Day 5: Thursday, September 13th- Huntington Beach

We were pretty worn out from the previous 3 days, so we slept in a bit late and were really slow getting ready to go to the beach.  Malinda was a little grumpy about how slow everyone was by the time we actually left, but she eventually got over it.  We made our way there through California traffic and got to the beach a little after 1:00.  We decided to go to Huntington Beach, and it turned out to be a great place.  After playing in the cold September ocean water for a short while, we were very glad to don our wetsuits that we brought along.  We enjoyed hours of boogie boarding, collecting sea shells and sand dollars, and sliding down the little sand cliffs (Abby).  We attracted a few seagulls when we were eating lunch, and one of them decided to use Elise’s head for target practice.

After playing for about four hours at the beach, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up and to get some dinner.  I made a quick trip to El Pollo Loco while the kids and Malinda showered and got in PJs, and we had some yummy Mexican fast food for dinner while relaxing to some cable TV.

Quote of the day: “The worst thing of the trip and the funniest thing of the trip is that a seagull pooped on my head!” – Elise

Day 4: Wednesday, September 12th - Second Disney Day

Our original plan for this day was to head to the beach, but at the last minute we changed plans because the weather was supposed to be warmer on Thursday. To get into the park quickly so we could get the fast passes for the new Radiator Springs Racers, I left early with the 3 older kids while Malinda and Abby got ready.  We got the Racers fast passes and had some time to kill before we could ride, so we headed to Toy Story Mania and rode that a few times before the lines got too crazy. 

We zig-zagged back and forth between Disneyland and California Adventure a few times, running back to Disneyland to get some photos and ride Splash Mountain a few more times (with more bribes for Abby). 

Heading back over to California Adventure, we hit California Screamin’ a bunch of times both with and without fast passes, Goofy’s Flight School, Soarin’ Over California, and Silly Symphony Swings.  Abby went on the Carousel and Toy Story Mania extra times with Malinda while I went with the older kids on California Screamin’.  We went on Tower of Terror a bunch of times since the older kids and I loved it so much, and Abby was content to hang out in A Bug’s Land.  Malinda was a nice mom and rode with her even though the spinning rides made her feel pukey.  We got to ride Radiator Springs Racers again, and it was hilarious seeing Abby wave and smile at Mater (in the ride) like he was real! 

It was a HOT day and the kids were pretty pooped by the afternoon.  They were taking a break on a bench and met the coolest street sweeper man ever.  He we quite entertaining with his rhyming life story and a great example of having a positive attitude no matter what your job is.

We had lunch at the Pilot’s Grill, (which is now our new favorite place to eat at Disneyland… just say yes to air conditioning!).  We headed back to Disneyland in the evening to hit a bunch more rides there including the Matterhorn, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, and Star Tours.

Quote of the day: "Don't come in here.  I smell bad.  I reek.  I can already tell." – Abby

Day 3: Tuesday, September 11th - First day at Disneyland/California Adventure

Disneyland/California Adventure was next on our list of things to do.  We considered scalping our tickets after reading the “Disneyland Causes Cancer” sign, but decided to be brave. J  We had a ton of fun our first day in the park, getting early fast passes for the World of Color show and Radiator Springs Racers, then hitting Toy Story Mania, California Screamin', the Silly Symphony Swings multiple times, and getting really wet on Grizzly Rapids (next time wear synthetics, not cotton!). 

After spending most of the morning in California Adventure, we headed over to Disneyland, and went straight for Splash Mountain.  Abby tried it and hated it, but we convinced her (aka bribed her) to go on it with us a few more times so we could try to get a good family photo coming down the big hill.

After that we went to the Matterhorn, Star Tours, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean (while I ran back to the hotel to pick up a few things), and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.  We ate lunch in Critter Country, and also stopped at Winnie the Pooh.  Heading back to California Adventure, we hit Grizzly Rapids a couple more times (the three older kids and I), Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, Tower of Terror (which Abby HATED… and Malinda wasn’t so happy with either), Radiator Springs Racers, Mater's Tow Trucks, Goofy's Sky School, Soarin' Over California, and then got all set to watch the World of Color.  We were glad that we asked around a bit about where to watch World of Color.  We sat on the bridge.  We had a great view and didn’t get hit by the mist.  It was perfect!  It turned out to be a pretty cool show, much better than our Fantasmic experience from three years ago.

Day 2: Monday, September 10^th - Legoland

We decided to hit Legoland on Monday since we discovered on Sunday night that their schedule was hit and miss (being a little off-season).  After getting up and eating breakfast at the hotel, we headed out... right into California traffic!  We soon discovered the benefits of the carpool lane (since in Utah it usually doesn't make much difference) speeding past much of the traffic.

Our day in Legoland was spectacular, mostly due to the fact that the park was at about 5% capacity and we didn't have to wait at all, or very long, for any of the rides in the park.  The rides were merely OK, but no waiting made the ‘OK’ rides much more fun.  Even better was that the park staff would frequently ask if we wanted to ride again if nobody was waiting in line, so we would stay on the ride and go again without having to exit and enter again.

Favorite rides for the kids were the Technic Coaster, the Dragon Coaster, and the Knight's Tournament. Abby was big enough to ride Knight’s Tournament at level 1 with a huge funky life vest thing, Emily and Elise got to do Level 2, while Ben, Malinda and I went all the way up to level 5 (Emily and Elise wanted to, but they weren’t tall enough).  The best part was watching Malinda ride with Ben because she started laughing uncontrollably (as she always does when riding wild rides for the first time).

The mistake of the day (even though it was fun) was riding on the Pirates Reef because we all got soaking wet.  Ben, Emily, and Elise apparently figured that since they were already wet, it wouldn't hurt to go again a couple more times.  They ended up drenched from head to toe.  Walking around the park for the next couple of hours in wet clothes ended up being literally painful for some of us.

We went on the Lego factory tour and spent some time looking at all of the exhibits.  We were amazed at all of the detail in the displays.

We also got a kick out of the funny signs pointing the way to the bathrooms.

A full day in Legoland made us hungry for some El Pollo Loco, so we headed to the nearest one we could find in nearby Vista, stuffing ourselves with yummy chicken, quesadillas, churros, and ice cream cones to top it off.

Quote of the day: "This is so luxurious!" – Nate in the carpool lane