Disneyland

Jonas and I were home for less than 48 hours (just long enough for me to enjoy my actual birthday at home) before we were off again! This time, we were traveling with a different crew. About 6 weeks ago, Krystle reached out to me about an opportunity to join them for a trip to Disneyland. Obviously we couldn't say no! Thankfully, it was the weekend after our Florida Keys trip...and thankfully, Jonas is a good enough student that I didn't feel bad about him missing another few days of school (ok...maybe I felt a little bad, but life is too short to not escape the classroom a little). We met up with the Tanners on Thursday (March 6th) to fly out to Anaheim. While we were waiting in the airport, the boys were excited to see NFL quarterback (and former BYU player), Jaren Hall, was on the same flight as us. Jonas was mostly unaware of who he was, but after Nolan explained, Jonas was pretty excited to meet an NFL player. We boarded the plane shortly thereafter and after a quick flight, landed in Santa Ana. We made our way to our hotel, which was across the street from Disneyland. Our room wasn't quite ready so we headed to Downtown Disney to kill some time. It was raining that afternoon but luckily the two days we were in the parks were sunny and dry! The boys slipped and slided through Downtown Disney as we dodged in and out of the stores in search of the perfect souvenirs. Jonas was actually ok to not buy anything...other than churros, which we did grab before returning to the hotel. Back at the hotel, the kids were crazy enough to want to go swimming in the rain so I went down with them while Krystle and Jordan settled in. Once the kids were done swimming, we cleaned up, grabbed dinner, then enjoyed playing some games in the room. Unbeknownst to everyone but me, Nichole and Ryan were making their way to California too. They decided to surprise everyone and join us as well. It was so funny when they knocked on our hotel room door. I had all the kids with me in my room. Lincoln answered the door and seemed a little confused.  On one hand, it was probably not unusual for him to see them join us, but on the other hand, he had no idea that they were. The other boys seemed equally confused. Heck, even Ryan was confused! He didn't realize it was a surprise either! The boys finally figured it out and were super excited to have them join us. I think Krystle's reaction was the best though. She was the most surprised.

The next two days were spent in the parks. We spent one entire day at Disneyland and then one entire day at Disney's California Adventure. First up, Disneyland! We got up early so we could be to the park when the gates opened. We decided to rope drop the Rise of the Resistance ride. I loved seeing all the kids excitement. Jonas was literally skipping his way down Main Street. I'm still not sure he's ever wandered through any of those shops. His Disney experience has always been about the rides...this trip was pretty much the same although he didn't get to dictate all the rides and he rode some rides he probably wouldn't have if we weren't in this group (e.g., Mr Toads Wild Ride, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway [and Toontown in general...he's never been to that part of the park before], Chip and Dale's Coaster, Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones). This Disney experience was different...and a little emotional for him. At one point, he was frustrated because we weren't hitting the bigger rides. I think he was a little worried we wouldn't have time for them. He wanted to break off from the group, but he also wanted at least some of his cousins to join us. Even though Jeff and I had tried to prepare him for this very scenario, the reality of the choice weighed on him. Did we split from the group to conquer the rides he wanted to or stay with everyone and hope he'd still get there? Ultimately, he decided that experiencing Disney with his cousins was more important than checking off all the rides...and thankfully, we were still able to get to each of the rides he wanted to (in both parks). We started in Galaxy's Edge with Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon (which was the only ride we repeated later in the day). From there, we moved on to Fantasyland and Toontown (this was where the emotional breakdown occurred). We made our way back to Frontierland to ride Thunder Mountain and the Jungle Cruise then Jonas finally got to experience what used to be Splash Mountain and is now Tiana's Bayou Adventure. He will never know that ride as anything other than Tiana's, but I was able to experience both and I actually think I like the Tiana theme better. The ride itself was the same and yes, we got wet. Lincoln was in the very front of our boat and got doused! Jonas was the second rider and got pretty wet as well. Nichole and I wore a poncho to minimize our drenching. We continued our rides with Pirates and Indiana Jones before making our way to Tomorrowland. We checked off all of Jonas's top rides (Rise, Millennium Falcon, Tiana's, Space Mountain, and Buzz). We even made it to the Matterhorn and Autopia before returning to the Millennium Falcon and ending our day with Peter Pan. I was glad we made it to Peter Pan. That is a nostalgic ride for me and one I enjoy but was willing to skip if we didn't have time. After about 12 hours in the park, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for another full day. (Jonas still hasn't stayed for the evening fireworks show or experienced a Disney parade...perhaps one day.)

The next day (Saturday, March 8th) was all about Disney's California Adventure! This time, Jonas knew the drill and was more relaxed about which rides we did or in what order. I think he knew that we would make it to all his favorite rides and therefore didn't stress about it. Instead, he just enjoyed experiencing it all with his cousins. (Plus, there's not as many rides in DCA as there are in Disneyland so I think he was even more confident that we would have time to hit all the ones he wanted.) We started in Cars Land then worked our way through Pixar Pier and onto Avengers Campus. I enjoyed the more relaxed pace of the day. Because of the fewer rides, we enjoyed more photos opps and dining opportunities. Of course, we got our Jack Jack Num Num cookie too! Thankfully, Nichole didn't toss her cookies on the Incredicoaster because it was pretty close. About 3/4ths of the way through the ride, I saw her start to dry heave. Ever since I had my bouts with vertigo, I carry around small barf bags. I was quickly able to wriggle my purse out of the holder (all while still strapped into the ride) to grab one of those bags and hand to her. Luckily, she didn't throw up, but I wasn't taking any chances! This was the only ride we repeated, but Nichole opted out the second time. Because of the relaxed pace, we even had time to wait for nearly two hours to ride Guardians of the Galaxy! I was hoping to repeat this ride, but there was only one gantry lift that was working that day. We were lucky to experience the ride once! And I am so glad we did. It was Nolan and Lincoln's first time on the ride. Nolan had been mentally and emotionally preparing for the ride since we got to California. He was a little nervous about it but absolutely loved it when it was over! Lincoln too. (During this time, Jordan, Krystle, Camden and Addie experienced other rides and activities. Addie was too little for Guardians and Camden was unable to ride it because of his heart. As much fun as Disneyland was for everyone, Jonas wasn't the only one to experience hard emotions. Camden was unable to ride a few of the rides because of his Marfan's. It was extremely hard for him (and his parents) to feel limited in that way.) We ended the evening altogether on the Monster's Inc ride. As we were leaving the park, we ran into Mickey for one final character picture. (I think Jonas got more pictures with characters on this trip than any of the times we went before.) As we made our way out of the park and to our hotel, Addie, still feeling the Disney magic, started to sing A Whole New World. It was the cutest and perfect way to end our Disney adventure.

Sunday morning (March 9th), Nichole and Ryan headed home, but we still had one more day of adventure. We checked out of our hotel near Disneyland and moved about 3 miles south to the Great Wolf Lodge. (Thankfully, Ryan helped transport us and our bags to the new hotel.) We spent the entire day (and even the next morning) swimming at the indoor water park. This was mine and Jonas's first experience with a Great Wolf Lodge. It was super fun! They have an indoor water park, arcades, bowling, and various other activities (like dance parties, morning yoga, magic quests, etc). Some of that is included with the room and others are in addition. We mainly utilized the waterpark (which was included). They had some pretty epic slides! One literally just dropped you! Yes...both Jonas and I tried it. Jonas actually went on it a few times. Once was enough for me. We spent hours riding the slides, floating in the lazy river, and playing in the wave pool. When we were finished, we made our way back to our room where we grabbed pizza for the kids and they kept playing. This was such a fun trip for Jonas because he had his cousins to play with. I know he has fun when he travels with just Jeff and I, but it's different when he had kids his age to hang out with. We woke up the next morning and went swimming again before we needed to pack up and head to the airport. Two trips back to back was a little exhausting....but infinitely worth it! The memories we'll take with us from this trip will last a lifetime. I anticipate there will be many more adventures with the Tanner family.