We're Back!

So we are back from----- Disneyland! I know, shocking. It seems that is the only vacation we ever take but we LOVE it. This time we went with Randy's sister Debbie and her family. We hesitated going in the summertime because we know it is a lot less crowded in September but Debbie's husband is a teacher and we knew if we ever wanted to come with them it would have to be during summer break. Anyway, we left last week with my sister Brooke who came with us for the first half of the week but flew home Wednesday. We drove Saturday and went to Sea World Saturday night and Sunday then drove into Anaheim for a five day stay there. We had such a great time. It was pretty crowded but we have figured how to work the fast pass system and really didn't find much trouble with it.(If you are ever worried about the economy just go to Disneyland-- it was packed and there were definitely lines for everything, including food and souvenirs.) Tuesday night we went to the Angels game-- ironically one of the ball parks we have not visited so we can now cross that off our to-do list! The Angels won 3-2 but we left around the 5th inning so Randy and Brooke could do Disneyland a few more hours before close-- we're crazy! Chase had a great time. This was his first time being tall enough for Splash, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Soarin, and Tower of Terror. (It really helped that we took some special hiking boots that have an inch heal in them and stuffing the insides with napkins!) We called the shoes his Disneyland magic shoes and, well, even though he was walking on his toes the hole time-- he didn't want to take them off! He LOVED all the new rides in fact, "Bunny Splash" ride is his new favorite. We thought he wasn't quite ready for Space this time-- we found it was a little early for Tower of Terror but he enjoyed it the two times he went on it but after that anytime we went near it he would panic and say he didn't want to go on it again. Hopefully we didn't ruin him for future visits! I must say it was really nice not having to do the rider switch/ wait with these new rides-- being able to take him with us was great! We ended the trip with a day at the beach, which Chase also LOVED-- he didn't want to leave! It was so much fun spending time with Deb and Quinc and Chase had that much more fun running around with his cousins. They are so cute together. Brooke was fun as well-- I was sad when she left. All in all our vacay was a success-- I just need a vacation now from our vacation!

By the way, if you are wondering why there are no pictures of our fun vacation-- our camera was "stolen". I think it fell out of my back pack and it must have fallen into the wrong persons hand because it was never turned into the Lost and Found. It is sort of upsetting feeling like some family may have found my camera and instead of teaching lessons of honesty they celebrate their discovery of a new camera. It makes me sad. Luckily I did not have too many pictures taken on it-- we lost our Sea World experience and Chase riding Thunder Mountain for the first time on video which was hilarious but we'll get over it. When I was a PE teacher students would come in all the time telling me things were stolen and I there wasn't much I could do and I would always wonder what they expected when they didn't lock it up-- that is pretty much what I am thinking now-- what can I expect when I didn't handle it with better care. Honesty just may be too much to ask for.

On a lighter note-- I must recommend the new Toy Story Mania ride! It is a must! It is very close to being my new favorite ride-- if only it wasn't a 30 miniute wait (or more) every time!