California 2009

So we're back! We had so much fun, so much so that Jordan did not want to come home and would start crying every time we said we were leaving for Utah. So I thought that I would break down the excitement by days, that way I don't leave out any of the fun stuff.

FRIDAY

We left Utah at about 9am, caravanning down to St. George. James was driving Michelle's car back to her because she was tired of driving Austin's car (the last time she was up they had switched cars so she could have some stuff done, and because Austin was going to basic it didn't really matter.) The boys were good for me, watching movies and coloring, so that made driving by myself for 5 hrs manageable. The only good part about driving through the middle of nothingness is that you get to drive faster-makes getting from point A to point B alot better. The worst thing was the traffic we hit when we made it to Las Vegas-I hate traffic, plus they were doing construction, so it made it much worse. The hotel we stayed at was fabulous-we especially enjoyed the pool and the breakfast bar in the morning. Every time we went swimming this vacation I forgot to bring the camera so I didn't get any pictures of the boys swimming. Jordan learned how to swim, as long as he had his arm floaties. James & I taught him how to "stalk the prey", and apparently it worked. Jaxson also had arm floaties and would "swim" with Mommy or Daddy. The boys also loved jumping into the pools.

SATURDAY

Since Newport Beach was only 4 hours away, we could take our time getting ready, and we had enough time to go hit the strip and let my Mom go to the M&M store. We parked at the MGM Grand, to which Jordan noticed the huge Lion out front. The lion exhibit was also open inside the casino, so both boys got see the resident lions.

Jordan in his "Going to California" outfit Grandma Nelson picked out.

Jaxson in his outfit, but he didn't want me to take a picture of him.

Jordan standing in front of the MGM Grand Lion

As we headed towards the border, Jaxson decided that it would be the perfect time to have a poopy blowout-and I mean blowout. It's my fault, I should have known that giving the kid 3 glasses of juice would do something to his system. He had pooped at the M&M store, so we didn't think that it would happen again, but we had to stop in Primm Valley to clean out a car seat and a very stinky boy. I felt so sorry for him because it had gone up his back, and it wasn't the good kind of poop, so his poor little back was red. He basically got a bath in the gas station bathroom, because it got everywhere.

SUNDAY

The resort we stayed out was beautiful. Although our room didn't have a ocean view, you could walk out and see the ocean. We enjoyed the different pools and activities that the resort provided.

James & I standing in front of the fountain with the ocean in the background.

On this particular day, we decided that we would go to the beach and let the boys experience the ocean and such. We drove up the coast a couple of miles to Laguna Beach. It was the perfect day. Partly cloudy and not cold. The boys had no interest in going in the ocean, they didn't like the fact that the tide would come in so quickly. James enjoyed it though, and was sorry that he didn't wear his swimming trunks (we thought the water would be colder); he practically spent the whole time wading in the tides. The boys did have fun playing in the sand.

Jaxson would occasionally walk down the beach until Mom told him to come back.

My dad packed a big shovel, so I spent 30 minutes or so digging a huge hole. Jordan & I had talked about burying people in the sand, and I wasn't sure if he would let me do it, but he did and he thought it was funny.

Jaxson did not want to be buried at all, but he enjoyed the slide that we created going down into the hole.

This is the second time that Jordan got buried, and in this one he's laying down.

I left our mark on the beach.

That evening James & I decided that we would take the boys and go see the Newport Beach Temple. The temple grounds were closed, but we were able to look and walk around it. It's a gorgeous looking temple with beautiful architecture that blends in well with the rest of the city.

Family photo in front of the Temple.

MONDAY

So on Monday, we decided to spend the day at California Adventures. We had lots of fun going on the different rides and seeing the shows. We were kinda disapointed about Jordan missing out on alot of the rides in Paradise Pier. Every ride you had to be 40''; Jordan was short by less than 1/2 inch. We would fix this problem in the coming days. One of the coolest things that happened was Jordan got to talk to Crush from Finding Nemo. In their studios they have it rigged up so that Crush chooses people to talk to in the audience. It was pretty awesome.

A Pic of the boys waiting to go into the park. The people at Hill AFB had told my Mom that the passes they gave her were good to go-apparently they weren't so my Dad had to go wait in the huge lines to get our real passes.

Jaxson, Wall-E, and Jordan

Goofy was one of the first characters we saw. Jordan was excited, Jaxson not so much.

James, Jordan, Jaxson, and Grandpa riding "Francis' Ladybug Boogie"

Jordan & I waiting to ride "Tuck & Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies"

Jordan & I with Mater and Lightning McQueen-after we took the picture, Jordan started touching the cars with a look of "wow, their real!"

Waiting for the Pixar Parade to start.

Almost family pic.

TUESDAY

Tuesday was our rest day. We did however drive down to Lake Elsinore to see my Uncle Duane and his studio. It was pretty cool to go see him, and the stuff that he's working on. It was great catching up, and having lunch. When we got back to the resort, Jordan decided that swimming in the pools would be better than going back to the beach. I guess the beach didn't impress him much, because we never went back.

We let Jordan and & Jaxson sleep on the same bed with the conditions that they not fool around and go to sleep. This is how we found them every night, hugging and snuggling with each other. The funny thing is that we would put them on a certain side at night, and wake up in the morning and find that they had switched places while sleeping. Amazing.

WEDNESDAY

We did 12 hours at Disneyland. We did it. It was nice because we only focused on half the park, that way we could do everything, and do rides more than once. I think the boys had lots of fun. After every ride, Jordan would ask, "what's the next ride?"

James & the boys

Family pic

We saw Pluto as we entered the park; Jaxson wanted nothing to do with him.

Jaxson was tall enough to go on Autopia, so the first time through he drove with me and I let him "drive". The next time through we switched boys.

Jaxson driving

Jordan driving

Jordan was fascinated with Buzz Lightyear, and loved all the rides.

Jordan was tall enough to go on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. He loved it. He knows what you're suppose to do on roller coasters too-raise your arms and scream. We would eventually ride this ride 3-4 times with Jordan riding with Grandpa, James and myself.

Riding "Dumbo the Flying Elephant"

Grandpa, Jordan & I went on the "Mad Tea Party"-James didn't feel like getting sick. Jordan thought it was fun because you could spin the cup around.

Jordan playing with TNT in Toontown

Jordan with Mickey Mouse-again, Jaxson wanted nothing to do with a character.

The boys driving Goofy's car.

The Cleggs are a bunch of wild animals.

The final ride of the night, the Disneyland Railroad.

Jordan trying to pull the sword out of the stone.

Jaxson and Mommy

THURSDAY

Thursday was a rest day. I think we planned things out perfectly by spacing our days at Disneyland. I don't think the adults or the kids could have done 3 straight days at the theme parks. That night we did go and do Medievil Times. It was fun, I've never done anything like that and Jordan had fun eating with his hands. We all got crowns and flags as we cheered on the Blue Knight.

James & the boys waiting to be seated

Jordan

Jaxson watching the horses

Jordan drinking the "Dragon's Blood" aka tomatoe soup. The rest of the dinner would include: garlic bread, baby dragons aka half a roasted chicken, 1 spare rib, 1/2 a potatoe, and a pastry.

FRIDAY

Our last day at Disneyland. We went on every ride we didn't get to the day before. Because we wanted Jordan to go on some of the fun rides (like Splash Mountain), my Dad and I had the idea of stuffing Jordan's shoes with paper towels to give him that extra height. It worked. Jordan was able to join us on Splash Mountain, Thunder Mtn, and Star Tours. We never went back to go do Space Mountain, and I didn't think he was ready for the Tower of Terror.

Jaxson on the Jungle Cruise. On all the little family rides, Jaxson was constantly looking at all the different things.Jaxson shaking a vine in Tarzans treehouse.

Jordan trying to climb up the vine.

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger were the only characters that Jaxson was happy to see and actually go up and hug. I had told Jax to go give Pooh a high five, which he did; then I told him to go give Pooh a hug, to which he also did.

The boys with Tigger.

Jordan wanted to ride the "Pirate"ship, so we took the relaxing ride aboard the Columbia.

Jordan in front of the ship.

This is how Jaxson spent his afternoons at the park. He slept pretty well and would get in about 2 hrs.

We hopped back over to California Adventures so my Dad, James & I could go ride the Tower of Terror on a Fastpass (they weren't doing fastpasses on Monday). Before we went on the ride, we took the boys back to Bug's Land because Jordan wanted to see the show again and the boys discovered the waterpark. Yep, they got wet, not completely soaked like some of the kids, but wet all the same.

After dinner and rides, we hopped back over to Disneyland to ride some rides again, all while waiting for the fireworks.

Jaxson and my Dad riding Dumbo.

Jordan waiting to go on the Matterhorn Blobsleds. I would say one of his favorite rides.

I am so glad that we came and did Disneyland now instead of in August when we were going to go. If I was anymore pregnant, I would not have been able to do any of the roller coasters, which would have made me sad. I love roller coaster, the faster the better. And being pregnant didn't make a difference at all, not once did I get sick, which was awesome. And because I know roller coaster have stops and they jerk around, I braced myself for such sudden movements.

After the fireworks were done, we headed back to the resort, and I think withing a matter of minutes, the boys fell asleep and stayed that way.

SATURDAY

We packed up and headed back to Utah. We planned on staying in St. George for the night, visiting with Michelle, and picking up Austin's car to drive it home the next day. *DISCLAIMER* The next statements do not apply to family and friends who are current residents of California. I think Californians are some of the worst drivers. I can't believe all the traffic, and I can't believe how people drive on the highways. There is a purpose for slow lanes and fast lanes. We got stuck in traffic, out in the middle of nowhere, in the desert for I don't know how long; all I know is that I almost got through my Faith Hill Hit's CD by the time we got out of the jam. You might ask, why the stop? I have no idea because, there was no constructin, there was no accident of anykind, we were in the middle of nowhere. When we got out of jam (10 miles of going nothing a hour), Jaxson decided to throw-up his entire lunch. Poor kid. We tried our best to clean out the car seat, but because we had access to nothing, Jaxson and everyone else had to suffer through the smell of puke the rest of the way to St. George. We lost an hour, and were so glad to get to the hotel.

SUNDAY

James & I were ready to go home, so besides some potty breaks (because I am a pregnant women) we drove straight home making it in under 5 hrs.

Jordan said this was the funniest week, and I would have to agree. We decided that we would do the whole Disney thing again in 6 years, right before Jordan turns 10; because after he turns 10, we would have to pay the full adult price. We're already planning on going to California in 3 years to do Seaworld and such. We knew that it would be too much to do Seaworld and Disneyland, so we decided to devote a whole trip to the big fishies another time.