More Disneyland

We had the luxury of going in and out of Disneyland and California Adventure as we pleased for 5 days. In four of those days we saw all the characters, rode pretty much all the rides and saw most the shows. It was nice to be able to take our time around the parks and not feel rushed. It was also nice to be able to go back to our hotel for lunch and naps and a swim in the pool before beginning our evening at the park. 

We had a lot of fun seeing all the characters. It was so fun to see the kid's expressions.

Seeing the princesses and fairies was another thing. Josh was in dreamland; he absolutely LOVED princess Tyona from "Princess and the Frog". She held his hand for the picture and he had the biggest grin from ear to ear. The following days there he kept asking when he could go see her again.

Now I couldn't believe how tall the princesses where. What is up with that? They all towered over me by a foot or more. I know that is not hard but come on, seriously, Aurora was like two feet taller than me :) The fairies were more my size...

Rachael would never fall asleep in the stroller but on certain rides like the train or Nemo ride she would crash. He favorite ride for sure was the Carousel, she loved it and it was a fight to get her off it. Josh says his favorite rides were Space Mountain and the Matterhorn. 

One night we ate dinner in the park at the French Market and I had the most delicious Salmon. I was quite impressed. I then stood reserving our spot for Fantasmic for 2 hours. It was insane but worth it. Aaron took Josh on Splash Mountain while I waited at chatted with some nice ladies.
The show and fireworks afterwards was a lot of fun.

First full day at Disneyland

We had spend the previous evening at Disneyland but August 20th was our first full day there. As soon as we stepped into the park Mickey and his gang came down main street. The kids were so excited.

We had a great time riding rides (including the tea cups as seen below) and the longest we waited in line was 20 minutes. It was a lot better then I had expected. There were constant shows and entertainment everywhere which was perfect as we ate lunch. It was so fun to watch the kids dance around.

We weren't as prepared for the heat so the first day we stayed hydrated with the most delicious (but expensive) raspberry and cherry lemonade slushies.   

We got to see Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and Goofy.

As the evening hit we moved on over into California Adventure to watch the Pixar Play parade. It was probably the funnest parade i've ever seen. Josh was so excited to see all of his favorite characters. The water and bubbles were fantastic for a hot day.

Our drive down to California

On August 18th we left early afternoon and began our drive to California. We decided to break our drive up into two days and stay in Vegas that night. We only stopped once in St George where we quickly filled up our car and ate subway sandwiches for dinner. 


We arrived in Vegas just before sundown and checked into the Monte Carlo. The heat was unbearable, we couldn't believe how HOT it was even after the sun went down. The kids were so good as we walked 4 miles up and down the strip without strollers. Crazy is what you can call us, we were all soaked with sweat. We couldn't resist the cold water being sold for $1.00 and had to buy a few.

We had a great time seeing the cool lit up buildings. Elvis and Jack Sparrow were everywhere but we couldn't resist a picture with superman :) The Bellagio fountain show was my all time favorite. Especially because it was to the song "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea  Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.  Walking past Caesars Palace seemed to take forever but the kids had fun splashing in the fountains. We then made our way to Treasure Island to catch a glimpse of the huge pirate ship and then back to the Mirage for the volcano show.
We eventually slugged our way back to our hotel going through the cool (literally cool) gardens at the Bellagio and then crashed for the night. It was actually better then I thought it would be and I think it helped that we were out on the strip well before it got late and into the craziness. 

The next day we checked out and before beginning the rest of our drive we walked the opposite direction down the strip. It was even hotter than last night. We visited M&M world and checked out New York New York. We walked around Excalibur and then took the tram to Mandalay Bay. There we went to Shark Reef and enjoyed every minute. Josh and Aaron walked around with these information  phones while I walked around with Rachael as she pointed at everything saying 'wook' 'wook' and 'wow' (look  being one of her favorite words). We saw some cool sharks swim right above our heads and a load of other cool fish including piranhas, jellyfish and huge creepy creatures.

Once we made it back to our car we pulled out the nice ice cold cooler with drinks and lunches before hitting the road. We then drove the remaining 4 hours or so to Anaheim. We stopped once in Bakers California where we saw the world's tallest thermometer (sorry no pictures).


We checked into our Holiday Inn Resort and took a shuttle into Disneyland. We had 5 days in Disney and we decided to use that evening as one of them. We got right onto a bunch of rides including Buzz Lightyear and the Matterhorn. The best thing about the rides Rachael couldn't go on (which was only 5 or so) was that they do a switchpass. So Aaron and Josh would wait in line and go on the ride while I waited with Rachael. Once they got off the ride I got straight back on with Josh without waiting in any line. It was brilliant and Josh got to ride all the big rides at least twice.


Before leaving the park we went on It's a Small World. Seeing Rachael's beaming face reminded me of Josh at Disneyland Paris in 2008 when we took him on that ride. It really is a cute and fun ride for little ones even though the song is then stuck in your head for the next 3 days.

Real Salt Lake Game

We were invited to the RSL game on August 14th. 

It was my first time in their new stadium and we had so much fun! 

Sink or Float Experiment

This was one of our '60 days of Summer' ideas. After going through the items on the list they continued to test random items and toys to see if they would sink or float. 

The best was when they brought down armfuls of bath toys. Haha

FHE in the Canyons

9th of August some friends invited us to go into the mountains for FHE.

We had a blast and of course the kids loved it. What don't they love about rocks, dirt, sticks and streams :) 

Baking

I had an abundant supply of bananas that had over ripened. So I found a recipe for these delicious Banana Crumb Muffins. They have this cinnamon and brown sugar streusel topping. They didn't last long around here because everyone loved them. Delicious!

I was also given a few fresh zucchinis so I made these gorgeous zucchini cookies. A few years ago I was going through all my moms recipes and came across this one. It's yummy! They end up fluffy and cake like (a bit like pumpkin cookies) and the bit of chocolate in it makes them so sweet.

Two-tone banana bread

What else can I say? 

Oh and a chocolate-hazelnut spread is delightful on this.