Disnextravaganza Day 2

We woke up with a character breakfast. My most Disney-savvy friends told me it was worth it and they were right. Spending some money to see all the characters up close, instead of waiting in lines for it? Yep, worth it. Ellie was over the moon, but the rest of us liked it too. Gotta love Mickey-shaped waffles.

A five for each twin.

After this high five oppotunity, Ellie followed Winnie to the next table. And the next table. And the next table. She was a fan.

Bones, Chip.

I love Lincoln's face. "Mom, are you sure we should be fraternizing with this guy? He seems suspicious."

I'm pretty excited about this twin photo. Chip and Michael had quite the rapport.

 Chloe met Cruella and told her that she had a yellow lab. Cruella asked what his name was and then declared, "Ah, Ollie the handbag!"

 We took a try with the sword. Brynn was particularly interested to hear that Michael had pulled the sword as a child. While we waited for the Peter Pan ride, Brynn kept asking if we could go to back to the sword so Michael could show us how to do it. How lucky is Michael though? He actually pulled the sword!

The girls went to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. It was kind of amazing. I think I would volunteer for this job if I had a Disney career aspiration - I especially like the glitter sprinkling at the end. 

There was some trepidation, on these young faces at first. Love Brynn's side-eyes. 

 I think they started to get used to the treatment though. 

She seems pretty happy with the final product.  

Look at this little peanut beauty queen.

When they were finished, the magical singing birds opened the curtains for the big reveal. It was pretty cute.

Love these princesses in their sneakers. Morgan went with Michael for some Jedi training, since he was a little too old and a little too male for the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique.

 The padawan approaches. 

Facing Darth Maul. Go Master Morgan!

We tea-cupped and then I put my camera away, which is probably a relief to my blog readers (thanks Mom and Dad, for reading my blog).

Notice how still they are?

Action shot --according to Michael, the spectator, they were going insanely fast. 

You'll notice that our picture is not quite as blurry, although we were spinning it up.

  

Love that Ellie action shot. She's hilarious.

I loved this trip. We should travel more, team.

Disnextravaganza Day 1

It was so. much. fun. That's it in a gist. I was so impressed with the trip that Jen put together. I will travel with her anywhere. We've been home for a few weeks, but if you asked me if I would go again...I would. Tomorrow I've never been that "Disney" person, although I may be converting. Pretty soon I'll be that guy. You know, that guy. The one who goes to the park more that four times a week and tells random highschoolers that they should reach out during the first few feet of Space Mountain because, since they never clean that ride, you can feel the "space dust." That guy. Met him in 2005.

Fair warning: these pictures are in no way connected -- I took out my camera about once an hour and took three to six photos, which I will now share with you.

Chloe had a churro within the first hour. Brynn, too, thought that a churro was an excellent choice for her hard

-earned chore money. It was fun to watch them spend their money. I've got to work on taking more pure pleasure in spending money.

I really enjoyed California Adventure on our first day. It was ride-focused, so we ran from one to the next, following Jen's intrepid app that planned out our day and updated it in real time. I think this left room for the next day to be magical and exciting for different reasons.

We fillled a boat and went for the rapids. Thanks to the Disney Fairy who brought us ponchos the previous night.

 

Seth, proving that only real men wear Minnie ponchos.

This is clearly Morgan's first rapids ride, since he elected to sit near the stairs. He learned.

Party over here! The grandparents are cool and collected.

The granddaughters look a bit nervous. And a bit beautiful. I put the camera away after this and worked on securing my poncho.

Cars land was pretty impressive. I liked the general feel of it--couldn't believe how big it was--and all the little rides that were perfect for the babies. They were tall enough if they wore their high top shoes, ha ha. Here we all are on Luigi's Flying Tires. This really was one of my favorites and I love the pictures below. The thing about traveling with twelve people is you have quite the majority on most rides.

My tire buddy. We were kind of excited. In other news, my phone struggles, but the big kid camera took some great pictures of the rest to the crew.

 Love the flying hair and Lincoln in his high tops.

 The Michael/Morgan tire was perhaps the least successful. I blame the eldest driver. He never was good at air hockey.

Action shot! Brynn was screaming and clapping during Grandma Becky's attack.

It was always a contest to see who could ride with Ryder. 

Cars land also had a party of the dance variety. Brynn was the first one on the dance floor and the last to leave it.

Love this picture. Notice Brynn rocking out in the background.

 We hopped on the Mater ride. Not sure what it was called. Mater's Magic Ride. Mater's Mayhem. Mater's Motors. I could google it. Wait--It's Mater's Junkyard Jamboree? That's only mildly alliterative. I should ride a letter with my suggestions.

 One of my favorite pictures. Love them.

I clearly missed the perfect picture, but I still love this one. Go Clo.

We ended the day with a parade sighting and the Tower of Terror. I loved going on the ride with Brynn. Jen had shown the kids youtube videos of the rides and talked about what to expect and how they did the special effects. Brynn especially had studied the video for the Tower of Terror. While we waited in line, she explained to me that there were some simulated ghosts, made with lights, and how the windows would open at the top. Brynn: confronting fear with knowledge. You go girl.

Here are a few fuzzy parade photos and three nieces in a big bucket of fake fish.

If you click on this picture, you won't be disappointed by Brynn's pose.

 The crew.

Look at these two cuties. Also, palm trees. Sigh.

Activities for a Rainy Day

Rainy days inspire tea and books, warm quilts and cuddling with cats. So, naturally when faced with a rainy day, we borrowed some towels, cheap plastic toys, and headed to the beach. When in Rome Southern California, right?

I'm pretty sure the hotel crew thought we were joking when we inquired about surrey bike rentals. The valets were standing under umbrellas in the parking lot, while the kids smiled up at them in their flip flops and swim gear and asked for some beach towels. It really was raining, but rainy weather that is still above 60 degrees, felt better to me than the 30 degrees at home.

Seth was the first in the water at Dana Point.

Who could tire from the "run from the waves" game?

I loved spending time with Morgan on this trip. I had a (mildly overwhelming) solo babysitting gig later on the trip while others ran errands during which Morgan put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Sometimes the babies cry--it's not your fault." When Ellie had a mild breakdown (because she couldn't reach a towel...?), Morgan sat in front of her and said "deep breath, just relax," and little Ellebell took a shuttering breath and suddenly her tantrum was over. There is something special about this big brother. He genuinely loves his siblings and, I think, spends a lot of his time around good parenting. He brings fun and kindness into every situation. Thanks for babysitting me, Morgan--I learned a lot.

This sand adventurer ended up sitting with me and singing Little Mermaid songs pretty quickly, but she got some running in first.

A family hunting for driftwood. They caught one, but ended up releasing it.

Later that night, the twins invented this hilarious office chair game. What did I say about their big brother? Such a good sport.

Yay for a rainy beach day!