California Vacation 2014, part 4

April 1st We got to Disneyland and in-line by 9 a.m. so that we could be some of the first ones on Peter Pan ride, but the line was double to triple what it normally is during the middle of the day!  Decided to go to Tomorrowland and ride Star Tours again, instead, where there was only about a 10 minute wait.

Christian bought a light saber & pirate Mickey ears hat and Faith bought a Minnie ears headband. We then saw Captain EO, there was no wait for it, go figure ;) 

We finally gave in and waited over 40 minutes to ride Peter Pan.

Next, we rode Pinocchio and then Big Thunder Mountain Railroad again.

We walked across the street to McDonald's for lunch, and boy was it hot! The weather had been mild and perfect up until these two days, and now it had reached an unseasonable 97°!

Walked back to California adventure and went on Monsters, Inc. Christian saw a family where each person had a churro and said, "All those people have WHOLE churros! Where do they live? In a cave with no house payment?!?" (Because we made the kids split a churro a few days before and said it was too expensive for them to each have their own. Haha!)

Went on California Screamin and Tony got us fast passes for Soaring Over California while the kids and I hung out in air-conditioned shops so we wouldn't melt, and I checked us in for our return flight.

We had to get in one more ride on splash Mountain!

We had to have one more taste of dole whip, this time just in cups not instead of floats, and then watched the parade at California adventure,

Next, we slowly floated around on this Cars Wheel ride. The kids' vehicle moved much better than ours because they floated on air blowing up from the ground, and Tony and I weighed ours down too much!

We then went to The Winery restaurant for our 6:20 PM reservation. We were super upset when we didn't get our appetizers for 30 minutes, and then didn't get our dinner for 45 more!

We were super disappointed in Tony's pasta and the serving size of his chicken entre, my green beans (which were uncooked), the tiny size and lack of flavor of Faith's salmon. Christian enjoyed his spaghetti and my fillet mignon with herbed butter was excellent. The desserts were really good, too.

We went to the pier for our reserved spot for World of Color which came with our dinner. Faith met some fun teenagers to chat with and they and buddy played the online "Simon" type game where the winner of each round got to control  the ferris wheel lights. 

The show was amazing! Lots of cool water, fire and laser action. Tons of fun clips from movies such as The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean, and more.

After the show we walked into downtown Disney to the ginormous  Disney store and the kids each picked pillow pets as final souvenirs. Faith got Lady from Lady and the Tramp and Christian got a Pluto pillow pet.

On the 2nd We got ready, packed up and checked out of the Del Sol Motel. Christian came out with the phrase "poop my pants and call me pudding" in the car. (?) Grabbed some breakfast from McDonald's.

Drove to Huntington Beach and spent nearly 2 hours playing in the surf. Tony wore his Wrangler jeans and long sleeve shirt so he wouldn't get anymore sunburnt. 

The kids played with this cute baby in a wetsuit who had two serious surfer parents.

Tony bought a California flag beach towel and we sprayed off at the outdoor shower again.

The kids and I got changed in the car and then we got stuck in a traffic jam due to road construction. Finally got to the Long Beach airport and got through security in just a couple of minutes because it was so dead. I even got TSA pre-check!

Faith begged for chocolates when she saw the see's display there. Tony found an egg shaped box which was half off but and bought it for us to share.

We enjoyed our snacks again on the return flight!

We even got to sit together again, this time on row 6 (C, D, E, F) and didn't even have another traveler between us. 

Tony thought it was funny that Parowan was one of the few Utah cities listed on the display that tracked where we were in the sky since his mom is from there and it's a tiny, little town.

We got into Salt Lake,

took a taxi back to Con-Way, and drove straight to my mom and dads to pick up Skittles. She was sooooo excited to see us! We were happy to hear that after that first night or so, she settled down and was a good girl for grandma and grandpa.

We still can't believe how amazingly fun this vacation was!!!

California Vacation 2014, part 3

The morning of April 29th we up early to use our early entry to Disneyland. We got ready, ate motel free breakfast, and made sandwiches from leftover chicken from Medieval Times to keep I the fridge for lunch.

Just before leaving our room, we realized that Christian's iPhone was lost!! We spent the next half hour calling the lost and found departments at Medieval Times, Walmart and our motel. No luck :-(

Got to California adventure just before opening time and waited in a big, huge glob of people. Then got in line for the popular, new Radiator Springs Cars ride. We had to wait over an hour for this one. The ride was okay, but not "all that." At one point it was like you were drag raceing another car, and that part was pretty fun.

Next we went on California Screamin' roller coaster, then Toy Story Mania (which is the ride where you play virtual carnival games),

and then rode the Ferris wheel in one of the swinging pods.

We went back to the motel for lunch and almost died of heat stroke on walk back! We were astonished to find these plates with a note in Spanish which said our maid had found Bud's iPod in the trash!!!! We sure lucked out and were so grateful that we had Guadalupe called to our room and had Buddy give her $10.

Faith is such a sweet sister!

Tony stood in a long, hot line for Dole whip floats for all of us since we were hot and we'd heard they were good, and in the meantime, the kids and I shopped :)

We ate them while in line for the Jungle Cruise and they were amazing!

Next we went on Star Tours, and it turns out that Christian was the rebel that we were protecting from the alliance! We saw his photo up on the dash screen, and everything!!

We went in the Innovations building and saw these cool Iron Man Suits.

We even met Thor there and posed like the other Avengers!

We did the Roger Rabbit ride and looked  at chip and dales treehouse and the other stuff in Toon Town. We decided to skip the long wait to get a pic with Mickey.

We had to wait in line 40 minutes to ride The Matterhorn. Most of the lines had been 20 minutes or less, so not bad. It was a much rougher ride than I remembered!

Headed back to the motel where the kids and I changed into our swimsuits and went to the pool while Tony (who doesn't like to swim) did the laundry and picked up dinner (guacamole bacon burgers) from Carl's Jr. What a guy!

The pool was very cold so I sat in the hot tub while the kids swam. For the last little bit, Christian came in the hot tub with me and Faith finally joined us at the end.

On the 30th we started out on Snow White's Scary Ride,

 then the Teacups and Storybook Land boats.

Got wet on Splash Mountain and did thumbs up for the photo! 

Did the Winnie the Pooh ride (which was Faith's favorite the first time she came to Disneyland), then Haunted Mansion because it had only a five minute wait, then Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

We ate lunch at Café Orleans where we ordered two regular monte cristo sandwiches and one three-cheese (Swiss, mozzarella & Brie). They were $17.99 each!! But they were delicious!

We had heard great things about Jedi training, but had never been to it before. We staked out a spot early and hyped Christian up so he would scream loud, jump high and have a chance to be picked.

He did it! He trained as a Jedi with a light saber and then got to fight Darth Maul.

Next, we went to the Aladdin live show in California Adventure. Tony even took Christian to go to the restroom before the show so he got to see the whole thing this time! 

Afterwards we browsed some monsters University gear while Tony refilled the water bottles,

then walked back to Disneyland to watch the parade. We put on some miles, baby!

On our way to the candy shop, a little girl stopped Faith to ask her if she wanted to trade pins. Tony had gotten 11 older Disneyland pins from a guy off KSL for just $10 and the kids had brought those along with their original pins to do some trading. They could trade off of the black boards in the shops, as well as some employees' lanyards and had done a bit of that just for fun. Faith was thrilled to be asked and traded her strawberry Mickey head for the girl's Mickey Mouse. It was so adorable! 

We also made a quick stop to go on Mr. toads Wild Ride, then got some cool caramel apples at the candy shop Christian got Olaf, the snowman from Frozen, and Faith got Mini Mouse.

We ate leftovers for dinner that day. That evening when I went to take the kids swimming again, we found that our motel's pool was closed for repairs. We were pretty bummed until we learned that they could swim at the hotel next door's indoor pool!

California Vacation 2014, part 2

We slept in a bit on the 27th and Tony even brought our hotel breakfast back to our room for us :) Got in our suits and drove to Huntington Beach.

It wasn't busy at all, but we did get to see some surfers.

We loved the sun!

The water was very cold. Kids played nonstop in the surf and Tony & I mostly hung out in the sand. It was in the 60's-70's, but I froze! I finally had Tony get my jacket for me out of the car.

 I thought the kids would be done after an hour or so but instead we had to drag them away after 3 1/2 hours!

We sprayed off,

Then walked through the main part of town. The kids got waffle cones from Baskin Robins and Buddy was, again, impressed with the food in California ;)

Back to the room we rested up for a bit. Got ready and then went to Medieval Times for dinner and a show. Many friends had recommended it, and when we saw a buy one-get one free deal, we decided to try it instead of going to a character luncheon at Disney.

We LOVED the show which had fancy trained horses, a falcon, jousting and sword fighting (complete with sparks flying when metal struck metal!). The food was also good which consisted of tomato bisque soup, garlic bread, half a roast chicken, a barbecue rib and half a seasoned baked potato. They had choice of Pepsi or water to drink.

The only bad part was when Christian threw a fit because couldn't have a light up sword as we were leaving :(

We then stopped by Walmart for some after sun lotion because we got so burnt at the beach. Even though we used sunscreen! Tony got it the worst on his legs, arms, face and head, I only got a bit on my lower legs and feet, Faith got it pretty much down on her arms and little on her legs, and Christian only ended up with a little bit on the backs of his legs. We also bought the kids Mickey baseball caps.

Tony dropped us off at the motel room and went to put gas in the car and find himself a baseball cap. I walked the kids to the entrance of Disneyland and we watched the fireworks. 

Tony brought the kids home some Slurpies and we watched the suvivalist show "Naked and Afraid."

On the 28th we started out early, but got stuck in traffic and didn't make it to Universal Studios until 10 a.m. Right off the bat we got our picture with Gru and rode the Despicable Me ride where we were turned into Minions.

We rode four escalators down the side of the mountain and got to meet Bumblebee. To this day Tony argues that it was a real robot and not a guy in a cool costume!

Went on Transformers the Ride-3D and it was our favorite ride in the park! You're in moving cars, but they just take you from room to room. Then they tilt to feel like even more movement, plus 3D all around you, water spray & a blast of heat during the explosions.

We were pretty bummed that Jurrasic Park was closed for renovations, so next we went to a museum where they had the car from Back to the Future.

We then went on the Mummy ride which is an inside roller coaster in the dark. It goes forwards through the course and then backwards!

We had to wait in a bit of a line for the Studio Tour ride, but it was well worth it. We loved seeing all the different movie sets, experiencing some special effects first-hand, and having our tram attacked by Godzilla in the biggest 3D theater there is.

Speaking of special effects, we then went to a show where they showed us lots of the tricks and techniques.

We were short on time, so we ran to the car in the parking structure and wolfed down roast beef sandwiches, chips, & grapes. On the way back in, we had just enough time for a picture with Shrek and Donkey.

We saw the Animal Actor show and were thrilled to see some cute, trained dogs and cats. Next was the Shrek 4D movie, and then the Waterworld show with lots of stunt action and fire.

Before we left, we went on the haunted house walk through and Christian was scared, but he made it.

We then drove to Hollywood. Parked on Hollywood Boulevard, but were in a scary area so we got back in the car and drove down near the Chinese Theater.

Faith got a Hollywood shirt and Christian got some sunglasses at the five dollar store there. We had a blast seeing the stars and the sights.

Here are Doris Day's hand and footprints for Grandma Braegger,

the Harry Potter cast for Christian

and the Twilight cast for Faith.

We even ran into Jack Sparrow!

We just barely had enough daylight to drive up Mulholland Drive to a Hollywood sign overlook. (Note the sign is pretty tiny in the background, and the kids are wearing their new Hollywood gear.)

Picked up a large pepperoni pizza and some cheese sticks from Papa John's (using a ten dollar gift card Tony had gotten as a bonus from work-score!), then went back to the room to eat. Watched Dancing with the Stars and went to bed, pretty well wore out.