Best.Week.Ever! We made it to our California vacation!
Parker and Ella had a lot of firsts. Both first timers to Disneyland, California Adventures (actually that was a first for all 4 of us) First time touching the ocean and Parkers first airplane ride.
Day 1: Arrival
We got up at 4 am for an early flight so that we could have a full day in California. Good thing we were excited or it would have been an awful time to wake up. Parkers reaction to the planes taking off at the airport were priceless. He was so nervous. He got a window seat next to Ella and thought the whole flight was so fun. We laughed when he asked if us taxiing out was as fast as we would go.
We landed, got our car, got into our hotel and the first thing we did was of course went swimming. I even got in and played around (I hate pools!) But the other 3 love them. They spent hours swimming. We had dinner at In-n-out, went treat shopping and then headed to Downtown Disney. Parker was in a dream walking around the Lego Store. Ella was in a dream being at disney and shopping around.
Day 2: Newport Beach
This day was so so so much fun. I loved watching the kids be at the ocean for the very first time. I loved watching them have the time of their lives.
Also fun, watching Dustin in the water. He is a water baby and could spend days just playing in the waves. He has no fear and the bigger the wave, the more fun he had. No matter he got tossed around like a ragdoll- he loved it. Ella tried a couple waves and she was not a fan of being tossed around. She ended up staying on the shore and letting the waves wash over her ankles. Parker loved the sand and running from the waves. He did get knocked down a few times and thought it was hilarious but thought the water tasted "asgusting"
The beach was beautiful. We walked down the pier and looked back to the beach and waves and palm trees. It was overcast which was perfect! Not too hot, not too cold. After about 5 hours we headed to what my one request was this trip. A fresh seafood place to eat. We found a place called "Bear flag" Ella got sushi and I got my fresh shrimp taco. Dustin tried swordfish (good for him taking me here because he does NOT like seafood.) This moment was one I will always remember. We were messy from the beach, we sat outside with our yummy food by a fountain, a fresh breeze, and we were all together. The whole day was perfect.
Day 3: Disney!!!
Our one main goal this day was to get Parker signed up for Jedi Training. There are only a handful of spots and they fill up so fast. So we got to the park early, and seriously busted out running to the Star Wars launch pad to sign up. Thanks to Ella, we were 2nd in line! Parker got to be a Jedi for 30 minutes. He learned some light saber fighting moves while wearing his Jedi cloak. He got to practice his skills on Kylo Wren :) My sweet little boy got to actually live a real life scenario that he pretends every day at home. H was the cutest little Jedi we've ever seen.
Parker's favorite ride: Big Thunder Mountain and Star Tours, of course.
Ella's favorite ride: Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, Big Thunder mountain
I loved Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain
Dustin's favorite ride: Space Mountain
It seemed to be busy, but we still got on all the rides we wanted, many we got to do multiple times. We stayed until close and our feet were killing us all!
Day 4: California Adventure
This park was new to all of us. We had a new goal this day. Get to Radiator Springs for the Cars ride. Apparently this is the most popular ride there and the line builds up to hours long. We again ran, lol. But it was totally worth it. We got right on and by the time we got off, the line was an hour long. We all LOVED this ride! We ended up riding it two more times with fast passes.
We were really impressed with Parker. He rode all the big rides with us. He may have cried and whined, but he did it. The only ride we let him pass on was "incredicoaster" because honestly, it looked scary even to me. We got to ride all the big best rides 3 or more times.
Parker's favorite ride: Goofys fight school and cars
Ella's favorite ride: Soaring and cars and incredicoaster (no fear with this girl. She did incredicoaster 4 times)
I loved cars and soarin
Dustin's favorite ride: Soarin and Incredicoaster
To get Parker onto Guardians of the Galaxy (aka tower of terror) we said he would be watching a TV screen. He did not scream or cry at all on this ride. Afterwards he wondered why he would scream- we were just watching a TV screen that made you THINK you were going up and down. But according to him, we didn't move at all. Whatever makes him feel better I guess.
By the end of the night we could barely walk back to the hotel. Feet, calves, legs, thighs- they were all on fire. But it was all worth it.
Day 5: Departure
We were all so sad to leave. This time away was perfect. What I loved most was seeing my family have so much fun. I loved bonding with each one of them and seeing them all happy. I did cry the very last night because I was so grateful for the chance we got to go on our perfect family vacation.
