Around July of 2013, Emily approached the family and said that she wanted to rent a beach house in San Clemente sometime in 2014 as a Christmas present to the whole family. Would that work? We all looked at our schedules, gave her possible dates, and she picked January 16th-January 22nd. For us that worked perfectly because the MBA program gives first year students a break in January from the 15th to the 20th. (The break is intended for those who do not yet have an internship. We do, so it was a 5 day vacation in January) This trip couldn't have worked out more perfectly timing wise. We had a day to travel, 4 days to party, and a day to get home.
We left Wednesday Jan 15th and drove straight through to sunny and HOT Anaheim. When we left Provo it was 24° and by the time we got to Anaheim at 5 their time, it read 91°!!! I mean we were excited for warmer weather but it was hot hot hot!
Kelsey was amazing in the car. We stopped for gas, but the only time we got out of the car was on this random road along the highway called Zzyzx road (no kidding! Look it up here) It was this random cul de sac looking road where we ate lunch and let her run around for a while.
Side note: we drove from Saint George to Vegas with our trunk open. Whoops!
Our first stop of the night was at Tony Roma's to eat. Lunch was pretty dismal and so some of us (me and Kelsey) were very very cranky! After an amazing patio dinner, we went back to Downtown Disney and this time we (mostly me) were able to enjoy it. Because we were so exhausted we didn't spend too much time Wednesday night, but headed back to the hotel to sleep. Kelsey fell right asleep and I made a run to Target to get souvenirs.
It was an exciting feeling that night, knowing that all of our vacation was still ahead!
There was not much talking at dinner that night. We were all so excited to see food that we wolfed it down. I don't think I have ever had a more amazing dinner in my whole life. I don't know if that was the hunger pains talking or if it was really that delicious, but who cares! Kelsey ate dinner and that hasn't happened in a long time.
 |
| We never get Kels a kids meal because she never eats it, but we did this time and for 5 bucks she got a huge plate of spaghetti, broccoli, apples and cranberries, a yogurt, and a drink! There was so much food, but she did her best |
Thursday morning was a terrible morning actually. Kelsey came down with a cold and woke up at like 5 just screaming. Because I was so delusional, I got up thinking it was 7, and brought her into my bed. I didn't realize then that I brought her into my bed with two hours left of sleeping! I was so tried, I figured for one night it wouldn't kill me to share a bed with Smooch. Oh my, was I so wrong!!! She is the biggest bed hog in the whole world. No matter where she was and no matter how much room she had, she wanted more! She kicked me so many times and stole my pillow so many times, that I ended up sleeping on THE edge of the bed with no blankets and no pillows. Good news though, she was able to go back to sleep and slept through us repacking the car and stroller for the day so that was a relief.
 |
| She kept these on most of the day. Kelsey loves to wear hats so to her these were just another hat |
We went down to breakfast at 8 and there was no food left! I mean, I know continental breakfasts are juice and doughnuts, but you could at least have juice and doughnuts, especially when you say breakfast will go from 7-9. Again, we got what we paid for! We shared a doughnut, gave Kels some juice and "toast" (the toaster only cooked one side of the bread) and headed to the park! We were too excited to be mad about breakfast anyway. We got to Downtown Disney at 9 and tried to kill 30 min just listening to the different renditions of the Disney classics hoping time would go faster. I actually think this was Kelsey's favorite part. She just danced and danced and danced. I remember at one point saying, okay its 9:05 and then checking my watch what I thought was 10 minutes later only to find it was now 9:07! We were so excited!
At 10 the park officially opened and our day of magic began. While Kelsey was awake, we wanted to do family rides or rides that we thought she would like. While we were in line for Peter Pan she was acting really really excited, but once we got on the ride she got a little nervous. She didn't cry but she just didn't oh and ah like we thought she would. Despite this set back, we still had a great time riding rides together and enjoyed being parents in Disneyland.
I know I am totally a mom because the whole time I just wanted to make Kels happy. When I got to ride a ride by myself the whole time I was thinking what Ethan and Kelsey were doing. I just wanted to be together. Didn't think that being with Kelsey would over rule Space Mountain but it totally did!
 |
| Don't be deceived. We brought two outfits for Kelsey jic of heat and I'm so glad we did too because it got HOT! We changed her back at night, but it was nice to have something in the day time. |
Tarzan's Tree house
Its a Small World (which is WAY cooler than when I was a kid)
And the Tiki Room. Let me be clear about the Tiki Room. SHE LOVED IT!!! Like danced and sang and pointed at all the lights and birds. She sat the whole time and loved it. Most rides she didn't show any emotion so when she showed emotion it was really exciting.
After many rides as a family, Ethan and I decided it was time to do the big rides. For the first time ever I finally got to ride Splash Mountain and my goodness. The hype is totally worth it. Its not just the drop that is fun. There is this part in the middle with Bees that is amazing and the Zippity do da song at the end had me smiling so big I felt like a little kid. I loved the whole thing. I can finally understand why this is Ethan's favorite ride of all time.
No, we do not know anyone else in the picture but thats the beauty of single rider!
One time while Ethan was on the ride I thought it would be fun to try to take a pic of him coming down the drop. I took a lot of pictures of total strangers but finally got the right one and it turned out awesome if I do say so myself.
I showed Ethan and he was like, that's awesome. I' m going to do that for you. I went on the ride and when I was coming up over the drop I waved and saw Ethan fiddle with the camera hoping that he got me coming down. Lets just say he was less successful. Still a great ride though!
Of course we rode a lot of Space Mountain and Indian Jones too and for some reason, every time we rode it they put us in the front. It was AWESOME!
Like last year we rode all the rides via single rider so we didn't have to wait too long for the person on the rides. While Ethan or I were on the rides, we would just walk Kelsey around taking pictures or playing where ever we could.
If you look closely, you will notice Kelsey has chips in all these pictures. I don't know if she was good or if we just kept the snacks coming, but its cool because calories and health don't count on vacation right?
Eventually Kelsey crashed but it was totally fine because that just meant more time for us to do the big rides. She slept for a whole hour. I'm telling you! This girl couldn't have been more golden.
When Kelsey woke up, we ran over to the new Fantasy Fair by the castle (which was kind of a downer in my opinion) to watch the Tangled play. Before I continue you must know that Kelsey loves Tangled. Let me rephrase, Kelsey LOVES LOVES LOVES Tangled. More than me, more than dad, more than chips, more than blankie, more than anything in this whole world. I don't know why but those are the facts. Every morning she wakes up and goes Ah! Punzel?! In her sleepy voice. After every meal she goes Ah! Punzel?! and every free moment when we are just sitting she will walk up to us and go Punzel? Sometimes we will be in the car or at the store and she will go Punzel? I mean this girl is in love. She even laughs and dances while she watches the movie.
With that lead up, I was so excited to show her the Punzel play and she did not disappoint. She let out so many AHHHHHHHHH!!! that I thought her voice would give out. She clapped and danced at the right times, pointed to Rapunzel like 50 times and never once stopped looking at the stage. The play was 20 minutes too! It was adorable. I don't know why, but she loves Rapunzel.
The day was wonderful. The weather was great, Kelsey was great, the lines were great, we brought great food, and we were at Disneyland! We had a lot of fun being together and did all that we wanted to do and more. While we were there we couldn't help but remember pictures we took last year and try to recapture them. I've learned this hard lesson before, but we just couldn't resist. Some turned out with the same cuteness as last year, some turned out better than last year, and some, well, not so much!
Same...
Better...
Not so much...
And just like last year, we got a lot of family pictures where Ethan and I look happy and interested and Kelsey looks, well like she just doesn't want to be there!
 | ||
| These actually were both taken in front of Tarzan now that I look closely |
I think the hardest part for us to wrap our heads around is that this is who we took last year
And this is who we took this year!
Side note
We had a lot of "first" this trip
Small World- Ethan
Splash-Cami
Lincoln- Us
Carousel- Us
Trolley-Us
Also Jungle Cruise and the Columbus Island were supposed to be closed but because of the heat they were both open. We only missed out on Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder this time.
We walked back to the hotel and by 9:30 were headed to our second vacation, San Clemente! It was only a 30 min drive so by 10 we were at the beach and ready to party!!!
