Disneyland

 We have been trying to find a time all year to make it Disneyland. We decided we would go over one of the busiest times! Because why not? Because flights are so expensive right now because fuel prices are so high ($4.00 + for gas and $5.00+ for diesel) we decided to drive. 10 hours... whoa. We haven't driven since we went for halloween a few years ago. We broke up the drive by stopping in Henderson (which is by Las Vegas). We left on the 26th and arrived in California on the 27th. The kids did amazing on the drive. It also helped that our car has wifi in it right now until the end of January so they could all watch their devices. This was also the first time our family has gone solo without anyone else joining us. We invited all grandparents but no one decided to come this time. 

Here we go!! Leaving our house! 

While in Henderson we got there about dinner time so we went and had Shake Shack. The had some games in there so we could play. 

Day 2 

We made it California. The traffic wasn't too bad going in. It was a Tuesday so that made it nice. We arrived in Anaheim about 2:00. We decided to head over to Downtown Disney because we had dinner at 5 at Goofy's Kitchen. 

Our first picture in Disney. 

Waiting for our turn to go into dinner. 

We have not done Goofy's kitchen since Lyndin was a baby. Emmy didn't even remember the last time we went. It is such a fun atmosphere. With the characters coming to your table and then having a dance party every 30 minutes where we get to twirl our napkins. Parker still had a yucky cough and he tried hard to have energy to play along. 

Waving at Pluto

Dance party! 

Day 3

Was the day we went into Disneyland. The weather was not great, but we came prepared. We were ready with our ponchos and shoe covers for whenever the rain hit. Thankfully the rain didn't really hit until our last day. We also were able to get a DAS pass (a disability pass) for Addi prior to going. It gave us access to get to the front of the line in rides. It was truly amazing. We did not have to wait in any lines and lines were LONG! We feel extremely grateful for programs like that. This was our first time going to Disneyland since Addi was diagnosed with Epilepsy. She seemed to handle all the rides great. Parker loved being in Star Wars land. Emmy was just loving being on all the rides. She is a thrill seeker. Lyndin still isn't much into rides that make her stomach drop. She was very brave though and did all the rides at least once even though she doesn't like them. Her favorite ride is still It's a small world. We have never been in the park for rope drop. Which we were there for rope drop on the first day and the second day in California. 

no tears this year on big thunder

Other than churros, the raspberry macaroon is one of my all time favorite treats. I haven't been able to get it the past couple times. It is so delicious and I made Ty and Addi lovers of it too. 

Addi and Lyndin were quite the pair on this trip. She was very helpful and helping Lyndin be brave on rides and offered more than once to sit by her and hold her hand. 

We saw the Turner family there! I knew they were going, but I wasn't sure if we would run into them. We ended up seeing them as we were walking into the park. Kim works at the orthodontist that we go to. 

I had a great driver on autotopia. 

Lyn was in this picture. She is just behind Addi ducking her head. 

Day 4 

We went into California Adventure. We did things slower this day because our feet were so sore from the day before. Each day we walked around 19,000 steps which was about 9+ miles. We found a place inside the imaginering building that we have never saw. I fell in love with beast's library! 

We have a picture like this almost every time we go. It's in front of Monsters. 

Inside the library they had books that would tell you what character you were most like. Dad got tigger, mom got Mrs. incredible, Addi got Alice, Parker got Marlin the fish, Emmy got Cinderella, and Lyndin got Elsa. 

Lyn was NOT going on guardians of the galaxy and so we did some pin trading and ate some snacks while we waited. 

Spider-man! 

The little girls and I went and played on the playground while dad took the older two on Grizzly Ridge our ponchos came in handy for that ride to not get wet! 

Ice cream break! 

We all learned how to draw tigger! 

We took a break on the 5th day. We wanted to go to the beach but it was just too rainy and cold. We decided to go to the movie instead. We went and watched the new avatar movie that was out. It was a 3 hour movie!! Wow! 

Before went to the movie we went and got some lunch. Everyone wanted something different of course. Ty and I were going to go next door and grab something and Lyndin just started to cry. She said but people will think we are homeless kids! I wanted a picture to remember our homeless kids, and she ducked her. Ty ended up going next door and I stayed back so the kids were homeless. 

On our last day it was raining from the beginning. We cam prepared with our shoe covers and ponchos. We took it slow and just did rides that people wanted to re ride. We were hoping to go back later that night because it was new years eve, but it started down pouring about 9:00 that night and it didn't stop. We did get more pictures with characters. I know the older kids aren't so much into the characters anymore, but the two little ones still love seeing them. We also had lunch at the Blue Bayou which is one of Ty's favorite places to eat in Disneyland because it's inside the Pirates ride (his favorite ride). We rode Splash Mountain because we already had our ponchos on. We didn't get any wetter! 

It stopped raining for a couple hours. Right after we took our new years eve photo it started raining again. 

More macaroons while watching the lion king show. 

January 1st... starting the long drive home after so much fun! We were planning to stay in St. George with Jess and Mike, but decided to just continue on. We ran into snow the entire way home from St. George. LONG LONG day in the car, but we made it home safely at about 11:30 pm. We came home to at least 6+ inches of snow. I'm already ready to go back to California! It was a great way to end the year of 2022.