Disneyland Trip Day 1/2

May 8, 2013

The Surprise.

We woke up bright and early, got the kids up and going bright and early, too.  Steven and I had packed all the suitcases and hidden them in his trunk.  So, when we were all ready to leave at 7:30 a.m., Steven drove us to the Trax train station nearby and the kids and I boarded the train headed for "somewhere".  Steven then took the van home, locked everything up, got all the loose ends done and drove to a friend's house. His friend from work drove him to the airport, dropped all of our luggage off and took Steven's car back to his house while we were gone. 

In the meantime, the kids and I were riding Trax all the way to the end. The airport. We had never gone that far before. So that alone was a lot of fun. The whole time, Allison kept telling me how she would get into trouble for being late to school. I reassured her she would be fine. That I cleared our "fieldtrip" with her teacher. It was pretty funny.  Since we went with my Mom and Sister's family I texted them while we were en-route updating on our progress.

I wish I had gotten pictures of the surprise, but I got video that I just can't get downloaded. Stupid. Anyway, as we disembarked from the Trax train, the kids were a basket of confusion.  Then Daddy appeared. Wearing Allison's old Mickey Mouse ears. With a pile of luggage behind him. We asked the kids if they wanted to go on a plane ride today?  But of course!  We asked where they wanted to go? No answer. Steven pointed to his ears and suggested we go to Disneyland. No screaming ensued. No noises at all. Just complete shock and disbelief. We reassured them that we were serious. We had packed them special backpacks just for this trip loaded with all kinds of Disneyland fun. Then the questioning began.  We met up with my Sister's family and my Mom shortly thereafter.  The kids started telling Aunt Amy and Uncle Doug about what they were doing and where they were going...not for one minute realizing that they were coming along, too.  It was pretty comical. Once we got everything cleared up, the kids were a chattering mess, yet nervous for a plane ride and everything that followed.  Steven and I were a crying.  We were so excited to share this fun surprise trip with our kids.

The Trip.

The plane ride took about 1 1/2 hours.  We landed at 11:30 CA time 12:30 UT time.  Once we landed we grabbed our luggage and went to get our rental car.  The airport was only about 30 min from the hotel, but by that time we were all starving.  The plane snacks had worn off. We were starving.  Thankfully, our rooms at the hotel were ready so we dropped off all our luggage and went in search of some food.  We ended up at Johnny Rockets.  Enjoyable.

 After that, we decided to go hang out at Downtown Disney for a bit.

We HAD to let the kids play at the Legos store for a while.  

And PLAY they did!

Even Kyle got into the Lego fun.

There were many-a-races.

and car creating.

The scenes designed from Legos were truly amazing! 

All good fun must come to an end.  We then made our way to the Disneyland Hotel to enjoy dinner at Goofy's Kitchen!

 Waiting to be seated, we packed all the kids into the race car.

First off, pictures with the Goof himself.

Kyle was very uncertain about Goofy...and most of the characters at that dinner.

 We met Chip first.

And Dale....

Who decided to be mischievous and use Gramma's head to sign Zac's autograph book.  

Silly Dale!

.

 Then Minnie Mouse.

She tried getting "close" with Steven.

 Kyle just couldn't keep his eyes off of her...mostly because of fear.

 Aladdin!

 Alice was our favorite of the night.

Allison talked with her about how their eyes were both blue and they both have blonde hair.

Alice in Wonderland was such a good sport that she even did a special pose that Zac requested.

Allison absolutely LOVED Alice and all the fun we had while she visited our table, that she wrote her a Thank You note.

Alice came back to our table so Allison could give her thank you note to her. 

They read the note together.

Then Alice gave Allison a great BIG hug. 

Allison was floating in the clouds.

It was truly magical.

Steven and I had postponed celebrating our anniversary in April so we could party more in Disneyland. We told Goofy's Kitchen that we were celebrating our Anniversary and they surprised us with these cupcakes. 

We were so stuffed with the delicious buffet food that we ate our cupcakes the next day...and let me tell you...they were HEAVENLY! I don't like cupcakes, and these were the most delicious I've ever eaten!

Like a vamped up extra moist and delicious Hostess Cupcake minus the gooey center.

I want that recipe, like STAT!

 Everything was edible. 

The Mickeys and the "Happy Anniversary" discs were all chocolate.  Even the Mickey Mouse sprinkles.  I loved it!

 Pluto came to visit, too. 

He used some silly ways to sign their books.

 After. 

All stuffed and ready to party!

Gramma with the grandkids.

 US! 

 But wait! There was a pressed penny machine inside Goofy's Kitchen.  

Good thing we came prepared with a whole lotta coinage for just such a souvenir!

 Our first Pressed Penny of the trip!  Hooray!