Disneyland 2011

My family was going to Disneyland this October and I had decided not to go because Bodie couldn't get the time off work. I was talking to one of my favorite sister-in-laws and she talked

me into going. My brother wasn't able to go, so Janece and I drove down together with our girls. We got some condos within walking distance to the park. It was awesome! We did drive on the last day of the trip and it was ridiculous. Finding the parking lot and then a parking space took 45 minutes. It was only 10 minutes to walk.

This was our impromptu party for Leslie. We bought her a birthday crown and cupcakes and sang to her at McDonald's

We started out our trip driving Tuesday to Primm, NV where we stayed the night. We got up Wednesday and drove the rest of the way to California and headed straight for the beach. It wasn't really beach weather, but the kids didn't care! They had a good time getting their "feet" wet. They were all soaked and freezing when we left!

Our first day in Disneyland was on Thursday. It has kind of become a tradition that on family trips, my Dad is in charge of breakfast...this trip was no exception. We started out with a really yummy breakfast and then all 17 of us walked over to Disneyland. McKenzie was all decked out in her Leia costume ready to go to the Jedi training. A good friend told me to have her dress up like Leia and she would for sure get picked for the Jedi Training Academy and she was right! Their training started with the Master Jedi teaching them how to use their light saber. After they all figured it out, Darth Vader and Darth Maul came out and tried to get the kids to join the dark side. All the kids had to fight either one of them to complete their training. I asked McKenzie what she thought when she found out that she was going to fight Darth Vader. She said that she didn't know if he had a real light saber so she was just going to watch a few other people go first! Her turn came and she defeated Darth Vader...there was never a doubt in my mind that she could do it! Then all the little Jedi's forced Darth Vader to leave! It was the highlight of the trip. After Jedi training all she wanted to do was Star Tours...everything else was just a bonus for her. Of course, when I was putting all the pictures on the computer, I accidentally deleted the ones of her Jedi training. Luckily I still have a video of her fighting Darth Vader, but I don't know how to put it on here! Just know that it was really cute and so fun to see her so excited! She wasn't really totally interested in seeing the Princesses or anything. She just wanted to go on all the roller coasters after she did her Jedi training and Star Tours ride. She is definitely her Dad's daughter!

Mckenzie (or is it Leia) and I at the entrance of Disneyland

This is the reason she wanted to do Star Tours more than once...she got to see the REAL R2D2!

We spent 2 1/2 days at the park and then Saturday evening began our drive home. Our plan was to get to my parent's condo in St. George that night. We got there at 2am....we were so tired and I have never laughed so hard in my entire life. Thanks to Janece and Madi for making the trip so fun! Sunday morning we got up and drove home. It was a really fun trip, but we missed Bodie a lot, so it was good to be home! Next time he is going with us for sure!