California: Part Three

May 3- Tuesday morning, we got up and did several loads of laundry, gearing up for the second part of our vacation. We went to lunch with Jason's parents, and then got on the road to Southern California. I am more than pleased to announce that this drive was night and day compared to how awful the drive through Nevada was. I forgot how useless the 5 was- man, there's nothing there, but Hazen was a dream come true, and even slept for an hour or so. I was also so impressed that he didn't need any emergency restroom stops. He was able to tell us when he needed to go, and if we weren't totally close to a bathroom, he was able to hold it until we were there. GO HAZ! We arrived to our hotel in Anaheim within a half hour of Wade and his family. The kids were so excited to be there! Hazen kept on looking out the window at the gates of Disneyland saying, "Thank you so much for taking me to Disneyland. I'm so happy to be here!!" We could have saved a crapload of money if we knew that he would be that excited from just the gates of the park! For dinner, we went to Red Robin, then tucked everyone in to bed. Hazen woke up at around 4, and crept into my bed where he asked me if we could go to Disneyland that minute. He was just too excited and happy! I got him to go back to sleep for another few hours before our big day ahead.
May 4- Wednesday morning, we got up around 8 and prepared for a long day in the park. When we booked our hotel, I called the guy and asked the hotel's proximity to Disneyland. He told me that it was right down the street. I asked him if it was close enough to walk, and he asked me, "Well, do you have legs?", so I assumed that it was super close. Well. Minus 40 points to the douche bag who clearly has never walked THE MILE AND A HALF to and from the park on a 95 degree day with 4 kids. We were already sweating by the time we got to the park, and I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I was NOT going to be pretty for the next three days in the park. The kids were so excited! There really is something magical about Disneyland. Yes, it is so exhausting to parents, but I feel like all of the hard work was so worth it because of how much the kids enjoyed it. Before we left, Jenny and I went to Winco and stocked up on snacks so that we wouldn't need to eat inside the park. I have to really hand it to the little kids, Hazen and Kambree for being so brave and not disowning us all as parents when we took them on the big kid rides. Our motto was, "If you're tall enough to ride on the ride, you're going with us. Sucker." My personal moment of parental victory was when we went on the Tower of Terror, and the kids asked me what ride we were going on, and I told them we were about to embark on the Tower of Fun and Delight. After we got off the ride, Hazen looked at Jason and I with a look of pure terror in his eyes and said, "Mommy. That ride was not fun. I did not like that ride at all." He also developed this cute little thing that when he would get nervous before a ride, he would start shaking and have to pee. Aren't we the best parents in the world? Oh well, you have to toughen him up some way! Our first day at the park was SO FREAKING HOT. I don't remember the last time that I sweated that much for such a prolonged period of time. For lunch, we decided to walk across the street to get McDonalds (puke). I was so hot that I just got a shake and giant Diet Coke for lunch. This is even after Jason and I went into the park STOCKED with water. (1 gallon jug, 2 1 liter Nalgene bottles, and 10 bottles of water) I'm a water snob. I don't drink water fountain water. Judge me. We stayed at the park until closing, then made the long, long, long, long walk back to the hotel. That night, we took Hazen to Wade and Jenny's room, and Devon watched the kids while the adults went to Bubba Gumps for dinner. The kids were all asleep within 10 minutes of us leaving them. We were sure a rowdy bunch at dinner; we pretty much inhaled our food, and then were ready to crawl into bed!