Downtown Disney: The Big Reveal

Last Fall Rob and I were talking about how much fun it was for our family when we went to Disneyland. I mentioned that Nate is getting older and won’t want to go on the kiddie rides much longer and how Madeleine is pretty much out of the princess phase. I convinced him that we should take the kids one more time before they grow out of this precious time of their life where fantasy and imagination is reality. You know, before the magic ends. It didn’t take much convincing :) We decided that if we could swing it we’d go again in the spring.

Since we didn’t know for quite a while if we’d be going, we kept it secret from the kids. Then once we knew, we decided to continue the secret and surprise them. It was so hard! We both slipped up a couple of times but they never caught on.

This year we also decided to invite Rob’s parents to come along. It was so fun doing Disney with kids so we thought it’d be great for them to have that experience with their grandkids. We also knew our kids would LOVE spending so much time with their Grandma and Grandpa Snow.

We told Nate and Madeleine that we were going to Phoenix (to account for the two days of driving). We weren’t sure how far we’d get before Nate read a road sign but the dvd player and iPad kept his eyes from wandering. We also made sure we didn’t stop at the same place we stopped on the way as last time.

Finally, we got to Anaheim. Rob and I were so nervous! We’d waited so long for this surprise! We drove straight to Downtown Disney but the entrance we went in last year was closed so we had to park and enter a different way, which I think threw off the kids. The reveal wasn’t spectacular. Maybe I could’ve amped it up by doing some grand gesture? Instead I tried to just get them to figure it out on their own. Haha. Oh, well. It was still fun. Link

So in Downtown Disney we wandered and played and ate dinner before we went to our hotel across the street. Fun stuff.

 

Nate’s car won, of course!

 

 

 

 

And here are a couple of pictures from my phone that I forgot to put in my last post. This was Barstow on the way down. Admittedly, I was frustrated. I had originally wanted to go to California in February when it was miserably cold here in Utah and 80 degrees down there. Instead, we waited until May so that we’d be sure to have great weather, especially for the beach. Well, we got out of the car in Barstow and it was cold and windy. The last thing I wanted to do while in the desert was wear a jacket! I had been FREEZING for the last 6 months, after all! Ironically, back home it was 90 degrees. Blah.

 

Day in Laguna Beach

(Yes. This post is out of order. I’ll catch up on the other vacation posts later).

After 4 days of “amusement” we really needed some relax and play-in-the-sun time. This year we decided to try out Laguna Beach. I don’t remember ever visiting this area before so it was fun to see someplace new. The town is cute with easy access to the beach. First we stopped at a shop next door for supplies and then we used them! For some reason Cara decided she wouldn’t wear her bathing suit.

We soaked in the sun, enjoyed the view, people-watched, snacked, and played.

 

Sand got everywhere, of course.

After 3 hours, we still didn’t want to leave so we moved the car and extended our stay for another two. This night we picked up dinner and ate it in our hotel room in Mission Viejo. It was a great day.

Side Note: I used to worry about my very pale skin. As a teenager I’d lay out for days in my friend’s backyard rubbing baby oil repeatedly over me hoping that it would do the trick. Nope. I tried tanning beds once or twice. I hated it. Skin cancer runs in my family and it’s not pretty. I’ve tried the tanning lotions and they just look stupid and fake. My last option was to try the spray tanning at salons but I decided, “You know what? I just don’t care that much anymore.” I look the way I look and it’s just not worth it to me to stress about it. People may stare (and sometimes they do) but whatever. Even though I’m from Southern California I’ll never look like I am and that’s fine. So now I let myself get a few minutes tops of sun before I slather on the spf 1,000,000+ (or as high as I can get my hands on). I do the same for my family. PS: Remember a few years ago how FAR fake tanning went? Especially in Hollywood? Those people looked so orange and strange. I’m glad the trend has come away from that somewhat. Who knows, maybe in a few more years glowing white will be the new trend.

Arriving & Departing Las Vegas

We had a nice drive down to Las Vegas. We ate a picnic lunch at our favorite stopping point in Cedar City, Discovery Park.

We stayed in North Las Vegas. The first thing we did was go swimming. It felt so good to be in the warm southern sun! The kids are getting more comfortable in water. For dinner we utilized Yelp and went to Old School Pizzeria. It was really good, priced really well, and very kid friendly. It gets our recommendation!

Bob and Gail rented a Suburban so we ditched our car at a relative’s house in Vegas and drove the rest of the way to/from California with them. It was a pretty nice ride with two dvd screens. We hardly heard a thing from the kids and Rob and I got to read, play games, and sleep the whole way. It was really convenient to drive together and worry about parking for only one vehicle plus we also got to save on gas. Not bad!

When we were driving back to Las Vegas we had a late start and a long shopping stopover in Barstow so it got a little rough getting in to the hotel late but we made it. I was feeling pretty bad with a cold and sinus pressure made worse by the elevation change.

The next morning everyone else went swimming while I packed up. Rob got our car and we were off back home.

Here is a video we took on one of the mornings. It’s a balloon launch. Rob’s dad started this tradition when Rob was a kid. For birthdays, graduations, etc. they launch a bunch of balloons in the air with a postcard attached. The hope is that someone will find it and mail it back to them. It has actually happened a couple of times! We didn’t fully prepare Cara for what we were doing so she wasn’t too happy that we let her balloon go; it’s just that they wouldn’t fit in the car! Video Link

Madeleine’s 5th

Madeleine had such a fun birthday this year. She invited tons of friends to her party and they rocked it!

During the planning stages, Madeleine changed her theme a few times. First, she was dead set on Hello Kitty. Then it was Periwinkle (from the new Tinkerbell movie). I don’t remember the next one but she finally decided on ponies. We were pretty late in the game by this point so I sent out pony invites but the party itself wasn’t really themed. Not that she noticed or cared.

After dancing, we did play-doh.

Then we had cupcakes and ice cream. I thought the cupcakes were cute. She insisted on having cotton candy for her treat so I saw this idea on Pinterest to top the cupcake with a ball of it and it looked just like a truffula tree (from the Lorax).

Gifts were opened. Actually, gifts upon gifts were opened. I guess that’s what happens when you have so many guests! She loved them all!

Next we did makeup and a hair accessory.

Then went outside to blow bubbles and fly her new Periwinkle toy.

I meant to have us send Thank You cards to everyone but I never got them out. So here’s a belated, lazy, yet completely sincere Thank You to you all!!!

ps. Parents of girls at the party are welcome to see more pics and videos here.