California 2010

On the way home from the airport

At the hotel

Petting the stingrays and sharks

Long Beach Harbor

In Cali!

At the beach

Hayley, Jaeqwon, Tege, Averett and Kimani on the teacups

End of the day in Toon Town (those were their natural looks, really!)

Broderick, Justin, Major, Zach and Tyler on the teacups

At the beginning of the day at Disneyland (notice the smiles there!)

Thanks to Kris' sister, we all decided to do a last minute trip to California and Disneyland. We were already planning a California trip this summer, but Disneyland was not in the immediate future since we just went 3 years ago, and had no desire to go for a couple more years. For the first time, we got to use my JetBlue benefits and travel by plane. On the way there, the flight was full with a whole long list of standby passengers. At the airport, the ticket counter told us our chances were slim, so we moped through security and headed to the gate, waiting patiently for the passengers to fill the plane. When I went to the counter to check availability, they asked if I would be willing to fly in the jumpseat which is where the flight attendants sit. I said sure (I would do anything to get my family there on this flight!) Having this be my first time flying JetBlue, flying jumpseat was a great way to jump in! The flight attendants were super nice, and while my family was enjoying an extra comfy seat with DirecTv, I was treated to a cranberry dreamsicle drink and warm cookies!

Our first day in Long Beach, we stopped at the Long Beach aquarium and purchased ourselves a family membership which is good for a year! Guess we will be going back soon! It ended up being only $3 more for the membership, than a day pass for our family, so it worked out being a great deal for us. The kids enjoyed seeing and petting the stingrays and also sharks! Aunt Patsy spent the day with us and then followed us to our hotel in Santa Ana.

The next day we met Kris' other sister, Lynnette and her family at Disneyland. We got there right when the park opened, which is the only way to do it. We got right on to lots of rides, and by about 2 in the afternoon, the lines became much longer. For our family, this was a monumental trip, because our whole family was able to ride every ride together. We did all the big rides (not really giving Justin and Tyler a choice, but after a couple of seasons at Lagoon, they were weathered for the challenge!), and the family favorite was Space Mountain, which made the hour wait worth it! At the end of the day, we stopped into Toon Town, which Justin informed me he hated, because it was too babyish! I think the real reason was waiting in line for 40 minutes to almost get on and have them close the ride for mechanical reasons! At this point, everyone was tired, awnry and ready to go. The park was going to close at 8 pm and it was close to 7 pm, so we called it a day.

The next day we went to Huntington Beach with the whole family and enjoyed a day of warm sun, a little wind, and some bodyboarding, followed up by a few sunburns! The kids said they had more fun at the beach than at Disneyland, sure wish we could have that $500 back!

We ended up coming back on the morning flight to Salt Lake City the next day, which was way early, but we had no problems getting on this flight, and I even got a seat this time! All in all, it was a great trip and we can't wait to do it again, minus the Dland!