Disneyland 2008

Disneyland this year was excellent. I don't know if its my kids or my family or what, but I absolutely loved it.

Day 1 - Tuesday 10/14/08
We got on the airplane at SLC about 4pm-ish. The kids really enjoyed watching the plane lift off the ground. All my kids ordered tomatoe juice as their beverage. They played Nintendo DS and talked about princesses for the entire 2 hour flight. It was really fun. We landed and got to Disneyland about about 6pm. We IMMEDIATELY went to Downtown Disney, went swimming, ate something I cant remember, and watched Disney cartoons till we all fell asleep.

Day 2 - Wednesday 10/15/08
This day we spent in the Disneyland park. We started off with Star Tours, which is a fabulously realistic space ride to blow up the Deathstar. Crystal kept asking me if it was real. As soon as we entered the asteroid field, I hear Rooker yell "WO HO HO HO!". Then we did Buzz Lightyear and defeated Zerg. We did the Disneyland Train and saw the Dinosaurs, saw Billy Hill and the Hill Billies at the Golden Horseshoe Review, took a boat through the Pirates of the Caribbean, road a chair through the Haunted Mansion, got lost in the caves on Tom Sawyer Island, bought Crystal and Bailey some cute pink umbrellas with their names drawn all pretty all over them, and then 10 mintues later they were tired of carrying them. Rooker bought a Star Wars transformer, which I was so entranced with, I had to go back and buy my own. I got an AT-AT, those big walking machines, its freakin sweet.

Crystal eventually had to split from her boring parents and siblins and go on the big rides with Joseph and Ben. They did Splash Mountian, Space Mountain, and the Matterhorn.

And after ALL that, we went to the Rainforest Cafe and had a very expensive dinner in the jungle. Every 20 mins or so, the lights would dim and there would be a lightning storm.

THEN FINALLY, we went swimming and sat in the hot tub to wash away all the aches and pains of all the walking and spending. Phew!

Day 3 - Thursday 10/16/08
This day we spent in California Adventure. First we rode the Monorail into Disneyland (which is nice cause you get to skip all the lines to get in). We wanted to hit Finding Nemo submarine ride, but it was closed. They said they were finding Nemo...

So the first place we went at Cali Adv is Soaring Over California. This is the greatest ride in all of history forever and ever period. You sit in these ski-lift type things, and they bring your right in front of this giant screen and you literally feel like you are flying right over California. They release smells for the forests, orange orchards, ski mountains, raging rivers. At the end you fly over Disneyland and there is a fireworks show. FANTASTIC!

Then we went to "Its Tough to be a Bug". Which is a 3d show where Flick from Bugs Life attempts to show you what its like to be a bug. You even get introduced to the stink bug, who accidentally shoots the audience, P-U. Then Hopped (the bad guy, grasshopper) takes over and is ticked that humans always kill bugs, so he decides to attack us. These HUGE Black Widows drop down the cieling, and there is fog and its dark, and Bailey literally started shaking she was so scared. Then some other bugs decide to sting you, and the chairs have these pokey things that poke you in the back and in the legs. Finally, when everything is over, they let the little bugs out first, and little puffs of air shoot at your legs and the chairs feel like there are bugs running behind you. Awesome!

We made our way over to Tower of Terror, where you get to enter the Twilight Zone in a haunted hotel. Its actually an elevator ride that continually drops you from the 13th floor. Rooker and Crystal loved it, Bailey was too scared to ride it, although she was tall enough.

We did the worlds longest roller coaster, the new Toy Story ride, and then at 3pm, we had dinner with Ariels Grotto.

Ariels Grotto is super expensive. More expensive than even the expensive restaurants. Its because every 20 minutes a new princess enters the restaurant and talks with the kids. We saw Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine, and Snow White. Rooker always has the cheesiest look when they are around. We got pictures with all of them.

After all that, we went swimming, did the hot tub, walked around Downtown Disney, and watched cartoons till we fell asleep.

Day 4 - Friday 10/17/08
This is really my favorite day. Cause this is the last day of our 3 day pass, and you can do whatever you want. We FINALLY got to go on Finding Nemo, which by the way was absolutely fabulous. The barracudas attack the submarine, you see the sharks, and at the end you finally find Nemo. Its also a fairly long ride.

We also made our way over to Adventureland and did the Jungle Cruise, which is famous for the most cheesy jokes EVER. I just laugh the whole time. We visited the Tiki Room where all the birds and flowers and totem poles sing for like 20 minutes. The kids think it is sooo awesome. The problem is that about 15 minutes into it, the whole room is going nuts, and it angers the gods and brings in a giant lightning and rain storm. Rooker kept hoping it would go away before we went back outside. But little did he know, the entire storm was contained right there in the Tiki Room. Awesome.

We also climbed Tarzans Treehouse, and rode through the Temple of the Forbidden Eye with Indiana Jones. You get lots of warnings not to look in the eye of the Sphinx before you go in. Crystal was scared enough to close her eyes and look down so she didnt accidentally do it.

We spent some time during the middle of the day swimming and watching cartoons. Our feet needed a rest big time.

Then for dinner we had reservations at The Jazz Kitchen. Its a very fancy restaurant in Downtown Disney. Im sure the bill was huge. I got chicken fried pork which was out of this world.

We got back to the park in time to see the Disneyland Parade at 7pm. Lots of princesses and other characters dancing around and singing. Our kids loved it and tried to wave to all the characters. It was really fun.

Day 5 - Saturday 10/18/08
At 7am, we had reservations for Goofy's Kitchen. Awesome. Its a breakfast buffet (which actually was very good) and then Disney characters come around and take pictures and sign their autographs and stuff. Even Captain Hook came out. Rooker was like "OH MAN!". He would reach out to shake your hand, and when you'd go to grab it, he would get you with his hook. The kids loved it.

Eventually, we packed everything up, and dropped all our crap off to the Bellhop place and went back to Downtown Disney for lunch and to waste time while we waited for our van to take us to the airport at 3pm.

Me, Amy, Crystal, Rooker, and Bailey all headed to the Build-a-Bear workshop for Crystal and Bailey to make their own teddy bears. Crystal chose a cat and Bailey chose a bunny. First you pick up their skins (which means they dont have any stuffing yet) and you take them to the stuffing machine. A person helps you stuff your friend, and then you get a heart to put in them. First you wave it up in the air so they arent afraid of heights, then you rub in by your head so they are smart, then you hold by your heart so they know you love them, then you give it a kiss. Then you place it inside your animal and they help you sew it up. After that is complete, you take it to the washing station, which looks like a little tub with a shower. When you press on the pedal, the shower thing blows air out, and you use a brush to wipe down your new friend and get all the dirt ouf of their fur. Bailey was absolutely giddy during this part. Everything in here is designed to get you to have a personal relationship with the animal, and they do a fabulous job. Then you head to clothing section, and this is where the real cost of the animal comes in. You first choose some underwear (for $3), then a dress (for $7-$11). They have everything, astronaught outfits, princess, elvis, skater, techie, singer, cowboy/girl, etc. Of course you gotta buy shoes and a headpiece too. When its all said and done, your about $40 per animal. Crystal and Bailey absolutely love their animals.

Rooker instead wanted these swords from the Lego Store. We let him get 2 of them. He basically fought everything he could think up for the rest of the day. Eating and sitting was a burden to him. We had pigs in a blanket and cinnamon pretzels till it was finally time to go.

We got on the plane, and got hime at like 9:30pm-ish. We all crashed.

Wow what a week. It was really the most fun I have ever had at Disneyland. I think you need at least 2 or maybe 3 years in between visits, but Im sure we will definitely go again.

Marriot Stay

The Marriot stay was fun. Its kind of a mess around there with all the construction going on. I like the atmosphere of the hotel alot. We went to Temple Square with the billions of people there. It was nice to have Ben around, although he is still in missionary-weirdo mode. The kids enjoy the pool more than anything. And the nice thing about the Marriot is they have a hot-tub too which I really REALLY enjoy. The best sleeps of my life are the ones where I go to bed after having soaked in a hot-tub for 30 minutes. AHHHHHHH.

At 730 the next morning, the kids and I were back in the pool. No one could sleep past 7. So we swam there till about 9pm and then we all met in the Lobby except for mom and dad who had to go to a funeral. The rest of us went to JBs and had their breakfast buffet. There were 17 of us total there. With mom and dad it would have been 19. And with Marie and Bryan's fam it would have been 23. I cant believe there are already 23 of us just in my parents family. There are Lymans growing everywhere.

Now Amy and I are back in Stockton with ours and Ed/Sades kids. It sure is nice to come home, even after all that excitement.

Camping

My fam and Ed/Sades fam went camping to City of Rocks last weekend. It was really good, I actually enjoy camping alot, although Im quite lazy about its specifics. For example, I dont want to hike, I want simple meals that are easily done, and I like easy to setup tents etc.

Friday about 1pm we left my parents house and drove straight to Amy's parents in Almo. We picked up some blankets, dropped off Bridger, then headed to the campsite. We only made it about 2 miles before our rear driver's side tire was completely flat. SERIOUSLY, WE GET A FLAT EVERY FREAKIN TIME WE GO TO IDAHO. So I changed it with the spare, and took it to Rock City Repair just down the road. They found a fairly large rock had worked its way through the tire. But they got it all fixed and we were on the road about 45 mins later.

We drove to our campground, only to discover it was 10 billion miles away from the parking lot. With all our junk including everything for 6 kids, I knew there was no way we were gonna pack all that into the campsite. So Eddie and I figured out a 'questionable' way to drive the explorer to the site, and we just made multiple trips with the explorer and all our junk. Im pretty sure if we woulda got caught, we woulda got fined.

The camping itself was good. We had tinfoil dinners for dinner that night, the kids roasted probably close to 50 marshmallows. Wether they ate them all or not is unknown. I started to get on Crystal about it, then Amy asked my why it mattered.... and after thinking about it.... its true, who cares? So I let them roast all they wanted and if they fell in the fire or caught on fire, oh well.

Then Eddie had these glow sticks that the kids wore around their necks. We had one extra one, and we would chuck it way out in the sagebrush and trees, and the kids had to run and find it. They loved it. We broke some of the glow sticks open and spread the glowing liquid over the rocks, it was pretty cool looking.

Then we had to make a trip with everyone back to the parking lot where the outhouses were. So I sent Eddie on ahead to hide in the trees and growl like a monster when we walked by. Not even Amy knew. So we started walking and at some point we heard a deep growl. It scared Amy pretty bad, along with the kids. They all had flashlights and were trying to find where the monster was at. Then Eddie came charging out and the kids all screamed. After the first growl, Bailey said "Its a cow!". Anyway, it was great fun.

Eventually we got all the kids in bed along with ourselves, but not till we all had some hot choclate first, mmmmmmm.

The nighttime was extremely windy, but it didnt wake any of the kids. Then in the morning I was forced to get up cause I had to go to the bathroom so bad. But I started the fire, and eventually Eddie got around to making breakfast. He made a dutch-oven breakfast with red potatoes, eggs, sausage, bell peppers, and onions. It was perhaps the most tasty breakfast I have ever had in my entire life. It was seriously delicious. I was amazed.

We packed up and made it out of the camp about 2 minutes before the park ranger showed up, so we barely made a clean getaway.

Then we climbed a couple different rocks with the kids, chased after some lizards, and then finally went back to Amy's parents, had lunch, then headed out.

Amy stayed in Idaho till Monday, so I went home with Ed and Sade and went to Stockton church all by myself.

Anyway, I love camping. I like everything about it. It was a good time.