Michelle's Quick Trip to CA

I really wanted to go visit my parents and Julie and Wendy in California last weekend, but the weather was going to be really bad on the drive home, so we didn't go.

Kevin's family was planning on going the next weekend and they invited me to go with them.  So, Friday morning they picked me up and we drove to Auburn.  Betsy was so nice and let me sit in the front seat because I get car sick. The weather and traffic were great, and we didn't have any problems.

We stopped at my parents' house first and got my room ready and then we went to Julie's house.  We then hung out there and ate dinner before all going to the bowling alley.  Wendy came by with her new boyfriend Ryan and his daughter came too.  They were both very nice and we all had a good time bowling.  I haven't bowled in so long, but I got over a hundred.  

The next morning we ate breakfast at Julie's and then we went to the tennis tournament to watch Hayden and Alex play.  It was fun and they both did well.

After we ate lunch and then did a little shopping before going to Julies to hang out before going to Wendy's house for pizza dinner. We then played Jeopardy and Bingo.  Good times were definitely had!

Sunday morning, I hung out at my parents' house with them until we went to church.  Church was nice.  A lot of people told Julie and I how much we looked a like.  That was kind of funny.  After church Boyd and Julie took me to see Kimball's school and then took me back to my parents' house.  I then helped my mom make potatoe casserole.  I then went to Julie's to hang out before dinner at my parents' house.  We all ate outside, and it was so nice.  The food was all so delicious, and it was a perfect evening. 

After dinner we went to Julie's house to play some games.  It was so nice just hanging out with family.  The next morning Kevin and his family picked me up from my parents' house bright and early and we drove home.  It was a good drive home, and I was so thankful that I was able to go.  Best time is always family time. 

Boys Heber Valley Winter Camp

The boys got to go to Heber Valley camp for the night.  They slept in cabins and then got to go sledding.  They both had a great time with the boys and playing in the snow.  Such a fun experience for them both. 

Happy Birthday/Valentine's Day

We had a fun Valentine's Day at our house. 

Tony took me to lunch at the Olive Garden and then we went to Mrs. Cavanaugh's chocolates and got everyone some chocolate.  The kids were surprised when they saw them, and very happy to eat them.

Tony (with the help of Allie) bought me a very pretty necklace from Disneyland and gave it to me for my birthday.  I am wearing it in the picture.  I also got some new earing from Disneyland, but you can't really tell in the picture.  Allie also made me a very nice card. 

We had a few visitors this day.  Allie's ward friend, Emmet and his brother came over to give Allie a flower.  It was the sweetest thing, I just had to take a picture.  Also, my friend Becky stopped by and brought me a yummy huge sugar cookie.  

Then Sherri and her family came over with flowers for me, some cute outfits for the girls (they found them for $5 at Costco) and some treats for the boys.  They stayed and visited for a while, and it was such a fun birthday treat.  

I also got some flowers from Tricia Pahl and a couple gifts from my friend Ashley the night before.  It was a great birthday and Valentine's Day.  I felt very loved, and I hope that my family did too.

Disney Trip 2024 - Last Day at DCA & Disneyland

This day we started at Disney's California Adventure Park.  We wanted to ride the Cars ride together as a family, so we decided to go to that ride first, along with almost everyone else in the park.  

Tyler and Josh are fast walkers, so they went on ahead of us to get us a closer spot in the line.  We thought the line would wrap around the outside of the ride que for a while and we could join them there, but they were able to go in the line of the ride.  So, the rest of us got in line and watched out for them.  We really thought that they probably would have already made it to the front of the line, but then we found them about to make their way up the ramp towards the last part of the ride.  So, Allie and I went first to join them (so we weren't all going at the same time) and then when we turned Tony, Margie and Megan were able to get in line with us.  We were very thankful for our fast walkers who probably saved us 15 minutes of wait time and Margie went by herself so that we could get a picture with all six of us in the car.

We noticed the single rider line was so short, almost non-existent so we decided to single ride it again.  Allie was not willing to single ride it, so Tony took her on Mater's ride while the rest of us single rode the ride.  We then met up with Tony and Allie to ride Mater as a group.  

Tony then went to single ride Cars with Margie, Tyler, and Josh while Megan, Allie, and I stayed and rode Mater again.  Three times on Mater for Allie, lucky girl.

After we went to ride Toy Story Mania.  We all love that ride.  It was kind of a wait, but not too bad.  After the ride we noticed that the line was short, so Allie and I went on it again while the others went on the  Incredicoaster.  After Allie and I went for a ride on the carousel and when we got off, they were done on the Incredicoaster.  All so fun.

We then wanted some lunch at the taco place in SanFranSokio.  Margie, the boys, and I all wanted tacos, but Tony, Megan, and Allie wanted something else from the neighboring restaurants.  So, I got us a place to sit while Tony waited in line for Allie and his food and he mobile ordered our tacos.  Then Megan's food was from a totally different place, so Tony waited in that line.  Once the boys were done eating, we sent them over there to wait for Megan's food so that Tony could eat.  It was kind of crazy, but everyone got what they wanted. And it was all good.

We then single rode Web Slingers and watched the different entertainment in Avengers Land.  We saw the Wakanda ladies and the Spiderman show-thing.  Both short but entertaining.  We then made our way to get shakes to share, yummy stuff.  

The boys then wanted to go single ride Incredicoaster so they did that while we went to the turtle talk.  It is always so funny.  I am sure we did more stuff, but that is all remember at DCA.  We then decided to go over to Disneyland.

We took pictures by the flower Mickey (a lot less busy in the late afternoon).  We rode rides and had a great time.  We had dinner at Big Bear and then decided to walk by the Rise of the Resistance ride to see if maybe it opened up by the time we got there (because it had been down).  We got lucky and it had just opened.  So, we got in the line and rode that ride one more time.  It was great.  We then went and rode It's a Small World one last time too.  Allie was super tired by this time and was ready to go back.  

I told her we could get on the train, and it would take us to the front of the park, or we could walk to the front.  She wanted to ride. We then said our goodbyes to the rest of the group who all wanted to stay, and Allie and I went to wait for the train.  It didn't take too long, and we were on the train.  We then walked back to the hotel where we showered and started to get us all packed up and ready to leave the next day.  The others stayed almost until the park closed.  They were able to ride lots of rides and they all had a great time.  

The next morning, we finished packing and got all checked out of the hotel.  We drove to Cedar City without any problem and very little traffic problems (thankfully).  We ate dinner at IHOP and then relaxed the rest of the night.  The next morning, we drove the rest of the way home without any problems.  It was such a great trip and we loved it.  We are so lucky and blessed that Margie takes us on these amazing trips.  So many core memories were made.

Disney Trip 2024 - More Disney Fun

This was another rain free day.  We started again at Disneyland this day.  We love going first thing (rope dropping) so that we can get on a lot of rides quickly.  We wanted Allie to go on Big Thunder, but she didn't want to do it first thing.  

So, we went on Indiana Jones very first.  Allie loves that ride (even though she hides her face for most of it).  Megan doesn't really like it because it's a little too realistic for her.  But she goes and she doesn't complain (she just has a kind of sad/nervous face).  The rest of us all really enjoy the ride and love riding it together.

We then all went on Pirates.  We all like this ride.  Allie still gets scared of the small drops on the ride, but now does way better with them.  We just talk about when they are coming, and she is good.  She looks scared and sad in the picture of us all at the end of Pirates, because she knew that she was about to go on Big Thunder and was already working herself into a frenzy.

We then got in line for Big Thunder.  Allie had gotten herself really nervous for the ride, but she went on it.  I told her she couldn't cry and that she had to ride it.  I wouldn't make her ride the bigger rides (like Incredicoaster or Matterhorn) but that she could be brave and ride this one.  

I held her really tight and talked her through the whole ride.  She gets scared of big drops, but that ride doesn't really have big drops.  But Allie hasn't ridden the ride enough to really know what to expect.  She was very happy when it was over, and I didn't make her do it again.

We were able to see a few different characters this day.  We loved seeing Rabbit and Tigger while we were in Critter Country riding the Pooh ride.  The boys were good sports going on it with us and then waiting in line to see Tigger.  The girls just happened upon Rabbit on our way to get in line to see Tigger, so that was great.

We went back into Toon Town and had fun riding Mickey's Runaway Railway, Roger Rabbit, and we did the small roller coaster, Chip N Dales.  Allie was really excited to ride it and I showed her just how similar that ride is to Big Thunder, it's just a lot shorter.  So maybe next time she won't be so we afraid of Big Thunder.

We then went on some more rides and the bigger kids wanted to single ride Space Mountain.  Allie didn't want to go, so I took her on Buzz.  

While we were on the ride it just happened to stop right by a sensor that went up and down and when you shot it, it gave you a lot of points.  So, I went to town on that target and ended up getting more then the numbers on the screen.  I took a picture with Allie in it to show my score to so that I could show Tony.  He was very impressed.  Pretty good for the girl that normally doesn't even really try to get such a big number.  

After lunch we saw that Rise of the Resistance wasn't too long, so we went over there to ride that ride.  This is the other ride that Megan doesn't really like because it is too real.  But she goes on the ride and doesn't complain.  

When we got in to the line, they had raised the wait time, but we decided to stay.  Tony then got out of line and got us some of the new cookies from Harbor Galley for us all to try.  It didn't take him very long and he was back in line with us with two baker's dozen cookies.  The cookies weren't very big, but they were warm and super tasty.  The people behind us in line saw him come back with the cookies and then he went and got some for him and his wife.

It was the perfect treat to have while waiting in a long line.  The wait wasn't as bad as they posted, but it was a long wait.  It went by fast, and the ride was super fun.

After we ate dinner Allie really wanted to go on the Monorail.  So, Tony and I took her on the Monorail while Margie took the older three kids on the Matterhorn.  We were able to get right on without much wait and then we just stayed on the Monorail to get back into the park.  We met right back up with the rest of our family and it was perfect timing.  

This was a special event night, so the park closed at 8:00 pm this night.  Allie knew what she wanted for a souvenir, so we went through the store on the way out of the park to get it for her.  The store was way busy!  We looked around for a little bit, but after Allie had found what she wanted, and we got tired of fighting the crowds Margie bought her souvenir and we walked back to the hotel.  Allie chose a Mickey stuffy pillow.  She calls it her emotional support stuffed animal (she's so funny).  She was so happy to have it and snuggled it all the way back to the hotel.  

It was another great day in the parks.  No rain, not too busy, everyone's feet felt good.  Such a great day!

Disney Trip 2024 - Disneyland with the Crouds

 

This day the rain had mostly stopped.  The ground was still pretty wet, but it didn't rain any more this day.  We started our day in Disneyland.  We rode a lot of rides and had tons of fun.  

This was the busiest day of the whole trip.  We found out that California schools had a half day that day and there were also a lot of band and cheer kids there.  But the main reason, I think, is that a lot of people switch their day from Monday and Tuesday to Wednesday.  In hindsight we wished that we would have kept our Monday reservation because the park was so much slower in the rain.  But we still had a great time.

We did get discouraged by the wait times by about 5:00 pm so we decided to go back to the hotel for dinner and to swim.  Tony picked up some Italian food and brought it back to the hotel and then we went to the pool.  The girls and Josh swam and Tyler, Tony, and I sat in the hot tub.  

We met lots of fun new people while hanging out in the hot tub.  Tyler and Josh went back to the room after a little while, but then Tony and I stayed to let the girls play some more in the pool.  It was just what we needed to have rested feet for two more days at the parks.  We, of course, had Joe's that night and that was delicious too.