DISNEYLAND-DIXONS and IVERSONS (september)

We got up at 4:00 am to catch the 7:00 flight so we could make it to Disneyland when the gates opened.

Ty's sis Amy and her husband Shawn and kids Jace, Ellee, Porter, Jett Iverson joined us on this awesome trip. It made it even more fun to be with them!

Here I am going over my stupid itenerary I spent hours preparing before we left. I thought I would be everyone's hero because we wouldn't have to wait in any lines and be able to hit all the big rides multiple times. Turns out it was all unnecessary because we went at such a good time and were able to just throw out the itenerary and go wherever whenever we wanted. The only good thing that came of all my preparation was that we knew how to get multiple fast passes and really worked that to our advantage, especially with Indiana Jones because it was the only ride the 5-year-olds couldn't ride.

We started our trip in Toon Town so we wouldn't have to wait all day to see Mickey.

We ate that first night in downtown disney at the Rainforest cafe. That place is the greatest! Carribbean Coconut shrimp and huge chocolate volcanoe cake, oh yeah!

The Star Wars show was so fun to watch. Especially because Trey jumped up and down smiling and waving and got chosen to be a Padawan learner. They gave them all robes and Trey got to stand on stage next to Mace Windu. The Padawans learned how to stay away from the dark side and also basic fighting moves with light sabres. Then the dark side music played and Darth VAder and Darth Maul came up out of the floor and tried to get the Padawans to join them. They each got a turn to fight one of them and Trey kept his head and remembered all his training. The force was strong with this one. I definately recommend this show if you go.

It wore him right out all that fighting and withstanding the dark side.

There were a lot of fun 3D attractions. I don't know who liked the Buzz light-year and Toy story rides more (you shoot targets and earn points) Ty and Shawn or the kids. Hang on, I do know, hands down the dads loved those rides more than anyone else! They kept saying, "hey kids, do you want to go on buzz light year again?"

Trey and Jett were mesmerized by crush. He was a favorite of all. DUDE!

I think this was one of the all around favorite rides.

Yes I wore a poncho on Grizzly run. We went on it tons of times and I hate feeling squishy!

Tyler and Shawn had to battle their clostrophobia on the nemo submarine ride. They freaked out just a little bit in the close quarters of the enclosed sub under water.

Here we return to the site of our first childs favorite ride on his first visit to Disneyland when he was four. The Matterhorn.

The girls split off from the boys at one point because they were the only ones who cared about the fairy-tale rides. I made the little boys come with us too because I knew they would love them.

We took the raft over to Tom Sawyer's Island and the pirates hideout. This was my first time doing this because our family was always in a hurry to hit all the big rides at Disneyland and never had time to do it. I recommend it though, the kids had a blast and there are some really cool things to see and play on over there.

Knotts Berry Farm was totally empty so we rode all the rides we wanted to and only stayed about half the day.

Jett and Trey wore themselves out on this great little ride that is self-propelled by pushing the handle. It was so funny to watch them trying to go so fast and racing eachother.

There were a few bumpy rides in those kiddy rides and I had fun hamming it up and screaming with Trey and Jett.

I did fine on the big rides, but this one made me naseous. And this one gave me whiplash. Poor Stace. can't handle Camp Snoopy.

This ride was my favorite at Knotts. It is the pony express. You sit on horses and lean forward like you're riding them and the bar closes on your back.

Cort and Jace were the only two who had any desire to go on this ride. It spins you around upside-down and sprays water in your face the whole time!

On the last day we went to Huntington Beach. Kiele, Shawn's sister, lives there and she came to Disneyland with us and told us the in's and out's etc. She also let us use her shower after being all sandy so we could go home on the plane clean. Life saver!

Everyone had an fantastic time boogy boarding and building sand castles. I helped with the castles because the water was too cold for me!

This is Gretel's canal. Trey and I built a huge swimming pool with a wall around it and decorated it with shells and seaweed. It is below this one.

Um, wow. Trey was having too much fun to notice anything else!

It was so fun to arrive home and see Pace and Daphne again. Pace was so excited to see us. We missed the little ones. We brought Pace home a buzz lightyear gun and a giant snake.

All in all it was a wonderful, fun-filled trip. We had a talk with our kids about how Disneyland is not really the happiest place on earth though, your home is! It really was funny to be there and see all the ratty, crying, spoiled kids and try to reconcile that picture with it being "the happiest place on earth" we had fun though because luckily our kids didn't throw fits and cry about wanting every stupid toy in every shop! We loved it and it was so great to see their faces as they enjoyed all the great things about DISNEY!