Disleeland (according to Clara and Gray)

I'm still not sure how we ever got up the courage, but in October we went to Disneyland.  I love Disneyland, i really do.  But I don't love tired kids or pushing strollers through crowded places or long lines of people every where you look or  paying a billion dollars for a vacation.  But - we did it.  And Clara and Grady looooved it.  B had enough sky miles saved up that we could all fly for free (which is half of the adventure when you are 4 and 5) and we found a place with a fridge and microwave and a separate room for the kids to sleep in, so - it all worked out pretty well.  I knew that with another baby on the way it would be a long time before we would dare brave it again, so we sucked it up and planned the trip.  It wasn't my favorite vacation we've ever had (Disneyland is soo much work) but I think it was worth it. Even little Graham did pretty good - and so did I once I figured out I should let everyone else sleep in the bedroom and I would sleep in the peace and quiet of the family room on the pull out bed.  I was surprised how much I would learn about my kids in 3 days at disneyland.  Clara was amazingly adventurous!  She loved California Screamin' and Splash Mountain.  What a girl!  And Grady was so terrified on Pirates of the Carribean that he was almost in tears, and I think he was in tears on the nemo submarine ride.  Before we left home we had watched a video of Splash Mountain (the first part, not the end part) and they both wanted to go on it so bad.  I figured Gray would change his mind pretty quick, but he held his resolve and I about peed my pants when they put the two of us in the very front seat - with Gray in the very front! The picture at the end showed little Grady with a look of complete terror on his face and me holding on to him so tight my veins in my arms were popping out.   I'm not sure if I've ever been more proud of that kid than I was in the minute we came walking out, soaking wet with huge smiles on our faces.  He was so brave!  Clara's favorite ride was pirates and Grays was for sure the new cars ride. The weather was perfect and I don't think things could have gone any smoother - very few melt downs, not too many missed naps and happy kids.

I was a pretty proud Mama right then - too bad you can't see how soaked we were!

The new cars land is amazing!  It looks like you're walking around southern utah and the cars drive around with their little animated eyes looking and talking with the kids - the ride is amazing, one of my new favorites.

Such a happy little monkey:)

We told Clara and Grady to think hard about what fun treat they wanted while we were there, because we were only getting one!  On the last day they decided they wanted a big sundae from Clara Belle's ice cream parlor of course.   It was huge and pretty tasty - and they were way more excited about that sundae than they would have been had we let them have all the treats they wanted while we were there, so it was a pretty good trade off!

These were their prizes for the trip they chose at the very last minute before we had to leave on our last night there.  Such tough decisions!  What lucky kids!