Disney Land!!

* Disclaimer, I will be including many boring details for my benefit so I will remember this trip, read at your own risk...if anyone still reads this blog.*

Our trip started in where we spend a couple of days with Ann and Wade.  We spent a afternoon at the Ross house and went out and had yummy ice cream, and if I find the sd card I took pictures of that trip I have adorable picture of Jack and Brynne and Dane eating Ice cream.  Until then I only have pictures from my mom's iphone of our whole trip :)  We played at the park, played on the slip and slide, and saw Erica and the girls for a few minutes.  We had a great time in Lodi, and enjoyed quality time with Grandma and Grandpa B., and I know there is not many other places in the world Taylor would rather be than at his childhood home!

Then we headed down to L.A. with my mom and dad. It was nice to split up the kids into 2 cars. We got to our hotel and took the kids swimming, even though it was raining.  Luckily they had a large hot tub, where we were able to annoy some newlyweds with our splashing children...oh well!  My mom and Dad went to visit Todd that night while we took the kids to The Cheesecake Factory...we ordered the corn dogs for the kids, and they may have been Taylor and I's favorite menu item!  We also ordered a Mango key lime cheesecake and something really chocolaty.  The kids were great and it felt good to be all together having a good time! 

The next morning we got on the Shuttle and headed to Disney Land! We thought we were going to have to pay for Dane, but he ended up still being free, so that was a pleasant surprise!  We saw Belle when we first entered the gates, but luckily Brynne didn't want to give her a hug she just wanted to look, so we avoided many lines this way!  Our first ride was a rocket ship ride, where the rockets went up and down! After that the kids realized what Disney land was all about, they had so much fun!  I loved watching their faces full of excitement on the rides!  We went on the submarine next, Dane thought that we were really at Nemos house and he was in awe...I had been telling them about my memories of this ride from when I was little, so they were especially excited for that ride.  We figured out fast passes, and I couldn't have been happier, I hate lines!  We zoomed through the line for splash mountain and a couple other big rides.  Brynne liked splash mountain the first time, but by the third time she was done...she knew what was coming!  Dane's favorite ride was a toy story ride where he got to "shoot da bad guys"  He loved it, and kept repeating shoot, shoot, shoot...while he was shooting, we went on that ride a few times for him. The kids really loved the tpots and Mr. toads wild ride.  We saw a family of baby ducks crossing the path that were so sweet.  Brynne loved the princess castle, but was disappointed we couldn't go upstairs.  Taylor's favorite was the Indiana Jones ride because it was closed when he went as a kid.  I really loved the haunted house and pirates of the Caribbean, but my favorite part of the day was the end at the parade.  We had a front row seat at the very beginning of the parade, Brynne was so excited to see all the characters and was so excited when they waved at her.  Dane got into it after a while and pointed out his favorite characters.  The music, costumes, and dancing were remarkable! It was beautiful weather, in the 70's and most lines we were in we waited 5 min's or less.  I really couldn't have planned a more perfect day.  By closing time we were sad to leave, but grandpa m. let Brynne and Dane choose a toy from a gift shop.  Dane got a light saber and Brynne got a cute music box.  We got on the shuttle and road back to the hotel.

The next morning we all went to visit Todd at the hospital.  It was good to see him, but emotional for me to see him in a place like that.  We played basketball with him, and were able to have a really good visit with him outside.  After he had to go back inside after about a hour 1/2 his social worker talked to us, and re assured us of the good care he was getting.  I miss my brother and wish there was more I could do for him.  Then we picked up subway sandwiches and headed to the beach, Andrea and Cade were in LA visiting friends and so they got to come with us.  Taylor and I had a great playing and body surfing in the waves and the kids had fun playing in the sand with grandma and grandpa!  That night Andrea watched the kids and my mom and dad and Taylor and I drove to watch a BYU finals game, and we had our fill of LA trafic.  The volley ball game was awesome, almost all BYU fans in the croud and they won the match in 3 sets!

The next morning we headed back home with Cade and Andrea riding with us.  We had a fantastic trip and made tons of great memories!