Early in the morning (we were on the road by 2:30 am) on December 12, we started off for Disneyland! We like to drive straight through, so we thought by leaving so early the kids would sleep through much of the expedition. [this is a staged picture taken around 7 am]
Unfortunately, the kids were too excited and woke up immediately after being placed in the car. Fortunately, they were excellent on the trip. They watched movies, colored, ate snacks, and played with toys.
Other than losing the little magnetic car twice (I need to attach that thing with a string), this timeline board kept the "are we there yet?"'s at bay. Tony just zeroed out the trip odometer when we left the house and had the kids move the car each hundred miles. The pictures at the top just represent the starting and ending points and some things we would pass on the way, but the kids teased me that it didn't look like Las Vegas when we were 200 miles away from home :)
We only made a couple gas/bathroom stops and got breakfast at a drive through so we made it to our hotel by 3:30 p.m. The kids and I swam in the chilly pool while Tony rested and then we ordered pizza.
The next morning started off with Breakfast With Mickey!
Stitch was so funny! We haven't seen the movie, but I told the kids that I remembered from the commercials that he's a mischievious alien creature. He picked gunk out of Christian's ear and ate it, then picked his own ear and tried to feed it to Christian! Needless to say, Stitch became Buddy's favorite character for the rest of the trip.
The kids were too shy to get up in the front and dance, but they finally stood by our table near the end of the song.
On our way out of the hotel where the breakfast was, we ran into Santa and relished the photo op.
We loved the giant Christmas tree
and the beautiful decorations on the castle!
One souvenir we knew we wanted was hats for the kids, so we stopped right in to the Mad Hatter's where Faith picked princess Minnie ears and Christian got Mickey sorcerer hat with ears.
We loved blasting Zurg on the Buzz Lightyear ride and I think we rode it twice in a row.
We had so much fun and absolutely loved the weather that day!
The kids were a bit worried about Splash Mountain, especially because Faith remembered being scared of it nearly five years ago on our previous visit, but both ended up naming it their favorite ride!!
We were hungry for a snack and decided on some caramel apples. Jook how cute they were! Faith opted for the Christmas Minnie, but we couldn't talk Buddy out of just plain caramel.
I was going to eat whatever he couldn't finish, but he ended up eating nearly the whole thing!
We saw the real reindeer, but didn't stand in line for the big guy since the kids had already visited with him several times recently. Pluto obviously wanted to match his buddies.
Faith totally psyched herself out over how scary she thought space mountain would be. After I forced her on, she loved it!
Disneyland was closing early that night for an employee party, so we got to see the fireworks at 6pm. We sat on a bench right at the front so we could make a quick escape . . .
and head over to California Adventure.
We didn't stay too long since the shows were over and we were tired, but we did a few rides and got to see mobs of people around a DJ and dancers for ElecTRONica--a party they were throwing for the new Tron movie.
The next day, December 14th, we woke up early and drove to SanDiego for Sea World. We got there before they even opened.
Once inside, I got a quick picture of the kids with this penguin character and then we were off to see the exhibits.
We visited the bat rays,
seals, and a few others.
Then, as we were walking down the street, here came a flock of flamingos! Workers were herding them to another exhibit area. It was fun to be so close.
We checked out the arctic animals exhibit and especially liked the polar bears.
Our first show was an educational one about orcas.
We went back to the rays later so we could feed them. Christian's arm wasn't quite long enough (their mouth is on the underside of their body so you have to hold the fish under the water) but I forced Faith to do it against her will (physically holding her hand down there) and she loved it! She was so proud of herself. This big guy kept leaping halfway out of the water at us because he was EXTRA hungry!
Cute snuggly moment while waiting in line to feed the dolphins.
Christian, Faith and Tony each got to feed a dolphin three fish,
petting it between each fish. It was the highlight of the day!
Another big hit--holding starfish.
The park was fairly dead all day and they only did one showing of each show, so nearly all the patrons walked in a glob from one show to the next. It was cloudy, but not cold so we were very comfortable.
This was a pet show that was really fun,
and the seals were the kids' favorite, of course.
We also went to the Shamu show and Christian threw a giant fit because we wouldn't sit at the front of the splash zone :)
At the end of the day we checked out the sharks. I love Buddy's vicious shark face!
The kids got lots of souvenir money from their grandparents and aunt Tammy, so they used some at Sea World. Faith got a Shamu in a pink purse and a marbled glass dolphin to replace the two she broke from our last visit. Yes, two. The first broke on the way home from the trip and Tony ordered another in the mail. Hopefully this one lasts a little longer.
Christian got a Shamu water gun and this snowglobe.
He told me he had to get it because he has a "no-gwobe co-wection." In fact, he had just arranged it on a shelf a few days before going on our trip. As he placed each one, he told me where he had gotten it, "Dis one's from aunt Tammy, and dis one's from aunt Tammy, and dis one's from aunt Tammy, and dis one is a Santa train . . . oh, yeah--it from aunt Tammy." I was thinking, "I need to do something about that aunt Tammy!" (I am a non-collector and I hate nicknacks and trinkets.)
Stay tuned for the rest of our trip pictures!
