Disneyland

We went to Disneyland for our Graduation trip. We had a blast! We left the Sunday after graduation and headed to Vegas. We stayed the night at my parent's house and then headed to CA Monday morning. We stayed in the Desert Palms hotel right behind California Adventure. The hotel wasn't great but it met our needs. It was nice to be within walking distance of the parks. We spent all day Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday playing. It was fun and really exhausting. Brent's brother Reid, his wife Portia, and their girls, Evelyn and Elizabeth, joined us both Tuesday and Wednesday. It was so fun to have them there with us. It had been a long time since we've spent time with them. It also made it really nice for the adults to be able to do rides, we could switch off kids and go together. Elliott had a blast. He had been looking forward to our trip practically since we moved to Utah almost 2 years ago. He was most excited to see Mickey Mouse. Derek had no desire to say greet the characters other than a distant hello. Derek did great. His favorite ride was the carousel, which he got to ride 5 times. He also really wanted to ride a train. Once he saw a train Wednesday morning, he kept saying "choo-choo-train" over and over until we finally rode the train that afternoon. The kids had so much fun with their cousins. Wednesday evening we took a break to eat our "dinner" of ice cream. The kids just ran around and goofed off for at least an hour. They had a surprising amount of energy. The first 2 evenings when we headed back to our hotel, Elliott wanted to run the whole way. Again, I don't know how he had so much energy. The park wasn't very crowded so we were able to do everything we wanted to and more by the end of Wednesday. So, Thursday we were able to repeat all the best rides and enjoy the Aladdin show. We even took an afternoon nap back at the hotel, which enabled us to stay in the evening when it was dark. It was fun to see the everything lit up. Elliott's good friend, Dakota, told him all about the fun rides before we went, which was really helpful. It helped Elliott go on rides I don't think he would have otherwise. He ended up loving Indiana Jones, Pirates, and Haunted Mansion. Brent even surprised me by going on the Tower of Terror! I was impressed. That is one crazy ride. We had such a great time. It was fun for me to go to Disneyland as a tourist. I hadn't been since high school when I had an annual pass and I would go every weekend with my friends. I'm glad we were able to have that time together as a family. We headed back to Vegas on Friday and came home on Sunday. Fun times!