Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I'm Not Afraid of Anything. . .Not Even Chucky!

It may be hard to believe that this is a Disneyland entry from the title, but it is. That is what Xander exclaimed after riding all the rides at Disneyland and California Adventure.

How did we get to that point you ask?

Well. . .let's start from the beginning shall we?

We begin with our trip down to Anaheim. We got a late start because I had forgotten to mail Ben's parents birthday package the day before. I wanted to make sure they got their present on time so I made my way to the post office. I had decorated the package with stickers of flowers and sorts. The post office worker admired my work while he typed in the zip code. Seconds later, it came back as invalid.

Invalid? What? Didn't I used to live in the same city for 4 years?

I had to call Ben to get the right zip code and because the post office worker didn't want to ruin such a beautiful package, he so delicately crossed out the zip code making a cris cross design. After making the design, he shuffled through his drawer and pulled out some stickers to place on the crossed out zipcode.

What a nice man! I think this was the same post office worker who told me last Christmas that I needed to refridgerate my stamps. I believed him only to find out he was pulling my leg! Come on, I know what you are thinking. . .but he was pretty convincing.

Back at the house Ben was following his list of things he made the night before. I chuckled when I saw it.

Look at the last thing on the list.

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Phew! Good thing that was there.

7 hours later. . .

We arrive at our hotel around the same time as Sarah, Ben's sister. They traveled from Albuquerque. We popped over to their hotel to swim, since their pool was better. I was so surprised at how warm it felt. I think it was in the mid 60's but it felt so much warmer than Concord. I think the sun shines warmer in So Cal.

The next day. . .

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Love how Zoey is squirming out of my arms. That was how she was the entire time. She just wanted to run around everywhere and being held was not an option! Mia was slightly disappointed that I had not packed her something green to wear since it was St. Patrick's Day.

Duh! What was I thinking? The Irish in me always forgets this day.

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Sarah and Scott's family didn't forget the green. It was a sweet reunion for the cousins. Everyone paired off: Kaitlyn and CJ, Brynn and Mia, Jared and Xander. Waiting in line was never better!

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I couldn't believe how many people had decided to come on Disneyland the same day. It always amazes me when I am on vacation how many other people in the world decide to go on vacation too! We didn't have to wait too long on the rides, although, Ben pointed out that several rides were shut down temporary and that each time Sarah was standing in line. I just think he likes picking on Sarah because she is his younger sister which brings me to this next thought.

Ben told Xander that we were going to Disneyland with Sarah and her family and that Sarah was his younger sister. He looked at Ben, and chuckled with disbelief saying, "No she's not, she's a Mom!". We just got a kick out of that and a couple times during the trip we pointed out that Sarah was Ben's sister and he just giggled and shook his head every time!

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Sarah and Scott treated us to pizza for dinner and we watched the "World of Color" at California Adventure.

The following day. . .

California Adventure!

The highlight? It was this ride:

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Last year when we came, Xander was a quarter of an inch too short. He was so disappointed that the worker gave him a card that he could bring next time when he was taller. Xander was looking forward to this ride since we mentioned coming to Disneyland.

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He loved it and got to ride it twice! Notice how Sarah is shivering?

Both Sarah and I got soaked the most!

We had fun going on Midway Mania, Soarin' over California, Turtle Talk, Monsters Inc, the swings, and the rides in Bug's life but the highlight of the day for the kids was. . .

Cracker Jacks and Disney Channel back at the hotel!

The kids were pretty exhausted from two days of walking everywhere!

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We said our goodbyes to Scott and Sarah who were off to visit Scott's brother.

Our last day in the parks was packed! We didn't mind because we were taking it easy.

Finally the part where the title comes from. . .

We headed to the "Tower of Terror" because we didn't ride it the day before. I took the girls and Xander while Ben waited with Zoey. The "Tower of Terror" is a hotel. You sit in the elevator that takes you to the top and drops you while bounce up and down a couple of times.

I heard screams from the girls, but nothing from Xander. I couldn't tell if he was scared or if he was just fine.

After the ride, the girls had no interest in riding the ride again. I asked Xander if he would go with his Dad and he said, "OK I will go."

Let's rewind a little. . .

Recently, Ben had shown an image of Chucky to CJ and Xander happen to glance at the picture. From that day on, Xander was scared of everything and scared to go to bed at night. He continued to say that he was scared and so we didn't let him watch anything that could be scary.

Ben and Xander went on the ride and after, Ben talked to him about being brave. He told Ben that he wasn't afraid of anything, not even Chucky.



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Since returning from Disneyland, Xander reminds me that he's not scared of anything and can watch his favorite shows again.

Apparently Disneyland cures scaredy cat-ness.

All in all, a wonderful trip! The weather was great and didn't start to rain until the day we left. Thanks Sarah and Scott for inviting us to come with you!

OK family, who's next??