More Disneyland!

Check out Part one and Part two of our trip to Disneyland

As we moved into the afternoon at Disneyland Miss J was pleased to get to see the Princess Castle during daylight and up close.

No one was able to pull the sword from the stone. 

 

Mr. Toad's wild ride was fun.

We almost skipped the carasel, but the little ones all asked please.  It was a hit with everyone.  Mr. K thought it was great fun!

 

Daddy took some of the kids on the tea cups. While I had baby duty (they were sleeping).

 

Next I took some kids on the Alice in Wonderland ride.  Miss J really liked that one.

Cotton candy had been promised at some point.  We split up and it seems that both groups ran into a cotton candy vendor.

 

Yep, still sleeping!

While eating our cotton candy and feeding the baby we realized that we had stopped right where the parade was going by.  Miss J and Miss C were so excited!

After the parade we took the girls to see the Princesses.  All of their favorites were there and Miss J enjoyed chatting.

 

Then we headed over to toon town for dinner and some play time.

Doesn't he just look like he belongs there?

And on into the evening.....

Disneyland!

We headed in to Disneyland bright and early.  Everyone was excited for our fun day, but there was a bit of dissappointment to see that is was a gloomy, wet, and grey day.  We found that it was to our benniffit though as it seemed to be a slow start to the morning as far as crowds went.  We were able to jump right on the riverboat adventure ride with no wait!

 

Mr. M headed right to the Indiana Jones adventure store as soon as we got off of the boat (the Indiana Jones ride was closed :( ).  He is quite the adventurer and took to this hat right away.  We thought it would be a great souvenier for him.

As we were walking by we realized that the line for Pirates of the Caribbean was short as well so we all hopped on.  The three littles were not so sure about it, the girls were happy to close their eyes in a few spots, but thought all of the treasure was great!  Mr. K loved looking at all the new sights, but did not think that the dips on the ride were so great (no fussing, he was just nervous).

Frontier Land was a hit.  The kids enjoyed some target practice before some of us got on Big Thunder (Mommy, Miss E, Mr. M, Mr. S and Miss J).

Doesn't she just look so natural there?

They closed the line just after we got in line.  It seems there was a problem with the ride... "Don't worry ma'm its just something with the decor" as I got on the last car going through.

It was time for a snack.  Miss E had her eye on the Mickey shaped pretzls.

Rob took the big kids on Splash Mountain.

I took the littles on the Winnie the Pooh ride.  Miss C was so excited to go on this ride, Pooh is her favorite.

As soon as we got off the ride Miss C headed into the store, spotted the Pooh Bears and sweetly asked me to get her one.  How could I resist?  Not only was she so cute, but Pooh Bear was big at Dad's house!

 

The candy store near the Winnie the Pooh ride was a big hit.  Then we were off to lunch.

To be continued....

On home?

On Friday morning we left the F family with the kids thinking that this was the end of the trip and we were on our way home.  A few minutes down the road I turned around and told them of the last minute plans we had made.

"Kids, we have a surprise for you from Grandpa.  We are taking you to Disneyland!"

 Oh the excitement!  My Dad had wanted to take the kids to Disneyland, but it just had not happened.  We had gone as a family when I was little and then again just me and Dad when I was 19.  He took each of his kids there on a special trip and had been looking forward to taking his grandkids as well.  We thought it fitting to take the kids as a special gift from him.  Some of the older kids teared up as we talked about this.  Miss E said she would much rather be going with Grandpa too.  It was a bitter sweet time as a family.  Lots of memories to share with the kids about being here with their Grandpa, they asked what rides he had gone on and which ones he liked best.  We built memories and had a great time together as a family.

We arrived at Disney early in the evening, and only managed to head in for dinner and get a quick look around Main Street before the park closed early that evening.

 

Princess J was so excited to see the castle!

We headed over to California Adventure Land and checked out a few rides before heading to the hotel for a good night of sleep before our big day at Disneyland

Visiting friends on the mountain

*We visited two "F Families" during this trip, one right after the other.  This is the second F Family! 

Our kids always refer to the F family's house as being on the mountain and love to go visit there.  We were so glad it worked out with them to manage a visit with them at the end of our trip.  Their little spot on the "mountain" is so beautiful, we love to visit this dear family and enjoy the beautiful fellowship as well.  

The girls all love to bake.  They blessed us with some yummy desserts during our visit.

Many of the kids were really looking forward to playing in the creek and were so glad that the dads agreed to take them.

Miss J was so excited to see that their garden had flourished this year and that there was still the smallest bit of harvesting left to be done.

Thank you F family for a great visit!

table for 16 please!

On our last evening with the F family we went out to Black Bear Diner, a favorite of all the kids.  We happened to be there on a Tuesday night, and kids eat free on Tuesday evenings if they bring their favorite stuffed animal.

Everyone was so good, we had a great time!

Kid's meals came with ice cream and toppings.  Usually they go around the table with a tray and let the kids pick their toppings, but our group was a bit large for that.  The kids formed a line at the next table over to get theirs.

The waiter commented that our table was a lot less work than most of his smaller tables.

What a fun evening.  Thank you F family for the great visit!

Happy Reformation Day!

  Last night we read a book about Martin Luther and talked a bit about the Reformation and how we should always be studying God's Word, not looking to man for answers.  We invited friends over for the evening to celebrate.  We had schnitzel in honor of Martin Luther's German background.   Miss E made pumpkin cookies for the kids to decorate.

October 31st, 1517 was the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door and began (in part) the Reformation.  If we celebrate anything on the 31st of October this is what we celebrate!

Off to the Ranch!

We couldn't be in the area and not head out to our friend's ranch to visit with them and enjoy the beauty of God's creation.  The first thing the kids spotted was the tortoise.

Mr. K was slowly making progress towards walking all along this trip.  Here he is practicing standing.

 

The kids had been excited to hear from some friends that the lake had dried up and that there may be a way across to the island.  Mr. S put a stop to that by setting off on his own taking the wrong route.

 A rescue mission was soon mounted and he was soon getting the mud washed off of him.

Some of the crew took off in a jeep for a better look at the ranch.

Miss J and her "treasure."

The kids had a speech prepared and were happy to present it where it all began!  We sure do miss speech club and our friends there.