We rented a giant 12-seater van for the equally long trip down to Disneyland (kinda necessary with 11 people in tow!) and the boys thought it was the coolest car EVER. We must have spent a good 15 minutes just exploring it before we even left on our trip, which is a long time for such little guys. This was my attempt at a family selfie lol.
Max sitting patiently in the car at our first snack stop....a whole three minutes down the road lol.
Our first day at Disneyland! It's not a very good picture of the boys, but a necessary one to add because it helps me explain my kids' new obsession with Toy Story (or at least the aliens anyway). This was the Buzz's Astro Blaster ride (practically our first ride too), and after going on, we didn't hear the end of it about the "cool aliens". Ironically, we had purchased them each a small stuffed animal of the aliens from Walmart before the trip, so they were absolutely ecstatic when we pulled them out that night! It took a great deal of convincing to separate them from their aliens at any point during the rest of the trip; thankfully they made it home safe and sound.
The minute I saw these ears at the park, I just KNEW the boys had to have them! That was their big souvenir this year, because it was something ridiculous like 45 bucks after getting them engraved, but totally worth it in my book. They ought to last for years, assuming I don't let the boys play with them all that much lol. Jayson loved wearing his ears around the park (probably because all of his cousins had ones like it) but Max flat out refused. Ah well, maybe next time, because they will fit him for at least a couple more years.
Day two at Disneyland! We all wore some version of matching Disney shirts, so of course I needed to get a picture. This might be my favorite picture from the whole vacation, thanks to Max! We told the boys to say cheese, and this is what resulted. What hams :]
Right after riding the Radiator Springs car ride. Jayson was JUST tall enough with shoes on to ride all the 40 inch rides. He was a big fat chicken and refused to go on most of them, but at least he had the option, right? Oh and please ignore how awful I look in this picture lol.
Daddy and Max on Luigi's Flying Tires. We were all going to go on it, but someone *cough cough Jayson* decided he couldn't hold it any longer so we had to get out of line. Oh well, better than having an accident (which we pretty much avoided all vacation, much to my relief). I wish Disneyland had some kind of pass for little kids that have to get out of line for that reason, kind of like the parent rider switch.....just food for thought.
Jayson was dying to see Lightning in person.....until his engine growled loudly, right before it was our turn to take a picture. Then he wanted nothing to do with the situation. I of course insisted on getting the photo op after waiting in line, hence the unhappy looking kids. Gotta do what you gotta do sometimes right?
None of the kid boys wanted to go on Tower of Terror, so I stayed behind with them and took some pictures :]
Gotta get the token asleep-in-the-stroller picture every year....apparently waiting for people to get off of the rides was far too boring haha. Although last year's asleep picture was before we even got into Disneyland on the first day, so he made it a little bit farther this time haha.
Also have to get a picture of just Sam and I together every year. Last year's may have been a little more fancy (at the Blue Bayou) but we still had fun with this one (on the carousel).
On our last day at Disney, we had the pleasure of attending their special Halloween party (for a not-so-small fee lol). It was AWESOME just in case you were wondering. The kids obviously wore their costumes and had a blast doing so. Jayson was Woody this year, and one of his cousins (Bridgett) was Jessie, which worked out really well. We may not have gone all out for his costume, but I think people got the point.
We attempted to make Max Goofy, but he was not all that into the whole costume wearing thing this year. The hat stayed on for all of five seconds I think. It was adorable for the short time it lasted though :]
Couldn't resist posting this because of Jayson's "pirate face". Silly boy!
All of my sister's kids decked out in their Halloween costumes.
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We decided to try visiting some of the characters while other people in our party went on Splash Mountain. Jayson did better this year (he at least wasn't ridiculously afraid of them) but Max blew us away. He LOVED LOVED LOVED the characters, especially Tigger. He made this little game with them where he would run up and touch them, then run away, over and over. We talked him into giving them kisses near the end too, and it was SO adorable! I wish we knew how much he liked the characters on the first day so we could have visited more.
Sam FINALLY talked Jayson into going on Splash Mountain. Not really sure if he liked it, but at least they got a nice picture on the ride at one point.
This was actually not on vacation (it was on Halloween night) but I couldn't resist posting it because it was such a funny picture to me--particularly because Jayson hardly ever sleeps in the car anymore.
And there you have it, my abridged version of vacation. Seriously already looking forward to taking another one lol. Guess we kind of get to take a tiny mini-vacation this coming weekend in Boise, because I'm interviewing for a job :] I'm super excited about the prospect, but will post about it next time when I know more of what's going on. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
