The first day's Rides

The first day we started off in Tomorrow Land. 

The very first ride we did was the Finding Nemo Submarine Tour. 

Then we raced over to Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. This ended up being a favorite because the line was so fast and we would ride it over and over again. Then we took a ride on Autotopia. We had an adult for each kid so Mimi rode with Little Miss (where apparently these two couldn't stop hysterically laughing) Leo went with Ken, Papa had Huck, and I was with Midge. This was another of the kid's favorite rides that we kept doing. Huck loved driving the cars. 

 It is crazy to me how relaxed she looks in this picture driving. 

This is definitely a look I will have to get used to in a few years. 

 My sister crocheted these amazing Minnie Mouses for the girls hair. I just e-mailed her a picture and she whipped them out. I don't know how she does it. The last time I tried crocheting I ended up breaking the hook and it definitely was not relaxing. 

 Ken and I took the kids for a ride of Space Mountain while Mimi and Papa took the younger two for a ride on the Train. We were going to take Little Miss with us too, but when I saw a ton of kids crying at the exit to the ride I knew it would be too much for her. 

When we got off the ride I snapped a picture of us on the ride.

 I love Leo's expression. I had my eyes closed on purpose, which is kind of silly since it is dark.

 Our two oldest had fun but I think it made them a little 

dizzy so they didn't want to go on any spinning rides for awhile.

 Little Miss on the other hand was totally eager. So I got sent to take her on the Astro Orbiter. She loved it because she could control how high it flew. Of course she had to fly the highest. 

 The kids were really in to meeting the characters and brought 

along their autograph books that they made. 

 The first day was low 80s by the afternoon. Our Oregon bodies were not used to this and the kids were dead by 2:00. We decided to get them ice cream. Leo's fell on the ground, but Disneyland has this great policy that they will give you a free replacement so everyone was happy again.

How it all began

I had mentioned that we got a call from Mickey Mouse telling us we were going to Disneyland. We had told the kids along that we were going, but they never knew when. They would always ask and we would reply, "When Mickey calls." This is their reaction when they got the call.

A Trip of a Lifetime

So one morning our kids woke up to a regular morning with a normal routine when all of the sudden a phone call came in from Mickey Mouse and Goofy telling them that they needed to pack their bags because they were going to this place...

I had already packed most of their things and they were so excited to be able to go. Ironically this was Little Miss's first time flying whereas Huck was broken in at the age of 6 weeks. 

 Huck was so excited about the planes. Anytime he saw one he would start screaming 

hysterically, "plane...plane." People weren't sure what to think of him. My parents also 

came with us on the trip. My mom met us at the airport and my dad met us at the airport in LA 

because he flew in from Salt Lake City. LA was so drastically different from Eugene. The kids had a bit of a shock. By that time it was late at night and they were exhausted and the sounds and crowds were a little too much for them. By the time we reached our hotel they crashed. 

 We stayed at the Staybridge. I meant the entire time to take pictures and I never did, but it was perfect. We had two bedrooms with locked doors, two bathrooms, a full kitchen with a fridge, stovetop and microwave, and a dining table and living room with a pull out couch. The couch wasn't exactly comfortable to sleep on so we just had Huck sleep on the floor and we each slept with one of the kids (since they refused to sleep with each other).  We quickly figured out why they hated sleeping with each other, I forgot how much kids move around. Each night I woke up to a kid poking or kicking me. One night I had to grab Leo's feet that were in my face and swing him around right side. Seriously who sleeps like that? 

 The first day we got there the kids were so excited. All of us were. The picture below is Little Miss's first view of the castle down Main Street. Leo picked her up to get a better view. 

 The very first ride was Finding Nemo. It was a lot of fun, but Huck did get a little freaked out in one part. I was proud of my mom because she is a little claustrophobic, but she did fine. 

 As soon as we got out of Finding Nemo we noticed that the Jedi Training Camp was starting. We thought we would just let the kids check it out to get an idea of what it was all about. We weren't planning on doing it that day, but amazingly all the kids got chosen to be in the show (except of course Huck - who would have gladly joined his siblings.) Leo was wearing a shirt designed by my brother  that said The Force is Strong with this One, and I think this helped him get chosen because anyone with Star Wars shirts was allowed in. The girls were chosen too because they were so excited and were jumping up and down. Little Miss was placed up on the stage right next to the main announcer and he talked to her throughout the show. The master Jedi teaches the kids a routine with their light sabers.

 Then the stage opens up and Darth Maul and Darth Vader come out and challenge the young Jedis. Each kid then gets a one-on-one opportunity to battle the Darths in combat. It was amazing but when I saw my babies going up against these two men in full costume I wasn't sure how they would do. 

The shirts that were our good luck charms.

My mom made the girls these awesome shirts.

 Definitely an amazing trip. I have a ton more to update about so stay tuned.

So here is the video of their experiences. Excuse my poor video taping it is very stressful to see your babies battling Darth Vader and Darth Maul. 

An Update Around our House

Events around our house have been busy. There was a freak hail storm.

Soccer continues with an assistant coach.

 Midge has started an endangered animal group.

She has recruited her sister, and neighbors 

to help raise money for endangered animals. 

 Midge made these posters for her group.

 Huck is still getting into everything. This time he climbed up on the counter, got a butter knife and started eating peanut butter out of the jar. 

 Leo got an award for accountability at his school.

Yep just another regular week in our house.