We had sooooo much fun!!!

After we left Jen and Aaron's house in Simi Valley (Wade--sorry we didn't get to see you--hope you are feeling better), we headed off to Anaheim to the hotel. We stayed in a fun hotel with turtles and fish, a heated pool, and glass elevators! These pictures are of the inside atrium of the hotel, if you have never been to an Embassy Suites. We spent the first evening getting settled, swimming at the pool and finding good places to eat. We discovered an IHOP a few minutes away advertising "Kids Eat Free after 2 pm." I don't think they were counting on a family like ours!!

We went to Disneyland on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. We also spent some time over at California Adventure on Friday. We went early in the morning, headed back to the hotel for a swim and a nap in the afternoon, and then went back over for the evening. Even Jeffrey was tall enough for all but one ride at Disneyland. We had a book with a suggested itinerary for a day at the park with adults and small children. The crowds were pretty light, especially in the morning and evening, and we really had a great time riding all of the rides on the list. Some of the family favorites were: Space Mountain (Adam and Dad), Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (Jeffrey), California Screamin', Soarin' Over California, Grizzly River Run (Jacob)and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Mom and Josh). Anna like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. On Wednesday evening, we left all the kids at the hotel, and Rich and I headed over to Disneyland for a "date". We had from 9-11 pm. We rode the Mark Twain Steamboat, which I had really wanted to ride at night. Then we hustled from ride to ride, even running at the end, so we could ride as much as possible. We got to ride the last two runs of Big Thunder Mountain! I think that those two hours exemplify two of the lessons of our life with children: "Less is more" and "The power of the take-away". Often, the less we get, the more we enjoy what we have (like having only two hours for just us and cramming in all we could in the time we had). Also, when we give something up, we really appreciate it that much more when we finally get it back (like not needing to get a babysitter to go on a date)!!

On Thursday, we headed over to the beach for boogie boarding and playing in the water. It was a beautiful day, and we got to watch some dolphins and lots of surfers. Anna had a love/hate relationship with the sand. She wanted to eat it but sure didn't like it once it was in her mouth!!

I don't think I can describe all the fun we had on this trip. Here is a list of some of the other favorites that we talked about on the long ride home: All of the fun rides; A Bug's Life 3-D show; the escalator at the Mickey and Friends parking lot; free donuts and soda at the hotel; swimming in the pool; seeing dolphins at the beach; Mom and Dad date night; watching the Disney channel; seeing the Electric Parade and Fantasmic on Friday night; picking out a souvenir; riding the tram from the parking lot to the park; watching everyone have fun together at the beach. That is my favorite memory, and it is the last picture I put on here. There are seven of our children playing happily in the water together (Anna was with Rich and I as we looked on).