First day of school in FIVE MONTHS!

 3rd grade

5th grade

8th grade

10th grade

This kid was so funny - no serious pictures for him

He cracked himself up, and then he was outta here

They have been home for 5 months. There have been no complaints about returning to school from anyone. Not homework, not walking to/from, not even the masks - it's all worth it. God bless all of the teachers on the front lines, God bless the children as they navigate an unusual year, and I know we can do this because God blessed us to make it through the past 5 months that weren't easy on ANYONE.

WE'VE GOT THIS!

       

DISNEYLAND - Day 2

After Tuesday, we had learned some valuable lessons. We made sure that there was no morning TV. We left on time, and most importantly, we decided to pay to park next door to our hotel at the Disney lot so that we could take the shuttle back and forth (We tried to walk into the lot the day before but there was a "no walking" sign at the vehicle entrance. We discovered a side entrance just for pedestrians that didn't have that sign later, but we decided to err on the side of honesty and fork out the extra $25).

We took one look at the lines to get into Disneyland and decided to not even try for Rise of the Resistance passes that day. Why waste precious time on that when we could have Radiator Springs to ourselves?!?

We were at the very front of the line for the line drop!

Tyler played some intense rounds of Polytopia with Emmie and Camden while we waited in various lines.

 

Vacation = Happy

We headed straight for Radiator Springs Racers. 

It was so much fun, we walked right back on and did it again.

THIS is why we went to Disneyland.

I am 100% geek and walking through Radiator Springs was a thrill.

This next ride was a favorite of Emmie, Camden, and Drew. We all went on it once and they begged to get right back on it again. Tyler & Jacob decided to sit the second round out. I lost count of how many times we went on this ride but it was always at the top of the list for my youngest three. Emmie told me the last time that we rode it that I needed to let go of the handles and throw my arms up in the air when the ride plummeted downward. I am a control freak and that sounded terrifying, but I tried it. My biggest regret (which isn't very big) is that we maybe didn't ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Break Out enough times.

This was for Callie, because we love her - and she loves Gerald.

Another favorite ride: The Incredicoaster! Once again, Jacob and Dad tried it, and when the youngers wanted to repeat the ride they sat out. 

We rode it again

and again

and again throughout the day. Pretty much whenever the wait time was 10 minutes or less, we took advantage. The big guys here did ride it more than once, but the above group was the die hards. 

Jacob may have felt sick, or maybe he was just hungry. He bought himself a turkey leg and liked it so much, he got another one the next day. He let us taste some and it was super yummy; tasted just like ham.

At one point I also sat out and watched them as they got on & off the ride. They tried the Merry-Go-Round over and over as well. I lost sight of Emmie when she got off once and ran straight on again - that was scary. 

 

Another time she was running from the exit to the entrance and who was there but Mrs. Incredible!!! Emmie could hardly speak she was so excited but did she want to stand in line and get a photo? Nope!

There is a lot of walking around these parks. Right after I took this picture we ran into the Petersen's from our neighborhood. Drew loves to play with their little guys and he was really happy that we got to see them at Disneyland since we knew that our visits were overlapping. 

 Sometimes we would split up to go on different rides or for Tyler to grab fast passes. This girl got tired and we enjoyed taking a nice rest for a few minutes while waiting to join up with the rest of the family.

Midway Mania is always a hit with us! The lines were mostly long so as a family we only did it a couple of times when we had FastPasses.

Most of my life in any theme park I have hit the rides as much as possible. Is there any other point to having a theme park? This visit I learned that there is something for everyone! I took advantage of a show and it was amazing! Emmie and I took some time in the afternoon to see Frozen. As we sat down she told me that it felt good - her feet really hurt from walking/standing all day. It was a great rest and the special effects were impressive.

Waiting for the show to begin. I did have to ask her to keep her shoes on. She tried to take them off and I could not do that to the people sitting around us!

It was time to catch up with the boys in Disneyland before dinnertime!

She is now a pro and ready to navigate to her favorite rides with a map

We tried out Splash Mountain.The boys had already been on it and insisted that we had to go. It was not particularly warm and once was enough for us girls. I made Emmie take off her jacket so that when she was soaked afterwards, she could take off her wet shirt and wear her dry jacket home. That ended up being a smart choice. We found a quiet corner as we were leaving the ride and all the boys made a screen, facing out, while I helped Emmie make a quick change of tops.

After dinner and grabbing warmer wear for the evening, we checked off of our wish list:

Ride the Incredicoaster at night

Chat it up with Mr. Potato Head

More Midway Mania

Watch World of Color

See Radiator Springs at night

DISNEYLAND - Day 1

How can you beat holding your seven-year-old daughter's hand as she squeezes yours and says "I'm at Disneyland! I'm at Disneyland! I'm at Disneyland!" over and over as you walk through the gates? That's all it takes for it to be worth it for Tyler.

Tuesday was our first morning at Disneyland and we made a lot of mistakes.

We planned to be at the gates when they opened, but we were a little sleepy and sluggish from partying over the weekend.

We made the mistake of allowing the TVs to be on in our suite when we were supposed to be getting ready. Cable is always so fun to have on vacation! 

We arrived 30 minutes later than planned and the boarding passes for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance were already gone, three minutes after they were available for the day. 

We walked right onto Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters...and then right off again because the ride was temporarily closed. 

Just kidding! Come back later.

Just across the way, Space Mountain had a short wait so we tried that. By this time the kids had been dragged around a bit, we hadn't been on one ride, and the excitement was waning.

Until we got on the ride, that is. This is what they had waited for!

Our next mistake: getting caught up on short wait times and not using the FastPasses. We decided to head to Galaxy's Edge to ride Smuggler's Run. There's not a lot to do yet in Galaxy's Edge, but the ambiance is very cool. Emmie REALLY wanted to see Chewbacca and sure enough, he was there! Seeing him from a distance was enough - she didn't want to get up close.

Will anyone else like how they look in this picture? Probably not. But I am hardly ever in front of the camera and I look good in this shot! So I am throwing it on here.

I love that Emmie packed her Minnie Mouse ears and had her first day outfit planned to look just like Minnie.

Seeing all of the details made me think of the repeated line in Jurassic Park - "spared no expense". It was pretty spectacular.

Jacob said we had to try the blue milk. We did. It was kind of gross. One cup was plenty to share and have the experience without committing to the whole thing.

This is about the time we clued in and started mapping out our day better. The kids and I headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Tyler went off to get us FastPasses to the Matterhorn. We had to wait awhile - maybe 20 minutes. The kids got bored and wanted to get out of line and I said no and made them stick it out.

Sorry that your eyes are closed, Jacob - this was my only shot

We met up again in Fantasyland and tried out several of their rides.

Jacob said that we HAD to go on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride because that is the only thing he remembered from his last time at Disneyland, and he remembered going on it with Aunt Angie.

We tried out Peter Pan's Flight per April & Natalyn's suggestion. I had never been on it before and it was cute. One thing that we noticed as we went on all of these rides was how few of the Disney movies Emilie has seen! When we got home she had a list that she made her way through, thanks to Disney+.

We also had to sneak in Autopia because I remember that being Jacob's favorite from before. 

Vacation is walking through Disneyland in short sleeves like you own the place when you should be at home, in a cold place, and sitting in school. 

I shared a car with Emilie and everyone else got their own. Poor Camden - we really should have had one of us ride with him. We had been on the go and he REALLY had to go to use the bathroom, which made it extra hard to keep his foot on the gas pedal. He kept stopping and there was quite the queue that formed behind him. I *almost* jumped out to help him, but he managed to figure it out. He did not, however, want to try that ride again. (He did keep his license, though, and months later when he was going through his memory book he found his license from when he had gone on it as a toddler - only happy memories remained!)

The hood of Emmie's and my car, Jacob in the yellow one, and Camden just in front of him

Once we hit our stride, we knocked out the Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, the Jungle Cruise, and I don't remember what else. It was a great day. In addition to their free hot breakfasts, our hotel offered free "snack buffets" that were really a dinner, so we walked back to our hotel to partake. 

Once fed no one was motivated to walk the .7 mile back to the park again. I opted to nap and watch TV, and the kids - now refreshed since there wasn't a long walk in their future - all wanted to go to the pool. Tyler went with them and was rewarded with the sweetest tender mercy. He sat in the hot tub and met a helicopter pilot and her husband from Vancouver Island. She flew for the first season of Alone, Tyler favorite TV show! She gave him all kinds of insider information. They all had a grand time until I decided it was late and we had an early morning ahead of us and waved them all back up to our room (I could see them from our suite). What an amazing day!