Two cars, 9 people, and umpteen pieces of luggage then headed south! We stopped at the Super WalMart in Everett and bought a picnic lunch to eat before our foodless flight. From there, we drove to Seattle to pick up an anxious Nathan and then took the back streets to the offsite parking lot (I-5 was bumper-to-bumper by 2:30). After parking our cars we took the shuttle and all of our bags to the airport to find that our flight was delayed by an hour. We checked what we could and then found a spot to eat our lunch and let the girls run around a bit. After going through security we found our gate and then Don took the girls to the kids' play area. The big kids galavanted around the airport or sat and played their DS's to kill time. Finally we all got seated on the plane and our vacation had really begun...
We landed in Santa Ana and collected our luggage. Lee was kind enough to come to the airport to get 4 of us, saving us a lot of money in shuttle fees. I took all the carseat people with Lee and Don followed with the big kids in the shuttle. We got to the hotel around 11, but we hadn't had anything to eat since our picnic lunch, so Grandma and Grandpa (who had been there waiting for us since 4 that afternoon) took all the hungry people to Quizno's for a late-night snack. We divvied up hotel rooms...three rooms with 2 queens each, but we obviously didn't want to combine big girls and big boys, even though that would have been so much more convenient for schedules, since the big kids closed the park each night and the adults went to sleep when the littles did. In the end, we put all the girls together, Nathan stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, and Dylan and Sean stayed with Don, Nick, and me. It worked out fine.
Two of our rooms were joined by a kitchen, and Mom and Lee went to Costco that afternoon and stocked it up with all sorts of wonderful breakfast and lunch foods. And snacks. So all of our meals with the exception of dinners were at the hotel. That saved a lot of money.
Sean getting his money's worth at the hotel's continental breakfast.
We spent four days in the park, and we needed every one of those days! We went to the park early everyday, went back to the hotel for lunch, naps, and a swim if the weather agreed, and then it was back to the park until 10 or later so we could see the fireworks, Fantasmic, etc. They were exhausted by the end!
All the kids at the hotel before we walked over to the park. Lucille, Nick, Nathan, Sean, Hailey, Jordyn, Dylan, and Patience.
Us walking to the park. Our hotel was about a 10-minute walk to the ticket booth. Sweet.
The Murphy family in front of the castle.
Don and Lucille in front of Disney's new Twilight Zone ride.The weather was cooler than I expected the first two days that we spent in the park, but it sure didn't stop us from having fun! It just meant that the littles enjoyed new warm clothes purchased by very generous grandparents!
Snuggy warm Nick in his Disney sweatsuit.
The girls at Toontown, wearing their Minnie Mouse fleecies.
The girls (and Don) loved the princesses. We didn't wait in line for an hour at Pixie Hollow to see Tinkerbell...we saved that for the next time.
Lucille and Nathan at the fireworks show.
The big kids were basically on their own the entire time. They hung out as a big group or two smaller ones, depending on their whims. It worked out so well. We usually met up at the hotel room at lunch time or for other special events, like the fireworks. The kids closed the park every night. They kept an exhausting schedule!
Hailey and Lucille at the fireworks.
My three eligible bachelors.
Nick enjoying Jordyn's Minnie balloon.
Don and Cathi with half of their kids.
The girls and Don on the carousel, the first ride we went on.
Don and the very spoiled girls watching the Pixar Parade with their giant helium balloons.
Patience and Jordyn on the Jellyfish ride.On Sunday night Don and the big kids went to a Sharks/Ducks hockey game. They had a great time. It was the first NHL game for Dylan, Sean, Hailey, and Lucille. Hailey is now becoming a hockey fan, much to Nathan's delight.
Patience ended up loving all the rides, even the roller coasters! Here are the photos we bought from Space Mountain and Splash Mountain. Click on the photos to see them larger...you can see the look of joy on Patience's face. Not so much on Jordyn's.
Nathan bought the girls churros, which they had seen and asked for the whole time we were there.
Jorydn at California Adventure.
Patience enjoying hot chocolate on a chilly morning in Disneyland. Does it get any better?Cute pics of the girls:
The girls loved meeting and getting autographs from all the characters.
The bravest grandparents on earth! We were all so happy and fortunate to have Mom and Lee share our vacation with us. They helped so much with the Littles...trust me, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun or relaxing for Don and me if we didn't have their help! 
The ladies at California Adventure...the girls are enjoying juice boxes and snacks from the hotel.
Grandpa and Nick at California Adventure.
Patience and Grandma in the bumper cars. Grandpa and Jordyn were in another one.
Grandma and the girls watching the Pixar Parade in California Adventure.
Don, Grandma, and the girls on the Ladybug ride...similar to teacups but not nearly as fast!On our last night Mom and Lee treated us all to a great dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Lucille and the little girls had never been, and it's one of my boys' favorite restaurants.
We left Wednesday around 10 to start our long trek back. The energy level was quite a bit lower than when we traveled to Disneyland, but now we were all talking about our favorite rides, activites, etc. of our trip. Thankfully, the traveling home was uneventful and we were all home by 7 p.m. What a wonderful family holiday.
6 comments:
That was so excellent! Thankyou for all the pics and the great play by play account of your trip. It's almost as if I was there....
Looks like it was a great trip!!
I will have to show Danica the pics tomorrow and I am sure she will want to see them over and over again.
Pam, it's more likely that she'll want to GO there herself!
GREAT post, Cathi! You captured it exactly!! Lee is gathering our photos for our post, so now we know which ones NOT to use! As you know, we're a bit behind in posting - we just put up two more NZ posts, have two more to go, and then we get to Disneyland!
Has everyone recovered?
Love you!
Mom
Oh Cathi, I'm so happy you had a great time. Amazing pictures!
Wow Mrs.Murphy. That was awesome to read :D You guys looked like you had so much fun and the girls are adorable in those princess pictures. My favourite is the Princess Aurora picture. I loved the play by play. I'm glad you guys got that oppurtunity!
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