The Grand Californian

We stayed at the Grand Californian...for you Disneyland buffs...some pics of the room and little details like lighting. The Bambi pic is the shower curtain!

It was a really great place to stay...the closest of the resort hotels. It was nice to be able to do Grizzly River Run and head straight into the hotel to change out of our drenched clothes! The hotel is a very cool arts and crafts style with wood and warm colors everywhere. Yes, you'll pay 8 dollars for a can of Heineken but then, it might just be worth it.

Last Day Review

Well, I am extremely happy the rain held off until the last day. It was less than comfortable to walk around with soaking wet feet, rain dripping in our eyes...constantly dodging rambunctious teens and the cranky stroller derby.

All complaints aside, we had a great time. It was very fun...the hotel was beautiful, warm and so close to the action! We spent hours together just enjoying being kids...all of us...even daddy (most of the time).

Last Day - Isaiah's Thoughts

Yesterday was our last day in Disneyland. It was pouring down rain...it was worse than any other days we had there. I actually got sick of Disneyland at the beginning of Friday because we had done every ride about like 10 times and I have a blister.

So...when we came home, it was like 10 o'clock at night. Our dog Zeke was sooo excited to see us!! We unpacked our stuff and went to bed.

Right now, I am kind of sick...sniffles and a cough. I am happy to be home because that hotel was just not that comfortable to me. There really is no place like home!

Tea Cups - a lesson learned

So, they really give you NO direction around the proper seating (ie. number/size of riders) when they open the gates and send you out to get your tea cup.

All three adults and the "good size" child headed out, picked our cup and jumped in...then, we all froze. There is no WAY all 4 of us are going to FIT in that thing...but it was too late. The ride attendant started encouraging everyone to get settled, the music played, the joyful children giggled all around us. Oy gevault.

So, we sat down...more like wedged/crammed down...knees jammed into the center column meant for turning the cup. The column with the adorable spinning plate on the top was rendered practically useless with all the wedging and cramming. We made the best of it and the ride is mercifully short. Luckily, we still got some killer pics of mom's hysteria at spinning so wildly. :)

Day 4 - Birthday Time!

What a long, fun day we've had! Isaiah's birthday started out with breakfast at Goofy's kitchen. We got visits from a few characters like Chip and Dale, Goofy, Mulan, the Mad Hatter and Baloo!



Very cute! We've spent the day doing what the birthday boy wanted so...lots of rides, a trip to the pool/hot tub, a nap (well, maybe mommy wanted that more than he did), a trip to RidemakerZ (basically, a Build-a-Bear for remote control cars/trucks) and now off to Rainforest Cafe for birthday dinner.

I think we're all feeling our time wrap up here with mixed emotions. It's always good to get home to your own stuff and family (Wayne and Zeke...we're lookin' at you) but we are having a blast and it feels like the time has passed too quickly!

I have a few hilarious pics to share from our little tea cup adventure today...more to come...

Birthday Boy!

We're having a fabulous Disney birthday... complete with breakfast with Pluto, lots of rides and a trip to the hot tub. Just finished an hour rest, now off to the RidemakerZ store to build his own remote control car! We know how to party!

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Disneyland - Isaiah's Thoughts

Today we went on lots of rides. They were pretty long rides but some of them were just like walking in and getting a seat! Sometimes they were like 45 minutes to wait in line. We went on about 10 rides. Some of them were Finding Nemo, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates (again), Splash Mountain (again), and Big Thunder Mountain. In California Adventure, we went on California Screamin', Tower of Terror, the swings (twice), and Grizzly Bear Run (twice - once by myself!).

After we went to the parks, mom and I went to the hot tub and pool.

Tonight, we are going to do World of Color. World of Color is pretty much a light show but also there is fire and shows parts of movies on the water. We will also go back to Disneyland and we will ride Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and maybe some others.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I will be turning 10 years old. Double digits! Woohoo!!

Disneyland - Day 3

This will be a pictoral blog entry because I've been slow on the pics! My bad, readers...my bad. Here's some of what we've been gettin' up to!






Turkey leg, rollercoaster, evil-robot-hunting and RULER of Frontierland...



The boys on Tower of Terror (please note the dedication of our tiniest Duck fan!)



And...livin' it up, family style!







Tomorrow is my baby's 10th birthday...it's going to be a bittersweet day. Let's just say there will be some tears - - but I'll try and keep it together. The trip, so far, has been just wonderful. Mom and I went to the spa today for a surprise mani-pedi courtesy of Will. Thanks dear! Our aching feet are super happy!

I'm sitting here, blogging and drinking a fab glass of cab awaiting departure to the World of Color in the reserved seating for Isaiah's special birthday surprise.

It's a bit chilly here right now. The 80 degree weather has cooled to 60 but...we'll take it over rain. You're hearin' me Portland?? Dry out before we get there! K, we're off!

Disneyland Day 2 - Isaiah's Thoughts

Today our first ride was Small World. After that, we did Space Mountain. After we rested in the afternoon, we went into California Adventure. Our first ride was Toy Story. It was one of the funnest best rides we went on but I had to teach mom how to use the shooter to score points. After that, we did California Screaming. After a few more rides, we came back to our room, got some dinner and now we're watching the Grinch on TV!

Good night, readers!

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Disneyland - Day 2

Whew.. what a day! We spent half of it in Disneyland and half in California Adventure. We started the day with Small World and ended it with Grizzly River Run. :)

In between, we saw Sandy Claus, bubbles in the water, Indiana Jones, and the world upside down for about 3 seconds...

Overall...a very satisfying day!

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Disneyland aside...

Love means... feeding your best friend a corn dog while waiting in line for a rollercoaster...

(btw: it was Will's idea to take this picture...)

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Day One - Isaiah's Thoughts

Today we only went on 4 rides because we didn't have that much time. The first ride we went on was the Matterhorn. After that, we did Pirates of the Caribbean. Then, we did Splash Mountain. Finally, we did Jungle Cruise. It was a really fun day...lots of walking. THAT was my exercise for the day. For dinner, we went to ESPNZone. I had penne pasta. It was DELICIOUS but I got too full of it and I quit!

Well, good night.

Day One...part deux

Ahhh...so, here we are...finally in our room at the Grand Californian. It's a beautiful suite and the decor is so very Disney. The carpet has Mickey heads subtley weaved in, the shower curtain has a Bambi theme and the Napa Rose floats overhead in a lovely border print.

Now that we are able to sit and reflect on our day, here's how it went down:

Arrived at 3ish, checked in quickly and practically ran to the park! Disneyland closed early today for the cast member holiday party so we only had a couple of hours.



We did Matterhorn, Pirates of the Carribean, Splash Mountain and the Jungle Cruise.

Most importantly, mom got her corndog immediately upon entry into the park...

Day One

We haven't sat down long enough to actually write a thoughtful blog entry but here are a couple pics of the fireworks from our balcony!

Spent a few hours in the park and did our fav rides... now we're headed to dinner and then into California Adventure!

More later... we promise!

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In flight homework!

Isaiah doing in- flight math homework...

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Disneyland Trip 2010

It's that time again, readers...our yearly Disneyland trip. We are packing and getting ready to board a morning plane to the happiest place on earth! We will continue the tradition of Isaiah adding to our family blog this year and it will even be graded!

His cool teacher, Ms. Sands is letting him blog (along with other homework) to make up for missing school all week. Yes, we get it...we're terrible parents! :)

From the mind of a nearly-10-year-old boy..hang on, readers:

We are really excited and I probably won't be able to sleep tonight. Disneyland is going to be so fun because of all the rides and how much fun they are going to be. The thing I'm looking forward to the most is probably...the ride called "Splash Mountain". It is fun because it's like a musical in the ride and there are lots of drops and it's just the thrill of being in the ride!

Our plane leaves at 11 o'clock in the morning. I will be doing some homework on the plane ride but I might play the DS too. We'll post some pictures when we get there and I'm hoping you like them. I can't really think of anything else. So, goodnight!

I think the not being able to sleep thing will probably work out ok...his birthday party was today and they spent 2 hours jumping on trampolines and playing dodgeball. He'll sleep.

I'll tell Mickey and Minnie hi from you...more tomorrow!

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