Disneyland Vacation

Celebrate Today!

We were able to finally go on a real vacation. We went to Disneyland for 5 days, Sea World for 1 day, and a couple of days at Heidi & Scott's in Henderson Nevada. Disneyland has their year of "Celebrate Today" with lots of advertising (ok they got us) about "What Will You Celebrate?" I decided I wanted to celebrate my birthday at Disneyland, so we did.

I was worried about how Ray would handle the trip, but he actually handled it very well. He did better than he does at home - probably because he was able to get more sleep (he gets up at 4:30 to catch the bus at 5:30 to get to work each day), and he didn't have the stresses of work. He probably had more energy than the rest of us. It was good to see him feeling a lot better.

Henderson & Las Vegas Nevada

We left on Friday June 5, 2009 and went to Heidi & Scott's house. We spent a couple of days there helping Heidi get ready (because Heidi, Meghan & Claire were going with us), and playing with the girls. (The rest of our kids weren't interested in going with us). We went to the Bellagio and saw their awesome gardens and their water fountain show.

Disneyland

Then we drove the rest of the way to Disneyland. It was fun to watch Meghan (she will turn 3 on August 13) and see her reactions to things at Disneyland. One of my highlights was when I took her on Gadget's Roller Coaster in Toon Town, we went around a fast corner and she joyously yelled out "I'm flying!". She loved it.

Meeting the Characters
Meghan loves the Disney movie Monsters Inc. and always wants to watch it. When we saw the monster from the movie "Sully" she was really scared of him. She also screamed and cried when Ray took her to see Winnie the Pooh & Tigger, and she was also scared of Goofy.

When we went to visit Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse and Pluto, Meghan loved them. I wonder how she picks which characters are scary or not.

Princess Day

The day we went to see the princesses, Meghan dressed up as Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Claire dressed up as Tinkerbelle. They both loved being princesses for the day. Meghan also loved visiting the Princesses.

She really loved Princess Aurora's silky gloves. The wait in line was worth the visit.

Claire liked playing at the door to the house of the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. It was just her size. We went there while Ray took Meghan on the Tea Cups. I get sick if I even watch that ride, so we had to go where I couldn't see it.

Surprise
Scott couldn't come because he had some finals on Thursday. He decided to surprise Heidi and come join us on Thursday night after his final. Heidi was very surprised and pleased when he showed up.

Sea World

We went to Sea World on Fridy. Since Scott came he was able to go with us. Ray was able to get himself and me in for free with a salute to the military that was being offered at Sea World. We haven't been there since our kids were little, it has really grown since then. It was a lot of fun seeing the animal shows, and seeing the aquariums. I loved petting the Manta Rays. Since Scott had been taking care of Charlie while we were in Disneyland, he had to bring him when he came. Charlie had to sleep in the kennel on the car and go to the kennel in Sea World. He was kind of tired of being locked up. This are pictures of Meghan looking at a Beluga Whale, and a Walrus.

Huntington Beach "Dog Beach"

It was time to go back to Heidi's house on Saturday but we went to the beach first. We chose a dog beach so that Charlie could come play with us and not have to stay in his kennel again. When we got there Ray ran up to the water as the waves went out and called for Charlie to come. Charlie was excited to play and ran out - then the waves came back and got him - he was not impressed at all. He just wanted to stay away from the water after that. He did have fun on the beach playing with us. It was fun watching all the dogs that were there and seeing the differences in how they each handled the water.

The kids liked the beach a lot better than the ocean too.

Going Home

After the beach we went to Henderson Nevada and got to Heidi's house on Saturday night. We went to church with Heidi and Scott on Sunday morning, had dinner with them and then came home. It was a much needed break and lots of fun.