to go on. He did get to meet these cool guys while waiting once:

My cute little buddy:

In front of the Haunted Mansion (or whatever it's called now):

Liv catching a quick glimpse of a parade:

Cuties on the Carousel:

(Truman LOVED this ride)

Waiting in line together...these next photos crack me up! Especially Liv (she was having a minor melt down about something)!:

Okay, finally a good one of everyone:

I sure love this guy...even more than tacos.  Thanks for sucking it up and taking us to Disneyland, Rob.

Another go on the carousel later in the evening just for Tru:

We had a fun and tiring day. My favorite ride is still Pirates of the Caribbean (and my least favorite was Star Tours--I felt sick for at least an hour afterward).

One last pic as we were leaving the park:

On Thursday we went to California Adventure. It wasn't nearly as crowded as Disneyland, thankfully. We didn't have to wait in line at all for the first couple of hours. On the Toy Story ride:

Liv is so cute, concentrating in her 3D glasses:

Truman was loving all of the rides that morning!

Disney Magic:

I had never been to Cars Land before and it's the CUTEST PLACE EVER! I told Hewitt that I wish we could have taken three-year-old Hewitt there--he would have loved it. Everything looks so much like the Cars movie and the rides are so fun; my face was sore from smiling.

Sweet napper, still holding his cracker:

I try not to talk about looks too much, but isn't this little girl beautiful?

Inside and out.

I love these five so much (but not this enormous ferris wheel we were all on...I'm getting too old for most rides):

Proof that I'm too old for most rides--burst a blood vessel in my eye on one of the rides:

Hanging out in Radiator Springs:

This was my favorite ride of the day (as well as Soaring Over the World). Cute Liv with her hands up:

Mater!

Rob got the cutest video of Truman dancing in Cars Land that I will have to add later.
Don't let Tosh's face fool you here (I think he was bummed at that moment that he couldn't go on a ride again), we had such a great and fun day!

california part one: october 2016



We went to Newport Coast for fall break. The Andelins were there as well over the weekend and we met up for church and then again on Monday at the beach. This meeting house has a cool mural of Lehi's Dream. We took some photos of the kids outside before leaving:



I thought these photos were so cute of the kids. Liv was clearly skipping to the car:

We were able to get together with Brian (Rob's cousin) and Jen and their darling girls Sunday evening. We barbecued at the resort and then roasted s'mores:

Monday morning we hit the beach! Sue and the twins met up with us at the resort and we all took the shuttle to Crystal Cove together. Sue took this photo of us on the ride--can you tell that Rob and I adore this little dude?

I forgot to bring my phone (camera) with us on Monday so the next  shots were all taken by Sue.

Sweet boy with sandy toes:

Little Mermaid:

The sky was pretty awesome.

Cute cousins! Liv's seaweed "wig" is hilarious:

Post beach--hanging out at the resort:

We went back to the beach that Wednesday. I remembered by phone and took lots of photos. This really is our happy place:





 

These six make up my world...loved this view:





Truman LOVED when Rob would hold him while playing Frisbee. He was laughing like crazy:

Best buddies:

Goodbye, Pacific Ocean!

This last photo was as we were waiting for the shuttle back from the beach. After a long wait we realized that we misunderstood the departure times (usually every hour) and Rob ended up running back to the resort to drive our Suburban down to pick us up. He had quite an adventure and scaled a wall (climbed a steel fence with spikes on top of it) and cut across a golf course... I couldn't believe how quickly he got back to us. Our hero :)