Disneyland March 2012 - Heading Home

On Friday, we were going to be heading home.  So, while Bryce and the girls packed everything up, we ran back into the parks to grab a few souvenirs... and maybe ride a few rides... :)

This is right in front of Indiana Jones, another one of my favorite rides!  I didn't get to ride it on Tuesday, so we made sure to hit it up on Friday.

We were super sad to be leaving the happiest place on earth, but also excited to head home to sleep in our own beds!

As we passed through Vegas, we had to stop and eat at Cheeburger Cheeburger.  This was a place introduced to us by Dave and Lindsay.  They have something called the Famous Pounder, that is a beef patty that is 20 ounces before it's cooked!  That's a ton of beef!  If you can finish it, they will take your picture and put it up on their wall of fame, and then they keep all those pictures in little photo albums.  You can look through the pictures from over the years.

Mike has done this challenge a few times, but since we were going to be on the road for six hours, he declined.  But Bryce was totally up for the challenge!  Look at how big that burger it!  Holy cow! (No pun intended.. haha!) :)

This was the picture they took of him.  They said he could write anything he wanted on his pic, and he joked about writing his phone number!  I guess long distance relationships work for some people, right? 

We picked up a Perry the Platypus from Disneyland for Madi.  She absolutely loves it!!!

Here's a video that shows it!

Madi would talk to Perry and play with his little puff of hair.  It was sooo cute! 

We drove straight through, and made it home by 1:30am.  It feels so nice to be home, but we were so grateful for a wonderful vacation!!!!!!  Can't wait to do it again!!!! ;)  Love to all!

Disneyland March 2012 - Day 3

Day 3 we decided to go back and forth between the two parks, and ride all of our favorite rides, one last time.  Our feet hurt so bad by the end of the day from going back and forth and back and forth!

So, I put this picture to show just how much Lizzie and I look alike!  But, just for the record, I was dressed, with my hair done before Lizzie.  She totally copied me!! And yes Lizzie, I am taller than you!! ;)

Madi started the day in this outfit... But after an hour, was changed into this other outfit. 

Don't we love blow-outs when we are out and about? 

These two pictures are a result of me telling everyone to make a funny face for a picture... I'm working with them... ;)  Maybe next time, they will actually give me some funny faces.

So, California Screamin' is my all-time favorite ride!!  I love, love, LOVE it!!!!  And I think I convinced Bryce to love it too!

He wanted to keep riding it too!

This was right before they took off and went from 0 to 55 in less then 5 seconds!  Whew!  

This was the pic they took when Bryce, Mike and I rode it!  We were right in the front row! Sooooo much fun!  If you have never ridden in the front, I highly recommend it!  Just ask the cast member loading the cars if you can. :)

Of course we couldn't leave Disneyland without having our favorite Pineapple Whips!

They are so good!  We totally crave them all year long. :)

We were having so much fun.  We didn't want the day to end!!

Disneyland March 2012 - Day 2

Day 2 of our fun-filled Disneyland trip!  Madi started out the day wearing this adorable outfit... And ended up without the hat.. And without the glasses... And without the sandals... But what can you expect from a 5 month old, right? :)

 We decided to spend all day in California Adventure.  We were really excited for Bryce, since he had never been there.  Then we found out that the girls had never been on the Tower of Terror!!!  

  So, we tried to drag them on with us.  Lizzie absolutely refused, but we convinced Becca and Bryce to go on it.  Here are our before pictures:

Don't worry!!  We all survived!  Here are after pics:

When we had planned our trip, we figured that it wouldn't be very busy, since it was mid-March.  Boy, were we wrong!  We had forgotten one small little detail... Spring Break!!  It was pretty crowded all week long, but it's all good.

Dealing with nursing a baby while at Disneyland wasn't the easiest thing, but they sure try to make things convenient for mom's.  They have baby stations, where I could nurse Madi.  They worked out nicely! 

While I was nursing one time, everyone else went on Grizzly River Run.  You can kind of see that they got pretty wet, but they didn't let that dampen the mood at all!

While we were in CA Adventures, we rode one of my FAVORITE rides... Toy Story Mania!  I think I like it so much, because I pretty much always dominate over Mike!  (Almost always... ) :)

We had a ton of fun all day... AGAIN!!  It was so fun to watch Madi watch everyone and everything else!  She was very alert, and loving it!!

Disneyland March 2012 - Day 1

Hello from the happiest place on earth!!!!  We are currently at Disneyland in California, and we are having a blast.  We were able to come with Bryce, Lizzie, and Becca, which was perfect so that we could take turns staying out with Madi, but still get to ride the rides. :) (Thank you Fast Pass!!)

We decided to drive down to CA with the family's suburban, since it runs on CNG (Compressed Natural Gas).  We figured it would be more cost effective to pay between $1.50-$2.50 per gallon, than $3.00-$5.00 per gallon.  The tricky thing was figuring out where the CNG stations were along the way.  Thanks to GoogleMaps, we were able to map out a route with the CNG stations, so we were set!

After some previous engagements, we left Sunday night around 10:30 pm, and began our journey.  We found out the hard way, that some of the CNG gas stations are not public, and some of the addresses that we had planned with, didn't even have a gas station at all!!! It was ridiculous! 

This is how we were feeling at 1:00 am, in cedar city as we were stopping for gas!  "Are we there yet?!" :)  After the car dying a few times, having some fun with the alternator, and a big bag of pretzels later, we finally made it to Saint George, UT, at about 4 am, where we were able to crash at Uncle John's condo for a few hours. (Thank again Durfees!!)

We were up by 8 am and on the road again...

This is Lizzie and Becca sitting in the front seat.  Notice that Lizzie isn't watching the road... :)  Just kidding Lizzie!  You were a great driver!! :)

Here's Bryce, Mike and I in the back seats.  We were grateful for the DVD player in the back so we could watch some movies to pass the time.

Madi did surprisingly well!  She definitely preferred to drive during the day.  We would pull her out every time we stopped for gas, and she enjoyed getting out. 

By about 5 pm, we made it to Disneyland.  We checking into our hotel and vegged out for the night.

Tuesday morning, we decided that we would spend the day in Disneyland.

This was Madi's ADORABLE onsie made by her Aunt Lindsey.  People kept stopping and saying how cute she was with her outfit! (Thanks again Linds!)

We had so much fun all day.  It was especially fun because this was Bryce's first trip to Disneyland!  He has loved it so far. :)  He was sure determined to pull the sword out of the stone!! 

I liked this pic because it shows how Madi has been rubbing Mike's face lately.  She doesn't do it to me, just him!

It felt like we were always waiting in line...

Here we are riding the Teacups.  Don't worry... We didn't spin it too fast with Madi on it!

Sometimes we put Madi into this carrier.  She loved being able to see everything!

This was the funniest thing!  We had decided to ride the train all the way around the park.  Madi was beginning to get fussy, so we were trying to console her throughout most of the ride. Mike took her on his lap and was bouncing her, and then put his face on her head, which is shown in the picture.  Once he did this, she zonked out!  It was as if someone snapped their fingers, and she was out!!  Now we know... Guess Mike has the new job of putting her down for naps!  ;)

Later back in the hotel room, I decided to go crazy, and I gave Madi a piece of licorice...

Needless to say, she loved it!! :)  And I had to put her right into the bath.. :)

To finish off the night, we decided to venture back over to the park to watch the fireworks.  This was Madi all bundled up!  We couldn't have her getting cold...

There is just something special about Disney fireworks!!

The boys had to try to move, or even just stop the marble ball.  Boys will be boys... :)

By the end of the day, we all felt like Madi... We were ready for bed!  But it was a fun-filled day!!!  We're ready for more!!!