Disneyland! Seth's Birthday: Part 2

We did SO much in one day!  We got there at noon ready to go (Anaheim is where to Steve was born and is only about 30 - 45 minutes from where his Dad lives now.)

(If you are not interested in a play-by-play of a day at Disneyland, please feel free to look at the photos and skip the lengthy text!)

Our Tour Guide...he loved the map!!

First Ride, Seth's Choice: Alice in Wonderland  (His favorite ride of the day)

We started in Fantasyland and rode Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan's Flight (My favorite!), Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Dumbo and Pinocchio's Daring Journey.

We skipped the Tea Cups (the kids didn't ask and we didn't bring it up...they spin in constant circles, enough said) and Snow White's Scary Adventures (we have enough middle of the night adventures and sleeping issues in this house already).

Peter Pan 

Dumbo!

Seth modeling his Birthday Button. We went to Disneyland City Hall to get one, and he was probably told "Happy Birthday!" 50 times throughout the day by Cast Members (everyone that works at Disneyland is called a Cast Member instead of an employee :-) He loved it!

We had packed lunches and brought them in a backpack.  We found a place to eaThen we headed to New Orleans Square and rode Pirates of the Caribbean. We got all the way to the front of the line, and Caleb had to go to the bathroom.  The Cast Members were so nice, they let Steve and Seth wait for us there while I took Caleb to go to the bathroom.  Then they let us come right back to the front of the line when we were done.

We skipped the Haunted Mansion (see reason above why we skipped Snow White's Scary Adventures).

Mark Twain Riverboat

We took a ride on the Riverboat, then headed to Critter Country and rode the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  We had to skip Splash Mountain because we didn't all meet the height requirements (and honestly, walking around in soaking wet clothes wasn't high on my list of fun things to do that day!)

Headed to Adventureland and visited Tarzan's Treehouse (ran through that one 3 times, good workout with all the stairs!), and went on the Jungle Cruise (one of Caleb's top three of the day!).

We had to skip Indiana Jones because neither of the boys met the height requirements.  If Seth had, one of us would have taken him on it.

Walked back to Fantasyland and rode the Matterhorn Bobsleds (really fast ride, Seth loved it, glad Caleb isn't scarred from that one!) and then went to Mickey's Toon Town.

Meeting Mickey at his house!

Steve and the boys on Donald Duck's Boat

Toon Town!

Seth and I waited in line to meet Mickey Mouse at his house, then we all went to Chip 'n Dale's Treehouse, Gadget's Go Coaster, Donald's Boat. Seth and I went on Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin while Steve and Caleb hung out at this cool fountain area.

Next up was It's a Small World, then we walked to Tomorrowland and had dinner at the Terrace.

In Tomorrowland, we went on Finding Nemo and Autotopia, and these were definitely Caleb's favorite rides of the day.

Finding Nemo!

Autotopia...Caleb was so happy driving!

We also rode Buzz Lightyear and the Astro Orbitor flying rockets.  We skipped Space Mountain (we thought about it for Seth, but decided not to) and Star Wars Star Tours (our boys aren't into it).

Astro Orbitor

Mad Tea Party (just because it looked really cool at night, not because we rode on it!)

We watched the fireworks show, then rode on the Storybook Land Canal Boats.  

We also took another ride on Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.  By this time, Caleb and Steve were done for the day and it was almost 11pm.

So Seth and I went on the last ride of the the day...King Arthur's Carousel

Leaving the park after 11pm with smiles on our faces!  A Magical day at Disneyland!

Seth's 7th Birthday: Part 1

When Seth woke up on June 11th in sunny southern California, he knew it was going to be a great day. It was his 7th birthday, and this boy loves birthdays!  But he didn't know that we had a big surprise in store for him...

Grandpa and Grammi had a HUGE cupcake and a balloon ready for him when he got up.

He got to eat a cupcake for breakfast.  Best way to start a birthday!

Grammi is a teacher, and one of her former student's that she has stayed connected to has a Dad that works at Disneyland.  He and his wife were wonderful and gracious enough to help our family visit Disneyland on Seth's birthday.  Employees can sign in up to 3 people (for free!) on certain days of the year, and then his wife helped us buy the one additional ticket we needed at a discount.  So altogether, we saved over $330 because of this sweet family (that doesn't even know us!)  We definitely would not have been able to go experience this fun day otherwise.

Grammi typed up a letter for him to open that morning with the big news!

This trip to Disneyland certainly made quite an impact on him...it is one month later, and today he was looking at the Disneyland map we brought home and listing off all the rides we went on!  It is truly a magical place!

Hiking at Mt. Baldy

When you look out the front door of Steve's Dad's house, you see Mt. Baldy. We can get to a really good hiking area about half the way up the mountain in about 20 minutes.  Mt. Baldy has an elevation of 8600 ft and has a ski area that is open in the winter.

Caleb is our hiker.  He is totally in his element on a trail.  He runs ahead of us and would hike longer than any of the rest of us would ever want to.  He is like the Energizer Bunny that just won't stop.

Here he is up ahead of us pointing farther up the trail and wondering why the rest of us won't keep up with him!

California Steve enjoying a little mountain air!

There were the most beautiful yellow flowers lining the road up the mountain!

Coming Soon...Disneyland!

Aliso State Beach

When we woke up the next morning, we were going to head to Corona Del Mar.  Steve and I met while working at a children's home in Chino, CA. Every summer, we took all the kids to the beach on Fridays, and we always went to Corona Del Mar.  It is a great family beach, and because of where it is situated on the coast, the waves are usually pretty small.

However, as we headed north on the PCH from Dana Point, the boys spotted a playground right on the beach!  It was love at first sight, so we pulled over and just stopped at Aliso State Beach for the day.

This beach had much bigger waves than Laguna, and Dad had to have a little heart to heart with Seth about the dangers of the ocean.

The tide was really unpredictable here as well.  We set up our chairs and umbrella at what we thought was a safe distance from the water, but the tide came in really far every once in a while.  So Mr. Horvath thought he would build us a wall to protect our belongings.

This was my view from the beach chairs as the wall began to get higher and higher!

I took the boys on a walk down the beach to check out this cliff area.  Can you imagine the view from that house up on the hill?

As we made our way back, we saw Mr. Horvath (still working on the wall, he was determined!) checking out the incoming tide.  It was almost as if he was challenging it...daring it to take on his wall!

He enlisted some child labor to help in reinforcing the wall to protect the family belongings.

 Getting taller!

Seth got really invested in the project.  He REALLY wanted that tide to come in and fill the moat with water.  We had decided earlier to leave by 2:45pm to avoid rush hour traffic, and 2:45 came and went because the tide hadn't come in far enough yet!

Caleb was patrolling the area; he was on security detail.

Here comes the water.....

Finally!  The tide came in and filled the moat, and the wall stood strong. Three happy boys!

We ended up leaving at 3:45pm to head back.  In southern California, this is traffic suicide.  If we would have left at 2:45, it would have taken us about an hour to get back to Steve's dad's house.  Leaving at 3:45, it took us 2 hrs and 40 mins to get back.

However, when I asked Steve (as we were sitting completely still on the 57 Freeway) if he was still glad we stayed to wait for the tide, he answered with an emphatic, "Yes!"  And I didn't need to ask Seth.  I already knew what his answer would be!

Dana Point, CA

After we spent the day at Laguna Beach, we drove down the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) about 10 miles south to Dana Point, CA.  We spent the night at a super cheap hotel that we found on Hotwire that was within a 3 minute walk to the beach.  Dana Point is the place where Steve and I had our first date over 11 years ago!

Steve wanted a Sprite out of a drink machine at the hotel, and this was the closest I could get.  Anyone ever heard of Cactus Cooler before?  Must be a California thing...

That evening after dinner, we walked down to the beach.  After I pointed out the "Keep Off" sign to Steve, he made the kids get down off the lifeguard stand.  He didn't see it at first. :-)

 

I love wearing jackets in the evening at the beach!  

(Can you imagine needing a jacket in Texas in June?)

Then we took a walk over to the marina to check out the boats.

"Mom, I would like one of these please!"

Funny Story...The NBA Finals were going on while we were in California.  While we were walking through the marina, Steve was checking updates from the game (Game 6, I think?) on his phone.  We walked by a yacht, and I noticed that someone was on the boat with the curtains open...and they were watching the game on a big flat screen TV that just happened to be facing our way!  So we (creepily) watched the last 3 minutes of the game through the window of someone's yacht in Dana Point, CA. 

The End