Our trip to the Happiest Place on Earth!

So to kick off our October we generally go on a family hiatus to the Oregon Coast for a few days-usually the days the kid's and Barrett have off school for inservice. Well, this year we decided to change things up a bit. As Anson is totally and completely obsessed with roller coasters (hello, fast trains that spin and go upside down!)we thought we might let him try some out for real, rather than just watching them on DVD's and youtube. Gma and Gpa Wod very, very graciously agreed to take Bo for the week while they went down to Escalante, Utah to visit great Gma and Gpa Munson who had just returned from their mission in Maratin's Cove. Bo's a great unpacker and all and he had a blast with all the grandparents to himself! And I almost hate to say it, but we had a blast without him. Sure he might have enjoyed some of it, but I'm real glad he wasn't there. Next time for sure though, bud! We had received some great tips from family friends and got some great deals, thanks to discounts with UPS and/or Military. As a last minute surprise we had a couple of friends from our ward come along. Carol and Sam. Carol is a disney fanatic-been there a hundred times, used to work there, etc..she was our VIP tour guide and she was awesome! Sam is Ansons primary teacher, an aide in his classroom at school and a family friend. She had never been before and jumped at the chance to come along. She was incredibly awesome, too. Both ladies were huge helps with the kids, watched them so Barrett and I could go on some rides together, etc..then they did their own thing some of the time so we got some good family time in as well. We all stayed at the same hotel (which was nothing fancy, but had a pool, a nice continental breakfast and a comfy place to lay our heads at night). So we all drove down to Salt Lake together and flew from there to long beach. Got a shuttle to the hotel and began our real adventure on Wednesday AM. Did I mention it was over 95 degrees on Tues night when we flew in-totally not expected. It was real warm our first couple days and real nice on Friday. Then we flew out Sat at noon back to SLC and drove home that night. Wow, what a trip! We did 3-day park hopper's and put them to serious use. The crowds were minimal and it was fantastic! A few of the highlights included lunch at Ariel's Grotto for all the "girls", which was a little pricey, but so yummy and so much fun to get one on one time with almost all of the princesses! Eden was in Heaven, so was Sam. And Carol. I loved watching it all!!! We loved, loved the parades in both parks, except for Anson, who thought they were too loud and did not care for the characters getting too close. We all loved all the rides we could go on, though the kids were not tall enough to go on the big roller coaster in Ca. adventure park-boo! But they loved the matterhorn or the "mountain train", thunder mountain railway (or whatever it's called) our kids called it the "fast train"and space mountain "dark train". They put their arms up on every ride, whether it was a coaster or not! They loved the food and the rides, and Eden loved all of the characters and the shows (we got lots of autopraphs and pictures) and they loved going back to the hotel to swim at night! It was an incredible time and I'm so glad it worked out this year. I can't wait to go back when we can all go on everything!