The Most Magical Place on Earth

For.  Real.  Not even kidding.  Disneyland is EVERYTHING everyone says it is.  We had the most magical and wonderful time with the kids on this trip!

I have so many pictures that I decided to just collage them by kid, plus a few more.  I don't think I'll do a total play by play (that's what happens when you wait a month to blog a trip!!!), but I'll try to hit some highlights.

Let me get my crafty neurosis out of the way from the start here -- I was nervous about losing my children.  We were going to be pushing Cannon in the stroller, but the other three would be walking the entire time.  Also, I wanted the kids to have something special for the trip without having to buy expensive merchandise at the park.  My solution:  I bought 4 shirts in 3 colors and ironed on a Disney-themed character for each.  In addition, I ironed on a little patch that said, "If I'm lost, please call my mom and dad" complete with our cell phone numbers.  They wore green the first day, blue the second day, and the red ones above the third day.  I am so grateful they think it's alright to match still and also that I have a couple of tom-boyish girls who don't mind wearing t-shirts one bit.
We received a lot of stares and compliments from people because who doesn't think four matching (and really cute) kids are adorable?!  I loved being able to just look for one color of t-shirt and count the kids that way.  They were AMAZING at keeping up and staying with us, though.  I was impressed with how well-behaved they all were on this trip.  It was fun to make the shirts and I'm glad I did it.  The kids still enjoy wearing their shirts to school.

Okay, so, shall we start with Cannon?  He was SOOO much fun to take on this trip.  Oh my, how I love him.  He is such a love and a ray of sunshine.

Cannon's Disneyland Highlights:  Dumbo ride, meeting characters, riding King Triton's carousel, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster ride, Monsters, Inc., Roger Rabbit, Toy Story Mania ride, Ferris Wheel, Pirates of the Caribbean, Little Mermaid ride.

Cannon's Disneyland Lowlights:  The Teacups, throwing up three times the first day after riding the Teacups, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, having to wait for the big kids on some of the rides he wasn't tall enough for.

Brigham's Disneyland Highlights:  Dumbo ride, the Teacups, Pirates of the Caribbean (which he was very scared for, but ended up loving), Monsters, Inc., Tarzan's Treehouse, Toy Story Mania, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster, Star Tours, Peter Pan, meeting characters, King Triton's carousel, Jedi Training Academy.
Brigham's Disneyland Lowlights:  Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Space Mountain (a bit scary for him, but he liked it okay), and Tower of Terror.

Lily's Disneyland Highlights: Dumbo ride (this was the first ride we went on and so it will always be special to the kids.  They loved it!), the Teacups with Stanton spinning our cup at an insane speed, the Little Mermaid ride, Toy Story Mania, Monsters, Inc., Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster, Splash Mountain (although she was nervous at first), Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Jedi Training Academy, Goofy's Flying School, California Screamin' (which she, Chloe, and Stanton rode at least 6 times), Soarin' Over California, and meeting the characters.
Lily's Disneyland Lowlights:  Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Space Mountain (although I think she was just being contrary), and Tower of Terror.  All three of the big kids HATED Tower of Terror and had nightmares about it (well, more "going to sleep mares") for days.  They still don't like to even mention it.

Chloe's Disneyland Highlights:  Dumbo, Peter Pan, the Teacups, Indiana Jones, Little Mermaid, Toy Story Mania, MuppetVision 3D, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster, Space Mountain (she went on this one 3 times), Star Tours, Goofy's Flying School, Roger Rabbit, Monsters, Inc., Soarin' Over California, meeting characters, Jedi Training Academy, Splash Mountain, and California Screamin' (again, she, Lily, and Stanton rode this one over and over and over..)
Chloe's Disneyland Lowlights: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and Tower of Terror.

We used the planning service at www.touringplans.com and would totally do it again.  It saved us so much time and confusion and we were able to see everything we wanted to see.  It was also awesome that we went during such a slow week.  We hardly waited in line for anything.  SOO nice with small kids.

Here we are on the infamous Teacups.  Cannon and I did not enjoy the crazy spinning one little bit and were both sick all day afterward, but it was so fun to see the older three getting such a kick out of Stanton's crazy spinning.  Every time someone would mention the ride after Cannon's throw up incidents, he would say, "We never have to go on da Teacups again, right?"  Yeah, we'll have to let the others do that one next time while we find something else!  :)

 We overlapped our second and third days in the park with Ann & Don & family and Dave & Judy.  It was great to have some cousin time!
I love that picture of Dave with his hat backward.  He cracks me up at almost 70 -- you'd never ever guess he was getting that old!
Do you see Stanton using the Bissell on Lily's rear end?  I can't even remember what happened -- I think she spilled her cereal on herself or something?  Anyway, that cracked me up and definitely warranted a picture.
Oh, for food, we ate in the motorhome for breakfast every morning, then took a backpack full of water and non-perishable snacks (+ apple slices) for the day.  The kids never complained of being hungry and we didn't ever stop for lunch -- just snacks along the way.  For dinners, I had pre-prepared meals for each night that we just dished up and microwaved for everyone.  It worked out so well, although there were a few exceptions:  the first night, we met everyone for dinner at Goofy's Kitchen.  It's a buffet with lots of kid-friendly and adult-friendly foods.  Lots and lots of characters walk around the restaurant, as well, so the kids got to meet and have pictures with many of their favorites.  On the second night, we were all so tired that we ate a piece of bread and were all asleep by 6:45 pm.  Ha!  But the meals were wonderful for the other nights and travel.

The boys had to sit out a few rides because of their height, but we made good use of the time.  They were able to meet some of their favorites!

I had to take a picutre of Dave's Crocs because they are the first semi-decent looking pair I've ever seen.  Leave it to him to make me eat my words on the (non)virtues of the Croc shoe!

 I truly think Cannon could be a commercial for Disneyland.  He was SO adorable with those ears on!  I should tell how those came to be.  On our way into the park on the first day, we met some people who thought the kids were cute.  We mentioned that it was their first time (and my first since I was a year and a half old, so really my first time, too).  They told us to be sure to go to the Town Hall and get a button saying it was their first time.  Well, we did that first thing and since the kids were so cute and I was so excited and everyone was matching, the gal at the desk gave us our buttons and a voucher for 4 pairs of ears at the store!  The kids were THRILLED.  So was I -- those things are expensive!!  They happily wore them the entire trip.  Well, Cannon's second throw-up incident (the first one was at the Pirate's Lair island and got all over me and the ground -- thankfully I was able to go into the bathroom and scrub my shirt in the sink -- the third was right before dinner at Goofy's Kitchen -- we made it to a garbage can for that one, thank goodness!) happened to be while we were waiting in line for Star Tours.  It's cramped and indoors and hot.  Luckily, he warned up before he threw up and we were able to catch it by pulling his ears down and catching the throw up in the hat part.  Gross, I know, but it sure was handy!  Some of it got on his shirt, too.  Well, the cast member who gave Stanton a voucher to go in the Fast Pass line after the rest of us were done with the ride (since Cannon obviously wasn't going to be riding on Star Tours after that incident) also gave Stanton a voucher for a new hat and new shirt.  By the end of our first day, the good people at Disney had given us over $80 worth of merchandise.  Their awesome service and desire to make our trip fun made us love them even more! 

It was SO fun to take these four to Disneyland.  They were so cute with each other, they were excited about everything, and they loved meeting all the characters.  I had so many "I hope I never forget this exact moment in time" moments on this trip with these children.  They are such blessings and it was so fun to take a trip like this with them.

We bought each of them a Mickey or Minnie sugar cookie as a last treat leaving the park.  They ended up making a huge mess with them (yeah, I probably should have thought that one through and had them eat them BEFORE we got into the motor home, not AFTER.  Oh well.  They looked so cute holding them up on their matching shirts.

 I have to give major thanks to Stanton who drove all but 5 minutes of this entire trip.  I slept a TON because I was battling more carsickness than I usually do.  He drove and drove and drove and never complained.  He was awesome.  We got a kick out of all the screens and electronic devices we had going while driving.  Stanton has wired the motor home so that he has everything he needs to navigate and entertain the masses.  It's great.

I have no doubt we will be frequent visitors of the Happiest Place on Earth.  Taking the motor home was a blast, the magic of the park had me in tears with a lump in my throat more than once, and it was an absolutely perfect family trip.  We love you, Mickey Mouse!!