I can't believe that it's already been one month since we made our way down to California. One month ago today, we were spending my birthday in Disneyland for our first day of three at the "Happiest Place on Earth."
We actually drove down (well Dale drove and the rest of us rode). Our first day of driving from here to Sacramento was not pleasant with rain and snow the entire way. It snowed as we drove over the border into "sunny" CA. I was worried that our time at Disneyland was going to be tainted with bad weather but, thankfully, that fear did not come to pass. Despite a thunderstorm the night before our first day there, we had gorgeous weather all 3 days--blue skies and not too hot or too cold--actually we did even start to complain about it being too hot the third day. It was also very uncrowded, making it even more pleasant. We waited 15-20 minutes at the most for any ride. Dale said that if that was uncrowded, he definitely did not want to be there when it was crowded. The Christmas decorations were also mostly out making it even more beautiful and festive and Mickey and Minnie and friends were wandering all over the park rather than staying sequestered in their designated Toon Town. I say that the only way it could've been any better was if they shut down every single ride just for us and lined up every character for us to see one by one. We also had our fabulous friend, Annaliese, as our tour guide. She actually used to be a tour guide at Disneyland and being a season pass holder and being there on a weekly basis, she definitely had a plan to make sure we saw it all, which I think we just about did.
Of course, we had to start off with a photo at the Mickey flower head. We then did a train ride around the park. We did a few rides in tomorrowland including Buzz Lightyear, which Owen really liked and Space Mountain, which Justin really did NOT like.
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| Owen shooting aliens with dad on the Buzz Lightyear ride |
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| I took Justin on Space Mt. and, as you can see, neither of us were thrilled. Here I am trying to hold his head up from being jolted so much side to side. |
We did a few more rides in Tomorrowland, like Star Tours, on which Owen was chosen as the Rebel Spy, which I guess is a high honor. Owen wasn't so thrilled thinking Darth Vader was out to get him. The kids also got "captured" by Storm Troopers. Again, Owen wasn't thrilled with this. I think at this point, he was wondering what was up with Disneyland, but he really did end up having fun.
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| Me with Pluto on my birthday! |
At this point, we actually left Disneyland to spend the rest of the day at California Adventure. We didn't make it out of Disneyland, though, before seeing Pluto, Minnie, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Chip n' Dale in the main square. We had to take some time for photos ops.
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| This is about the exact same place on Main Street that I had my photo taken with Minnie over 20 years ago. |
We did head over to California Adventure and did some of the rides there and went to the Aladdin show. We ended the evening doing the biggest ride in both parks. Dale, Hannah, Gabby, Ian and I did California Screamin'. I think that I have determined that my big roller coaster riding days are over. My equilibrium (or lack thereof) just can't handle it. I think I probably would've been okay actually if we didn't ride the Toy Story ride right after, which twisted and turned every which way. That about did me in. Everyone else had dinner, which I skipped, and then thankfully, it was pretty much time to head back to the Goves. Although not before a trip through Downtown Disney to see the shops and specifically, the Lego Store, which the boys had been bugging all day to go to.
We headed back for another big day. We stayed mostly in Disneyland this day and hit all of Adventureland, Fantasyland, Critter Country, and Frontierland. Hannah wanted to do any and all of the roller coasters over and over. We hit Autopia with the boys while the girls (including Evie) did Space Mountain again. Owen wasn't sure about driving a car, but he loved it and wanted to go back again and drive himself. We got the whole family to do Splash Mt., which again the boys weren't thrilled with, although I think Justin was finally warming up to the idea of these rides and while he was terrified while on it, he later said, he would do it again. We also did Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which I did get Justin to go with me on, which surpirsed me after his dislike of any other roller coaster. He wasn't sure, but he liked it so much that he went right back on. We did the Haunted Mansion, which is very cool during the holidays when it is all done up in a Nightmare Before Christmas (mixture of Halloween and Christmas) theme. After that, we took the kids over to Tom Sawyer Island, which I had never done. They loved to just run around and discover things.
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| A rare opportunity capturing all the Lough and Gove kids together |
We spent a little more time in Disneyland and saw the parade before heading back to CA Adventure to watch World of Color, which was an awesome display of light, music and water. I couldn't really capture the actual show in pictures very well--at least not with Owen on my shoulders--but here is the Mickey Wheel with California Screamin' all lit up in cool color. We headed back to Casa Gove with a little more time for the kids to play together, which they were really wanting to do despite how fun Disneyland and California Adventure were. We had one more day to spend in Disneyland to mainly see the last few things we'd missed and do anything that we wanted to over again. We hit Toon Town and actually saw Mickey for a second time in his house. We finally got a family photo with all of us in it since Owen wouldn't go near the characters before.
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| Overview of CA Adventure from high on the Mickey Fun Wheel |
We hit some favorite rides again for the kids such as Autopia, Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and were finally able to do Indiana Jones since it had been broken down every time we tried the two days prior. Then we headed over to CA Adventure again to hit a last few rides over there like Soaring over CA, Jumpin' Jellyfish and the Mickey Fun Wheel. Hannah thought she wanted to do CA Screamin' again but decided she didn't want to do it again in the dark. She was also bummed that she never went on Tower of Terror, but that was pretty much the only big ride she didn't do. I thought our final day would be much shorter, but we did end up making another long day of it. We finished up with some shopping in Downtown Disney and Hannah got a characterture of herself done as a pirate. It was actually sad for me to leave Disney for that last time. I know we'll be back, but it was such a perfect trip. I was sad to see it end.
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| The kids with Shamu |
We headed back to Casa Gove for one more night before leaving the next day to go to San Diego. We stayed in a nice hotel right on Pacific Beach. Unfortunately, it got so dark so early that we never even made it down to the beach. The kids just wanted to swim in the pool, but we could see the ocean from the pool. The second day there, we went to Sea World and saw all the sea creatures and all the great shows. There were some rides there, but we didn't do many of them since most of them involved getting wet and, at this point, it was sunny but not warm enough to be soaking wet and, also, I think the kids were "ride'd" out. They did love the Shamu, Blue Horizons dolphin, and Clyde and Seymore sea lion shows. Another favorite was seeing all the dolphins swimming around in a big pool in the center of the park where you can touch them if they get close enough. Justin actually managed to touch one. Hannah and Owen were a little bummed that they didn't, but it was very cool to see them so up close.
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| Shamu |
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| Justin took this photo |
We spent one more night in San Diego before making the long trek home. We managed to make it back to Sacramento where the kids got a nice pool to swim in one last time. Unfortunately, Owen got some kind of stomach bug the last night in the hotel before our final long drive home, but he actually was fine in the car. We were able to take the hotel ice bucket and have that in times of emergency. I'm glad that happened at the end of the trip and not the beginning. We made it home Sunday with a week full of lifelong memories to cherish. It was a fabulous vacation but also good to be home, as it always seems to be, especially after busy vacations like that. The kids weren't thrilled with having to get up Monday to go back to school (except for Owen who couldn't go since he was sick) but at least they had a lot to talk about and could "brag" to their friends about their trip.
Now, here we are a month later in the full swing of Christmas and a whole other kind of busy, but I hope that you all have peace and joy during this time as you remember what this time of year is all about. I will be back later with more Christmas posts, but for now, I think I've posted enough.
TTFN, Ta Ta For Now.
We actually drove down (well Dale drove and the rest of us rode). Our first day of driving from here to Sacramento was not pleasant with rain and snow the entire way. It snowed as we drove over the border into "sunny" CA. I was worried that our time at Disneyland was going to be tainted with bad weather but, thankfully, that fear did not come to pass. Despite a thunderstorm the night before our first day there, we had gorgeous weather all 3 days--blue skies and not too hot or too cold--actually we did even start to complain about it being too hot the third day. It was also very uncrowded, making it even more pleasant. We waited 15-20 minutes at the most for any ride. Dale said that if that was uncrowded, he definitely did not want to be there when it was crowded. The Christmas decorations were also mostly out making it even more beautiful and festive and Mickey and Minnie and friends were wandering all over the park rather than staying sequestered in their designated Toon Town. I say that the only way it could've been any better was if they shut down every single ride just for us and lined up every character for us to see one by one. We also had our fabulous friend, Annaliese, as our tour guide. She actually used to be a tour guide at Disneyland and being a season pass holder and being there on a weekly basis, she definitely had a plan to make sure we saw it all, which I think we just about did. 
We did head over to California Adventure and did some of the rides there and went to the Aladdin show. We ended the evening doing the biggest ride in both parks. Dale, Hannah, Gabby, Ian and I did California Screamin'. I think that I have determined that my big roller coaster riding days are over. My equilibrium (or lack thereof) just can't handle it. I think I probably would've been okay actually if we didn't ride the Toy Story ride right after, which twisted and turned every which way. That about did me in. Everyone else had dinner, which I skipped, and then thankfully, it was pretty much time to head back to the Goves. Although not before a trip through Downtown Disney to see the shops and specifically, the Lego Store, which the boys had been bugging all day to go to.
We spent a little more time in Disneyland and saw the parade before heading back to CA Adventure to watch World of Color, which was an awesome display of light, music and water. I couldn't really capture the actual show in pictures very well--at least not with Owen on my shoulders--but here is the Mickey Wheel with California Screamin' all lit up in cool color. We headed back to Casa Gove with a little more time for the kids to play together, which they were really wanting to do despite how fun Disneyland and California Adventure were. We had one more day to spend in Disneyland to mainly see the last few things we'd missed and do anything that we wanted to over again. We hit Toon Town and actually saw Mickey for a second time in his house. We finally got a family photo with all of us in it since Owen wouldn't go near the characters before. 
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