We left Uncle Billy's house at 10:00 AM to allow 2 hours time to get to the airport in Houston... grab a bite of lunch and board our plane scheduled to depart at 1:50. We pulled into the airport at EXACTLY 12:00, checked our luggage, and found the most amazing sight as we found the security line... a kind woman opened the gate and let us through into the FAMILY LINE!! HALLELUJAH!! We got a most wonderful shortcut- the sign we were standing in front of read "maximum wait time 30 minutes" but we went right to the front! Got through security and sat down for some lunch. Departed on time and landed in LA.... and Uncle Phil was there to greet us and graciously drive us to his house.
Evan was an absolute ANGEL throughout the drive to Houston airport, fell asleep as the plane was taking off on the runway... slept a good hour and a half and woke up happy.... got back into the car just fine in LA, ate a bunch of chicken nuggets for lunch on our way home, and was content for the drive out to Hemet! What a good boy!! The big kids were pretty good, too. ;)
Kids adjusted just fine to the time change out in CA- 2 hours earlier than TX... in fact, the transition to Pacific time seemed much easier than just one hour from home to TX! Evan's naps were right on time and the kids slept past 6 each day. YAY!
The view out LouLou and Uncle Phil's front door:
Our first adventure in CA- taking the big kids to Disneyland. ;) I have to say- if you've been to Disney World in Orlando- don't bother with Disney in CA! In my mind I was comparing it to Magic Kingdom in FL, but really it's much smaller than Magic Kingdom. You have all the classic rides that were there when I was little- the Dumbo elephants, the Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, It's a Small World.... you get the gist.... but that's about it. There are no shows or performances like there are in Orlando, and the lines were very long. The kids still seemed to enjoy it though, and we were all thoroughly exhausted when we walked out around 8:30 PM, still having missed a few rides since we didn't get there until noon.
Before we go any further- I must share our amazing story about how much we actually paid to enter the park! While we were driving the hour and a half commute, I thought about our Disney credit card we opened over a year ago. We originally opened the account to earn points toward a Disney cruise another year or so down the road. Well, a year into it, we saw the points weren't adding up as quickly as we had anticipated. But we did earn about 292 points so far. I thought to myself- wouldn't it be great if we could use them towards park tickets instead? Who knows if we'll ever get to that cruise....
While Mike drove- I called the number on the back of the card. I was instructed to ask someone at Guest Services for a rewards card. After we get the card, call back and they will transfer our points over. So.... we get to the park, get the card, call to have them transferred, and walk up to the ticket booth. Oh, and I also still had a $15 Disney gift card given to us when we opened the account.
The man at the ticket window informs me that our total is $308. I hand him the rewards card and then the gift card. Our total is now... ONE DOLLAR!! Yep, we paid $1 out of pocket for the four of us to go to Disneyland!! WOOOOHOOOO!!!!
The little castle- much smaller than Florida! You actually just walk through it like a little tunnel.
Trying to pull out the sword from the stone ;)
The next day, LouLou took Mike and the big kids to a local children's museum. Kids had a blast!
Kaylin playing dress-up
Justin to the rescue!
Mike coaxed Kaylin into posing like this- he first tried to get Justin to do it but Justin refused LOL
Pretending she was just run over :-s
Justin was pretending to be a police dog in this photo ;)
Next day- Legoland!! LouLou and Uncle Phil generously treated us to tickets! Kids had a blast.
They had one volunteer during the whole show- guess who was chosen. LOL
Notice the two children sitting down in front- the splash zone.
Yes, that would be Mike and Justin! Kaylin rode with me the first go-round. SCARY!! There are five different levels of intensity for this ride. So glad the kids were too small to select the level that goes upside down- both wanted to! We opted for level 2- the highest they could go due to their size.
Daddy being a goofball.
Mini World- amazing all the buildings they created with the tiny Legos.
The marching band would march around with the press of a button :)
Justin was just starting his obsession with Star Wars. This trip totally magnified it!
I am totally kicking myself for not getting any pics with LouLou nor Uncle Phil. :(( Crossing my fingers they will be able to come visit us next year after we get Pauline home!! Then we can get a group shot with EVERYONE. ;)
We want to thank both Uncle Billy & Adele as well as LouLou and Uncle Phil for your generosity and most wonderful hospitality. Our family vacation was the most memorable we've had by far!! <3 Time spent with family is absolutely priceless and we do hope it happens again soon!!
Posted by
okay, WHERE did you get that Disney rewards card??
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures!! Looks like it was a blast!
ReplyDeleteYou were in HEMET!?!??! I grew up in Lake Elsinore, right nearby!
ReplyDeleteTalk about loads of fun!!!
ReplyDelete