Lovin' My Earthly Existence: May 2010

This is the condo! We stayed there for 4 days, we ate, we slept, we played, we had a blast getting to know Shantel, Jeff's girlfriend. The Condo was SO cute! And Fun! and Awesome! And Thanks Mom!!

Look at those flowers!! It's the first week of April there.....and we have snow in Utah, everywhere!

This is the livingroom; where the children are rough-housing, and George Banks looks on in disgust.

These are my boys; yes, Nathan is almost as tall as his dad.

This is the beautiful Windansea beach and Jeff, Emery, and Shantel! Check out the cool rocks and palm trees.....Beautiful!

Aw......

Playing in the sand and....Aw.....

Yea for hat stores! That's a fish on Emery's head! and the lobster is a nice touch on Cameron, don't you think?

Aw.........

We all, including my mom, headed out in the van for L.A. on Sunday afternoon; spent a very exciting night in Primm, NV; you're right, exciting, PRIMM? not possible. Then got to LA about 11 that next day. We visited with Dave; and Mom stayed with him so they could head to San Diego; while we continued on to Anaheim to catch a few days of Disney Magic in the most horrible time to attempt Disneyland on Earth, Spring Break!! (NOOOOOOOOOO!!)

After 4 hours in traffic it should have taken 1.5 hours BTW.- (UGH, SERIOUSLY??) we made it to the hotel then headed to the park about 4pm.

WARNING IF YOU LOVE DISNEY DO NOT READ ON; SKIP TO THE PICTURES, TRUST ME
We spent that evening and the next day there and had a good time, it was SO CROWDED though - DUH, I knew it would be, but hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go! This goes for potty breaks and Disneyland.
the second day we kept in contact with Jeff and his girlfriend Shan, (love her!) and her daughter Emery who's 4. (Cutie Pie!) Who were on their way from AZ to join us that day; we met them an hour or so before the park closed. We saw Small World and stood in line for an hour to go on the Peter Pan ride. UGH, then we went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, you know; the one no one understands; and probably the only ride in the world that you actually die and go to hell on…..

After a fun nights' stay at Shan's FANCY Hyatt Hotel (she works for them and got a killer deal on a room for us) The kids (Cameron and Emery) had a great time playing hide and seek and goofing off while NOT sleeping - Hey, it was Cameron's first sleep over! We headed out again that morning for more Disney Bliss - But not before we stopped at Starbucks for some liquid courage to gird up our loins with.

We decided to get strollers for the whiney preschoolers instead of carrying them on our backs this time - Brilliant plan I tell you!!

Then we spent the first part of the morning we hit Star Tours (again), The Matterhorn, then we relaxed while Emery met Tinkerbell, and then we all hit Splash Mountain….which Cameron hasn't forgiven me for yet. Then as we were drying out; we did the shuttle scuttle back to the hotel at noon to pack up, check out and get lunch at Red Robin - YUM!, but not before the hotel charged up Shan's and my credit card to the max without our permission - mistakenly - but still; they said we'd get the money back, but not for a few days - while it sat "in process" so we couldn't use that money for expenses, like, um, food, and gasoline! Well, who needs those things!

After lunch; we truffle shuttled back to the park for a ridiculous 4 hours of hot weather and sweatiness in the name of 2 more rides; - well; one for Jeff and Nathan, who waited for Indiana Jones for 1.5 hours then were sent away before they got close to the ride itself; because the ride broke down. They managed to line hop and we all went on Pirates of the Caribbean. Then Kelley and fam had had enough torture for one day and headed out, but not before we had to go buy the promised merchandise Cameron had been begging for for 3 days, which meant more walking through the whole park, then more waiting in line, then more waiting for the shuttle - this is the time it broke down - then we drove out at 5ish to San Diego; praying we had enough credit for gasoline; leaving Shan, Jeff, and Emery who hadn't had a whole day yet under their belts; to brave the crowds all alone.
OK, if it sounds like complaining, I am. Sorry folks, you get the real deal here. I am not a Disney fan, my husband is; not me. . I do not enjoy $85 a person entry tickets, crowds, $12 slices of cardboard pizza, $4 waters, or endless ploys to spend our hard earned money on merchandise…

I deemed this trip Shuttle Charade Extravaganza. Because we shuttled from hotel to Disney, Disney to hotel, Hotel to Disney, Disney to hotel all in one afternoon. THEN did it again the next day 4 more times! We had one shuttle break down which caused an hour wait in the hot sun with NO shade; and anyway each shuttle ride was like 30 minutes including wait time, boarding, and un boarding. So along with waiting 40 min to an hour and 1/2 for rides IN Disneyland, we spent roughly 4 hours total shuttling around Anaheim while either being giddy with anticipation to the point of heartbreak it was taking so long , or tired, exhausted, hot, and hungry, and devastated it was taking so long.
Now, don't get me wrong; shuttles are nice; IF they save you parking fees; but the hotel charged guest parking and it was $15 which was more than what Disney charges. So didn't really save money; but probably didn't save any time either way because you have to shuttle in and out of Disney's parking lots too; so you're screwed either way you choose to park. And to be truthful; after the hotel "reserving" all my money by accident; I was afraid I wouldn't have enough money to get us out of the hotel parking;
Man I need an attitude adjustment. Okay, how's this; It was SO great to see my boys having fun at Disneyland, Cameron for the first time and Nathan experiencing it all again; I just love Disneyland, there is a certain magic there; a terrific family feeling of excitement and togetherness, a unique atmosphere that you cant find anywhere else; that just makes you want to……throw up. Seriously! $800 for three days of crowds; 4-6 hours of shuttles; 9 hours total of waiting in lines; being tired, sore feet, sore back, sore legs, sore neck, hot, sweaty, thirsty, sun burnt, pushing and dodging around people while trying no to lose any of your children in this chaos; all while trying to keep a positive outlook because no one should be grumpy at Disneyland….well except Grumpy….but now I know why he is the way he is; he was probably forced to go at Disneyland during spring break!!...then he was probably forced to buy their expensive, crappy food because if you choose to go elsewhere it would take 1 hour round trip on a shuttle to do so; then you'd have to get your car out of parking; and pay to do that. Then you'd have to find a place to eat....and get back to the torture as soon as possible so you don't feel like you've wasted your $800 bucks you've scrimped and saved up for EONS; for this monumental occasion. WHAT.EV.ER.

So, I will just leave you with photos of the happy parts! And yes. There were happy parts.