To Disneyland and Beyond!!!!

We recently returned from a great trip to California and our boys' first Disneyland experience. The trip found a few hiccups and a lot of time on the road, but was still a complete success!

The following is a list of things we learned while on our trip:

• Breaking up the drive from Riverton to Bakersfield by staying a night in St. George was a great idea. Especially when you have a home teacher offering up a vacant family vacation home for free! Yes, we are freeloaders!

• A trip CAN be delayed by 'high winds'.

• Buying Slurpees for Cole and Drew on a long road trip is a bad idea. They drink them very quickly and their bladders fill at a similar pace. Nothing like pulling off a major highway for a potty break only to find there is NO ON-RAMP to get back on the same highway! Nothing like being in B.F.E. California praying you can find the way onto the highway.

• Jacob is doing well playing football in Bakersfield, even with a painful injury (separated shoulder) in his non-throwing shoulder. One of his main receivers went down with an injury, but they were still able to win easily and remain atop the National Junior College Football rankings. We all enjoyed seeing Jacob again.

• When you are at the beach, the tide moves faster than a 7 and 4 year old may think.



• The first part of the week in the middle of October is a perfect time to go to Disneyland. The lines for the rides were extremely short which allowed the boys to go on everything they wanted x 4. We seldom waited more than 10-15 minutes in line before getting on a ride.


• Cole's favorites were Space Mountain, Soaring Over California, and California Screamin'.


• Drew's favorites included The Materhorn, Soaring Over California, and Thunder Mountain Railroad. He also liked Splash Mountain, until the second time when he fell off the railing while in line landing on his head and putting a goose egg on his forehead.




• "It's a Small World After All!" Not referring to the attaction (which was closed during our stay) but to the fact we ran into our neighbors from 3 houses down The Abseys and spent some time with them and helped taxi them back and forth to their Mobile Home park.



• Go on the Grizzly River Rapids when it is warm and the sun can dry you out. Everyone in our boat got soaked! Fortunatley for us the weather in So Cal was very WARM!



• Both boys are a little more brave than we thought they would be.


• In N Out Burger seems to always hit the spot!

We were so fortunate and greatful to Dave, Caryn, and kids for letting us stay with them, feeding us, and being such great hosts. We were also glad they could join us, along with Lindsey and kids during day #2 at the parks. Somehow, Drew was able to get the Trumbo boys to take turns 'piggybacking' him through the park most of the day. Joe and Ryan were good souls and can now find themselves on the top of Drew's favorite cousin list!

The only problem now is that we have officially opened the boys' eyes to Disneyland and California Adventure which means we will have to deal with the begging and pleading to return that has already started. In fact on the drive home Drew's comment was "I want to have my next birthday party at Disneyland and invite my cousins and friends." Word to the wise... don't hold your breath waiting for that invitation to come!

Dan