Sunny Cal

Near the end of our day in California Adventure... the Monsters Inc. ride

Grizzly Bear Rapids WILL get you very wet! Fortunately, we did this first thing in the morning.

I collect Cars cars, so naturally we had to get our pictures here in Radiator Springs!

This is inside Aquarium of the Pacific. The kids were excited to look for Dory, Nemo, and Crush in these tanks.
Swimming at our hotel in Anaheim. Everyone now has a pair of goggles to wear. Yay!

I think January is the perfect time of year to go to California. I miss going on mid-semester tour there and to competitions in L.A. during the chilly months. We took our family for The Trip To Disneyland, and it was awesome. Rather than trying to recap the whole week's adventures, we'll do some summing up...

Favorite Sites/Sights:
1. Sunset Beach, late afternoon (great place for seashells too)
2. Discovery Science Museum (great hands-on science-y stuff for kids and adults)
3. Aquarium of the Pacific (affordable if you can track down a good coupon)
4. Watching my kids touch sharks and rays and seeing their eyes wide with excitement
5. My husband at John Wayne Airport, who was able to join us mid-week
6. Enjoying all of Disneyland and California Adventure.
7. Meeting missionaries and Mormons in unexpected places (2 elders in Arby's in Mesquite, NV; 2 elders at the Aquarium in Long Beach; and a member family visiting their grandparents at our hotel...the wife grew up not far from where we live)
8. Seeing Lightning McQueen and 'Mater characters at C.A. -- had to get my picture with them
9. Oogling Club 33 in the New Orleans quarter in Disneyland
10. Billy Hill and the Hillbillies show in Disneyland

Favorite food:
1. Pot roast cooked in a crock pot that greeted us after an exciting but long day at California Adventure (C.A. from now on)
2. Enormous corn dogs we splurged on ($5 each) in C.A. at the Corndog Castle
3. My sister-in-law's amazing pasta she whipped up in about 20 minutes

My Favorite Rides:
1. Grizzly Bear Rapids (we rode twice and have pictures to prove how wet we got...I was sloshing in my seat!)
2. Soarin' over California
3. Indiana Jones
4. Pirates of the Caribbean
5. Space Mountain
6. Disney Animation Studios, where you get to find out what Disney charater you are (I did it twice because the first time I came out as Maleficent, and I didn't even say I liked to eat nice people for lunch; my second time? I was Dot, from Bug's Life. Sigh. Justin came out as Shere Khan; O. was also Shere Khan; E. was Hades; B. was ... can't remember, but it was a princess; and L. did it twice also because the first time he came up as Jane, from Tarzan, and the second time he came up as Aladdin)

Rides I would try again...maybe:
1. California Screamin' (B. coaxed me onto this one; I couldn't breathe through the first two hills)
2. Mullholland's Madness

My kids' favorite rides:
L (nearly 7): Buzz Lightyear's Astroblaster; Toy Story; Grizzly Bear Rapids
B (8 yrs): California Screamin'; Space Mountain; Wild Ride Through Toad Hall; Grizzly Bear Rapids; Splash Mountain
E (10 yrs): Mullholland's Madness (he rode 5x); Grizzly Bear Rapids; Splash Mountain; Thunder Mountain
O (13 yrs): see E. above, except for Splash Mountain; Soarin' over California

Things I learned:
1. How to drive I-5 (and other exciting California rides, I mean, freeways)
2. Take Tylenol with you to theme parks
3. Always double-check what your children pack, even if they insist they followed the list
4. Don't drive south between Barstow and Victorville at sunset (the road goes right into the sunset)
5. Even grown-ups get excited and can't sleep the night before going into Disneyland (me)
6. Cover and seal all picnic items at the beach so seagulls can't carry off your bags of chips (brazen little slimeballs) when you aren't guarding your food box
7. Make sure your picnic makes it into the car before leaving for a daytrip. Otherwise you get grumpy Mom and bickering children.

If you're interesting in further details or adventures...you know how to get a hold of me!