Disneyland!!! A 6-year-gap between visits is far too long for a devoted Disney fan such as myself, so I'd been trying to subtly, and sometimes not-so-subtly, plant the idea in my family's heads for months. Finally, one glorious morning, I said "Let's just go. Don't think about it, let's just go." My dad didn't object, my little brothers and I agreed to chip in, and my mom was possibly as excited as I was. The next day we were on our way! We've never done anything so completely spontaneous before...still not quite sure what came over my parents, haha, but no complaints here! Jake had to stay behind for school, and we definitely missed him and Tay tons...but the rest of us sure had a fantastic Spring Break! We had the perfect weather the entire week and I loved spending time with my family at one of my favorite places ever!
Day #1 Laguna Beach!
Daniel drinking his "elixir"...this picture cracks me up every time!
I love Daniel's little twig!
Gotta love a good jump shot!
Taiwan peeps, these are for you ;-)
Playing in the waves...good times, good times.
Day #2 Disneyland!
DISNEYLAND!!!
The Stephenson Family in the Happiest Place on Earth...
We missed you Jake and Taylor!
Light Sabers...Sam loved all the Star Wars stuff!
Mine is purple in honor of my favorite character, Mace Windu.
Chillin with Buzz
Oh Sam!
Me and Mom by the beautiful flowers...thank you sunny California!
Thunder Mountain!
"the happiest place on earth"
Me and Daniel waiting for the tea cups ride!
We did see Jack Sparrow while waiting in line for Pirates...I just didn't grab my camera fast enough!
Winnie the Pooh ride for Mom!
"Where's Dad?"
"He's waiting in line to see Pooh."
My crazy family on the pirate ship...
The Haunted Mansion
Lots of waiting...
Disneyland, hot chocolate, and front-and-center seats for Fantasmic?! Magical.
Day #3 California Adventure!
Tower of Terror...I LOVE this ride!
Bored in line again...apparently Sam and I have the shortest attention span...
The Swinging Ferris Wheel! Everyone in my family is scared of this ride...except for me!
Tnanner especially hates it, haha
California Screamin! We may or may not have jumped on this roller coaster 6 times...
Woodys and Jessies
Hehe...so, while my family was in the middle of piling into this photo-opp toy box, some friendly girl asked if we wanted her to take the picture for us. Afterwards, she asked my mom if we were LDS...she told my mom she could "just tell," and then I overheard her talking to her friend about how we looked like one of those "Family-isn't it about time?" commercials. We must have looked ridiculous!
TRON. Dance Party!
California Adventure at night
"World of Color," a sweet water/lights show
Possibly my favorite picture of my mom the whole trip. After the show, we were already kinda wet, so Sam convinced us to go on the rapids ride twice. My mom thought her jacket might protect her. :-D It's funny every time!
Day #4 More Disney Magic!
Outside our hotel
Re-creating a classic...we have a picture almost identical to this one of Tanner when he was a little kid.
Agrabah, where Aladdin is waiting for me :-)
Me and Ma riding through Wonderland
"It's a Small World!"
Daniel gave us pennies to make a wish while we were on the ride...perfect timing!
Hilarious memories...when I was in high school, my friends and I got stuck on this ride...try listening to "It's a Small World" and watching those girls hula for 20 minutes.
Don't ask.
No Tangled ride yet, but they do have Rapunzel's hair wrapped around a bunch of fantasyland cottages!
Hot-pink gerber daisies...pure happiness.
Yes, we did meet Frozone!
Haha umm...I guess you had to be there :-D
My brothers wouldn't let me wait in line to see all the princesses, so I had to settle for these three.
I did convince them to go in the princess store with me...and the promptly located the prince swords.
I LOVE this picture! I don't have any sisters...so the bros had to fill in :-)
I walked out of princess-heaven, and there was a rainbow over Fantasyland! MAGICAL!
The Castle at sunset
Mom rockin her poncho for the 10 minutes of rain!
SPACE MOUNTAIN!!! Another family favorite.
Ok, I take it back...this might be tied for first-favorite.
"Who want's to ride with me? How come nobody ever calls me?"
"We are stuck!"
That's right, we got stuck on Space Mountain...and they turned on all the lights! Not only did we get to see top-secret stuff, we got an extra ride outta the deal!
Jungle Cruise!
Daniel's bear. Waste of a dollar if you ask me...that's right Dan, I said it.
He's not part of the family.
Me and Tanner stuck him in the tree in line for Pirates...much to the dismay and impatience of the people behind us.
Day #5 Downtown Disney!
Jamba for Tay :-)
Lego-Vader
The GIANT Disney store...I could have spent all day here if my brothers had let me. I did at least get a new princess coloring book before they practically dragged me out. ;-)
