PARKS N PLAY

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DAYS 9, 10, 11

Saturday, 12-27-08 through Monday, 12-29-08

PARKS N PLAY
These days kind of blur together because of the early mornings and late nights with a tiny bit of rest in between. We had a great time at the Magic Kingdom and Cal-“E”-fornia Adventure. All in all we were a group of 21 with 4 kids in the bunch (another one’s on the way - YEAH!) and the rest kids at heart. We had an early pass to enter Disneyland at 7am on Saturday and we took full advantage of it! We were on Peter Pan’s Flight by 7:15 - there was already a line to get on it! And we hopped on Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Pinnochio’s Daring Journey, and the Matterhorn - all boom, boom, boom - we’re off! Thunder Mountain was a ton of fun and we took 3 turns as fast as we could. I must say our baby girl is a mountain girl. Her favorite rides are Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and the Matterhorn. She even wanted to go on the roller coaster California Screamin’ but she needed 5 more inches of height to pull that one off. Space Mountain was enjoyed by all except me - no reference point, people! I was a bit nauseous after that one. So we took a break and went to “Honey I Shrunk the Audience” to sit and relax and watch a show. This being a magical place and all there was no relaxing through this 3D feature (or 4D?) We had things flying at us, mice crawling up our legs, then we got shrunk to the size of mice and snakes and a lion were trying to eat us - YIKES! Once we were back to our normal sizes we got outta there fast! Some rest! What’s that we hear? Dun, dadada-daaa, dun, dun, dun! OOOOOHHHH! The Jedi Training Academy was just beginning so of course we had to join in and learn the fine arts of the force. Well done, younglings!

We met up with Geoff’s family around lunch time. It took their group almost 2 hours to get their tickets and enter through the main gate. I guess this particular Saturday was one of their busiest days of the entire year. After a few pictures by the beautifully decorated Main Street Christmas Tree all the Tesariks and G.G. and Papa took a ride on the train around the park. There’s even a little surprise tour through the Grand Canyon and Dinosaur Land between Tomorrow Land and Main Street that’s a lot of fun.
After a nice, long midday break, we headed to the “E” in Cal-E-fornia (good one, Dad T.! That joke never gets old!) On the way in lots of people were heading out and Mary says, “The park is ours!” That’s my girl!! We met up with G.G. and Papa, Grammy and Grampster to Soar over California together. 55 minutes later with lots of good conversation (Papa) and singing (Kai “12 Days of Christmas”) we were soaring over gorgeous lands God created. Magnificent! Then off to the roller coaster. I thought I was safe when I said, “I’ll go if Jaedon goes.” “OK, I’ll go!” J. quickly replies. So maybe Kai won’t be tall enough - I’m secretly hoping - NNNOOOOOOOO - Kai barely made the height minimum and they let him go! There’s no turning back I gotta go! So we were off to scream over California. And SCREAM I did! Mary and Grammy enjoyed the cute underwater themed Merry-Go-Round and I couldn’t find them fast enough while the boys, Geoff and his dad went again. We had to warm up with some dinner and hot chocolate after that. Ryan, Shawna, and Otto met up with us at dinner so half of our group got to enjoy the Electrical Light Parade which was amazing! While the other half headed back to the modern day torture chamber - I mean - roller coaster. (Guess which group I was in???) On the way back to the hotel Grampster had Mary on his shoulders and she very quickly passed out and all of sudden there was drool dripping down his face and a full head of hair in his eyes. The best ride of the day - the Droolster with Grampster!

Sunday was the day to tour Universal Studios. Van taxis wanted over $300 bucks to shuttle 21 people up there. Never fear, Captain Geoff is here! We loaded 17 adults and 4 children into Spirit and shoved off! The first bus stop dropped off Ryan, Shawna, Otto, the kids and me at Knott’s Berry Farm. The rest of the gang did some fancy navigating with 4 GPS’s and 2 maps. They got lost a few times getting to Universal Studio but they made it! Fun was had by all at their respective places. The kids got to see the outside view of Knott’s Berry Farms roller coasters and other rides. We were too cheap (and tired) to pay to get in. But they had a ball running around and around in this little cove area of concrete. Lunch at T.G.I. Friday’s was perfect for all ages and we played and rested at the hotel’s hot tub and water park the rest of the day.

MONDAY
Our cousin, Nick’s girlfriend, Ashley, arrived from Colorado today. So our group was complete with 22 of us. Maybe it’s time for a history lesson. Here’s a little family tree for those of you wondering how we’re all connected. George and Gladys have 3 children, Cheri, Patti, and Jon. Uncle Jon and his family stayed in the Mt. Vernon area. **We miss you - Jon, Lorna and Ryan!** Rick and Cheri and their 3 sons and families: Geoff and Monique and J., Kai, and Mary; Ryan and Shawna and Otto and baby-on-the-way; and Jon and Jess all met up in Disneyland. Along with Dave and Patti and their 3 sons: Nate and Katie, Nick and girlfriend, Ashley, and Mike and girlfriend, Lindzie. So 22 of us were able to gather together for a Disneyland et al, Christmas trip. Pretty unique and fun!

So Monday was our family’s last day to enjoy the 2 parks. Thanks Mom and Dad T. for hangin’ with us and making our last day so special! The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the jokes were flying in the Tiki Room and the Jungle Cruise. Splash Mountain had me laughing ‘til I almost peed my pants - and it sure looked like I did! We had the women and children in the back of the log and the men in the front. And they got soaked. For some reason that was just hilarious! We all dried off on the Pirate Island, the canoes and Thunder Mountain. We got great seating at another Jedi Training, but when they picked the younglings to go on stage they must of sensed Kai’s power and knew he was already too well trained in the force so they had to pick less powerful trainees. (We did notice all the children who had paid for face painting and/or Star Wars T-shirts and costumes all seemed to get selected. Hhhhmmmmmm the force is strong in commercialism!) It was still a thrill to be a part of it! And the boys loved learning the light saber combination. We barely made it to the Aladdin show - thanks, Mom, for not giving up! And it was sooooooooo worth it! What shear delight! Loved it, loved it, loved it! We almost lost Mary and Grammy afterwards as they almost chased down Goofy and left us in the dust. What were you going to do with him when you caught him, Mary? That was pretty cute! Run faster, Gramma! Put me down, I can run faster! Star Tours was enjoyed by all and then a big shopping spree in the Star Wars Store. I regret not getting the boys in a picture as 2 jedis with their own faces. Next time? We made it into a huge line for It’s A Small World - it was so beautifully lighted! Truly gorgeous - just like brilliant jewels! Mary was the only one with any common sense left. She wanted to stay in line and then go to bed. No, no, no. We had to see Fantasmic - I thought. What a mistake. Miserable view, too many people and too sleepy of children. Oh well, live and learn. At least we were smart enough cut out pretty early on. We’ll have to hit it next time. Grampster got one last ride with the Droolster and we were off to sleep in the motorhome and get ready for the next leg of the trip.

**SIDE NOTE**
We’re learning about technical difficulties. This blog was written and lost twice before so we’re getting a better system of saving it first in our documents. We had planned to post this LONG before today! I’m sure you can feel our pain. 

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