Disney Vacation!

We had such a fantastic Vacation this January.  We have been planning this and keeping it a secret from our kids for the past seven months and it has been so hard to not let it slip.  With all the Merrill family going and us Adults being so excited it really was a challenge to keep it a secret.  Most of my siblings gave the trip to their kids as a Christmas present so they could talk about it in and not worry, but we decided it would just be so much fun to just go the day of the trip and get on a plane without them knowing a thing. 

 We left in the middle of the WORST snow storm that we have had all year and it took us four hours to get to the SLC airport.  The girls thought we were going to be dropping Ryan off to go on a business trip and they were begging me to stay in SLC and get a hotel so we didn't have to drive home.  But when we got close to the airport, Ryan said, "I am going to California and I don't want you to drive home in this, do you want to just come with me?"  They all got soooooo excited and then a little worried they didn't have clothes.  But I had it all taken care of. 
We got to California late and the girls were all very tired.  The next morning when we woke up Ryan got excited and said, "Who wants to go to Disney Land?"  And they all could not believe it.  It scared Brytlee for a minute and she started to cry, but after she calmed down and thought about it, she was so excited.
They still had no idea that they were going to be at Disney with all their cousins and even better they had no idea that they were going to get to go on a cruise......it was all so exciting and so much fun to see them having so much fun. 

 The weather was great... (way better than Idaho)  and it wasn't to busy at all.  We walked in and got to see Cinderella.  Our Lucky Day!!!

 The girls very first ride was tea cups.  Ryan and I sat that one out.... we didn't want to get sick and have a headache right from the start.....

 We all like the little yellow submarine ride.  It is now a finding Nemo ride.   Very cute!

 Brytlee wore her little hat the whole trip.  She would get nervous about losing it on rides so she had to make sure I was holding it and keeping it safe!

 My mom gave us all matching sweaters for Christmas so we could all go to Disney in style!  I wanted to get a big family picture with everyone.... but that never happened.

 I was so proud of my girls, and look at Tessa!  They were so brave and never once got scared on a ride.  They loved them all and wanted to go on them all!

 Alexis turned out to be a little crazy driver.  Good thing she can't drive until she is sixteen.... only six more years

 Going to the top of Splash mountain.  I was wondering why there was no line at all on splash Mnt. and then when we got wet and it was a little cold I kinda figured it out.....  It is a little easier to get dry when it is hot.  60 isn't really warm enough..... But we figured out how to stay dry and we went on it plenty more times. 

 I had to try out Brytlee's hat while I was "keeping it safe" for her.....

 The jungle ride was great.  The kids all thought it was real until we went on it a second time.  Then they were all a little disappointed.

 We went to California Adventure and went on the new cars ride a few times.  It was such a amazing ride.  I still can not believe how creative and fun they can make the rides.  I loved it and all the girls loved it also.  We hurried over and got fast passes because a I had ran into Erica Foster the day before and she had told us that they run out fast, and if we wouldn't have had them we would have had to wait in the three hour long line.....

 DUMBO!!!

 My dad is so sweet to his grand kids.  I think he always had a kid at his hip or on his shoulders. 

 I really wanted to get a picture in front of the castle...  but we never got a great one, this one the lady walked into the picture and blocked it...

 I love all of the pictures from the rides.  Alexis was always showing so much enthusiasm, and you can tell she was loving it!  I tried to make the funniest faces in all of them.... and I got some good ones.

 It's a small world still had all the Christmas lights up and was still playing Christmas music.  It was so amazing.  I wasn't going to go on it until Annette told me how amazing it was... then I asked her to go with us and she said, "no way, once is enough"

 This picture really made me sad.  I really wanted just one good family picture in front of the castle and it turned out to be blurry.... dang it!

This is the flying over California ride.  We all loved it and had to go on it more than once.  It had a part that you were flying over a field of oranges and you could actually smell the oranges.  So cool!

Summer and I had some good times together and had to take some funny pictures.....

Lizzy and Mia had so much fun together.  I don't think they ever stopped talking and laughing the entire trip.  I don't know how in the world they laugh as much as they do but it is pretty dang cute!

We all loved the Tower of Terror!!!  I lost track of how many times we went on it!

Brad thought he had to bribe all the kids to go on it.....(my kids would have gone on it for nothing)  but they all really enjoyed the treat!  He tried to get Jex to go but it just wasn't going to happen.  After we were home the girls were telling their friends about how Jex wouldn't go on a ride so he was hiding behind a trash can and hissing at them, and the friend said, "WHAT.... why was he pissing on you?"  I had to laugh about that one.

The girls all got into the little camp they had for the "UP" movie.  It was cute, they had to do different activities and earn a merit badge in the end. 

Bugs life movie was great....

Mia wanted to sit by me on the tower of terror one of the times so I told her I was scared and I had to hold her... I think she thought I was such weirdo....

Alexis being a super model!

I love this picture of these two, and I didn't even notice Annette photo bombed them in the back, but now I love it even more!

This one was the screamer and we all LOVED this roller coaster.  I don't even know how many times we had to go on it!

We watched most of the light show at night, but we didn't have a great spot and it was really hard to see.  We decided that we should hurry and go on some rides while everyone else was watching the show.

Everyone else was tired so just Lex, Liz, and I went with Cache and Annette back over to Disney to close the park down!  We had some very great times!

This one may be the best picture ever

Splash Mountain at 11 is a great idea when you have rain poncho's. 

So we were able to get back to Disney for a third day.... we were suppose to leave on our cruise on Sunday but there was a problem with the boat, and a net was caught in something so we couldn't get on the boat until Monday.  A bus driver had told us that Sunday was the best day to go to Disney and it wouldn't be busy at all..... we really should have walked away from the park when it took us two hour just to get into the dang park.... It really wasn't that bad but it was a lot busier than the other two days.  But after about 5 it died down and we could walk onto just about every ride. 

While things were a little busy we thought toon town would be a good place to go and see.  The first ride we saw was Roger Rabbit... and the line looked really short so we jumped in line..  Then when we got inside the line went from one room to the next and kept going around corners and went on and on and on.  We were in line for over an hour, and the ride was not our favorite one at all.....

We walked through Mickey's house and played on the cute furniture.
I love this picture!  It really shows some personalty.

I wanted to put this picture on because I had to show off Elizabeth's new hair cut.  I really had a hard time cutting both the girls hair, and may have even cried a little about it, but I have to say that I was glad for this trip that I did.  It was so fast and easy to do and they always looked cute!

We told the girls that on the last day of the trip they could pick something to buy and take home.  So they all had time to think about what wanted, and could look around.  Brytlee fell in love with a Minnie mouse dress and she wanted it so bad.  I wanted to get it for her but........... it was 70 bucks.  So we had to try to talk her out of it, and find something else to fall in love with.

We all loved the buzz light-year ride and Ryan did have the high score until Brad smoked us all....

Star Tours Baby!!!

Our Very last ride of the trip....... so sad! 

We had so much fun, and the girls were so much fun and kept us happy!  I loved watching them and seeing their faces light up with each new thing that we would see.  They were all so happy to be there and it was just a magical time.  I really look forward to doing something like this with them again.  I just LOVE DISNEY!!!!!