Every Trip Has It's Own Drama!

Earlier this year, we thought we had taken our last trip to Disneyland for a long time. We had free tickets that we got to use and that was that. Since Brett's been in school, it just wasn't in the budget. Well, enter Mark (my fabulous brother) and Kim (my wonderful sister in law). They called us up a few days before Thanksgiving and said, "We're planning a last minute trip to Disneyland the day after Thanksgiving and we want you guys to come with us. It just wouldn't be the same without you." They found a really nice place to stay while we were there and wanted to cover that. All we needed to do was get our Disneyland tickets and get there!



How could we refuse? We talked to the kids about
it and they decided that they wanted Disneyland for Christmas! So, we decided to do it. Our trip there was the most RIDICULOUS trip to California we've ever driven. We stayed the night on Saturday at Kim's grandma's house in Mesquite. We woke up the next morning, ready to go to early church and then were planning on leaving right then. As we walked to our car after the meeting, we noticed our front tire looked a little flat and upon closer examination, noticed a nail in the tire. So, we drove over to Wally-World to fix it up. We drove up, dropped off the car, told the guys in the shop the problem and then proceeded to the waiting room.

One of the mechanics came in and said, "We need your keys." I said, "Oh, the keys are in the car."He said, "Well, the doors are locked."

Silence.

"Uuuuhhhh, are you sure?" I asked. "Did you check the other side?" He had. Sure enough, our keys were locked in our car. Lucky for us, I had just by chance (truly a tender mercy) grabbed my set of keys. So, in my purse, I had a spare set. My purse was still at Kim's grandma's, so my brother had to bring them to us.



Little did we know that this would set us back just enough and we would not see beautiful CA for some time. $100 later our new tire was on and the car was ready to go. We got a quick lunch at Grandma Diane's and headed out. The drive to Vegas was smooth and uneventful. Somehow (in the midst of all our excitement) we forgot about the traffic going home to CA from Vegas every Sunday afternoon. I know. How could we forget? That is the one thing Dad drills into our minds every time we go down there. Anyway, right outside Vegas. The traffic started. It was horrendous. It was worse than we've ever seen. It

took us 3 hours to get from Vegas to the little city of Jean. From Jean to Primm (where that big Roller Coaster ride is) which is only 13 miles, took us 1 HOUR! I am not exaggerating. It was insane! In Primm, there were lines a mile long to fill up on gas and to go to the bathroom. We decided to go ahead, but then I saw a frontage road off to the south of the freeway. I convinced Brett to take it. I should have known, because a lot of my ideas for short cuts end up being 'long cuts.' We drove on that road for about 3 miles and then came to a sign that read, "Road Closed Ahead." It was a sick feeling. So, we had to turn around and get back on

the freeway which was moving at a snail's pace! After Primm, it took us 7 HOURS to get to LA. NOT FUN!!! But, if you ask the kids, they had a blast. We listened to books on CD and watched a whole bunch of movies. Thank goodness for that! After getting to Newport, we were all in heaven. That place is divine. We loved the place we stayed. It was just perfect and right by the ocean. We spent Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Disneyland. The weather was cool, but not too cool for us. Southern Californians went home because they were too cold, but we enjoyed the mid 50's to lower 60* temps while it was in the single digits back home. We enjoyed very short lines and 

getting to do everything we wanted to more than once in those two days. It was our best experience at Disney yet! But, every trip has to include a bad mood by either mom or dad, and this trip happened to be Brett's turn. Even though this picture is hideous of me, I just had to include it because it shows the kind of sour mood Brett was in. I am a free spirit when it comes to amusement parks. I sort of become a kid again, running to and from different lines to see which one is bigger or smaller leaving everyone in a trail behind me....wondering what I'm doing....which may or may not be annoying to other responsible adults. And Brett is the sometimes paranoid, over-protective parent who freaks out about almost everything and by being so concerned, puts a damper on the trip.


Well, this was one of those moments. I was trying to "lighten the mood" while we were riding "Winnie the Pooh" and Brett would have nothing to do with it! We all have those times, don't we?  I just had to document it! I'm so grateful that Brett loves me despite my childish tendencies to be . Well, that day Brett found relief in an early ride home. After a long, exhausting day with Wyatt, Mark and Kim decided to go home early. Brett jumped at the chance to join them and he got to go home with Wyatt to go to bed. We missed him, but I knew he felt better and so we just decided to enjoy the night! Another great thing about Friday was that my brother Tyler and his new wife Ashley got to join us. It was a fabulous time! We stayed at Disneyland until about midnight! The kids were troopers! What a blast!

In between the days we went to Disneyland, we visited our favorite beach in Dana Point. SO RELAXING! The weather was perfect. While we were there, I noticed some fins poking out of the water by a cove we like to play at. That first, split second, I thought they were sharks, but then I realized they were dolphins! Then we saw 3, 4, and 5 fins and some we even think were babies. It was awesome. Mark was our there surfing and was probably 20 feet away from them. It was really cool and really fun! we saw a pod of dolphins swimming in a little cove.

Beautiful California

Brett and I being goofs

Beautiful Sunset!

All the cousins at sunset-- right outside our place

Right outside our window. BEAUTIFUL!!!!


Thanks, Mark and Kim!!!! We had an AWESOME time! You guys are the best!!!