Disneyland Trip - 3-4-2016 First day at Disneyland

We got up bright and early, probably not early enough for Matt, but we got on the tram to go to Disneyland at 9:22am. Matt was a bit of a "_____" (can't quite put it into words) as we were late and had to wait in line before getting on the tram. He loves Disneyland way too much for my tastes and forgot that we had our two little kids, 11 months and almost 3 years old, plus his parents with us, so the pace had to be slower. I call Matt's parents (mom and pops, so that is how they will be referred to in the posts).

We finally got into Disneyland after our bags were checked and went through the ticket line. I set Matt loos with Kara to race to the teacups while I walked with his parents and Logan to catch up. 

Kara's first ride at Disneyland was the tea cups and it had to be the PINK tea cup. She absolutely loved it. I had a hard time just filming them on it.

We all went on the story book ride and got in the boat. 

After which, Matt and Pops headed to Matterhorn while we went to Dumbo. Mom took Kara on Dumbo, while Logan and I hung out and watched. I don't do circle rides very well. Motion sickness.

Matt and Pops waiting in line for the Matterhorn. I have to say our first couple hours at Disneyland weren't the happiest. We were late getting there according to Matt's time table. Also, Matt forgot to ask for the stroller/parent swap pass when they got to the Matterhorn so I was a bit livid.

After Matt and Pops got back from the Matterhorn, Mom and I headed over to the Matterhorn. Since Matt forgot the stroller swap pass, we did single riders and got on pretty quick together. It was an okay ride, but made me a bit sick and not wanting to ride it again. 

After the Matterhorn, we went to Mr. Toads.

Logan rode with me and didn't quite enjoy it, but did okay.

Logan and I went on Pirates of the Caribbean while the others were off riding another ride. We had fun taking selfies while waiting in line.

Logan was NOT a fan Pirates from the very start. He was scared going down the waterfall. He screamed and was shaking so bad. I felt so sad for him as it is one of my favorite rides.

After pirates, we headed over to Aladdin's Oasis to get our lunch. We splurged a bit to get our lunch and also premier seating tickets for the Light Parade at night. Instead of having to wait forever, saving a space to view the parade, and deal with kids, we just purchased the premier seating. After a couple more rides, we came back to the condo for naps. Everyone, but Matt and I took a nap. Kids were sleeping upstairs, while Matt's parents slept on the couch/bed and I watched a show. Matt headed back to Disneyland for some alone time for a couple hours before we had dinner and headed back to Disneyland for the Light Parade and Fireworks.

Matt's parents snore and were in competition with each other as I tried to watch a show. His mom ended up winning the competition. She is going to kill me for putting this on, but boy she won by a mile. (Love ya Mom!)

Returning to Disneyland that night for the light parade and fireworks. 

We ended up getting a seat right up front for Matt, me and the kids. Matt's parents sat a bit ways back in order to be able to sit along the wall. It was probably more comfortable as Pops was having Sciatica Problems from so much walking.

Kara kept running back and forth from Mom and Pops to us.

Once the parade started, we were all mesmerized. The lights were fun and so was the music too.

Love Matt's face in the picture.

After the light parade, we stayed in our seats to watch the fireworks. It was a really good night to watch them as they didn't show fireworks the rest of the time we were in California because of the winds. Logan even fell asleep on my lap because he was so tired.

We went back to the condo and were all asleep by 10:30pm. All but Matt, who went back to Disneyland by himself and didn't get back until 2am. As I said, he is a die-hard Disneyland fan!

Disneyland Trip - Sea World 3-3-2016

Thursday, March 3rd - was our first full day in California. I wanted to go to Sea World and see the San Diego Temple. So before we got warn out with Disneyland, we headed down to Sea World. We were left about 45 minutes later than we wanted to for the 1 1/2 hour drive down. We wanted to be at Sea World right at 10 am when they opened, but traffic and trying to pack for our day down there didn't quite go our way. 

Both Kara and Logan both fell asleep on the way there, which was great and unheard of from Kara as it was 9am in the morning. 

On the way down, we obviously saw the Sang Diego Temple. This is my favorite temple. It reminds me of a castle. I also did baptisms for the dead there when I was 16 and had gone on a trip with a guys family I was dating at the time.

We parked the car in VIP parking, sunscreened up and headed in. It was fun because Matt didn't remember ever being to Sea World and I was looking forward to watching the shows and walking around. It was different from when I had been as a 17 year old, but we still enjoyed it.

We saw the beluga whalees.

Polar bears.

A very large walrus

Kara played in the polar bear caves with Matt who scared her at first and said there was a polar bear inside.

 We went to the penguin exhibit and listened to the program about the penquins.

 I was a bit bummed out when I found out the dolphin stadium was under renovations, so we weren't able to really see the dolphin show like I wanted to. We still got to see them and I even contemplated paying to play with the dolphins. One of my life goals, which is weird cause I have a funkiness about touch things that aren't everyday occurrences.

 Trying to take a selfie with Matt's mom.

 We packed our lunch and enjoyed eating right outside Sea World as we would be going out to dinner that night.

I got Matt's parents to touch a horse shoe crab, but I wouldn't.

We went to see Shamu tanks too.

While we waited for the show, we went on some of the kiddie rides. Well, I only rode one and got sick from going around in circles. It amazes me that most rides just go in circles, but just on different characters. Kara loved it and gave me hope for Disneyland. 

 We went to the Shamu and found Matt had sat in the "soak zone" at the very top. It was a bit chilly to get wet, so everyone but Matt moved a bit higher. He didn't get a drop on him. Before the show started, they had large TV screens up that showed video clips of everything Sea World does to help rescue hurt animals. Kara started to cry and ask me "why are they hurting them?" I explained Kara they were helping animals that were hurt. They were animal doctors. She stopped crying after that and started talking about the animal doctors helping the animals like her doctor helps her.

The show was alot of fun and it will be sad to have it gone. Hoping whatever they do next will be fun to see and informative too. 

I absolutely love this picture and can't believe I caught such a good shot with the kids and the Orca.

Okay, here is me trying to touch a sting ray. I am such a weirdo. I can't touch a stingray but want to swim with dolphins. Something I will have to definitely work on.

Matt had no problem touch the sting rays. Kara wanted nothing to do with them either. Plus her arms were too short to reach into the tank anyway. Good excuse if you ask me.

Logan fell asleep, so he and Matt stayed out with the stroller while we went into the "Pet show". It was fun and funny. Kara enjoyed herself. 

I went back to the dolphin tank for one last goodbye before we left Sea World.

While I was at the dolphins, Matt and Kara found a large bubble for her to play on. She loved it so much, she screamed and cried when the park closed and we had to leave. 

After Sea World, we went to the San Diego Temple to walk around. We got there right when the lighting was fantastic. It was a bit cold and Kara almost fell asleep before we got there, but she woke up when we got out of the car. Love how beautiful this temple is. 

I don't know why but this picture reminds me of the tree in Lehi's dream and with the temple behind it makes it even better.

The sister missionaries ended up following us around the temple and asked if they could take our picture for us. It turned out quite nice.

I am going to blow this picture up and hang it in our house. 

After the temple, we went to McDonalds and had dinner. We took our time and missed the traffic on the way back, which we were hoping. Matt took Logan and Kara outside the condo to watch the fireworks. Well they didn't stay out too long as Logan didn't like the noise they made. 

Such a fun first day of our trip!