We took the 1st week of November off and took a break from reality, loaded up the Subaru and headed to California. Our trip was pretty uneventful, no breakdowns, break-ups, break-outs or break-dancing. The highlight of the journey was of course Wallyworld, er.. Disneyland. We also hit the beach a couple times and went to Sea World in San Diego (and stopped by the gift shop at the L.A. Coroner's office).
We did Disneyland for 3 days and we averaged 13 miles walking each day. We were defiantly tired by the end of the day, but ready to hit it again the next morning! The kids were quite the troopers and hung in there.. we kept an eye on them to make sure it wasn't becoming torture.. but they were having a blast.
We had a very good time. Disneyland is amazing. The spectacle is one thing; once you enter the park the only reminder of the outside world is maybe a glimpse of an aircraft in the sky. Apparently the "average" attendance is between 35 and 45,000 people a day. That many people, and you don't see all the things that make a small city work.. you don't see sanitation, security, maintenance, police or medical people. Apparently the underground (1st floor) labyrinth provides the pathways and utilities necessary to get from point A to point Z without being seen by the park visitors. Truly amazing when you think of the size of an operation necessary to support that many visitors a day.
We don't know if we'll make this trip again, but I do know that this is something they should remember for a lifetime, I know we will. I will remember 3 little girls coming up on their seventh birthday running from ride to ride and anxiously waiting then shyly greeting Disney princesses and other characters. Hopefully the magic and the spectacle of it all will stay in their hearts for a lifetime as well. Anyhow, I would probably get way too wordy if I was to really get into describing just how much fun we all had on this trip.. and don't even get me started on going to the beach, building sandcastles, feeling the break of a wave on my back and giving the girls airplane rides in the surf. So I'll let the photos do the talking.
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| Here is the start of our 2nd day as we drove across the northwest corner of Arizona into Nevada. |
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| We're in Arizona? Better play with a cactus! |
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| Newport Beach, CA |
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| It was nice to sink our toes into the sand after 17 hours of driving. |
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| Madison, Audrey and Zoie were convinced we should move somewhere closer to the beach. |
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| As usual. No swimsuits, no problem. |
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| Chasing the tide. |
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| Running from the tide. |
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| Zoie looks like the Karate Kid. |
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| Audrey and Zoie on the King Arthur carousel. |
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| A Mad Tea Party pose. |
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| In Sleeping Beauty's castle. |
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| Dumbo! |
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| Zoie on the carousel. |
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| Over in California Adventures Audrey found a ride that was more her speed. |
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| Rocking the bumper cars with dad. |
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| Meeting Princess Ariel. |
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| and Mulan |
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| Belle |
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| Tiana |
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| Cinderella |
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| Elsa and Anna |
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| Bending bars in Toontown |
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| Zoie waiting to meet Mickey. |
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| M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E |
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| The scenery over toontown. |
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| GOOF! |
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| Madison waiting to meet Minnie Mouse. |
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| The girls signing autographs. |
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| My kind of Christmas tree! |
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| The Stanley fountain in Radiator Springs. |
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| Outside Soaring California. |
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| The "pier" on Paradise Bay |
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| The nightly World of Color show. |
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| Zoie at Sea World |
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| Audrey petting the fish |
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| Flamingos at Sea World |
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| Looking into the whale tank |
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| Kids outside the penguin exhibit. |
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| Dolphin show. |
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| Inside on of the aquariums. |
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| One of the Sea World employees took the time to show the girls around the reef and explain more about some of the smaller sea life. |
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| Shamu |
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| This is what happens when you sit in the "splash zone" at the Shamu Show. |
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| Cool old building.. the Los Angles General Hospital, now County Morgue and Coroner's Office. |
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| Audrey on Venice Beach |
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| Madison on Venice Beach |
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| Zoie, Audrey and Madison in the ocean, this time with swimsuits! |
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| Last day at Disneyland. |
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| Alice! |
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| The whole wonderland crew. |
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| Snow White. |
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| Cinderella |
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| Ariel |
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| Season Speedings! |
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| Goofy and Pluto! |
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| Subaru vs the Galaxy Peace Patrol car. |
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| Nevada is out of this world. |
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| This space cadet was happy to be home... didn't even make it up to bed before crashing on the couch. |
