To say my children have a few aunts and uncles is a gross understatement. This picture was taken on our last day with my mom. Here are most of my siblings (missing are my sister, Heather Ann, and my big brother, Bryan). If you include Nathan's family, Trevor and Tatum have a total of 7 aunts and 8 uncles... most of whom are quite young and not yet married...so that number will likely climb. 
Our plan was to make a day trip to the town where my grandparents live, to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday. We had a blast hanging out with my aunts, uncles and cousins that I hardly ever get to see. Trevor and Tatum ran, and played, and ate cake, and pulled out of town like this:
We had about a 3.5 hour drive ahead of us-destination DISNEYLAND! The day involved about 8 hours of driving, and landed us in Anaheim at 9:30pm.
Q: What happens at 9:30pm nightly in Anaheim?
A: The largest, loudest, awesomest, (and potentially scariest) FIREWORKS show you have ever seen.
Or this: (ps. He fell asleep about 90 seconds after this photo was taken).
We really did have a good time, despite the fact our kids were completely exhausted. Here we are in line for "It's a Small World"... it was one of three rides we rode ALL day. 
Sweet Trevor, looking out for his sister... this shot was taken right before we went home. They'd just finished watching Mickey march down main street.
Our plan was to make a day trip to the town where my grandparents live, to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday. We had a blast hanging out with my aunts, uncles and cousins that I hardly ever get to see. Trevor and Tatum ran, and played, and ate cake, and pulled out of town like this:
We had about a 3.5 hour drive ahead of us-destination DISNEYLAND! The day involved about 8 hours of driving, and landed us in Anaheim at 9:30pm. Q: What happens at 9:30pm nightly in Anaheim?
A: The largest, loudest, awesomest, (and potentially scariest) FIREWORKS show you have ever seen.
When I was little, we lived in Anaheim and spent many nights on the hood of my dad's car, dressed in our PJ's eating snacks and watching the fireworks. I can still remember how the huge booms echoed through my chest. I was never entirely sure they weren't about to explode on top of me. It was amazing.
We pulled into our hotel just in time for the fireworks show. Tatum was (of course) sleeping peacefully in her car seat when the show began, and Trevor had climbed into my lap in the car to wait for Daddy to check-in. When Tatum woke up, she was terrified, but a few squeals of delight from her brother re-assured her that things were fine. When the show ended, Tatum was signing and saying "more! more!" She loved it.
We pulled into our hotel just in time for the fireworks show. Tatum was (of course) sleeping peacefully in her car seat when the show began, and Trevor had climbed into my lap in the car to wait for Daddy to check-in. When Tatum woke up, she was terrified, but a few squeals of delight from her brother re-assured her that things were fine. When the show ended, Tatum was signing and saying "more! more!" She loved it.
After this trip, I think it's safe to say we could write a book about how NOT to do Disneyland with two toddlers. It would go something like this:
Step 1: The week prior to your trip, cross two time-zones and ensure they wake every morning at 5:30am, and play everyday until they crash.
Step 2: The day prior to your trip, spend 8 hours in the car, without naps, feed them cake, and constant stimulation. Put them to bed at 11:00pm.
Step 3: Wake them at 8:00am, feed them donuts & bananas, and lock the smallest one in the room adjoining yours.
**Side note**
Tatum, that sweet lil' thing.... she's a sly one. At the last minute, we decided to book two hotel rooms in an effort to get the kids some peaceful, undisturbed sleep before our flight home. It worked like a champ, until Tatum figured out how to close the door between rooms. And to make things extra fun, we'd dead-bolted and latched the entry door as much as possible to keep it "childproofed." We must be talented child-proofers, because the key would not open the door.
So, Mr. Security came to save the day. He used a super huge hanger-looking thing to fish under the door and grab the handle. Our little princess was on the other side of the door grabbing the wire as he sent it through. He suggested we tell her to turn the handle... we told him she's 17 months old, there's no way she'd do that. Poor Trevor looked-on and was worried for his sister. After about 20 minutes, she decided to try and open the door and turned the handle like we'd hoped. Doing so unlocked the deadbolt, and the security guard was then able to shimmy the latch open.
A few minutes after Tatum was out, Trevor heard a baby crying in a room down the hall. He ran to the room and said "Daddy! There's a baby in there! We have to get her out!" Our poor little guy thought the baby was locked-in by herself, like Tatum. Nathan assured him that the baby's parents were there and that the baby was okay. Nothing like a little drama to start off the day!
Now back to the book...
Step 4: Once you arrive at Disneyland, settle the kids in strollers, and begin walking aimlessly, having no plan or direction. Soon, you can be sure your toddlers will wind up like this:
Step 1: The week prior to your trip, cross two time-zones and ensure they wake every morning at 5:30am, and play everyday until they crash.
Step 2: The day prior to your trip, spend 8 hours in the car, without naps, feed them cake, and constant stimulation. Put them to bed at 11:00pm.
Step 3: Wake them at 8:00am, feed them donuts & bananas, and lock the smallest one in the room adjoining yours.
**Side note**
Tatum, that sweet lil' thing.... she's a sly one. At the last minute, we decided to book two hotel rooms in an effort to get the kids some peaceful, undisturbed sleep before our flight home. It worked like a champ, until Tatum figured out how to close the door between rooms. And to make things extra fun, we'd dead-bolted and latched the entry door as much as possible to keep it "childproofed." We must be talented child-proofers, because the key would not open the door.
So, Mr. Security came to save the day. He used a super huge hanger-looking thing to fish under the door and grab the handle. Our little princess was on the other side of the door grabbing the wire as he sent it through. He suggested we tell her to turn the handle... we told him she's 17 months old, there's no way she'd do that. Poor Trevor looked-on and was worried for his sister. After about 20 minutes, she decided to try and open the door and turned the handle like we'd hoped. Doing so unlocked the deadbolt, and the security guard was then able to shimmy the latch open.
A few minutes after Tatum was out, Trevor heard a baby crying in a room down the hall. He ran to the room and said "Daddy! There's a baby in there! We have to get her out!" Our poor little guy thought the baby was locked-in by herself, like Tatum. Nathan assured him that the baby's parents were there and that the baby was okay. Nothing like a little drama to start off the day!
Now back to the book...
Step 4: Once you arrive at Disneyland, settle the kids in strollers, and begin walking aimlessly, having no plan or direction. Soon, you can be sure your toddlers will wind up like this:
Or this: (ps. He fell asleep about 90 seconds after this photo was taken).
We really did have a good time, despite the fact our kids were completely exhausted. Here we are in line for "It's a Small World"... it was one of three rides we rode ALL day. 
Sweet Trevor, looking out for his sister... this shot was taken right before we went home. They'd just finished watching Mickey march down main street.
We left the park at about 3:30pm, intending to put the kids down for naps and head back for more fun after dinner. At 5:30pm, they were still out cold and we decided to wake them. We took them to Mimi's Cafe, where they handed us the worst restaurant experience to date. We returned to the hotel to catch the shuttle for the short ride back to the park. While waiting on the packed shuttle, the kids were beyond done. Nathan gave me a look from two seats away that said "Is this worth it?" and we promptly exited the shuttle and went back to the room.
That night, the kids were sound asleep by 8:30pm. At that point, my babies were so tired, I would have called Mr. Disney himself and begged him to cancel the fireworks that night. Instead, Nathan and I laid on the bed in their room waiting for the "boom" and laughing at the fact that the sole purpose we booked that hotel was for it's proximity to the now dreaded fireworks show. And then, they slept through it... and that was a whole new kind of amazing.
That night, the kids were sound asleep by 8:30pm. At that point, my babies were so tired, I would have called Mr. Disney himself and begged him to cancel the fireworks that night. Instead, Nathan and I laid on the bed in their room waiting for the "boom" and laughing at the fact that the sole purpose we booked that hotel was for it's proximity to the now dreaded fireworks show. And then, they slept through it... and that was a whole new kind of amazing.
The next morning, the kids were new people after a good nights' sleep and walked into the park as excited as we'd hoped they'd be. We had only time enough to do a couple of things and riding the monorail was at the top of our list: 
On the way back to the hotel, we missed our shuttle. Having stayed at the park for as long as we possibly could without missing our flight, missing the shuttle presented a problem. The next shuttle was 45 minutes away. So, we parked at a nearby McDonald's and Nathan ran a few miles back to our hotel to get the car. Have I mentioned how I love that man? I do. I really, really do.
The car was already packed. All that was left was the flight home.
Don't worry. This post is exhausting enough to read... I'll spare you the ugly details of the flight home. Just know that I may or may not have burst into tears in the security line at the Burbank airport after an agent took the time to say "It's okay, I can see you're stressed... your kids are beautiful." It was a low moment.
In the end, our Disney adventure wasn't too horrible... it helps that kids under 3 are free! lol . Needless to say, I see a Disney Do-over in our future!
The car was already packed. All that was left was the flight home.
Don't worry. This post is exhausting enough to read... I'll spare you the ugly details of the flight home. Just know that I may or may not have burst into tears in the security line at the Burbank airport after an agent took the time to say "It's okay, I can see you're stressed... your kids are beautiful." It was a low moment.
In the end, our Disney adventure wasn't too horrible... it helps that kids under 3 are free! lol . Needless to say, I see a Disney Do-over in our future!
2 comments:
Oh Heather! You have a great way of telling the stories from your trip! Sounds fun, memorable and stressfull all at the same time. I laughed when I read that you picked the hotel for the fireworks and then didn't want the fireworks to happen. Too funny! Love your blog and stories!
Oh my goodness, Heather! Well I know from experience that something that had moments of awful will fade into a beautiful memory. We've often said that about something we did with the kids that seemed incredibly stressful at the time, we look back and say it was one of the best trips of our lives.
On another note...we were thinking of doing Disneyland next summer. Ryder will be almost 4 but Rustin won't be 2 yet...what's your take?
Your pictures are beautiful and the agent was right...you have two of the most beautiful kiddos I have ever seen!
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