Disneyland Tips

#1: You can get a package deal for tickets and hotel room through Get Away Today and they are really awesome. But you'll probably be able to get cheaper rooms yourself if you call around. I found this Awesome Map of the area around Disneyland. It shows the hotels and restaurants.

#2: We have decided to save up to go again next year. And we told the kids they'll need to save half the price of their tickets. We're planning on giving them some money for birthdays and Christmas....not that money will be their only presents, but probably a large part of their haul. We have so many toys and stuff in our house. I'd rather give them brilliant memories than just more stuff.

#3: Souvenirs. Oy! They're expensive in the Disney stores. But if you're looking for something fun and cheap, the stores and some of the rides have those penny-smashing machines. You can even get a paper that tells you where they all are and what pictures you can get on them at each. We made a whole bunch of them and we're planning on drilling holes in them to make them into necklaces. I'm going to make a charm bracelet for me.

#4: I mentioned this in the my last post, but if you can swing it, four days was a great amount of time. And if you can go a couple days and then take a day off to catch your breath and then do the next two days, I think that's the way to do it. Your tickets are good for two weeks. You don't have to use them consecutively. Which I had no idea until we were towards the end of our trip!

#5: Fastpasses are the way to go. Why don't more people use them? You'll see these super long lines of people waiting for a ride with fastpasses and I just don't get it. Use the fastpasses, people.

#6: For the rides without fastpasses that get long lines, hit those first. Like Toy Story Midway Mania in California Adventure. We rode that first thing on the two days we went there. And even then the line was still a bit long. It's crazy popular and there's no way I'd wait until the middle of the day to try to ride it.

#7: If you're going to have a Magic Morning pass, you might want to wait to do Fantasyland or Tomorrowland that morning. Or maybe not...because those are the only lands open for the Magic Morning (I think!) and so all the people are there.

#8: It's not all about the rides. Go see Aladdin over in California Adventure. It's amazing! The genie is so funny. And our family is still quoting lines from the show. We loved it! Also, the 3D Muppetvision show is really great. We laughed through the whole thing. Make sure you catch some of the shows. They're a nice break from the lines. Maybe you'll want to save them for the busier days or parts of the days. We were there Tuesday through Friday. Tuesday and Wednesday the lines were so short! But the park started to get busier towards the weekend.

#9: If you're taking a little girl with you who loves to dress-up like a princess, make sure you pack your own dresses and crowns. The park is full of little girls dressed up as Aurora, Cinderella, Ariel, etc. If you wait to buy something there you're going to shell out $65 for a dress. Crazy, right? Either make your own, buy an inexpensive one on-line or Wal-mart, or use some dress-ups you already have kicking around your house. Or if your little one doesn't care about dressing up...don't worry about it!

#10: Everyone has Mickey ears. They're everywhere! BUT they're also $17. What? These things are so easily made. Disneyland do you really have to charge that much?! Luckily, with a little planning, you could probably find some better priced on ebay or just make your own. Here's a very cool tutorial to make your own Mickey ears headband. And you don't have to keep them traditional! You could use pink sequined fabric, add a big pink bow and some feathers and have some One of a Kind ears!

#11: Speaking of making things, check out this awesome tutorial for making a really neat Minnie or Mickey necklace. If I'd had time, I would have made one for Zoe (next year!)

#12: The food in the park is expensive. EXPENSIVE! I calculated it would've cost us somewhere between $40 and $50 for a hot dog meal. Hot dogs, people! That was not what we wanted to spend our money on. So, we packed it all in. Although next time we'll have to get more creative. As it was, we did chicken salad sandwiches for lunch and then pb&j sandwiches for dinner. We threw in snacks, crackers, chips, drinks, etc. Sure the kids were getting a bit tired of sandwiches by the end of the trip, but they understood we just couldn't afford to eat at the restaurants. There are some restaurants outside of the park and nearby...like McDonalds and IHOP. Also, we could've gone back to our hotel and made dinner or eaten the free dinner/snack thing they had at night. But we would have had to ride the bus back and that's time away from the park. So, we decided to bring it all in.

#13: Make matching shirts before you go! Fun, right? I used this idea for our Mickey shirts.  These tie-dyed Mickey shirts are also very cool.

The Happiest Place on Earth

We finally took our kids to Disneyland. And it was super crazy amazing! We had a blast. And we're already planning to go again next year. 

We wanted to do some geocaching on the trip, on the way, to break
it up a bit. But we only took time for one. It was the world's largest thermometer.
Our road trips are pretty exciting, right?

They had to try out the pool. Even though it was a bit chilly!

Yay! We managed to get our picture taken with that famous mouse. 

Love these girls.

The kids loved the monorail. It was great to see so much of the park all at once.

As you can see, Ryan kind of got into this ride.
And Molly was his navigator. She loved spinning the car around!

Zoe, you make those 3D glasses look good, girl!

I'm not sure how obvious it is... but Emmett and Sam loved riding the California Screamin' roller coaster....because it's not like their expressions give it away, right? 

That is one awesome husband I have. Yep.
I definitely won the Best Husband Lottery.

This is us riding the Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel.
Neither Weston nor I are fans of ferris wheels. They just give you
too much time to contemplate your possible demise. But everyone
else loved it!

We had such a great time. We laughed and chatted and held hands and ate all our meals together. We watched shows and rode rides and swam. I know trips like these are expensive, but they're totally worth it. It's such a great bonding experience for a family! And we built some really really amazing memories.

We went for four days and I think it was the perfect amount of time. Although we were exhausted by the end of it! I think the best way to do it would be to go for two days, take a break and hang out at the pool, do some shopping or hit the beach and then do the next two days. But still, we had a blast. We saw the World of Color show, Fantasmic, Aladdin, The Muppetvision 3D movie (twice), Captain EO (oh! That was a trip down memory lane!), enjoyed the Inoventions building and the Mickey parade. And then the rides....let's see if I can name some of them...

Space Mountain, Finding Nemo, Autopia, Star Tours, Astroblasters, Dumbo, Peter Pan's Magic Flight, Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Storyland Boat ride, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, the Jungle Cruise, Indian Jones, Monorail, train ride, It's a Small World, Magic Teacups, California Screamin', Soarin' Over  California, Tower of Terror (which my 4 yo LOVED!), Silly Symphony Swings, Toy Story Mania, Golden Zephyr, Goofy's Flight School, Ariel's Undersea Adventures, two carousels, Grizzley River Rapids, Mickey's Ferris Wheel and and and....so many more! Disneyland Rocks.

Molly was very excited to meet Minnie Mouse. And we thought that fake street in California Adventure was very cool.

Dang it. I guess none of the kids are King Arthur. I was really hoping...

 The highlight of the trip for Zoe had to be meeting so many princesses. She got to twirl and curtsy with Cinderella. She met Ariel, Tiana and Rapunzel. And she even got to hug Eugene! He said to her, "Hey, I recognize that dress. Come here, Blondie." So cute!

Molly was also excited to meet princesses. We watched Mickey's Soundsational Parade and when the float full of princesses came by, Molly waved like crazy. And the look on her face was priceless.  On the front of the float were three of them and then when it passed us there were three more. She was thrilled to see them so many of them!

The Queen of Hearts was trying to get Sam to bow to her, but we weren't quite sure what she wanted at first. But he finally figured it out and made her happy.....um...I guess. It's hard to tell since she looks a bit scary to begin with!

And see that hat he's wearing? It's a Beaker snow hat. He got that for free! The customer service at  Disneyland is crazy great. Sam wanted a Beaker doll but I made him wait to the end of our last day to get one because he kept changing his mind about what he wanted to spend his money on. Well, we ran over to the booth at California Adventure to snag it before the park closed but the booth was already closed! Ack! He felt horrible. So, I went into another shop and explained and they made a phone call and then said they'd gift the doll to him. But then the store had run out! So, they gave him the hat. Nice, right?

He still felt so bad. When we were back in Disneyland I was in another shop and saw a manager passing by. I thought I'd ask him if there were any stores over there that sold Beaker dolls. I had seen some of the same souvenirs sold in multiple shops. I figured it was worth a shot. But there weren't. HOWEVER, he said they'd send Beaker to us and asked for our address. I told him we'd already gotten a hat, but he said something like, "Well, you've got to have Beaker." Awesome, right? Sam is now checking the mail every day.

What a great week! And hopefully I'll get a chance to write up some tips and tricks I learned from this trip soon. So, stay tuned!

Family History Night

Yesterday we had to make a trip to St. George for a doctor's appointment for one of our kids, so we decided to take all the kids a long and make a day of it. Ryan and I went and did some temple work with Weston while my parents watched the rest of the kids. It was really nice spending one on one time with him. He chatted about his friends and school and his plan for getting an Ipod (he's been saving up the money and he's almost there....actually he has enough money but we told him he has to get two merit badges for scouts before he can get it).

We had lunch in the temple cafeteria afterwards. Mmmmmm, roast beef for Weston and Hawaiian Haystacks for Ryan and I. Then we raced back to my parent's house to drop Weston off and pick Emmett up for his Dr. appointment. After we got that taken care of we went back to my parent's and had the rest of the day to hang out and chat.

My mom made her famous (to us!) Beans Chalupa. Oh, my. It's so so yummy. I need to get her recipe....I mean, how do I not have this already? I don't know.

We played a bit of hide n seek with the kids in their backyard.

My dad brought out some homemade raisins he dried himself. The kids gobbled them up!

 

And then it was time for a Friday Night Family Home Evening.  A couple weeks ago Ryan mentioned how he thought it would be cool to do some genealogy nights with each of our parents and have them talk about their families, what life was like when they were kids, etc.

So, we asked if my mom and dad would be willing and they were game. I'm so glad Ryan thought this up because it was really fun. They got out photo albums and talked and shared stories.

My Mom shared a bit of what it was like growing up in Star Valley, Wyoming. She showed us the pictures of our ancestors who first came to America from Liverpool, England. She talked about her dad being a kid during the Great Depression. He came from a family with 14 kids (wow, right?!) and sometimes all they had for dinner was a piece of white bread with water on it and sugar. So sad and so hard to imagine life being that hard.

My Dad talked about his ancestors and how they came over from the Isle of Man. My great great (and then some) grandfather was George Cannon. He made the death masks for the prophet Joseph Smith after he was killed. Apparently, death masks were something that were commonly done at that time. Somehow they made a mold of the deceased face using melted wax.

Also, it was interesting to learn that one of our ancestors is Hosea Stout, who was the chief of police in Nauvoo, Illinois. Cool, right?

My dad shared pictures of me as a little girl and him and my mom when they were first married and their kids were tiny.

My mom made yummy lemon bars and we ate and continued to chat and share for quite some time. Finally it was time for us to motor on home. It's always hard for us to leave. I love being around my parents and I wish we lived closer to them. But, luckily, they're not too far away.

Long Lunches

A few months ago, I took Weston out to lunch for a Long Lunch. It was something the middle school was encouraging parents to do. The kids could be late for their classes after lunch. It was really fun. He chose the Pizza Hut buffet, of course. And we had a great time talking and being together...with his two wee sisters along for the fun. I thought I snagged a picture of him, but maybe not. I couldn't find any....maybe I didn't want to embarrass him, taking pictures of him in Pizza Hut! 

Then I was reading a blog the other day, 71 Toes and read an entry about how she likes to take her kids out for long lunches individually so she can spend more one on one time with them. 

Brilliant! Why didn't I think of doing this with the other kids? 

So, a couple weeks ago, I took Sam out of school and he chose Pizza Hut, too.

We had a great time chatting and and laughing and eating pizza. It's amazing how much Sam can put away!

As you can see, they are really excited to get their picture taken. 

Next, it was Emmett's turn. Surprisingly, he chose Lefty's Hideout for lunch...

Apparently, he passes it everyday on the school bus, so he wanted to go. We tried their buffet which was pretty good. Emmett really liked the taquitos. 

We had to throw some coins in the little fish pond, right? And while it may be a little fish pond, those fish are really fat. What are they feeding them?

This was super fun and I hope I'll be able to continue the tradition. I probably won't be able to take them all out every month, but a few times every school year would be fun. It's nice to have some easy time with them, without the whole crew around needing my attention. 

Dummies, Sugared Toothbrushes & The Fool's Cafe

I love April Fool's Day.

When I woke up, I came out to the living room and Weston told me Emmett got mad at him and was sulking....

Ha! Emmett was hiding in the laundry room so I wouldn't see him. For a split second I thought it was a real person.  So funny!

I put sugar on  everyone's toothbrushes the night before. *snicker*  Ryan laughed. But most of the kids didn't notice! Um....maybe they're not brushing their teeth too good? Eh?

The whole day was full of tricks and laughing. It was awesome.

I found a This great idea on Pinterest for doing a mystery dinner. And since I've tricked the kids loads of times in the past with food that isn't what it looks like on April Fool's Day, I figured we better try something new. 

I went with the menu the girl hard already thought up. It was way easier that way...

Answer Key:

1. Ice

2. Deviled Eggs

3. Mashed Potatoes

4. Gravy

5. Jello

 (Utah consumes more per capita than any place else).

6. Goldfish

7. Cucumber Wheels

8. Ants on a Log

(Raisins on Peanut Butter on Celery)

9. Ham slice

10. Corn

11. Fork

12. Spoon

13. Knife

14. Toothpick

15. Water

16. Napkin

17. Ice Cream

18. Chocolate syrup

19. Mint 

20. Lemon-lime soda

Ryan thought of way to divide the kitchen from the dining room. We have this big cardboard thing from a Cub Scout pack meeting where I made it for a game...

So, we covered it with blankets and the kids couldn't peek through the holes. Oh my! They were so curious. And one of my favorite parts? When they started guessing what they could smell. They guessed pancakes and biscuits and all sorts of other things that weren't even close. 

They were so excited when it was finally time to order...

And I loved serving them their courses! They were so surprised. It was fun when they started figuring out what things were like, Titanic's Demise was ice and the son of Noah was ham. In Ryan's first course he got just a pile of chocolate syrup. I don't think he got the ice cream for it until the last course! Zoe wasn't so keen on her first course (jello, cucumbers, corn, etc.) and she actually dissolved into tears. So, if I were to do it again, I would make sure everyone understood the idea of courses and how more food would be coming soon and all of that. 

Sam did pretty good eating all of that with just a toothpick!

Molly took things into her own hands and decided to see what Corn Soda 

would taste like! So yummy, right?

Toothpicks might not be the best utensil for eating ice cream. 

It's a bit fussy to do dinner like this, but it was totally worth it! We had a lot of fun and it just might become our new April Fool's Day tradition.

Dancing girls, Miming and Music

We've been doing our Annual Family Talent show for a few years now. It's one of our favorite family home evenings. And this year wasn't an exception.

The evening started with some lovely fairy dancing from the wee girls...

Sam shared his drawing talent...

He drew an exciting landscape scene with lighting and drama! 

Emmett played one of his favorite songs beautifully on the piano... 

He really enjoyed playing! Which I love.

Weston wowed us with his percussion skills...

He played that catchy song from Shrek and did a fabulous job.

I was a little nutty and tried my hand at miming...

I drove a car, went up stairs and into an elevator. I pulled on a piece of rope,  found a piece of gum, chewed it, blew it up and it popped all over my face.

Yes. I'm a very silly person...

But the kids thought it was funny. And that was the whole point!

Ryan made me laugh with his talent. He likes to give the kids "rides" to bed and they get to pick what kind they want....sack of flour, piggyback, etc. He has all sorts of different kinds and names for them.  So, for his talent he carried the kids however they wanted...

The Forklift

Shoulders

Sack of Flour

More Shoulders (I wish that wasn't blurry!)

This one is called

Reluctant Shoulders

Weston wanted off as soon as possible! He was so worried his dad was going to drop him!

And even I got a ride. I chose a simple piggyback ride.

Maybe I should have gone for The Forklift.

heh heh.

After the show was over, we had treat and watched the show. It's fun for the kids to get to see themselves perform. The night was full of lots and lots of laughing and clapping.