"Shampoo, Mama, Shampoo!"

Translate that to "Shamu"--we spent Thursday, June 26th at SeaWorld.

I hadn't been to SeaWorld in 10 years, but I remembered loving it. I just love all of the animals and the shows. It makes me get all ooey-gooey and dream about what it would be like to be an animal trainer and I think to myself, "Oh maybe I should have gone to school to be a marine biologist or something." Ha! Ha! Me! The one who won't even give in and get so much as a goldfish for a pet! So I'm fairly certain, in fact I KNOW, that it's just temporary insanity. I mean, really, can you even imagine me in a wetsuit?! Dreadful thought.

So because I love SeaWorld, I really wanted my kids to also. And they did, but I think we were all a bit hindered by the fact that we were SO tired. But we persevered, made it to almost all of the shows, and in the end had another great day (minus the one monster fit that Molly thru over ice cream and the fact that she didn't get any because she BIT her brother and left a mark that looked more like one of the sharks had jumped out and attacked Grayson!)

This, obviously, was pre- "shark" bite, but too cute to leave out!

For me, the day's 2 highlights were getting to eat breakfast with Shamu and feeding the dolphins. The breakfast I had reserved in advance, and we literally got to sit right at the edge of the whale's pool. It was cool. One of the trainers gave a little spiel, answered lots of questions, and then interacted with Shamu and got him to do all sorts of tricks. I'll admit, at first it was a bit unnerving to be taking a bite of eggs and all of sudden have a whale (and his big mouth) pop up right beside you!

This was my dolphin friend. I fed him (or her?) 3 fish. I was scared for my fingers, but luckily I still have all 10!

Here are some other shots from the day:

Molly clapped her little heart out. So cute.

Notice there's a guy up there! Again, temporary insanity to think that I would/could actually do that. :)

That polar bear was HUGE!

It was another fun, beautiful day in sunny California!

Here's what a medical emergency and a few tears will get you...

Really, I'm trying to pull myself away from the computer, but now I'm on a roll! Besides, the kids are both sleeping, so what better time is there to continue documenting our week long adventure?!...

So now it's Wednesday night, and we're on our way to San Diego, a little sad to be leaving Disneyland but still plenty excited about what lies ahead. As we drove, I was getting more and more nervous about our hotel accomodations. It's a lot of pressure to be the one in charge of making all of the reservations! And it's not like I had first-hand knowledge about the resort I had picked. Nope, I just found it on the internet, read some reviews, and thought the pictures looked nice. So when I found what appeared to be a good deal, I jumped on it and booked 3 nights. The 3 nights were originally supposed to be the 18th, 19th, and 20th of June. That was before Grayson's little trip to the ER on the night of the 17th. Ugh. At 4 a.m. in the morning on the 18th, I called the travel company (which, by the way, I would whole heartedly recommend Get Away Today Vacations). No answer, but I could leave a message. So I did. A sobbing one, detailing everything that had happened. And bless her heart, at exactly 8 a.m. when the GAT office opened, a very sweet gal named Alyssa returned my call and assured me that she'd call the resort manager directly and see what she could work out. But unfortunately, both she and I were thinking that there was a very real possibility that the place would be booked solid the next week. But minutes later Alyssa called me back and said that the manager would take care of everything. All I had to do was change the dates on my travel voucher. Thank you, God. Poor Alyssa got to hear me sob some more as I thanked her repeatedly for all of her help.

So back to Wednesday, the 25th. With the help of Google Maps, we found the Catamaran Resort without any problem. I went inside, checked us in, handed over our travel voucher, and got the keys to our room. Then I met up with the guy who was going to help with our luggage. He looked at our room number and said, "Wow, that's a great room." Huh, he must say that to every guest, I thought. After all, I had only booked one of the standard rooms, which is all we could afford. It was supposed to be one of those rooms where, if we were lucky, we'd have a view of a nice grassy area or perhaps some green foliage and not the parking lot. But when we got to our room we realized that we had been upgraded to a suite! Like the nicest kind of suite that they offer! Our room was RIGHT on the bay, not steps from the bay, but RIGHT out our balcony door was the white, sandy beach!!! And in our room was not 1, but 2 huge flat screen plasma tvs! Wow. Everything really does happen for a reason, doesn't it?...

A Potato and 5 Princesses

Wednesday, June 25th - So a new Toy Story ride just opened on June 17th, less than a week before our arrival. And, like the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, it is drawing huge crowds, which of course makes for a huge line, which in turn means a LONGGG wait. But fear not, I had a plan! (Imagine that.) Thankfully, DCA (Disneyland's California Adventure) doesn't open until 10:00 a.m. officially. So we didn't even have to scramble too much to grab breakfast at McD's again and be in line by 9:00. Then at 9:30 they let us thru the turnstiles, and everyone started making a beeline for the new ride. But fortunately, Disney was ready for us! There were tons of Cast Members directing traffic and lots of ropes to funnel the crowd into a neat and tidy line that seemed to serpentine all thru the park. In fact, it took us much of the 30 minutes between 9:30 and 10:00 (when the ride actually opened) to make it to the actual queueing area. Moving the entire time made the wait seem short, and we were on the ride by 10:15! And let me tell you, it's a fun ride! Like the Buzz Lightyear ride, it's very interactive, but even more so for young kids. They can actually do it and be successful. Well done, Disney!

After that, Dave and the kids went back over to A Bug's Land while I went to ride Soarin' Over California. Grayson was thrilled to see Flik. (Is that his name?)

Then it was off to Ariel's Grotto for our lunch with the princesses.

Now I'd like to say that we went for our own dear sweet princess named Molly, but that would be a lie. No, we went because our little ladies' man named G-r-a-y-s-o-n insisted on dining in the presence of royalty. Female royalty, specifically. And once again, our boy turned on the charm!

And I'm happy to report that by day 4, even Molly was a fan of the characters! In fact, for the remainder of our trip she wanted to hug anyone or anything. Go figure. Maybe next time we'll get a picture of that elusive Mickey hug!

After lunch we had just enough time for each kid to pick one more ride at Disneyland--Grayson picked Pirates of the Caribbean, I think, and Molly picked the stomach turning Astro Orbiter, of all rides--then we stopped off for one last round of souvenir shopping, and took our final stroll down Main Street before it was time to leave and go pick up our rental car.

$25 Buzz Lightyear toy...

$4 light up ball... How much longer do you think we'll get away with that?! ;)

Thank you, Disneyland! We had so much fun! I would go back tomorrow in a second. Not my husband though. He's tired!!!

Day 3 in the Land

Let me just say that I LOVE Disneyland. Love it! Now in my everyday life, I do not feel compelled to wear Disney clothing, our collection of Disney movies is quite small, and I don't usually shop at the Disney Store. But when I step foot inside of Walt's park, then I all of a sudden become a Disney fanatic! I've spent endless hours researching the park, reading reviews and insider tips, and pouring over touring plans. I love the rides, the food, the shows, and even all of the people. I can even get over paying $2.95 for a Diet Coke just because I love being there so much!

Tuesday, June 24th - On Day 3 we slept in a little (Michelle, you'd be proud!). Then we headed to the park for breakfast and another jam-packed day of fun! Tuesday morning was our day to explore Adventureland and head out to the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.

This was on the raft over to the island. Notice the Webkinz? Of all the souvenirs to pick from at Disneyland, that is what our son chose. Darn Disneyland! Keep it pure! :) Granted, there was just one small section on a shelf that displayed only a few different pets, but leave it to Grayson to spot them! And suddenly Buzz and Woody were just afterthoughts...'til the next day, that is. Ha! Ha!

It took teamwork to pump water out of the sunken ship in order to uncover buried treasure. Aargh!

Oooh, look! Captain Jack Sparrow!

Tuesday was another hot day. It would have been a perfect day to rest for a couple of hours back at the hotel like I had planned, but unfortunately the kids foiled that plan by falling asleep at random times in their strollers. So by the time that Dave and I could hardly walk from exhaustion, they were revived and wanting to go, go, go! So we compromised. We got on the train and took a 20 minute roundtrip tour of the park. Dave even managed to fall asleep as I giggled at his head bobbing the whole time.

A few minutes later, after leaving Toontown and the dreadful Roger Rabbit ride that Grayson just loves, we ran into Wendy. Grayson says that she was his favorite character to see and "meet". I would have to agree that she was pretty darn cute!

Then it was time to head over to California Adventure Park so that we could catch the new Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage show.

I knew that it would be right up Molly's alley with all her favorite characters. But, uh-oh:

Luckily it was just another short catnap, and she did get to enjoy the show. In fact, she was THRILLED! It was so fun to watch her. She danced, she clapped, she tried to sing, and she smiled the whole time. Grayson loved it, too. Once again, the wait in line was worth it.

Also that evening we took in the Pixar Play Parade at DCA. They warn you in advance that you might get a little wet from spraying water, but we got A LOT wet! Really fun parade though with lots of favorite characters.

Pssst! Telling secrets during the parade...

Anxiously awaiting what's next...

Grayson, right after getting nailed by one of the water sprayers...

After that, we ate dinner and then headed to the hotel so that we could start packing up our things (sniff, sniff). Our night ended back at DCA, where we took in Disney's Electrical parade. The next day, our last day, would be all about princesses and the new Toy Story Midway Mania ride. Stay tuned...

Mr. Toad and Mole...

Moleskin, that is. Thanks to the nice lady standing behind us in line who noticed me going thru my daily band-aid application ritual and took pity on me, I was introduced to the product that is Moleskin. And boy am I a fan now! It has been added to my ever growing list of "don't leave home without it" items. Yes, I must admit that on this trip I was the one with the blisters. Usually it's me taking care of everyone else's ailments--skinned knees, chapped lips, tummy aches, headaches, etc--but this time around my family had to listen to ME moan and groan, especially each time my darn band-aids fell off! But then the nice lady insisted I take her Moleskin and all was well from there on out. So I'll move on...

Monday, June 23rd - Let's see, our morning didn't start quite as early on this day, but still early. I think we were in line by 7:30 a.m. And once again, it was straight to Dumbo!



This morning was also our character breakfast with Minnie and Friends at the Plaza Inn on Main Street. My hope (when planning) was that Molly would have warmed up to the characters by this point, having had an entire day to see them and watch Grayson interact with them, but not so much. How dare she not act in accordance to my plans! Ha! Ha! Dave "enjoyed" the entire breakfast with an appendage stuck to him--a 26 pound appendage that kept trying to climb over his shoulders to escape the big bad Pooh bear!



All in all it was a lot of fun though. On past trips we had done breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. Minnie's breakfast was not as lively, but it was nice that it was right in the park , and we didn't have to walk to the Disneyland Hotel. Plus, we all know how much Molly adores her Minnie (in theory, anyway)!

After breakfast (which was more like brunch) it was time to hit Splash Mountain before heading back to the hotel for nap time. For months I had been trying to talk Grayson into riding it with me. We watched several You Tube videos, and I think that he was almost convinced...until he got up to it and saw that big drop again. Nope, there would be no talking him into it. So Dave and I each went solo and both got drenched! Back to the hotel we went to swim, shower, and then rest.

For dinner that night we ate at the Blue Bayou inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It's hecka expensive but way cool. We all enjoyed watching the boats go by as we ate. Also, we watched the guy at the table right next to us propose to his girlfriend. Super sweet, but I hope they won't be sad when they see that our little family is in EVERY single one of their pictures!

After dinner we went to stake out a spot for the parade. We got great seats, and the kids absolutely loved watching all of the floats and characters go by. That's one image that I never want to forget--the look of awe and wonder in Molly's eyes as she watched. Too precious, and it made the whole trip worthwhile. Really, it did.


And the sweetest thing was when Mickey saw Molly blow him a kiss, he caught it, and then he blew one right back.


At some point, either before or after the parade, we caught up with Alice. The whole trip Grayson was absolutely smitten with the ladies! Just wait 'til you see the princess pictures! A little flirt, I tell you!

Oh and by the way, in reference to the "Mr. Toad" title, it became a new favorite ride on this trip. We rode it A LOT.

6:30 A.M. or Bust!

Sunday, June 22nd - I am an obsessive planner, especially when it comes to vacations. Just ask my husband. He'll tell you that I had an index card for each day with a detailed itinerary on it. And Sunday's itinerary necessitated that we get to McD's by 6:15 a.m. so that we could be in line for our 'Magic Morning' (a.k.a. early entry) by 6:30 a.m. so that we could ride Peter Pan and Dumbo first thing with relatively short waits. And, huh, wouldn't you know it, but apparently most people on VACATION do not get up at 5:30 in the morning like we did. That meant we practically had Fantasyland to ourselves for probably over an hour. So fun! Not only did we get on Peter Pan and Dumbo once, but I think we did each ride 3 times...along with all of the other ones. Waking up early was DEFINITELY worth it! Don't waste your 'Magic Mornings', people!

Can you tell they're excited?!

What a good sport Daddy was! But look at that smile--I think he liked it!

Ah, the good ol' teacups...right after eating McD's...

After touring Fantasyland and hitting a few rides in Tomorrowland, we headed over to Toontown with hopes of seeing Mickey and Minnie so that Molly could make good on her 1

wish--"Me give Mickey a hug."

Well we did see Mickey and Minnie. And we got some really cute pictures:

Notice anyone missing? Sad but true, but this was Molly:

Poor girl. Apparently the anticipation took it out of her. Ha! Ha! When she did wake up, we went back for a second visit with the mice.

But perhaps hugging a mouse is overrated after all. A death grip around Daddy's neck is

better. :)

Okay, moving on. It was almost time for lunch, so we headed toward Main Street and the Carnation Cafe. On our way I decided to make use of Disneyland's awesome baby care center. If you have young ones, you really should take advantage of it. There are lots of chairs for nursing, changing tables, small potties, etc... And it's all free to use (a Disney rarity!). Anyway, while I was changing Molly on one of the tables, she somehow got ahold of her pants and threw them. The odds are good that they'd just fall on the floor, right? But in this case she managed to throw them right into this toilet like thing...which wasn't really a toilet but maybe is used to wash/rinse out dirty cloth diapers??? I have no idea. All I know is that it wasn't just a sink because it had a flush handle thing and was filled with water. Ick, I had to fish them out. Now you'd think that because I am an obsessive planner I would have extra clothes for Miss Mols in the diaper bag (and believe me, after this incident I did) but on this day, I did not. So our girl got to dine in her Huggies.

Unfortunately for the rest of the restaurant patrons, Eeyore came to visit during lunch. Molly was NOT impressed and let out a terrible shrieking scream each time he got within 20 feet.

Now if you could only see and hear the OTHER side of the table!

Following our loud but yummy lunch, it was time to head back to the hotel for an afternoon break. After all, it was probably like 95 degrees at this point. Ugh. Thank goodness for A/C!

That evening, after a quick stop off in A Bug's Land, we made the trek to The Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. Usually the food is never anything to write home about, but this time Dave and I both thought our dinners were DELISH! Plus, we just think it's a fun atmosphere, and of course Grayson managed to score a few more beloved 'little animals'.

What a fun, fun first full day. And it's really good that I'm 'journaling' it all now because already I have no idea what we did after dinner that first night!!! Hmmm...

The Ryan's California Adventure - (Take 2)

So we made it...there and back...and enjoyed a really fun week in between! Of course we're exhausted now, but who wouldn't be after 4 days at Disneyland, 1 day at SeaWorld, a day at Legoland, and 2 glorious days spent playing on the beach?! It was awesome. There are so many parts of it that I want to remember forever. Ugh, the thought of journaling it all is a little (actually A LOT) daunting, but I will do my best.

So with that, friends, here is the first installment of "The Ryans Do Disney":

Saturday, June 21st - Our flight left a little after 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It was nice that we didn't have to scramble to make an early morning flight; instead we got to take our time getting ready and getting to the airport. And this time around there were no emergency trips to the ER. Thank goodness! In fact, everything was easy-peasy. The kids were a little hard to please on the airplane (apparently my 'surprises' were "not fun enough"), but by the end of the 2.5 hour flight this was the scene:



Ah, peace and quiet for Mom and Dad...(probably the last bit of peace and quiet for the week)...

We arrived at the airport a little early, caught our shuttle, and then got to the hotel around 7:30 p.m. It still seemed early, it was light out, the kids were way excited about Disneyland, and plus we did have an extra free day on our 'park hopper' passes, so we decided, "What the heck, let's go to the park!" What we really needed to do was eat dinner, but we were all excited about getting a ride under our belts, so we went into California Adventure Park and hopped on the Monsters, Inc. ride with no wait. Yay! Then, surprisingly, with no resistance from the wee ones, we exited the park and headed toward Downtown Disney. Apparently neither Dave nor I remembered that it was Saturday night...until we stepped foot into the "Downtown" district. Holy moly, it was CROWDED! And by now our "Oh, it's only 7:30, it's still early" attitude had faded, the kids were 'melting' due to heat and hunger, and our up-to-this-point enjoyable first night was going downhill...fast! I thought that spotting a little Italian pizza deli/joint with empty tables was going to be a good thing, but the pizza was more french bread like than crusty, and with my hard to please 5-year-old it was a 'no go'. Thankfully though our family motto is "When on vacation...", so the little stinker who had thrown a big stink and really didn't deserve anything else got to dine on a $5 parfait (which to our credit as parents we thought was made with yogurt...it was not). So with that, after our quasi dinner, it was back to the hotel and off to bed. I'll spare the details, but for future reference, trying to get 2 children who have just eaten a giant parfait of mostly sugar to go to sleep within steps of Disneyland of all places is next to impossible.
Stay tuned...