A few va-cay experiences not to miss...

It's been a month, but I had to add a few funny memories from our trip...

#1 CRAPPY HOTEL: I didn't mention that we went REALLY cheap on this vacation. I found a hotel that was only $40 per night so we could get two rooms and actually sleep. The problem is: Cheap hotel == NIGHTMARE! All of these things all actually happened:

1. A bus FULL of Lacrosse boys checked in the same night we did and, as luck would have it, STAYED ALL 6 NIGHTS!!!
2. Said Lacrosse boys partied all night, every night and room #1 was right next to the ice-machine which proved to be "THE" hangout.
3. The beautiful pool pictured on the add had 2 resident ducks floating in it at all times.
4. Said ducks POOPED at least 5 times a day in the pool and the hotel NEVER cleaned the pool.
5. The smell of marijuana was a permanent fixture.
6. I had to change rooms 3 TIMES in 6 days for various reasons--one at 11:00pm after returning exhausted from Disneyland...grrr....

The only redeeming grace was watching all those stupid Lacrosse boys swim their little hearts out in the duck poop pool--seriously, HOW COULD THEY MISS THE DUCK LOGS DISINTEGRATING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL??? My kids were SO disgusted--but still laughing with me!

Here is a picture of the beautiful pool we went and POACHED at the nicer hotel down the street....
#2 Tito's Taco's

Someone told us we HAD to eat at this place. We waited in line for 20 minutes only to realize we couldn't eat it there because of the crowds and lack of seating, so we drove around FOREVER trying to find a park. Problem is, there are NO parks in scum ville LA. We found a piece of large sidewalk only to sit down in something I'm hoping wasn't a homeless man's pee...puke. Then we found this large piece of grass and jumped out and sat down without thinking. After a few strange looks and a few dogs walking by, we realized we were sitting in the local DOG BATHROOM STOP!! I still have a hard time looking at this picture!
#3 Notsberry Farm

This was actually a great experience. A friend gave us free tickets (Thank you, Holly) and we had a great day. Brent has a picture of him and his dad when he was about Gavin's age, sitting next to these same ladies. Brent remembers being totally embarrassed in the picture...not our G-MAN!These boys put on a CRAPPY show, but they were nice enough to pause for a picture with us. They were also nice enough to stick around and make sure Kesley was OK after she FACE PLANTED walking away from this shot! Turned out to be more embarrassment than actual injury, but so nice of them. They gave the kids a bullet shell and made their day.
Gavin also got to spend his $20 from Grandma Smith on....A GEODE! He got to pick it out, watch it be cut open and then be the first on to touch the inside of the 10,000 year old rock...or was it 10 million... Anywho, this kid loves him some rocks.
And this picture just cracked me up! Jenna just may have found her dream job...

Beach pics...a month later

Tea for two

Cousin Paige is here today. Jenna and I found cute tea sets at the thrift store yesterday and she was dying to try them out. She hasn't said one sentence that didn't include "Paige" or "tea party" since 1:00pm yesterday afternoon. I was woken up with, "Did you call Paige's mom? Today is the TEA PARTY!" So, today is an ongoing tea party. This is mid morning tea. It will be followed with lunch and then afternoon tea. Lovely, lovely day.The table conversation has been amusing. Here is one little snippet:

Paige: My dad is at work.

Jenna: My dad is at work too! All the dad's in the world are at work right now.

Paige: Well, N O T Jesus.

Jenna: No! N O T Jesus!

Pudgy, dimpled hands--I don't want this lady to grow up.

Paige has experience in drinking tea the proper way--do they learn this or do they just come this way? They are only 4 and already so lady like.

The view under the table is as cute as the one above

Too cute not to share.

Disneyland Day 1, 2 & 3!!

How to blog this without it getting too boring...too late. We had 3 days at Disneyland and 3 days at the beach and one day at Nottsberry Farm--I think I'll tackle Disneyland first--but first a quick look into each day before the onslaught of pictures!!

DISNEYLAND! Day 1

SO EXCITED! Heading into the park! We're at DISNEYLAND!!

Day 2

Still excited--but we've done everything once...what to do...what.to.do...

Day 3

Done everything...at least 5 times...take.me.home.

With 5-10 minute wait times, we did all of Disneyland and all of California Adventure in ONE DAY--and that was walking, not running. We tried to take our time and just enjoy things as they came--and boy did we ever!

Anyone who knows Jenna, knows she is obsessed with snow globes--this was MIND BLOWING!
Jenna was the ONLY one on the entire raft that got wet--and she was SOAKED!Grandma Gwen gave each kid $20 to spend on our trip. Jenna saw this the first day and I made her wait until the last day to buy it in case she saw something else. She didn't. p.s. it broke the day we got home.
The best kept secret at Disneyland: this air conditioned room under the arch of the castle. A movie is playing, it's quite...heaven.

We met a lot more characters than usual--probably because there weren't hoardes of people hiding them. Jenna really liked them, Gavin and Kesley liked them but were embarrassed to admit that they did!
One morning Jenna and I ran to try and be one of the first in line to meet the princesses. It is nothing short of hysterical watching overweight/out of shape adults try to sprint to the other end of the park to save a place in that line--everyone is gasping for air about half way there. By the time I got there I was totally shaking and pretty sure I was going to throw up--but we were 3rd in line!!! Woot! Woot! Jenna got to meet Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, but she burst into tears when she realized that there was no Ariel! It's hard to be a 4 year old.
I really got into these snap shots that they take on the thrill rides and then try to sell to you for $15 each. I tried taking pictures of them with my camera and they aren't so great, but they still capture some of the panic/excitement the kids were experiencing. Kesley was the thrill lover of the trip--she LOVED any ride that went fast or made you feel like throwing up!

SPACE MOUNTAIN: First time--dark and fast. Kids weren't so sure and poor Jenna's head was whipping around like crazy!

Second time: Love Kesley in this picture--she just LOVED the thrill rides! I hated feeling like Jenna's neck was going to snap, but she loved it too!

Tower of TERROR:

They take you up in an elevator and drop you!

First time--love Jenna's reaction!

Second time--Awesome! This was one of our family favorites!

California SCREAMIN

First time--check out Gavin's face! Brent and Kesley in back

Second time with me--liking it a little more. Kesley is behind again.

I'm not sure where to stop with the pictures...we had such a good time and I took a LOT. But that is a good start. Tomorrow--beach days!