Disneyland: The Second Half of our Trip

Obviously, one day at Disneyland couldn't possibly be enough for me, so we went back for three more days that week.  We met up with some of my extended family.  Originally, it was going to be my parents and two of my brothers with their families.  The group kept growing to include two more of my brothers and their families.  It ended up being sort of a family reunion in California.  We had a lot of fun.  The kids especially loved seeing their relatives!

Brandon and Jacqueline

Cute cousins!

More cute cousins!

Hanging out with Grandma, watching Aladdin.

We watched the "World of Color" show two of the nights!  It was great!

Our last night, we stayed late at Disneyland to see the fireworks.  Perfect way to end a Disney trip.

This video is kind of random, but this was one of Daniel's favorite parts of California Adventure.  It's a zoetrope, made with Toy Story figures.  They are each slightly different from the one right next to them, and as the whole thing spins, it looks like a cartoon.  It kinda gave me a headache, but the kids found it mesmerizing!

D I S N E Y L A N D . . .Let's Go!

We made our yearly visit to see the Mouse!  A couple of Saturdays ago, we drove down to St. George, UT to start our trip.  We spent the night there and then went to church in the morning.  We also stopped to see the beautiful St. George Temple.

The Visitors' Center there is really cool.  Daniel loved the display with copies of the Book of Mormon in tons of different languages.

When we got to California, we stayed where we always stay, at the Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites across the street from the Main Entrance to Disneyland.  It may not be the fanciest hotel around, but the location is unbeatable.  And the rates are reasonable, especially if you book a few months in advance.

Our friends who had never been to Disneyland met up with us on Monday morning so that we could show them the ropes.  The kids especially had fun together.  And I loved playing tour guide.

On Tuesday, we went to Sea World.  Everyone enjoyed riding Atlantis, a big log flume roller coaster.  We also liked meeting a variety of sea creatures.

Daniel made friends with a walrus.

He stopped to admire the belugas.

Benjamin hid out in a "polar bear cave."

He also loved the giant playground that looked like a series of fishing nets.

Of course, we stayed to see the Shamu show, late in the afternoon.

The boys wanted to see Shamu up close afterwards.

We also went to the beach in San Diego.  The weather was great!

And that's all for this entry.  But that wasn't the end of our trip. . .

Carillon Bell Tower

How many piano teachers take their students on field trips?  Not many, I would guess.  But Daniel and Benjamin have an exceptionally cool piano teacher.  We went with all of her piano students to BYU this week to tour the Carillon Bell Tower.  Just a few days before, the bell tower was featured on KSL news, so we had some idea of what we were in for.  First, you can only have about 10 people in the tower at a time.  To get to the top, you climb up about 100 stairs in a very narrow spiral staircase.  At the top of the stairs, there is a metal ladder with about 10 more steps to climb.  Then, you are in the room that houses the carillon keyboard.  The bells are just overhead, but there is a ceiling in-between.  The whole experience was very good for Benjamin, especially because he is generally scared of tall staircases.

Joseph Peeples is one of the students who plays the carillon, and he showed us how it all works.  Surprisingly, it's played by pounding your fists.  I suspect it's a good outlet for frustration at the end of a long day.

The view from the top was amazing!  The whole room is encased in glass, so you can see out in every direction.

This is a stream near the base of the bell tower.  The kids had fun running around on the path and feeding the ducks.  If you ever get the chance to tour the bell tower, do it!

Easter egg hunts!

Our boys went to three Easter egg hunts this year!

The first was a neighborhood hunt.

The kids collected plastic eggs filled with candy and small toys.

We also had a hunt at my parents' house.

The yard was pretty much littered with candy.

The kids bartered and traded for all of their favorite treats.

Benjamin with his adorable cousin Maddie.

My dad has been sick, so he was taking it easy.

Our last Easter hunt was at Wayne's parents' house.  But first, the kids "hunted" for the neighbor's goats so they wouldn't  eat Grandma's garden.

Grandma's dog wouldn't help them round up the goats.

Everyone dyed Easter eggs which were then hidden by the grownups.

After Daniel and Benjamin found all of the eggs, they turned around and hid them again.  The adults weren't as successful at finding the eggs and needed numerous hints to find them all.

Spring Break Fun

I haven't blogged for a while!  I didn't get a chance to write about Spring Break, so here's the short version.

First, we got the Pass of all Passes and went to Trafalga, Lehi.  It was really crowded, and it was raining/snowing so the outside rides were all closed.  Here's some of the stuff we did there:

We played miniature golf.

Wayne and Daniel climbed the rock wall.

We checked out the closed rides, and it was cold outside!

People were playing miniature golf outside, but we passed.

At Trafalga, we also played laser tag.  That was probably the coolest thing there.  We did other fun stuff during our spring break week like go to the park, visit both sets of grandparents, and just relax!