The Happiest Place on Earth

We originally booked a week long vacation in Phoenix, then later realized Phoenix was just a 5-hour drive from Disneyland--too close to pass-up (plus my youngest sister, Rachel, lives in LA and good friends of ours just moved into a new house in Orange County...so all the more reason to visit).

We spent an afternoon at the beach, a day at Disneyland, a day at Disney's California Adventure, and an unexpected evening in the Emergency Room. The ER was not on the original itinerary but we found ourselves there after Miss Morgan tripped up the hard cement steps as we were leaving the beach and tide pools. Her chin split right open and required 8 stitches. Thankfully we were in and out in about 2-1/2 hours which wasn't too bad for Sunday night at the ER. We were surrounded by kids with fevers and flu so I'm glad we didn't have to stick around any longer than we did. I made Morgan wash her hands about a jazillion times.

Morgan's stitches were tender on Monday morning so she decided to stay home from Disneyland to play with her friend, Brooke. It sounds awful that she missed out on a day at Disney, but truthfully she was thrilled to spend more time with her old friend (they've been friends since they were 1-year old). Ethan loved seeing Mickey Mouse and the Princesses. He really wanted to go in the castle and find the Princesses when we first arrived (his little girl friend next door just got back from Disney World, thus the facination with the princesses). Lines weren't bad even though it was a holiday, and the kids had a blast except for the part when Isaac was in tears after not being picked to participate in the Jedi Training. A tip for anyone young Star Wars fans who may be visiting Disneyland in the future, wear a Star Wars shirt or some type of Star Wars costume and you'll get picked. Sadly, I didn't know this ahead of time as Isaac and Ethan were Darth Vadar and Yoda for Halloween so we had the gear at home.

Angela, you'll appreciate this, at Disney we ran into Sue Gertsen and her husband Rob (can't remember his last name...also went to High School w/us, one year older than me). They were visiting from the Seattle area. Small world.

On Tuesday we headed to California Adventure where we met up with Aunt Rachel, Aunt Bekah, and cousin Jax. Thankfully Morgan's chin was feeling better and she was ready for the big rides. Our favorite rides were the Tower of Terror, California Screamin, and MaliBOOMer. Morgan's analysis of Disney, "At Six Flags it's fun when you are on the rides, but here [California Adventure] you have a smile on your face even when you are just walking around." So, I guess that's why they call it the happiest place on earth :-)

We loved visting the Tenny's in their awesome new house and playing our old favorite card game, Canasta, with them. Wish we lived closer! It was also great to catch-up with Rachel who we don't see enough of. Sad we didn't have more time with her.