Disneyland - Day 7 and 8

We had to be up bright an early in order to have our Character Breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. We were supposed to have this breakfast on the day that Bryce woke up sick, but thankfully they were able to switch our reservation.

We got a great table very close to the buffet, which was where the entertainment was as well. The characters, including Goofy, Chip and Dale, Cinderella, Mulan, and others came to our table one by one. The kids loved this. Twice while we were there, Goofy gave a little show with singing and dancing and pretending to bake a cake.

The buffet was wonderful. The food was very good and they had so much to choose from. Some of the more creative things included PB&J pizza, dirt (crushed Oreo cookies, chocolate pudding and gummy worms). They also had tons of kid friendly food like chicken nuggets, regular pizza, mickey mouse shaped pancakes and waffles, mac n' cheese, a huge variety of muffins and sweet breads, lots of egg dishes (you could order omelets too) sort serve ice cream, cereals, yogurt, and the list goes on. We were all very stuffed when we left.

After breakfast we went back to our rooms and packed. Check-out was at 11, but we weren't ready until about 11:15. Packing all our stuff turned out to be a big undertaking. Juli, Clay, Trey and Amanda left a few minutes before us. They were heading off to Clay's brother's house for a couple of nights. We drove just past Ventura where we met Sharon and Ross at their campground. We stayed there for a few minutes before driving to Carpenteria for a late lunch at I-HOP. We were so full from breakfast that we ate our late lunch/early dinner around 4. After eating we continued our drive towards home. We had hoped to stay in the Pismo area, but after calling a number of hotels and driving around to see their locations we continued on because they were either too expensive or in a bad area. We finally found a room for a decent price in San Luis Obispo that was in a good area. After settling into the room Nathan and I took the kids to the hot tub. That night both kids were up until almost 10. They just wouldn't settle down.

The next morning we had breakfast at Denny's which was just across the parking lot from out hotel. The food was actually very good. After breakfast we got back on the road to finish the long drive home. We stopped in Gilroy at a little country market/fruit stand so that Bryce could go potty. We bought snacks, produce and a few pieces of candy for the road. For lunch, we stopped in Novato at Fresh Choice. It was around 2:30, so this served as lunch and dinner. We went to Nanny's house first to unload her things then got to our house around 5.

It was a wonderful trip, but we were all very sad for it to be over. We had so much fun and it was easy to not deal with reality while we were gone.

Disneyland - Day 6

We spent the first half of the day at California Adventure. We went on the Golden Zephyr, Mickey's Fun Wheel, Toy Story Midway Mania, the Carousel, and saw Woody and Jessie. Juli, Nathan and Clay went on CA Screamin' again while the rest of us waited and saw Woody and Jessie. The kids (and adults) really enjoyed Toy Story Midway Mania. This is a 3-D ride where you play four different video games all involving shooting at targets. When you hit a balloon a puff of air blows at you. It was really neat. It was so hot, and California Adventure doesn't have much shade and is all asphalt, so we were only there a couple of hours.

Mid day we went back to the room for lunch and naps. After we headed back into Disneyland one final time. The kids got to choose their favorite rides to go on one last time. First we went on the Matterhorn, then into Fantasyland where we went on Dumbo, the Teacups, Small World, and the Carousel. While the girls and little kids went on Small World and the Carousel, the guys went off to do a few big boy rides.

After rides, we went down Main St. and bought souvenirs. Nanny bought all of the kids t-shirts. Bryce got a shirt with Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Pluto on the front and their rears on the back. Faith got a shirt that says, "My First Minnie Mouse Shirt." They also each got to select a couple other things. Bryce got a Peter Pan figurine set and a Goofy stuffed animal. Faith got a Small World bath toy and a hard-cover book filled with classic Disney stories.

That night we had pizza delivered to the room. We were so wiped out that not having to leave to get dinner was wonderful.

Disneyland - Day 5

Bryce woke up extremely sick. I didn't have a thermometer, but he was so hot to the touch. Normally when he doesn't feel well he still goes about his day, eats and plays. This morning he didn't want to get out of bed and slept through everyone else eating breakfast in the room and getting ready for the day. When I tried to give him water, he coughed so hard he threw-up all over the bed. We asked him if he wanted to go to Disneyland and at first he said no. After a while, he changed him mind and decided to get ready. The rest of the family went ahead of us, because we had early morning passes to Mickey's Toontown. We ended up meeting them there about 30 minutes later. We bought Bryce Motrin at a stand in Downtown Disney. This on top of the Tylenol seemed to help. He was content to sit in his stroller a lot, but he had the energy to play too. I was so happy he didn't have to miss out on an entire day of Disneyland, thank God for medicine.

In Toontown the kids got to see Goofy, Chip and Dale. After Toontown we went on Small World, Dumbo, the Teacups, and the Carousel. Trey and Clay opted to go do big boy rides while the rest of us stayed with the little kids. After the rides, we went and stood in line for over 30 minutes to get Bryce and Amanda's pictures taken with Tinkerbell and a blue fairy. The both thought this was great.

After seeing Tinkerbell we went back to the hotel for lunch and naps. Bryce took a very long nap. He slept so hard that he wet the bed (he never does this during naps at home). Twice in one day we had to call room service to have them change the bed because of Bryce. This time they actually had to bring in a whole new mattress because there was no water proof pad on it and the pee leaked all the way into the mattress.

While the little kids slept Nathan, Juli, Clay and I went to CA Adventure and rode California Screamin'. We went on three times in a row because there was only a five minute wait. This roller coaster is so fun and not jerky at all.

After naps, which went very long, we went back to CA Adventure and went into A Bugs Life area. We thought the little kids would enjoy playing in the water area. Bryce didn't like it at all so he went on the rides again. Mandy absolutely loved the water area. While we did this, Trey and Clay swam at the hotel.

That night we tried to eat at ESPN Zone (we had tried two other times) but the entire restaurant was booked for a private party. Instead we drove down the street to Coco's where we met Sharon and Ross. Surprisingly we had an excellent dinner. Not only was the food decent, but because the service was a little slow, we got free dessert. There was also a guy making balloons. When he came to our table we thought the kids would enjoy balloons and the guy said he could do just about any Disney character. He said he worked on tips alone. We thought, okay a buck a balloon to keep the kids entertained for a while would be a good deal. As the guy made the balloons we were amazed at his skill. We thought he would make just the heads of the characters, but he made their entire bodies. People kept throwing money into the pot. I think by the time he was finished there was at least $12. Bryce got a Goofy, Amanda got a Minnie Mouse, and Trey got a motorcycle. The kids were entertained for a good 10-15 minutes.

Disneyland - Day 4

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We used our Mickey's Magic Morning pass, which let us into the park an hour before anyone not staying in one of the Disneyland resorts. The morning was pretty rushed since this meant being in line to enter the park before 9 am. However, getting up and ready early was well worth it.

In the first hour we went on Astro Orbitor, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, and Star Tours (not the little kids) and got into the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. We only had a 20 minute wait for the Submarine ride, while the two days prior the line was around 45 minutes. Faith missed out on all but the Submarine ride because she was a good little baby and took her morning nap.

After, Trey and Clay left the group in order to go on Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain and some of the other rides the little kids couldn't do. the rest of us went back to Fantasyland. We road Peter Pan (we really wanted Bryce to go on this since we had already decided he would be Peter Pan for Halloween). Surprisingly the wait for this ride was about 25 minutes. While we were in Fantasyland, we rode Dumbo, the Teacups, and a couple of other kiddie rides again.

Next we went to Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. By this time it was very hot (mid 90's) and we were all getting tired and hungry. We only stayed on the island for 20 or so minutes, but the kids had a great time running around, going in the tree fort, climbing throw caves, running and the suspension bridges, and finding treasure.

We all meet back at the room for lunch and the kids took naps. Bryce took a marathon nap that I couldn't wake him up from. I tried three different times. Everyone else was ready to go to California Adventure, so Nathan picked him up and put him in the stroller. This ended up waking him up.

At California Adventure Juli, Nathan, Clay and Trey went on Grizzly River Run. Nathan ended up completely soaked, but didn't mind too much because of the heat. Next Bryce and Mandy took pictures with Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater. They both thought the full size cars were pretty neat.

By this time we had close to an hour before the Pixar Parade. We went to "A Bug's Land"so the kids could go on Flik's Flyers, Francis' Ladybug Boogie, Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, and Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies. All of these rides are great for the really little kids.

We found a great spot for watching the Pixar Parade. It was right at the street and there was a bench for the kids to stand on. While we waited the kids got to see California Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Nanny bought everyone caramel popcorn and graham cookies shaped like Disney characters to eat while we watched the parade and to hold us over until dinner. The parade started at 5 and only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was well worth it. Many of the recent Pixar movies were represented, including Cars, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., and The Incredibles. As the parade went by, the various characters sprayed the audience with water.

We still had about 30 minutes until the park closed, so we went on Soarin' Over California. Technically Bryce was about a half inch too short, but they didn't measure him. Trey and Clay had done this ride while the little ones saw the cars, so Clay sat out with Mandy and Faith. Bryce really enjoyed this ride.

Disneyland stayed open an hour later than California Adventure. By the time we made it to the other park, we decided to just take the Disneyland Railroad around the park and then call it a day. The little kids had been wanting to take the train since the first day. Since everyone was tired it sounded like a nice easy thing to do to finish the day.

That night we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. I have always loved this place and thought the kids would like seeing the train cars in the restaurant. Ross and Sharon met us for dinner again. The restaurant staff was wise and gave us an entire room to ourselves.

By the time we got back to the hotel it was very late. The kids all had very quick baths and then went right to bed.