The Disney Wonder and Mexican Riviera

After our amazing three days at Disneyland, we went to a new hotel in Los Angeles and met up with my sister Linda, and her family. Grandma and Grandpa flew in from Salt Lake the next morning. We all met in the hotel for breakfast then went off to the Science Museum at USC. It was fantastic. It was free, except for parking, and it was huge. We spent all day there and could have easily spent at least another day or two in just that museum. Plus, there's a natural history museum and a space museum all in the same park.

That night we drove 15 miles which took us an hour and a half (I hate LA traffic) to a Korean BBQ place that Linda and Dave had found the day before. Emily had a major meltdown there which put me in a foul mood. Plus, I popped a whole clove of garlic in my mouth thinking it was a nut or cheese or something. Hey, the table was full of things that I had no idea what they were. Everything that night tasted way too garlicky for some reason. Things got even worse after dinner when Jonathan spent almost two hours looking for a laundromat that was open. He never found one, so it was a good thing there was self-service laundry available on the cruise. The next morning, we dropped off our rental car and took a shuttle to the port where we got on the cruise without a problem. The first thing they did was feed us a yummy buffet lunch.

Emily and Gwen loved to sit in the big windows. All throughout the cruise, Emily would suddenly see a window and say, "We on a boat.". It was as if she had forgotten and then when she looked outside and saw the water she would remember. You really couldn't feel much movement on the boat, so I can see how she could forget we were on a boat.
After lunch we all went to the Cast Away party on the pool deck. There was dancing and the kids all got streamers to wave. Mickey and his friends all came and danced with us and when it was over we were off on our trip and moving away from port.
At dinner, they served the kids fruit in these metal cups. It reminded Emily of the mean Queen in Snow White when she mixes the potion and turns herself into an old lady. She kept drinking her soda out of it and saying she was old and mean.

At meals, we all got to sit at two big tables. We could never sit in the same spots each night, so our servers soon learned just to put the kids cups in the center and we'd arrange them ourselves. I think my kids were like most kids on the cruise and ate the same things the entire trip. For breakfast Emily and Gwen had pancakes and eggs or cereal. For Lunch, Gwen usually ate watermelon and either pizza or a hot dog and Emily had ice cream and french fries. For dinner besides eating tons of rolls with butter, they stuck with watermelon and pizza or macaroni and cheese followed by ice cream. Jonathan and I had a MUCH more varied diet. We got to try escargot and lobster and had delicious steak nearly every night. I loved the food on the cruise.Another part of the cruise that my kids loved was meeting the characters. We loved that about Disneyland, but on the cruise you never had to wait in line long, and sometimes you just ran into the characters in the halls. They also had lots of different clothes for the characters. We saw Minnie Mouse in her cruise outfit (above), her fancy white dress, and in a Mexican dress.

Goofy. He's really tall. Jonathan's standing right next to him and he's 6'1".

Right before getting this picture, Smee accidentally walked into Emily and knocked her down. I guess it's hard to see around that big belly of his. She was really upset and didn't want to stand near him for the picture. She did want to meet Captain Hook though.

Emily is trying to smile in this picture. She looks like she's in pain.

On many nights, after or before dinner, the princesses would be walking around the main lobby. We could go up and have a conversation with them. It was fun to watch the girls just light up when they saw the characters.

The Mickey pool. It's shaped like Mickey's face. My girls were personally responsible for shutting it down twice. I'll let you use your imagination as to why. There was no more swimming in the pools after that, just the ocean.

Fancy night. We didn't pack anything too fancy but it was fun to pretend that we were going to a fancy party. They even had free drinks and the characters were dresses in their nice clothes.

Ran into Pluto in the hall while taking Emily to the bathroom during dinner.

Each night, when you got back to your room, it not only was clean and had the beds all made and ready for you to get in them, but there was a towel animal and chocolate. The kids loved getting to the rooms to see what animal was waiting for them.

It wasn't only the girls who loved meeting the characters. Jonathan was so excited that his all-time favorite character, Stitch, was on the ship.

Lilo and Stitch were actually pretty funny when we met them. Lilo waved her hands in front of the book that Stitch was trying to sign and then Stitch tried to eat the book. The girls thought that was great.

Right after this picture, Gwen ran up to me and told me I just had to feel Donald's bum because it was so soft.

Gwen wanted to know how Jimminy Cricket got so big. I told her it was so we wouldn't accidentally step on him.

Emily and I ran into Peter Pan after dinner one evening. The only good part of being too little to go to the Oceanear's Club without a grown-up meant that we got to run into more characters. All the other kids in our group were over three years old. That meant that their parent's could drop them off in one of two clubs and then go off and enjoy some alone time. I had Emily, who is 2 1/2 and wants to be with the other kids all the time. This meant that I spent much of my cruise in the the clubs with all the kids. My niece, Kim, even remarked to me that it was like I was one of the workers there. I really think that some of the other kids in the clubs thought that was true. At least Jonathan got to do some grown-up things. He even adopted a replacement family for all the trivia games.

Terk.

Emily snuggling one of the "bad guys" from Tangled. He sings the song, "I Have a Dream." Appropriate. Dinner at Animator's Palate. Mickey came out at the end of dinner and danced with all the servers. Chip and Dale in their Mexican outfits. Puerto Vallarta. They had armed guards patrolling the dock making sure all is in order.

The back of the Wonder had Donald hanging from it and one of his nephews trying to cut the rope holding him up.

Our Disney Boat. It's huge. That's it behind a big resort hotel on the beach. It's bigger than the hotel and probably nicer too. In Puerto Vallarta, I ditched my little family and went on an outdoor adventure with my sisters Linda and Megan and my brother-in-law, Joel. More on that in the next post.

Puerto Vallarta is beautiful. It's all lush jungle and sandy beaches. At least the parts of it that I saw were.

A cave in the ocean.

These are the fish that live near that cave. Jonathan and Gwen went on a pirate boat adventure that day and got to go snorkeling. He reports that they saw many of these same fish. They're beautiful.

The beach that we went to. I guess that the movie, "Predator" was filmed on this beach and in this jungle.

There were men out in the water fishing and little kids playing in the water. It looked like a wonderful place to just sit and relax.

One of the mornings on the cruise we got to have a breakfast with some of the characters. It was hard to keep all the kids entertained long enough for them to meet all the characters. We'd already met most of them earlier in the cruise, but my kids love seeing them.

Our wonderful servers also made us funny hats out of our napkins. Gwen got a bow and Emily got doggy ears. Jonathan got a Goofy hat and I didn't get anything.

In Cabo San Lucas, Jonathan, my dad, my brother-in-law Dave, and my nephew Mason, all got to go deep-sea fishing. It was really hot that day. The rest of us went shopping until it got too hot. Linda and I took our kids to a shady beach and had the best afternoon of the entire trip, relaxing in the cool water and playing in the sand. The rest of the group went back to the boat or went to play with dolphins.

Jonathan had fun fishing, but said that it was hot. It made him miss living near the ocean. That night on the cruise it was pirate night. We all got to dress up like pirates and then stayed up late for a pirate themed dance party complete with fireworks and Mickey zipping in to save the day.

The next day we were still in Cabo San Lucas for the morning so some of us took a water-taxi and checked out some of the beaches. My kids begged me to go back to the beach so we took Megan and Joel with us and had another afternoon of fun. Gwen asked if we could get a beach and the ocean near our house.

Emily loves being out on the water but does not like wearing life vests.

This room was on the way to our room. It had a cute soft Mickey hanging on it. Each time we passed by, Emily had to give it a hug and a kiss.

She also loved to hang like a monkey from the hand rails. She can be so cute sometimes. Whenever we'd head back to our room she'd ask "we gettin' out of here?".

In the club they had all kinds of fun visitors. Each of the princesses came and read them a story or took them on an adventure. It was so fun I almost didn't mind being trapped there for so many hours.All the grandkids. From back to front left to right: Sam (6), Mason (9), Kim (7), Noah (5 1/2), Gwen (5), Jami (4), Andrew (3 1/2), Max (3), Emily (2 1/2).

Silly faces.

The entire group.Grandma and Grandpa the grandkids and the Mouse. Thank you to my wonderful parents who made this trip happen.

Out head server, Chatchai from Thailand. We were only really late to dinner twice. I think that's a record for my family. He was amazing.

Our assistant server, Olivia, who kept mixing me up with my sisters, but who had sword fights and tickle fights with the kids to keep them entertained.

The last day of our trip we went to the Aquarium and had a lot of fun there. I should have taken more pictures there, but didn't of course. We met up with Marie and had lunch with her. That night we flew back to Salt Lake and Emily and Andrew slept the entire time. What a great way to end such an amazing trip.

Disneyland 2011

We got to have the most AMAZING vacation of our lives this month. My parents treated us all to a DISNEY CRUISE. It was to honor and remember my Grandpa Madsen who passed away 2 years ago. After his death we began to plan this trip. Since he loved to travel and loved even more to take people on cruises, my parents thought that it would be great to take us all on a cruise. Over the last 2 years, I have saved and prayed to make it on this trip. Everything worked out and all of my sisters and all our kids and my parents were able to make it. Our family's trip started on Wednesday, October 12th. I'm glad that we were able to fly down to California. Our voyage started at 4:00 in the morning when we woke up our girls and my nephew, who doesn't travel well by car, and lugged their tired little bodies to the van. My dad dropped us off at the airport and we had lots of fun playing with new princess toys while waiting for our flight.

Emily and Gwen love to have "plays" and "parades" with their toys.

Gwen loved being on an airplane. For months before our trip she'd make me tell her a story about what our trip would be like. We had to go over every detail step-by-step and if I started anywhere in the story except at the airport, she'd make me go back and start over.

Emily and Andrew holding hands across the aisle. So, how was the notoriously bad traveler, Andrew? Perfect for the flight, of course. The big stinker was Emily who screamed for the last entire 30 minutes of our flight. She's so 2 sometimes. The moment they told her she couldn't stand up and run around the plane and had to sit with her seat belt on she freaked out. Even though she'd been sitting quietly playing for the entire hour prior to that.

My kids LOVE meeting the characters. We got each of them an autograph book and had fun running into different mean guys all over Disneyland. This is the Queen of Hearts.

Foul Fellow. Better known to our family as Honest John from Pinocchio.

The girls dog-pile on Andrew. He's loving it and has the biggest grin on his face. At the end of the trip we had him for another day while his family made the trip home by car. Gwen asked if we could steal him and keep him for our brother. I guess she liked having him around.

We had lunch with Ariel and her princess friends at Ariel's Grotto. One of our favorite Disneyland traditions. Beats having to wait a couple hours in line to meet them plus the food is actually pretty yummy, not that the kids ever touch it.

Meeting Cinderella.

Snow White. Emily's favorite princess, can't you tell by that great grin? Try seeing if she smiled in any of our vacation pictures.

Princess Aurora

Princess Belle who actually kissed Emily straight full on the lips. Right after Emily hacked and coughed for a couple minutes - she was getting over a cold at the time. You could see this look of terror in Belle's eyes as she thought, "What have I done?".

Jessie the cowgirl. Emily wanted to know where her Bulls Eye was. Apparently, 104 degrees is too hot for some of the Disney characters. Yes, over 100 degrees for Wednesday and Thursday at Disneyland. We all look a little like we're melting in our pictures. Jonathan's trying to give her a kiss on the cheek but he just looks a little bit creepy instead.

At the Playhouse Disney. Emily took her shoes and socks off and stunk up the place. My kids have the stinkiest feet. At least it was inside and cool for a moment.

Thursday morning we tried to wake up and get ready and be there early. We managed to make it there 5 minutes before the park opened. At least that meant that the line to meet the fairies was short. We only got to meet Tinkerbell which was a let down because usually you get to meet at least 3. Later on Thursday we met up with Jonathan's sister, Lisa and her daughter Kat. You'd think I would have thought to get a picture of or with them, but I guess not. We went to dinner with them that night at Rainforest Cafe who have greatly improved their menu. We stayed late and watched Fantasmic which Gwen deemed "mostly scary and a little not scary when the princesses and big boat came out".

Emily having a tantrum outside Mickey's house. You'd think by the second day she'd by more used to waiting in lines. She wasn't. Plus, in true 2-year-old fashion she didn't believe that things like fenced or barriers meant that she couldn't just climb over them and enjoy them from the other side.

Mickey Mouse. Somehow, I remember him being taller.

Minnie Mouse.

Waiting in line for Rapunzel was the longest line we did - about 40 minutes in mostly sunlight. We're trying to keep the kids from melting by having them sit in my shadow and eat frozen yogurt. We also bought a fan/squirt bottle that was a life saver that day.

Gwen wanted to tell Rapunzel all about how she's going to be in a play about her. Rapunzel asked her to come back and tell her how it went. Anyone up for another Disneyland trip in a couple months?

The Haunted Mansion all decked out for the Holidays. Jack and his friend's from Nightmare Before Christmas have taken over the mansion and made it a whole lot less scary for the kids.

Made me realize how close we really are to Christmas. YIKES! That was the scariest thing of all.

Marry Poppins. The girls got to wear their princess dresses I brought from home on our last day. I got them out the night before and let them see them - they were a surprise. Both the girls slept with them that night.

Going down Main Street toward the castle. We bought a stroller for Emily to use since the first day there she made me carry her instead of doing any walking by herself.

Ran into Aladdin after watching the Tiki Room show.

Gwen's before picture at the Bippity Boppity Boutique. It was worth the money to watch her have so much fun listening to her Fairy Godmother-in-Training and sit still to get her hair done.

She didn't even look like my little girl when it was over. She loved it and the hair-do lasted for 4 days until I got grossed out and made her wash it.

Tigger. We had to choose between getting Pooh to sign or Tigger and Eyeore. You can see who my kids and husband chose.

Eyeore. Jonathan's very favorite character.

I dragged, quite literally, Gwen onto Splash Mountain. She was so scared and made me hold her tight but after she declared that it was the funnest ride in Disneyland but she didn't want to go on it again with her daddy.

We went to the Phenius and Ferb dance party and I even got to be a part of it by hoola-hooping it up for all the grown-ups out there. The kids got to learn all kinds of dances.

Jonathan's favorite thing to do was to leave me with the kids doing the little-kid rides while he ran off to ride the grown-up rides by himself. He got to ride all the ones he wanted to and the kids didn't have to wait around while he did. I guess I'll just have to wait a few more years until the girls are both big enough to go on all the big rides with me.

Another Tough Break for Emily

A couple weeks ago at church during nursery Emily broke her leg . . . again. Luckily? It was the other leg. She broke the right one near the ankle in February climbing up our dresser and pulling it on top of herself. This time she injured it in a mystery way since no one seems to know exactly what happened. They think she was jumping off the table and catching other kids doing the same, but who knows. It was actually broken right below the knee but the ER doctor and the orthopedic at Primary Children's missed the break. Not me. My gut told me that it was broken and it was her knee that hurt. The ortho guy said he'd cast it for three weeks to make us feel better but that it was probably overkill. It wasn't until we wen back, that they said they totally missed the break. It had healed just fine but it's no wonder she wouldn't walk in her cast for a couple weeks.

This is Gwen's favorite new toy. Her big wooden castle she got for her birthday. It's just perfect for her little princess toys that she loves to play with. Emily loves playing with it while Gwen's at school.

For our wedding anniversary this year we put a spin on our old classic tradition of going to the fair. We went and saw Weird Al Yankovic at the State Fair. Jonathan loves him and has all his CDs. I promised him that if he ever came to town we'd go see him. Turns out it was perfect timing.

Can't go to a concert without getting a shirt to prove that you did.

Gwen's favorite song of Weird Al's is "Fat" so I got a picture of him in his fat suit just for her.

First Day of Kindergarten & Gwen's Birthday

Last big Lagoon day of the summer. Grandma and most of the grandkids enjoying one last big splash in the summer on our traditional Wednesday afternoon. This summer we tried to get together at our favorite summer spot each week usually on Wednesdays.

Gwen practicing "diving" with a new friend at the pool. I love that she was even more daring this summer, rarely wearing her water wings, but mostly staying where she could touch the bottom. She did practice diving under the water for objects and doing somersaults.

Gwen's first day of kindergarten! Boy was she ready. Her school is only a couple streets away so we usually try walking there. The walk there with her takes about 25 minutes. Without her on the way back, it takes about 15 minutes. She is my little dawdler.

In line (sort-of). There's a lot of boys in her class. None of them very cute she reports.

Meeting her in the hall after her first class. Her impressions were that it wasn't long enough and her teacher, Mrs. Schofield, was very nice.

Gwen was probably the only 4 year-old in her school that first day of class. She turned 5 two days after school started this year. I made her a surprise Tangled cake and we had a beach party with her cousins at Lagoon-a-Beach. Notice Emily's cast. More on that next post.