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Our plane took off at 9:45 am on Tues April 27, 2009. The kids love the plane ride. Such a great rush. We were served turkey hot dogs in a croissant. I have to admit it wasn't that bad. We land right on schedule 10:45am Ca time. We get our rental car which was a black HHR Chevy. Not very exciting but it did what it needed to. We checked into our hotel or I should actually say motel. It was a super 8 1 1/2 blocks from Disneyland. I chose a very affordable motel because we were only going to be there to sleep and that's exactly what it was used for. Very proud of my thrifty deal. After that we went to see the local beaches. Since I watched Lugana beach when it aired I wanted to check it out. The beach was nice a pretty color upfront but cold. Brrrrrrrrr.
The next day was so exciting. We were going to Disneyland!!!!! We woke up extra early because Ca is 2 hours behind our time. We got to the park around 8:30 ish - the fun was about to begin. The kids were so excited. Especially lil Ricky. His first character was Mickey and Pluto. The look on Ricky's face was priceless. Right there I knew that it was worth every penny. They both got his autograph. I got shamed by Mickey because I accidentally referred to him as Pluto. OOPS!! The rest of the day was spent riding rides and seeing characters. I can't believe how many themed rides they have. For some reason lil Ricky has a fear of fast roller coasters so we did a lot of flying in circle rides or themed rides.
What a great day. The other two days were basically spent the same way. From about 9:00 am till 7-8 pm we were at Disneyland or California Adventure park. We did one character dinner, Ariels Grotto (princess dinner). This one was mainly for Hana, but lil Ricky enjoyed seeing the princesses. My kids were the honorary guests that night and got to announce the 1st princess coming out. I wonder if it had anything to do with me saying it was my kids birthday present when I booked it. Only 5 princesses come out at each lunch/dinner. That night was Ariel, Mulan, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White ( I was really hoping for Bell because she's my favorite). The extremely over priced meal was tasty. we had a second character dinner scheduled "Goofys kitchen" but we canceled that one just because it was to out of the way and we already saw a lot of pluto/goofy and his friends around the park. Instead we watched a parade and the kids couldn't be happier.
I didn't want to leave before we saw Bell. So we stood in an 2 hour line to see the princesses. The only thing is there is only 3 at a time and they trade out. So all this time and the only new princess we haven't seen yet was Jasmine. I did notice that the later in the day you wait the shorter the line is. So the next day by perfect timing I saw Bell was about to go in and be one of the princesses. We got in line but were about an hour away. I asked one of the workers how long before they trade because I know Bell is back there. Of course she gave me some proper answers like "princesses come and go as they wish" "they can go of with the prince when they want" etc... I finally asked/told her very nicely that I really want to see Bell I know she's back there I already waited in a 2 hour line and also paid for a princess dinner and still haven't seen her. This lady was amazing and right before Bell was about to trade off she got us out of line to see her. As an added bonus we also saw Tiana. I am just in awww that she went the extra mile. She totally saved the day.
The very last day Ricky and I decided to be a little daring and ride the big roller coaster. It went super fast and had a loop. How exciting. It was such a rush that we rode it not once but twice!!! Since we couldn't ride it together they have single pass riders. Best thing ever because you basically get to go to the front of the line. After that big Ricky rode a soaring ride which he references every time he walked by it.
The Disneyland part of our trip was amazing. Everyone had such a great time. I think 3 full days was perfect for everyone.
After we left Disneyland park at around 8pm we headed to Pismo California (Central) to visit Freddy and his family. I had every intention to stay up and keep Ricky company but that wasn't the case. I fell asleep somewhere along the way. We got there around 12:30 a.m. After a little talk everyone fell back asleep super fast.
We were able to see Pismo and the surrounding beaches. The kids had an amazing time playing with Lily and Diego. We were in such great company.
One of the days Freddy took us climbing up a dormant volcano. Of course we were so excited to do something non Tx like. Everyone was so fired up. Scenery was amazing going up. Well a few minutes in Hana started complaining so thankfully big Ricky carried her (she did walk off and on but mostly off). Towards the middle lil Ricky started complaining. I don't blame him because it is a tough climb for a little guy or anyone but especially him and he's never done anything like this. With much pouting he did it!!!! We all did. Very beautiful scenery up top. Also scary and sad because there were a few plaques in memory of people who fell during the climb. Yikes!! I felt that the descend was a lot trickier. Again Ricky carried Hana down. She actually fell asleep. This is a hard thing to carry an extra 30lbs on you. He's amazing!!!
Freddy and Kasey were amazing hosts. We had an incredible time with them and I enjoyed getting to know them. We were sad to leave such amazing scenery and company. Thanks to Freddy for sending us away with egg and cheese taquitos. Delicious.
Oh, I did learn one thing while in California. Even though it's gorgeous it's not a place for me. I'm so used to hot weather and warm beaches that with out them I wouldn't know what to do. You just don't get that in California.
