We just returned from a busy and fun filled week in Southern California for Lia's senior trip. Lia asked about a year ago if we could go to Disneyland and I was happy to oblige since it has been over four years since we were last there. After months of waiting and some planning on my part, we flew out as a family last Saturday, April 4th, to spend a total of eight days in California. We enjoyed three days at Disneyland, one day at Universal Studios, two days at different beaches, and one day in Los Angeles. We had a great time as a family and saw and did so much. It really was a fun family vacation and I am so grateful that we were able to spend this time together, visiting a place we love so much, before Lia flies the nest and goes off to college next fall.
April 4th:
After an early morning flight, we arrived at the Orange County airport around lunch time. After checking into our hotel, we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon at the pool since the weather was in the 90s. It felt so strange and wonderful to feel that warm air on our skin. Here is Ron and the kids playing in the pool.
Emmett doing a hilarious jump into the pool.
Ron and the kids in the hot tub.
After the pool, Ron went grocery shopping while the kids and I stayed back in the hotel room. We ate at IHOP for the first time ever as a family before heading to bed early as we were all tired from an early start that day.
April 5th:
Although I was planning on taking the family to Huntington Beach today and Laguna Beach on Wednesday, we decided to switch days after learning that today was going to be in the 80s and Wednesday was going to be in the 70s. We made this switch since Laguna is where we actually swim and play in the water because it's so blue and beautiful there. So we drove down South after breakfast and spent several hours playing in the cold water at 1,000 Steps Beach. It was so fun to watch the children splashing, running, and playing in the waves. Everyone ended up going all the way in the water except for me since I was trying to protect my Achilles tendon on my right foot from getting aggravated before needing to walk on it for many miles this coming week.
All four kids running towards a beautiful, blue wave.
Watching a giant wave crash on the shore.
After driving back to Anaheim, we headed to Downtown Disney for dinner.
We enjoyed eating at the Splitsville restaurant and walking around and looking at a few shops before heading back to the hotel.
After our waiter found out that Ella's birthday had just been a few days ago, he treated her to a complimentary ice cream sundae at the end of dinner.
April 6th:
We spent over 14.5 hours at Disneyland during our first day at the parks. The first thing we did after entering the front gate at 7:45 was to have our family picture taken in front of the train station in our coordinating Disney shirts that had a Mickey head with a graduation cap on top that said, "From the Tassel to the Castle." I was grateful that everyone was a good sport about wearing this shirt that celebrated Lia graduating this June.
We took another family picture in front of the castle before we started going on the rides.
First stop: Thunder Mountain. This is my favorite roller coaster at Disneyland and a great way to start our first of the three days in the parks.
We then took advantage of the low wait times and hit many rides the first two hours of the park. We headed to the Millennium Falcon ride next and I was blown away when we walked into the area outside this ride and NO one was there! So much to my family's chagrin, I asked someone to take a picture of us in front of this awesome background with no one in the picture!
The funny picture that I got my family to take to show off the backside of our shirts that say, "Class of 2026."
Walking through the shops at Galaxy's Edge after riding on the Millennium Falcon.
We then went and rode on two of my favorite rides: Haunted Mansion...
and Pirates of the Caribbean.
We then headed over to the tree house to wander through it.
And then took a spin on the carousel.
We then went on Space Mountain and Star Tours in Tomorrowland before finishing up with Buzz Light Year. Here are the boys shooting away.
A cute shot of Lia at my side.
After lunch, we spent about an hour going on the old school rides behind the castle. Here are Ron, Lia, and Logan coming out of the Alice and Wonderland ride.
A fun and impromptu family photo we had taken in front of the sword in the stone.
We then broke up into two groups and Ron took Logan and Ella to wait in an hour long line to ride Thunder Mountain again while I took Emmett and Lia to sail on the Columbia ship around the Rivers of America and to see the show in the Tiki Room. We then met up for some Dole Whips outside the Tiki Room.
We then went on a train ride around the entire park to rest our aching feet.
And then went for a spin on the teacups which is also one of my favorite rides at Disneyland. Since this is the one ride that Ron can't handle, all five of us were able to ride in a cup together which was so much fun.
We then went back to Tomorrowland to drive the cars in Autopia. I was able to ride with Logan who did a great job as we laughed our heads off watching Emmett drive Ron as crazy as a drunken driver in the car in front of us.
After I waited by the Teacups ride while Ron and the kids went on the Matterhorn ride, we headed to the Red Rose Tavern for a well-needed dinner break. The kids and I enjoyed eating one of our favorite Disney desserts after dinner, "The Grey Stuff," except this year they are calling it "The 70th Stuff." Here are the kids posing with the two desserts before eating them.
After dinner, we headed over to Toontown which is normally an area of Disneyland that we don't bother with visiting. However, I wanted to try out the new Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway ride. We were all surprised by how much more fun it was than we had originally expected. Afterwards, the three younger kids had a great time running around in Goofy's Play Yard. Here is a picture I took of the children in front of the fountain all lit up at night.
We then finished off the evening by heading back to Main Street to watch the night time, Paint the Night parade that started at 8:30 pm. We have seen versions of this parade over the years and I absolutely love it! Lia and I had such a fun time standing next to each other, commenting on all of our favorite princesses and floats that went by us. We are both such Disney girls at heart. Here is the beautiful float with Belle on top who has been Lia's favorite princess since she has been a teenager.
The amazing Frozen float with Elsa and Anna in the balcony. These princesses were the center of Lia's world in Kindergarten and 1st grade and will forever hold a special place in my heart.
April 7th:
We headed out at 7 a.m. for a second morning in the row to head to Disney's California Adventure to "rope drop" the awesome Radiator Springs Racers ride that is not included in the Lightening Lane pass we bought. We only had to wait 25 minutes in line which is amazing considering the fact that the line was already 150 minutes long by the time we got to the front. Here are all four kids waiting in line for this ride.
All four kids posing with the Stanley statue who is the founder of Radiator Springs.
We then headed over to do both Luigi's and Mater's rides. Here are Lia and Logan before the Luigi ride began.
Emmett and I "dancing" around in our car.
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A great family shot we were able to get someone to take of us while walking down the main drag of Radiator Springs.
All four kids posing with a tractor outside Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.
After Ron and the kids went on Guardians of the Galaxy and all six of us rode on Soarin' Over California, we stopped for lunch next door to this ride. I treated the kids to Mickey bars after we finished eating lunch and had to take a picture of the two boys enjoying them with chocolate all over their mouths.
I then requested that we get the other classic family photo that I love to have taken in DCA. Afterwards, we split up again and Logan went with Ron and waited a grueling 90 minutes in line to ride the Grizzly River Run while I took the other three kids to do some smaller rides with shorter lines.
First stop was the Silly Symphony Swings. Here are Emmett and Ella all ready to go!
Lia swinging around!
Emmett waving to me as he goes by.
After riding Jumpin' Jellyfish, we walked over to the carousel and the girls had to stop and take a picture with Disgust on the way there.
All three kids ready to ride Jesse's Critter Carousel.
We then ended up in the Redwood Creek park so that Ella and Emmett could play for a few minutes before joining back up with Logan and Ron.
The six of us then headed to the Little Mermaid ride before Ron and the kids went on the Incredicoaster.
Lia and I sat together in the same clam shell and sang our hearts out to every song we heard throughout the ride. It was a fitting end to Lia's childhood as Ariel was Lia's ultimate favorite princess of her entire childhood!
We then headed to San Fransokyo Square to eat an early dinner. Since we had basically done everything that we had wanted to do in DCA, we decided to head back to the hotel for an evening swim. The boys left to head back to the hotel first, so the girls and I enjoyed a Baymax macaron cookie for dessert.
The girls and I went to explore the new access point into Radiator Springs from Sansokyo before walking back to the hotel. After enjoying a dip in the pool, Ron and the kids actually decided to go back to DCA at 7:00 to try to ride the Incredicoaster one more time before the park closed at 9 p.m. I stayed home and iced my foot and called my mom while the five of them walked all of the way back to the park and waited in line for over an hour. They then had the greatest adventure of the week when the roller coaster broke down while they were riding ON it. The coaster broke down inside one of the tunnels and they had to wait over ten minutes until employees came and rescued them. They got to walk down seven flights of steep, scary stairs and go behind the ride into the employees quarters on their way out. They came home at 9:30 so excited to share this crazy story with me!
April 8th:
We headed to Huntington Beach today and spent a wonderful morning in the town that I loved living in for four years during my late twenties. After showing the kids the apartment where I lived this entire time, we then drove down to the beach and walked out onto the pier.
The Hartland fam at the end of the pier with the iconic restaurant behind us that used to be a Ruby's Diner.
After some shopping on Main Street, we stopped for a delicious lunch at Wahoo's Fish Tacos.
We then drove the kids to Long Beach to show them where Ron lived when we were dating and where we lived as newlyweds. We then drove down to Belmont Shore to buy some delicious treats from the Sweet Jill's Bakery that we used to love to visit.
Ella and Emmett posing inside the darling, cupcake-shaped bike rack outside of Sweet Jill's.
April 9th:
We left our hotel room a little after 7 a.m. to make the 1.5 hour drive to Los Angeles to spend the day at Universal Studios. The main reason why we visit this park is to spend hours in Hogsmeade since the majority of us are huge Harry Potter fans. We arrived right after the park opened at 9 o'clock and spent many hours in Hogsmeade.
The four children posing under the entrance to Hogsmeade.
We immediately went to ride the two Harry Potter-themed rides while the lines were short. We basically walked onto the ride in the castle which was amazing. Here are all four kids posing next to the Sorting Hat before getting on the ride.
We then waited about 30 minutes to ride the Flight of the Hippogriff. Here are all four kids standing in line next to Hagrid's hut.
The classic family picture I was able to ask someone to take for us as we finished the second ride.
We then enjoyed going into a few stores and doing some shopping. Much to my surprise, all four children decided to buy a wand at Ollivanders shop with their own money. This is Logan's third wand, Lia's and Ella's second wand, and Emmett's first!
The three younger kids all had a great time using their interactive wands for a bit before we headed to lunch. Here are all four of them showing off their new wands.
Emmett trying to cast a spell with the help of a wizard.
We then went to The Three Broomsticks for our best meal of the entire week! We shared a delicious, family-style lunch with our own cups of Butterbeer which was a highlight for all of us.
Emmett, Ella, and Logan enjoying their Butterbeer.
After lunch, the kids used their new wands a little bit more before we left Hogsmeade to go ride the tram studio tour.
A family photo we were able to get with the conductor and the Hogwarts Express on our way out of Harry's world.
After the one-hour tram tour, our family split up again for about three hours. Ron took the three younger children to go on the Jurassic World and Mummy rides that each had over an hour long wait. Lia and I opted to go back to Hogsmeade since it's just one of our favorite places in the world. We enjoyed doing some more shopping, going on the castle ride again, and buying two more cups of Butterbeer. We then found a quiet bench in an alley way and just sat and waited for Ron and the three younger kids to join us. It was so peaceful and pleasant to sit there for an hour and take in this world that we love so much. After the four of them joined us again, the kids enjoyed playing with their wands before we left and made the long drive back to Orange County in rush hour traffic. We stopped for dinner at an In-N-Out Burger in La Mirada before arriving at the hotel at 8:30 p.m.
April 10th:
We left our hotel bright and early at 6:50 this morning to "rope drop" the amazing Star Wars ride, Rise of the Resistance. We only had to wait in line for a record 22 minutes before starting this incredible, immersive ride. It was so fun watching Emmett's face as he doesn't remember anything about riding it four years ago. After riding Rise, we headed over to Indiana Jones to go on the awesome jeep ride. Here are the four kids waiting at the end of the line before boarding our jeep.
Emmett was able to sit in the driver seat which was so much fun for him. This was the picture I was able to take before we took off.
The picture I took of the kids and Ron (at one of my favorite photo stops in Disneyland) on our way into New Orleans. We went on the Haunted Mansion and Pirates ride before going back to ride Thunder Mountain.
We then headed to Tomorrowland to ride on Space Mountain again. We then ate lunch outside this ride and let the two younger kids play with the awesome water feature for a few minutes.
We enjoyed doing some of the older rides behind the castle again after lunch. Here are Logan and Emmett riding behind me on Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride.
We then went on the Storybook Land Canal Boat ride.
The girls and I then separated from the boys to walk through the alleys of New Orleans which is my all-time favorite place in Disneyland. We went into a bunch of shops and were so thrilled to find Jack Sparrow dancing with the pirate band that just happened to be playing in there.
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I even got Jack to agree to take a quick photo with the girls as he was prancing around.
We then sat in the shade and enjoyed a Mint Julep drink and some Mickey-shaped beignets.
After an hour or so, we met up with the boys again to watch the new Bluey show that had just opened a few weeks earlier. We had to wait a few minutes to be seated since we got there right before the show opened and the amphitheater was already full.
Luckily, we made it in and enjoyed watching the last 20 minutes of this show. This Australian show will always hold a special place in the hearts of my three younger children and me
After the Bluey show, it was finally time to use our Lightening Lane pass on Tiana's Bayou Adventure ride that we haven't gone on since it opened a few years ago. Luckily, all of us except for Logan stayed pretty dry on this ride which was a big concern of mine. Logan's feet stayed dried, but his shirt and shorts got totally dowsed. Fortunately, since it was in the 70s, Logan's clothes dried in a few hours
Here is the hilarious picture I took of a drenched Logan after walking off of this water ride.
We were able to catch the last raft over to Tom Sawyer's Island for the day. Here are the kids and me before taking off.
We spent a fabulous thirty minutes on this island in the late afternoon. It was the perfect activity for the late afternoon. The three younger kids got such a kick out of exploring all of the tunnels while I tried to find them. Lia and Ron stayed up at the top of the hill looking in the sky to see if they could catch a glimpse of the Artemis II that was landing at that exact time off of the coast of San Diego. Sadly, they didn't see anything, but it was still fun to be so close to where the actual landing was happening.
After returning back on the raft, we headed over to The Blue Bayou where I had made reservations at 6 a.m. sixty days ago to celebrate Ella's belated birthday. This is also one of my favorite places in this park as the ambience is so cool as the Pirates of the Caribbean ride boats sail right past us. We got a seat just one row away from the boats and enjoyed eating our dinner for an hour in this unique atmosphere.
After dinner at The Blue Bayou, Ron decided that his Disneyland experience was complete and opted to head back to the hotel on his own. The kids and I then enjoyed the funnest evening in the park doing some of my favorite activities when it is dark and everything is all lit up and glowing. I first took the kids to one of my favorite places to get pictures of the castle with no one around since it is off to the side.
The kids then asked if we could ride the carousel and teacups which are so fun with all of the lights on. One of my favorite memories of this entire week will be sitting behind all four of my children and watching them laugh and talk together while we rode the carousel in this beautiful part of the park.
We then rode the teacups together which is so much fun under the glowing lanterns at night. We then walked to Main Street to do some shopping for the first time this week. We made it out onto the street at 9:25 with just five minutes to spare before the fireworks show that we had been waiting to watch all week long. It was going to be the perfect ending to our three days at Disney. However, ten minutes later, they cancelled the fireworks show due to "high winds" which I have never seen done before in all of my years going to Disneyland. The funny thing is that it was a beautiful, spring evening with barely a breeze blowing through, so this all came as a shock to everyone on the ground. Apparently, there were much higher winds up in the sky where the fireworks would be going off. We stayed for a few minutes to watch the projection show that they still played on the castle and the buildings on Main Street. However, we decided to head back around 9:45 since our feet were killing us and we still had our long walk to the hotel. Needless to say, we were all grateful to get back to our room after a 15.5 hour day!
April 11th:
We packed up and checked out of our hotel room by 10 in the morning and headed back to Los Angeles where we spent the next few hours. First stop: The American Girl Doll Store in The Century City Mall.
The girls and I spent a fun hour wandering around in this shop and making a belated birthday purchase for Ella.
The girls posing on the giant book in the book section of the store.
We then met back up with the boys in the mall and drove to the LA Temple that is only a few minutes away. We spent a pleasant hour wandering around the beautiful grounds and touring the visitor's center before eating lunch on the back lawn.
We were given a tour of the visitor's center by a sweet sister missionary from the Philippines which we thought was a fun coincidence. She offered to take a picture of us in front of the Christus statue after we were finished.
We then went from one extreme to the other as we drove from the LA Temple to Hollywood Boulevard to spend the rest of the afternoon. Ever since Lia has gotten into acting, she has always wanted to see the theater where the Oscars are held each year. After parking our car, we walked out onto this crazy boulevard and made our way to this awesome outdoor mall I found twenty years ago with my mom that has an amazing view of the Hollywood up on the hill behind us. Here are the kids with the sign in the background.
A close up of the iconic sign on the hill.
Just by coincidence, we stumbled across one of just THREE Hunger Games statues that had been set up that week in LA, Chicago, and NYC to promote the release of their new film, Sunrise on the Reaping, that is coming out in a few months. Lia totally freaked out when we walked up the steps of this mall and saw this statue with an amazing floral display around it. We had to, of course, stop and take a picture since I have now created three children who are huge fans of this book and film series.
After walking up the steps to the Dolby Theater where the Oscars are held, we headed over to Grauman's Chinese Theater to wander around and look at the handprints and footprints of so many famous actors and actresses over the years. Here are Lia, Logan, and Ella posing above the Harry Potter concrete block that even included wand prints from Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
We then wandered up and down Hollywood Boulevard reading all of the stars' names that we passed. Lia took many pictures of her favorites with her feet, but I insisted that the four children and me pose with Johnny Depp's star since we will forever be huge fans of Captain Jack Sparrow.
As we were wandering back to our car, Logan started drooling over the hotdogs that a street vendor was selling. Ron offered to buy him one for an early dinner and he jumped at the opportunity to eat his first American street food. Here is the picture I took of him right after he got his two hot dogs with everything on top! We then drove 1.5 hours back to the Orange County Airport to turn in our car and catch our 8:30 p.m. flight home. Overall, this was a fabulous senior trip for Lia and all of the children. We had such a great time and saw and did so many things. I will never forgot all of the smiles on my children's faces as I watched them experience so many fun rides and adventures over this past week. I am so grateful that we were able to go on this trip to celebrate the end of Lia's childhood and all that she has accomplished these past 18 years!
