CATCHING UP....CALIFORNIA IN MAY

In May I had a work conference in Anaheim. It only made sense to have Val and the kids come towards the end of my conference so we could do some playing in the California sun. Nick was working in Alaska at the time so we felt very lucky to have Lexie join us. She always adds fun to whatever we do:) They arrived on Friday early evening. That night we went to the most amazing bowling alley. At the end of each lane was a huge screen TV. We ordered dinner and they delivered it right to our lane. It was so much fun!!

Saturday morning I had classes until 12:00. As soon as I was done we jumped in the car and headed for Newport Beach. Unfortunately it was cold and windy! Val, Landon and Brylee got in the water....Lexie and I watched:)

We decided it would be a lot warmer in the pool at our hotel so after a few hours of freezing we left and found the comfort of our heated pool.

That evening we headed to ESPN Zone for dinner in Downtown Disney. I love all the shops, smells of food, people and entertainers. Landon was irritated I made him be in the pictures of the Lego Woody and Lego giraffe:)

DISNEYLAND!!! ....it just never gets old. We had so much fun. 2 days of Park Hopping between Disneyland and Disney California.

Most of the lines were short. We had very little wait time. Splash Mountain was closed which was sad for Brylee. The last time we went she was too short. And Disney World in Florida does not have Splash Mountain:( Someday Bry!

The girls made Landon and Val do all the annoying things girls like to do. Like try on the goofy hats...we all LOVE Val's choice! He wasn't thrilled.....

We love Bug's Life:) It is so cute and the 3D glasses add to the cuteness!!

Landon and his "tree". He is reenacting what happened. He was talking to Lexie and Brylee while he was walking....looking at them instead of where he was going....that's when he met his "tree". We laughed so hard!

Me, Landon and Lexie got our picture taken with our Letter....Brylee felt sad that she didn't have a letter so she chose "O"

Dreaded Tower of Terror....what the heck!!! We(Val and I) went twice. Kids went 5+ Crazy, crazy kids.

We had time for one last ride before the park closed and of course we all chose Indiana Jones....our favorite. The line was for some unknown reason pretty long but we decided to stick it out and hopefully we would make it on. The ride broke down several times while we waited. It was so frustrating but we didn't give up! Finally we were on!! Needless to say halfway through the ride it stopped. We waited, and waited, and waited. An announcer said the ride would start momentarily....but it never did. We were all tightly belted in for about 30 minutes. After awhile it got a little claustrophobic not being able to move. I started taking some random pictures to try and help keep Brylee's mind off being trapped, in the dark, on a ride, strapped in, at Disneyland!

Random pictures:) We ate popcorn while we were waiting in line. If you look closely at Bry's braces you can see the traces....yuck!

And finally a lady came with a step ladder, unlocked our seat belts and guided us through the rest of the ride on foot! That was the best part of our whole trip!!! They turned the lights on and we could see everything. I could tell the lady was annoyed that I was taking pictures...but hey...she couldn't say much because you know...it is the happiest place on earth!! If you look closely at the picture of Val on the bottom left you can see Indiana Jones hanging from the ceiling!

And this is what we came home to....a dead battery at the Salt Lake airport!! That was after missing our flight from LA home because Val hit a curb and blew out a front tire....couldn't get it changed because of the cheap jack, had to catch standby flights from LA to Denver then Denver to Salt Lake...so much for the direct flight.....then getting into Salt Lake but only to find that all of our luggage hadn't made it. So the dead battery was only to be expected:) Other than this last part it was a great time!! It has been 6 months since this trip and I think I just might be able to laugh at this part. But at the time.........