Meeting New Friends: CA Adventure

By far one of my most favorite things from this trip was Noah's interaction with the characters.  He literally jumped into the laps of every one that he met.  He flapped his arms with excitement and could hardly contain himself when it was finally his turn.

Luke was a little different story.  I wish I could have known what his thought process was about the whole thing.  Any time he got a chance to meet a character his first response was a resolute, "Nooooo!"  But if we would hold him and then take him over, Luke was fine and actually loved it.  He still talks about meeting 'Queen,' 'Meekee,' and 'Woodeee,' so I think he liked it.

Luke was actually the first one to meet a character.  While Noah, Grandma and Nate were riding Radiator Springs Racers, Red the Fire Truck parked and started taking pictures with people.

 Luke was really curious (we have the toy at home) to see Red so big.  And the staff was really sweet to give Luke his own little moment to check it all out.

 When the others finished the ride, we took a picture with everyone.

 We also caught up with Mater while in Cars Land.  Noah could not have been happier.  This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. 

I already shared Noah meeting Doug, but this is another cute one.  Noah was all laughs, and we were all smiles watching him. 

We were in line to meet Buzz, but Buzz's shift must have been done.  He was good enough to give high fives to all the kids waiting in line, but that wasn't good enough for Noah.  He jumped out of line and snuck in a hug too.

 Woody replaced Buzz, which was just as good.

 

 That Woody.  I sure love him for the memory he gave all of us as he interacted with Noah.

 They started with high fives,

 

then low fives,

 behind the back fives,

 through the leg fives,

 and finished it all with a hug.

 Noah giggled through the whole thing and couldn't have loved it more.

Day One: California Adventure

We all woke up with some serious Disney excitement.  After getting through the main gates we had to wait about ten minutes at the fountain for the park to really open.  Noah, who is usually a reasonably patient three year old, could hardly handle those ten minutes.  He just wanted to get started, even though he had no idea what to expect.

Once the crowd started moving we headed straight to Cars Land.

Grandma and Luke headed to the Radiator Springs Racers fast pass line and Nate and I took Noah to just try and get on the ride before the line got horribly long.  It turned out to be a great strategy.

Noah.  

That sweet kid was SO excited to be in Radiator Springs.  I should have counted how many times he started a sentence with, "Look Mom!"  He pointed out EVERYthing like it was his hometown and he was the tour guide.

 Radiator Springs Racers was the first roller coaster type ride he's ever been on.  He practically jumped out of his seat when we went in to the dark tunnel and Mack was right in front of him.  But he loved the ride.

In fact, he is still retelling that ride daily to just about anyone who will listen.

Cars Land was fun for all of us.

Luke kept a pretty serious face through all of the rides, and then proceeded to have enormous fits when they were over.  Translation: he LOVED it, didn't know quite what to make of it all, and was just ticked off when the fun ended.

 If we could have just gone back and forth all day between Radiator Springs Racers and Sarge's store Noah probably would have been happy.  That store has a LOT of fun stuff, including 'Darth Mater' (think Star Wars), which Noah came home with.

But we did move on.  Bugs Land got mixed reviews.  Noah didn't make it through the show.  That sensitive little soul got scared to death.  Lesson learned: my three year old is not ready for 3D. He also nearly threw up on the lady bugs.  :-)

But it's a fun place for little ones, and Luke screamed at the end of every ride.  I tried hard to convince him that there was more fun to be had on other rides, but he wouldn't have it sometimes.

While Nate and I tried out Tower of Terror (fun, but it's better at Disney World) Grandma and the boys found smoothies.

Noah was funny on the rides.  Even on the most tame, seemingly uneventful rides (like Monsters, Inc.) he'd say, "Can we get off this thing?" or "I'm ready to get out of here."  But at the end of every ride he talked about how much fun it was.  I think it was just getting used to so many of the rides being in the dark, because by the second day he wasn't saying those things.

Soarin' Over California is one of my favorite rides, so I was excited to share it with Nate and Noah.  I think we ended up squeezing in four rides on it by the end of our trip.

I didn't realize that the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail had an "Up" theme to it.  Had I known, I probably would have dug out Noah's Halloween costume from a few years ago.  How cute would he have looked in this picture...

wearing this?  It would have been so perfect!

Both boys really loved it there.

Noah and Nate did the ropes courses a few times.

Luke couldn't get enough of this slide.

 I think the only thing that kept us moving along was that is was really hot at that point in the day.

Paradise Pier was practically empty on one side.  There were no lines for The Little Mermaid, Golden Zephyr, or Jumping Jellyfish.

Maybe that's because everyone was waiting to go on Toy Story, which is totally worth the wait.  We loved it!

We should have bought this hat and just kept it for dress ups.  Both boys laughed like crazy when they were wearing it.

And when at Disney, one MUST partake of some Disney snacks, right?

Luke found his happy place at the carousel.

I don't know if it's riding on an animal or the up and down or the round and round, but that kid could not get enough carousel time.  Grandma hooked the boys up with a few extra rides while Nate and I rode California Screamin'. 

 We decided to come full circle for the day and have dinner at Flo's in Cars Land, mostly because we knew Noah would love to say that he ate there.  ("I ate at the real Flo's in Radiator Springs!")  On our way over there we got stopped at the most perfect time for the parade.

For this trip, I liked that we didn't worry much about show times and parades.  We just let the day happen and unfold.  But I'm so glad that this parade literally unfolded right in front of us.

 It was the perfect one to see for our guys who love so much of the Pixar world.

Flo's was good.  Cars Land at night was even better.

I just couldn't get enough of those neon lights.

 

Noah got in two more rides on Radiator Springs Racers, which finished off the day with 4 times.

I was glad the park closed at 8.  We were all worn out from a humid, immensely fun day.  But there was no debate about how late to stay out or how long we should try to push our kids to get in more rides.  It was time to head back to the hotel at a perfect time so we could be ready for another fun day.

That One Stop

When we decided to drive to Disneyland I knew I needed to stop first at Rose Hills Cemetery in Whittier.  Five years ago, one of my dearest college friends, Heather, passed away, and I hadn't been there since her burial. 

I figured if she were alive we would surely be having a big family dinner together that night.  All of our kids would be off playing somewhere, and we'd be reliving and remembering our single days at BYU.  Those were seriously fun years.

Heather was incredibly optimistic, super smart, a long distance runner, spiritual, hilarious and patient.  In those days of roommate drama I would get mad for her, because she just remained calm, when I thought that reaction was totally unreasonable.  :-)  She was just so, so good and so much fun to be with.

I think of Heather every day.  Her breast cancer diagnosis was scary.  It was only a very short time after she'd had her second baby, and the future was uncertain.  She fought through it, did everything possible to be healthy, and remission came.  But it was short-lived.  A year or so later cancer cells were found in her liver, bones and eventually brain. Heather was courageous in every sense of the word.  She did all that she could to have one more day with her kids. 

I flew to LA a few months before Heather's passing, because I could tell that time was short.  I'll never forget sitting in the care center with her, just the two of us.  She looked over at me, squeezed my hand and said, "I just want to be Hannah and Aaron's mom.  I don't want them to have another mom.  Why can't I just be their mom?"

We both cried.

It was heartbreaking.  I hadn't had children of my own yet, so I don't think I fully understood the magnitude of the suffering she was experiencing.

I get it now.

Heather is truly my inspiration for mothering and motherhood.  I definitely have times when patience is thin (like totally transparent) and my tone is sharp.  I'm working on it -- constantly.  But, in so many trying moments I think of Heather.  Whether it's being awakened for a few hours in the middle of the night by a coughing three year old, a toddler who is melting down for the fourth time in an hour, or a million other hard things, I know that Heather would have given anything to have had more of those experiences with her sweet kids.

It puts things in perspective that I am immensely blessed to be the one to love and nurture my boys, all day and even all night, if necessary.  Heather would have agreed to a lifetime of long, hard, patience trying, days as a mother if she could have just stayed with them.  And she would have flashed her signature smile though it all.  Every day, I try to smile through the challenges, just like I know Heather would have.

I love her.  Man alive, I'm so grateful that she's my friend.  Next time we're in LA I'll be back at Rose Hills.  It's the least I can do to show Heather how much gratitude I have for the many, many ways she inspires me to mother and love my family.

Heather's favorite quote: 

Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our 

love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows.

- Thomas S. Monson

Before the Fun Even Started

This was a road trip we have been looking forward to for weeks, and that's not just because the end destination was DISNEYLAND.  It was also because we were making an overnight stop to visit some of our most favorite people in Bakersfield.  I never get tired of seeing the boys with their cousins. 

 

(Thanks for the picture Annie.)

Before we even made it to Bakersfield, our car somehow found its way to Bass Pro Shop in Manteca,

followed by lunch at In N Out.

Luke was one happy guy to be trying a strawberry shake for the first time.

Sunday morning we went to church with the Birons, packed up and got to bring Grandma Shauna with us, who had already been visiting the cousins in Bakersfield.

We made one stop and then arrived at our hotel -- right across the street from the parks.  After getting settled, we wandered over to Downtown Disney and started to feel that fun, magical Disney energy.  It's just the best!

Dinner at the Rainforest Cafe was fun and delicious.

 The whole evening was just such a great beginning to our stay.

I surprised the boys with Mickey pajamas, which they loved.

 

 I can still hear Luke saying, "Mickey jammies! Mickey jammies!"

All of us could hardly wait for morning to roll around so we could get to Disneyland and start our fun there!