Disneyland 2021

 Surprise!!! We made it back to Disneyland! I think all of us were not thinking it was going to happen anytime soon, but it did! 

I was able to find flights back in September for a really really good price for the week of Thanksgiving. We really had been trying to find a time to go and it totally worked out so well to go over thanksgiving. We left Sunday morning the 21st and came back to Salt Lake on the 26th. Grandma Shelly was also able to come with us this time. 

We surprised the kids early Saturday morning with some early Christmas gifts. Addi looked at us and asked us if we were going to have another baby. Both Ty and I said NO! In the bags were snacks and we told them they need to put them in their back pack to fly on a plane to.... disneyland!! They were SO excited. I told them they needed to pack their things that day because we were leaving early early in the morning. Lyn asked if they could go to bed right then so it would be morning sooner. 

We made it to the airport just fine and also got there with plenty of time to spare. 

We didn't have any plans when we landed in California and so we went and had lunch, checked into the hotel, and then went to try and do a hike. The place we were going to go to was closed so we found a nearby park instead. We were all just enjoying the warm weather. We also were all pretty tried from waking up so early that morning. 

Monday we went into Disneyland!!! It was so fun to walk back into the place that we love. Our first ride we did was Jack's house. We were on our feet all day long and hit lots of rides.  This was the first year we have gone with kids that all of them can do almost every ride. It was also the first time that we didn't have bottles, diapers, or have to stop for nap time. Lyn was a trooper. She is not our adventurous one. She does get scared easily, and also does not like her stomach falling out from under her. She did cry on a few rides, but she did at least try. She told me she DID NOT like big thunder, or splash mountain. Other than those rides there were smiles all around. 

We all had been craving CHURROS!!! We also got some beignets. 

Seeing characters were different now because of cover. They stand places and you wave at them. You can still take pictures with them just not up next to them. We also had to wear masks if the ride was inside a building. 

We knew we wanted to do the Star Wars ride. It did not disappoint! 

Poor lyn was already crying before we even started the ride on big thunder. She was glued to dad during most the rides. 

Passed out! 

Disney even knows how to create snow during a parade. The Christmas parade is one of my favorites! I love the soldiers! 

It's a Small World was sadly closed down. That is one of Lyn's favorites. The Christmas lights around it were really neat though! 

We even got to talk to SANTA! 

Oh Splash Mountain! We went early in the morning and we did not get very wet at all. Well Parker got wet because he was in the front. Lyn was scared and Emmy's face looks scared too but she got off saying it was a lot of fun! 

The castle was all decorated for Christmas and it was beautiful! 

On Tuesday we went over to California Adventure another day full of fun! 

Addi got into pin trading and that also meant that the other kids wanted to get some pins to trade too. It was fun to see what they would trade for. 

While Ty and the other kids went to do Gaudians of the Galaxy we took Lyn around and did a few things we knew she would like. We got to ride Monsters Inc, twice and then went to a dance party which Emmy came to as well. 

The longest ride we waited for the entire trip was for the new spiderman ride. We waited 80 minutes. It was an alright ride. I don't think I would wait in that line again for that long. 

Another full day and we were all worn out. 

Wednesday was our last day in the parks. We went back to Disneyland and took things slow. 

The parks were open until midnight. Ty and I went and put the kids down for bed and then went back at like 9:15. It was cold and pretty windy. ALOT of people were leaving and so we were able to literally walk onto all the rides we liked. We did 4 rides in 1 hour. It was a nice little date night. 

We of course had to call and talk to Avery. Nan and I both snapped a screen shot of the kids talking to each other. We didn't realize both of us were taking one at almost the exact same time. 

Emmy always being creative. This was Thanksgiving morning. We took it easy and then we headed to the beach. Sitting at the beach was super relaxing and we all loved the fresh air and ocean waves. 

We came back from the beach and the kids wanted to swim in the hot tub. We were the only ones in the pool for a long time. 

We were having an early dinner but the kids were hungry. We went to Walgreens and got them lunchables. This was their turkey dinner! 

We went to a pirate dinner/show for thanksgiving. The food was yucky but the show was a lot of fun. Addi got picked to go up on the boat. All about the memories right?

We got back to the hotel and got ready for bed because we had to leave the hotel at 3 AM to go catch our flight. It was a super long long day on friday. But we all came back so happy that we got a vacation. 

When we got off the plane in SLC I noticed a girl in front of me that had a BYU volleyball backpack on with the #4 on it. I quickly looked her up on instagram and told our family that she was Kenzie from BYU and that she was the West Coast player of the week that week because she had 40 kills. Addi wanted to go over and meet her because we have been watching BYU so much this season. Kenzie was super super friendly and was so kind to Addi. We found out a few days later that she was actually named the west 

coast conference player of the year! 

I am so grateful that we were able to go back to our happy place. It was a little strange to travel over a holiday, but it was also a lot of fun. We are super blessed to have the means to do things like this. I love making memories with my family.