Christmas time is fast approaching, and so is the snow... Soooo, Jim and I and the family escaped the snow, and took an early Christmas vacation to Disneyland - California! What an amazing vacation. We have been planning this for about four months now, and it all came together amazingly well! The cabin, however, got stuck in the snow! It is bitter cold at the cabin, and our electric bill reflects it... It went from about $65.00 a month to $130.00... and, remember... We don't have anything running in the cabin except the water heater, and two refrigerators... I was shocked...
Moving on....The excitement surrounding the Disney vacation was overwhelming... I think I was more excited to see the whole family together... and, my craving to see the grandkids was over the top... and, they did not disappoint...
We stayed at a really cool AirBNB in Anaheim which was about 10 minutes from Disney.. I wanted some very specific things to be included.... each couple had to have their own room, there had to be a huge kitchen and dining room, lots of tv's, a room that all the kids could gather in, and also have places to go to be alone and a pool... And, this place had it all... Lots of bedrooms - even a bedroom where Chance could have his own place and not have to share with kids... lots of bathrooms... and one room with bunkbeds so the little kids had kid time. And, it had the biggest refrigerator I have ever seen in my life...It was perfect.. The owner of the home was so nice and looked after us... the perfect host.
Brea was loving her unicorn! (In case you didn't realize it, Coy and Brea are best of buds...)
Brea was enjoying the fishes in a different way!
Mahayla was chosen to be in front of the crowd at Universal studios, where her "wand" chooses her, instead of her choosing it. It made a good choice! There were a couple of wands that did not choose her, and they manifested their dismay with lightning and thunder!
Brad's family were the first to get on the plane in Anchorage, flying to Seattle - they had to roust three little kids out of bed at 3 in the morning to drive to the airport and poor Melody worked all night until it was just about time to leave... Brad was in charge of the packing and getting kids ready... All in a snowstorm...... But, they made the flight in plenty of time... While they were in the air, the next wave of flights (Jim and me, Brianne and Lowell, Coy and Chance) made it to Salt Lake to get on our fight... We had just left the house when Brianne called me and said that I-15 north was closed... that was a little exciting. There was an oil tanker truck that overturned at Point of the Mountain (Draper, Utah) and the road had been closed since midnight.. We were coming over the Point at about 8 in the morning. We decided to take Redwood Road and then over to Bangerter, and Lowell and Brianne took Bangerter..). We got there about the same time. With a trip that usually takes us about 45 minutes, it took us right at three hours... It seems that we were only at the airport a short minute before we boarded the plane...
Brad's flight went from Anchorage to Seattle and then Seattle to John Wayne Airport in Anaheim. The flight left Anchorage at 6 in the morning, and they got to California at 4:30 in the afternoon... Long day... Poor little Ben ran out of steam in Seattle... But, I like his idea - if you get tired, just lay down on the floor...
However, these two had tons of energy to spare... no napping going on... Except, the big kid (Jim) in the seat behind them - totally crashed... Giggle..
Even with all the excitement, Coy found time for a project to keep him amused.
The rest of us had an hour and half flight from Salt Lake to Anaheim, and we decided to have lunch at the Chowder Barge in Long Beach when we landed. We love the Chowder Barge... It's a funky little restaurant that literally is built on a barge... the Clam chowder is amazing, but I think our favourite is the Chowder Burger. They take a bowl of clam chowder and float a hamburger in it... sounds weird, but is VERY tasty...
Brianne took this picture of Jim and Me.. I absolutely love it!
I didn't have a clue what kind of bird this was - some kind of crane... The wing span was incredible. Such a pretty bird.
And, here's our Coy posing with the bird...
Thursday evening the excitement began. The kids and their parents went on a solo adventure without the grandparents... Jim and I seriously needed a nap... There is this store in Anaheim called Polar Playground that specializes in cotton candy... They make all kinds of different figures in cotton candy, and the kids had a blast! Coy was loving Pikachu... and...
Later that night, Brad and Coy were deep in discussion over one thing or another... I don't know what, but it was pretty intense.
Friday morning, Lowell was the chef de jour and cooked up yummy eggs and sausage... Actually, every morning, someone whipped up an amazing breakfast. I know Lowell and Melody did a lot of cooking... but mostly, I didn't!
Friday night, the bunch of us attended a professional hockey game - Anaheim Ducks vs San Jose Sharks... It wasn't a great, amazing game, (6 - 1 for the Sharks), but it was fun to get together for the game. We found out a couple of days afterwards, that the Leafs and the Ducks were playing on the Tuesday night... in Toronto... would have been a fun game, as Toronto won 7 - 0, but we were happy to be in Anaheim at the Honda Center... And, as you can see, Chance wore his favourite hockey jersey... at least, I've told him that it's his favourite... He usually just stares at me... giggle.
Lowell and Bri were enjoying the fishes... and..
Here's the other side of the row at the hockey game.
And, this cute couple were having fun... AND, Lowell wore the correct hockey jersey also...
After the game, our two little hockey players had to have pictures taken on the patio.. and of course...
had to simulate a fight! Brea plays for a hockey team in Alaska and Coy plays for a team in Provo, so they wore their respective jerseys... I guess, I'll forgive them for not wearing their Leaf's jerseys... Ben also plays hockey in Alaska... he plays for the Ice Mice! It's his first year!
When leaving the stadium, Ben ran into the Anaheim Ducks mascot and got a picture!
Here's my two babies... couldn't be a prouder mama here... I still want to pinch their heads off on a regular basis, but it sure was nice to see them both...
I believe this next shot is on the way to Whale Watching... It was a cold day, but the kids didn't seem to mind.. crazy people...
And, the whales and the dolphins did not disappoint... I think it was a great experience for the kids to actually see dolphins and whales - not in an aquarium..
These next two pictures crack me up... With all the excitement of activities going on....
..they crash... I guess the excitement of Thursday night totally wore them out, and they crashed on the way...
Saturday was a visit to Sea World and Universal Studios... Again, kids had a blast!
And, a visit with transformers rounded out the activity.
Jim and I tried things that were a little less involved.... We did a driving tour of California, and checked out the Hollywood sign, houses of the stars, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was a little more our speed...
Sunday and Monday were... DISNEYLAND... Here's a cute guy that decided to have his picture taken with me... amazing that he was wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs hat... go figure that! Giggle.
When we initially got into the park, the kids ran into Cruella da Ville... She was so much fun.... asking the kids if they lived locally, if they had puppies and if the puppies were black and white... stuff like that.. the kids had a blast...
Sunday afternoon was filled with building droids and light sabers... Here's our Chance meticulously building his light saber. I think it was a great activity for all... It was nice because everyone really got to know Chance a little more, and he's a great kid... I don't know if he's ready for our sense of humour, but, we do know he LOVES donuts and Cinnabons... And, these grandparents made sure there were lots...
And, here's Brad building his light saber...
..and my handsome husband building, building, building.. I don't know if this was quite Jim's thing, but he had so much fun building with the kids.
When I saw this picture, I immediately thought of "don't cross the streams", but I think that's from a different movie. Apparently, crossing the light sabers isn't that bad - that is, if you are on the good side of the force.
Brea, Coy and Ben, at the same time, were busy building droids....
And, all the kids had a blast visiting with Wookie and R2D2... I guess they all speak the same language.
... such a fun activity...
Here's our droid builders... they each built a specific kind of droid... and, to think I thought there was only one kind of droid... I think Nana is getting old...
Before we got to Disney, I had each family member pick the mouse ears they wanted to wear... Brianne and her family wanted Wookies... Brad wanted Avengers....
Mahayla wanted Ariel and Brea wanted a Princess... Ben went with Spiderman...Melody went with Maleficent. Jim and I went with Lion King... It really was fun! When we got to the park, I found mouse ears with a Canadian theme... a lumberjack hat in red and black... Jim wasn't particularly impressed, but humoured all of us.
And, here's our little Spiderman....
..and, Ariel and a cute little princess..
Monday evening was so cold, and the little ones were sleepy... Jim and I had scooters to run around in - our knees just wouldn't take walking for 10+ hours and Ben and Coy found a comfortable place to drive around on... or fall asleep on...
On Tuesday, these crazy people decided to go to Seal Beach... it was absolutely freezing, but that didn't stop them from getting into the water and playing. Jim and I stayed on the shore bundled up...
All in all, we all had a blast... Brea told us that in a couple of years, we are all going to go on a family cruise... Um... ok? So, we are planning again....
Brianne had all the shirts made for us, and she did an amazing job...
... was such a fun vacation....
And, remember, your last name doesn't make you family, your heart does...And, my heart was just about exploding...
We had three birthdays in December - Chance, Coy and mine. And, we had a couple of cakes to help celebrate.
And, this is what we came home to... The first picture is Brad and Melody's vehicle at the airport in Anchorage... I believe Alaska got 4 feet or snow while were were vacationing.....
And, this picture is my Kia Soul in our driveway... It wasn't particularly pleasant to come home to. I couldn't get the car out of the driveway the next morning, so Jim had to drive me to work... I kinda like the pampering... I must admit...
With all this, I am feeling a little sad and down at this point. I miss those Alaska people something terrible. Brea told me that we have to have another family vacation - and, she still thinks the next one should be a cruise. I think it would be amazing.
Brianne found this street sign... I think it means a little something to her. Giggle.
And, so it comes to an end... and, it was magical...
Love, Jim and Cheri; Brianne, Lowell, Chance and Coy; Brad, Melody, Mahayla, Brea and last, but not least, Ben.
My cup runneth over.
