Disneyland!

After years and years of waiting, I finally got to take the kids to Disneyland!!! We kept it a surprise until about 4:15am Monday of last week, when we hauled them out of bed, had them get dressed, and shared the news as we were heading out the door to the airport. I expected jumping and screaming, but I think it was too early, and they were too stunned. They reacted much bigger once we got to the airport and they'd woken up a bit more. Then there were huge smiles on faces, excited chattering. Surprise #2 was when Grandma Marlee and Grandpa Jeff showed up just before 4:30am packed and ready to come with us!

Because of flight times, we had half a day Monday to "kill" before jumping into playing at Disneyland Tuesday. "Auntie" Monica is currently living in CA for school, near Disneyland, so she met up with us and showed us around Downtown Disney, and came back to the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel (where we were staying) with us and we all watched the kids playing in the cool pirate-themed splash park.

I have zero clue why I didn't take more pictures of the kids with Auntie Monica, because we hadn't seen her since July, and it's likely we won't see her again until Christmas... At least I have this one of her with Em and J!


The Lego statues at the Lego Store were really neat!




We stayed at the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel (8-10 minute easy walk to Disneyland), which had a pirate-themed splash park outside. It was only around 62 degrees outside, but the kids were determined to enjoy the splash park regardless!


Em and J pretty well stuck to the little one foot deep pool that was heated to around 80 degrees


Connor couldn't get enough of the water slides, the giant bucket that dumped water down, the water canons, etc.






Connor was also showing off his swim lessons skills by showing us how he can float by himself for a few seconds at a time. He's got his face underwater, but he IS actually floating!


There were quite a few restaurants lined up along our walking route to and from our hotel and Disneyland, so we weren't stuck eating the same foods all week. After dinner that first night, we headed back to the hotel room and were all asleep by about 9pm (mom and dad had their own room, but said they went to bed right away as well). After a long weekend of packing and a full day of travel, exploring, playing, etc. we were TIRED!

**more tomorrow!**