First of all, I plan on having some pictures up on facebook soon. Well, soonish. Alan has the cable to download them, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow. He works late tonight. Also, I don't have any pictures of the lake portion of our vacation. My camera's batteries died, and there wasn't a store close enough to get any.
Our vacation at the lake was really nice. We stayed on the eastern side, and there were hardly any other people around. Thus, our kids were able to play in a very secluded area, and we didn't have to worry about them annoying other people. We had some spectacular thunderstorms on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, but other than that, it was nice and sunny.
We headed to my dad's house on Friday morning. We arrived there in time for showers and to throw a load of laundry in his washing machine before we went to the theater for a matinee of "Noises Off!" Very funny!!! The kids slept through it, though, as camping really wore them out! That evening we went to a birthday dinner with my brother and his family and then to see "The Music Man" which was fantastic!
Saturday morning, we began our trek to Anaheim via Primm, Nevada. Our first stop was at the outlet stores in St. George, Utah, for my hubby to find some shoes and shorts for
Disneyland. I told him it was stupid to buy new shoes and not have them broken in for all the walking we were going to do, but he wouldn't listen to me. Oh well, he paid for it in the end. A few hours later, purchases in hand, we were on our way. We stopped again, in Las Vegas, at the Disney outlet store. I was hoping to find some autograph books, but no luck. The kids did find some hats, so I was ok with that. After that, it was on to Primm to meet up with my sister and her family, my second brother and his family and my dad. We got checked into our hotel (after waiting in the check in line for 1 hour... no exaggeration), and then grabbed some McDonald's to eat in the room before bed. We settled into our beds, and watched some Harry Potter while going to sleep.
We were up bright and early to finish our trek to Anaheim. We left Primm at 7:00, and drove over the Sierra Nevadas through the worst thunderstorm I've ever seen! It was blinding. However, it ended as we descended into the valley. We arrived at our hotel in Anaheim (Park Vue Inn, across from Disneyland), at 11:00 and met up with my first brother and his family. We quickly loaded up Timothy's stroller with bottles of water, snacks and sunscreen and walked across the street to the main gate of Disneyland! We had an amazing time that first afternoon, even though it was terribly hot. We rode several rides, even though the crowds were terribly high. We just ignored Tomorrowland, and spent our time in Critter Country, New Orleans Square and Frontierland. My twins were able to conquer their fears of Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and Big Thunder Mountain that day. I had offered the kids a reward for riding all the rides that they were big enough to go on, and they really wanted it, so fears were laid to rest. After checking in to the hotel at 2:00, we rested for a couple of hours, and then went back to the park to use our fast passes for Indiana Jones. Great ride!! We did a few more small rides (for Timothy and his cousins Paxton and Cooper), and then headed back to the hotel to sit on the breakfast patio and watch the fireworks. Nice!!!
The next few days followed the same pattern: Disneyland by opening, back to the hotel by 1:00 for swimming, lunch and naps, California Adventure at 5:00 with some hopping back to Disneyland. We went on the new Star Tours more times than I thought we'd be able to in the 5 days we were there, and never had a completely identical tour. There were several elements that were the same in the rides, but each ride was different. Jacob was chosen as the rebel spy once, and Mary was as well. A couple of the other cousins had turns as the rebel spy, too, and that made their trip!
Timothy absolutely loved Flik's Fun Fair! He went on every ride there multiple times. His favorite was Tuck and Roll's bumper cars. Luckily, he had a never ending line of cousins that were willing to go with him and drive him around. He also loved Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. He even managed a respectable score for a 2 year old! I was really looking forward to him going on Toy Story Midway Mania, but the heat got to him, and he began throwing up in line. Alan took him out and back to the hotel. Lucky me, I got to deal with standing in line waiting for a CM to clean the mess up!
We had breakfast one morning at the Plaza Inn with Minnie and Friends. This was one of the highlights of the trip! The kids got to see so many characters! They all loved it, from the oldest (19) to the youngest (2 months). My dad just sat back and enjoyed watching the fun! Timothy got to meet Pooh Bear and Tigger, and you'd have thought he was meeting a rock star, he was that excited! He just kept hugging them and giving them high 5's!
I got to spend an entire afternoon alone with my dad while Alan took the kids to the beach! Dad and I didn't want to go, so we had lunch at the Plaza Inn, and then did some shopping at Downtown Disney. It was so much fun! We didn't buy a lot that day, but spent some real quality time talking and being together! I forget that my dad is 80, since he acts like he's about 50, but when I saw the heat getting to him, we quickly got a diet Coke and made our way back to the hotel to put our feet up in air conditioning and rest!
The last afternoon, my dad and I took Katie and my niece, Marina for a shopping trip. We shopped up and down Main Street, and ended up in the ice cream parlor for root beer floats. Actually we had 2 Coke floats, 1 orange float and 1 root beer float. This has become a tradition on the last day, and we all look forward to it! Afterwards, we went to Downtown Disney, and did our real shopping there. We found some wonderful stuff, and since dad had coupons for 20% off, we made out like bandits!
We all picked up a nasty virus while we were there. My BIL started us out, and it just kind of worked it's way through us all. I think we're getting over it, although Jacob is down today. It has been nasty!!! Think, flat on your back for at least 3 days! Ick!!! Luckily, my dad has been spared! That was the only downside to the whole trip! The night before we came home, Leslie came down with a fever that was so high! We ended up having to stop on the way home and take her to an urgent care clinic. She had the virus plus a double ear infection. One shot in the butt later, and we were on our way home. By the time we made it home, Alan was down with aches, chills, fever, bronchitis and general ickiness!
I feel badly that we weren't able to go to World of Color while we were there, but with the amount of little people we had, it just didn't make sense. Most of them wouldn't have been able to see most of it, so we just didn't even consider it. That was my only real regret of the trip. The rest of it was great fun, even if it was really hot! Dad agreed that it's back to June for us! No more August!!!
This was a trip of independence for Katie! She and my niece spent a lot of time together, on their own in Disneyland, etc. We kept in contact through cell phones, but they had a great time on their own. They did Fantasmic together, and rode many rides that the little ones didn't want to. It was a fun thing, and they've decided to make it a tradition.
Anyway, that's our trip, in a nutshell. I didn't take trip notes, so I can't tell you what we rode, when, but we rode all our favorites, and bypassed those we don't like. Crowds were terrible on Sunday, Monday and the first part of Tuesday. However, by Tuesday afternoon, they had thinned out considerably, and the last couple of days were really sparse! Nice for us!!!
I'm glad to be back, even though it means that school is right around the corner. Now, I just have to dream about another trip to Disney. I'm trying to get Alan to agree to a solo trip in the Spring, but we'll see about it.
And I have to say I handled it pretty well, no feeling like I needed to follow her. 
I'll have to do it for me or make some without the brown sugar.
Wow that sounds like a jam-packed vacation! Must have been wonderful to spend time with your Dad & the rest of the family! Other than the virus, it had to be a great time. 
She finally sees the dr. tomorrow for her recheck. 
but then I love them & get over it! 
I hope your DH is back to normal tomorrow! 
and Kady crawled out of here. She earned the $10.00 that I had decided to give her if she played nicely with the girls. Buddy took one look at me and sent me into the shower and I did not argue. I forgot how fast those little girls were........there is water in my couch, chips hiding everywhere, blockades still up, and my floor will never be the same 
But when Nola begged her mom "Don't take me home" it was all worth it 
I love my girls!
It was a big ole centipede 
. I totally hate those things. After that I was totally icked and couldn't sleep. 
. I told him that makes for a successful relationship when the male or other special person kills the bugs and catches the mice.
He was not excited about that addition. He says he will capture the ants but draws the line with multiple legs and furry faces.
I fear my son with be living with me forever 
I just got a call last night from the lead speech pathologist, and during our large district meeting on Monday, we're all going to dress up like biker chicks. 
to everyone else!
.......yes,crazy is as Lauren does !! 
And I want to take up drinking.
