Vacation 2014

It had been about 3 summer's since we last visited Utah, so we felt like it was time again. Besides, it made a good stopping point on our way to Disneyland, and we couldnt drive through without visiting family. After a long 22 hours in the car, we finally arrived. Good to see that sign!

Our first stop on the way to Disney, was Hurricane to visit Grandma and Grandpa Heaton. It happened to be July 24th, which is usually a pretty big deal in Utah, or it used to be, so we got some fireworks to celebrate. The wind wasnt really cooperating much, but it just made it more exciting!  

The next day, the kids wanted to go for a ride in Grandma and Grandpas new RV. We packed up lunch and headed to Cedar Breaks. They were pretty happy to not have to wear seat belts, and to have a couch to sit on. 

On the way up the canyon, we made a little pit stop at a park. The kids thought this little stream was neat stuff.  Maybe it was the presence of an actual hill to climb down.

Cedar Breaks was pretty amazing. This is what makes me miss living in Utah.  

The next day, Grandma and Grandpa took us to this Rec Center near St. George. it reminded the kids of a miniature Dells and they had a lot of fun.  

Katelin fell in love with the palm trees and begged me to take a picture.  

After Disney we spent some time in the Salt Lake area visiting more family and friends.

At Ryans parents, Aunt Mindy was excited to show us her new salon room including the shampoo bowl.

Grandma and Grandpa Taylor also let the kids drive around in this little VW with their cousins. FYI- they are not awesome drivers.

Before we left, Brylee decided to check out the shampoo bowl one more time and ended up soaking herself and the entire room. Good thing Mindy loves her! Oops!

Our next visit was at my brothers house. Uncle Dan took all the kids for a ride on his dirt bike. 

Cousin Tanner even bravely let Madi try to ride his dirt bike on her own. This ended quickly with Madi crashing into the garden bed. Yes folks, she is going to be behind the wheel soon. Yikes! 

We also encountered a few snakes on our trip. Two were at my friend Tawna's house. Zack clearly has no fear for these creatures. 

The third was at Uncle James's house. All the kids liked this one.

Our final stop in Salt Lake was at our good friends house. We spent the night catching up. Even though Zack and Brandon cheer for different teams, they still get along. 

We really miss having the Wilson's in Wisconsin!  

Our next destination was Boise, Idaho to visit Ryans family some more. Uncle Willie took us to one of their favorite hang outs, Dart Zone. Its basically a big nerf gun war. The kids all had a blast, except Brylee of course, who just watched with me. 

After Dart Wars we took a little tube ride down the Boise River. Thought I had pictures of that, but cant find any. (I will have to get copies from Tina, since I was a little occupied trying to keep the raft from tipping or getting stuck.) Later on, Ryan and I got some much needed adult time with Willie and Tina. We went to this cute burger joint themed around mustaches. What do you think about Ryans new one?

Grandma and Grandpa Taylor came to join us in Idaho and brought along their VW to add to Willie's Police car. The kids all had a good time chasing each other down, and their driving improved a little.

Grandma bought all the girls matching tap shoes and had us put on a show and pose. Arent we cute? 

(No we dont all tap. And I assured her it wouldnt happen again! At least not with me.) 

Before we left we visited a little lake off of the Boise River called Eagle Island. The kids always enjoy time in the water, especially when they get thrown into it...

It was sad to leave, but after 3 weeks away, home (and Jovi) was calling. We took the long way home through Montana and stopped on the way to visit some friends in Minnesota. It was a very productive and long trip, and we were glad to finally be back. 

Surprise! We're going to...

...DISNEYLAND!

Thats right, our "Utah vacation" was really a Disneyland Vacation in disguise. The kids had no idea about it until the day we left, when we sat them down and had them open a surprise gift containing Disneyland t-shirts. Heres how it all went down...

As far as the kids knew, we were going to be visiting Grandma and Grandpa Heaton in St. George for the whole week. 3 days into our trip, we sat them down to give them a gift bag we pulled from Grandmas closet. Brylee was especially excited about this idea. The other kids were acting strangely suspicious for some reason, and Alissa...well she was downright distraught. She doesnt handle surprises so well. Her personality is one of order, routine and nothing unexpected. 

We had the kids all open their gifts at the same time. Madi was the first to catch on and asked "Were going to Disneyland?!" 

As a discussion ensued and Alissa calmed down, we then asked Brylee who seemed strangely calm about this new plan, how she felt? I asked her, "Brylee, do you know what that shirt is for ?" She replied..."what?" 

"Do you want to go to Disneyland?"

"Today?!"

"Yes!"

"Yippee!"

Apparently, she missed the present conversation. Heres the unveiling video: (If it works. If not try clicking this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tfex-JkDBk )

Brylee and Zack tried on their shirts to model for us, then we were on our way! 

Day 1:

 The first thing we saw when we got through the gates, was an autograph line-up. We just missed Mickey Mouse, but were told he would return shortly, so we tried on hats at the Mad Hatter while we waited. The kids were told they could each get one souvenir, so they were on a careful lookout the whole trip to find the perfect gift.

As soon as we saw Mickey return, we jumped right back in line to snatch our photo. Check one off the list for that one.

The kids were a little dissapointed at the size of the Castle, except Brylee who wanted to go inside and see all the princess'.

Take a good look at this smile, because it turns out to be a rare occurrence for this girl. The only rides Brylee didnt cry on, were "Its a Small World", the carousel's and 90% of "Ariels Undersea Adventure" (she hated the part when Ursela comes). 

First Day in Toon Town and in trouble with the law already! 

Zack agrees that Pluto has a plush doggie bed. 

The boys went off to meet Thor, while the girls played elsewhere. Apparently, he was the real deal...and he can totally beat Captain America in an arm wrestle in case you were wondering. Just ask him. 

We had to see what Captain America thought about this claim, so we went to visit him too. He says Thor needs to quit spreading that false rumor.  

Brylee thinks Captain America talks too much.

For the end of day 1, we tried to watch the "Fantasmic" show, but Disney in the first part of August was not the best plan. There was standing room only which made for a long show and no room to move. Still an amazing show, but killer on the back when you are standing for that long holding kids up to see. Lucky for us we could see the fireworks every night from our condo patio, which was exciting for the kids.

Day 2:

For day 2, we split up our time between Disneyland and California Adventure. Disneyland included a visit to Tarzans treehouse.

Alissa found these pilots goggles after exiting "Soarin' USA" and just had to try them on. 

It was much less crowded at California Adventure, so we ended up spending the majority of the rest of the vacation here. Bonus: There are always people around willing to take your family picture.

Maters ride at Radiator Springs 

Day 3:

Waiting for Dad to grab fast passes. He did a lot of running around to save us time from standing in long lines.

California Adventure had a play park with a little climbing wall. All the shorties got to try it out, even Brylee did it! 

And for our favorite character meet and greet...Woody! He was so good! He spent a lot of time "talking" and playing with the kids. We even played a friendly game of Duck Duck Goose! 

Hes gonna getcha Madi! 

Group hug! 

Cars Land was pretty cool in the evening. It was all lit up just like the in the movie, but its getting busy at this point because the evening water show was about to start.

Day 4: 

Our last day there, we tried to hit everyone's favorite rides again. We wanted to get Disneyland done early to avoid the big crowds. While there, we sat in on this live Rapunzel re-enactment. It was actually pretty funny.  

After we hit the favorite rides in Disney, we headed back over to California Adventure. We hadnt made it onto the new "Radiator Aprings Racers" yet, so we had to check that out, with a fast pass of course because we figured out the lines were insane. After riding it, we understood why. It was awesome. Brylee hated it, but she hated most every ride. Afterwards,we took some touristy shots of Radiator Springs. Ryan really wanted to get a room at the Cozy Cone.

Luigi's tower of tires

Stanley 

And the real Mater. he talked and moved and everything. Pretty cool. 

Another ride we had yet to try was the giant Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel. This was probably Brylees most hated ride. Maybe she's afraid of heights?  

She spent most rides in this pose...hiding in Ryans shirt. This time she was so afraid, she was digging her claws into him. The kids thought this was an added bonus. He's laughing here, but its a response to pain.  

To be fair, we were up pretty high...

Zack was lucky enough to meet up with Phineas and Ferb and join their dance party.  

A good majority of our pictures included Brylee shielding her eyes from the sun with her arm. I finally lent her my glasses and she discovered bliss. Too bad it took 4 days. 

One last stop before saying goodbye, the Aladdin play. Pictures werent allowed during the performance, but it was pretty awesome.

We couldnt leave California without visiting the Ocean, so after we left Disney, we drove to Huntington Beach. We were lucky Ryan was wearing his BYU hat, because the lady at the gate let us in for free seeing how we were her "instant friends" in the gospel and sports. Also, we found out Jesse, from Toy Story is also a cougar fan, so that was fun. 

The beach was beautiful at sunset and the kids wished we had more time to spend there. They might have enjoyed this as much as Disney.

 

And that's our trip in a very condensed nutshell. I spared you about 500 pictures. Your welcome. :)