Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Disneyland Pictures....Finally!

Sorry for being a little MIA from the blog lately! My life has been crazy since we got back from vacation, but I think things have finally settled down and I should be able to get caught up!


Disneyland was AWESOME!!! I totally loved it! Oh yeah, and the kids loved it too :-) Unfortunately, Jayson had some work-related stuff he had to do in California, so although he was in California with us, he had to work and didn't come to Disney :-( I recruited lots of help to take his place. My mom (aka "Mimi"), my sister (Tiare), and GG all jumped at the chance come with us.


This was the first time that the quints have stayed in a hotel. We brought along 5 pack-n-plays (I have purposely been putting off the transition from crib to big kid beds until after all our trips this summer). They went to sleep surprisingly well---they must have been exhausted from the drive. When the quints woke up in the morning, it was so cute to see all their little heads pop up and down again in their cribs. It reminded me of one of those whack-a-mole arcade games.



Ready for bed: Kassidy, Rustin, Ryder, Kyndall, Kaydence


Nothing like being woken up by 5 two-year-olds! Tiare with Rustin, Kyndall, Ryder, Kassidy and Kaydence


The kids watch TV while we take get packed and ready to go.


Breakfast at the hotel


And we're off!


Just inside the gates--Tiare and I with all the kids

As soon as we got in the gates, Riley and Kaiya went off with Tiare to ride on Star Tours and get a fast pass for Space Mountain. GG, Mimi and I took the quints to Fantasyland. Our first ride was Snow White's Scary Adventure, which turned out to be a BAD idea! You would think that with a word like "scary" in the title, that I would clue in to the fact that the ride would be...SCARY, but somehow I missed that. Some of the kids had fun anyway, but Kaydence and Kassidy were terrified and did not want to go on anymore rides. I was thinking that it was going to be a looooong day if every ride was going to bring tears of fright!

Next we tried the carousel, which was not quite as scary, and then Peter Pan. By this time Riley, Kaiya and Tiare had caught up to us and we decided to try the least frightening ride we could think of.....It's a Small World! It did the trick, and even Kaydence took her hands away from her eyes by the end of the ride.

The rest of the day was spent packing in as many rides as possible. It was crowded, but most of the time we did not have to wait more than 30 minutes to get on a ride. The quints favorite ride was It's A Small World, which we rode on a couple of times. All the kids had the song memorized by the time we left and they still sing it DAILY at our house!

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride--Rustin, Kassidy, Kyndall, Ryder, and Kaydence


Waiting in line....Rustin, Kaydence, Ryder, Kyndall, and Kassidy


More waiting...


The quint's second favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear one---all the cars had guns to shoot at bad guys with a digital display to keep track of the scores.

Winnie the Pooh Pots...Kaydence, Rustin, Kassidy, Ryder, Riley, Kyndall, Kaiya


We were waiting in line to see Tigger and Kyndall slipped under the ropes to run over to Eeyore to give him a hug.


Tigger! When Riley and Kaiya were 2, they were terrified of all costumed characters, but the quints love them!


The whole clan with Tigger


Tiare and the kids with Eeyore


At the Haunted Mansion, there were lots of tombstones, including one with Rustin's name on it :-)


We had to be creative to keep the kids entertained while we waited in line!


One of the highlights of the day....seeing the "Princess Castle". Rachelle, Tiare, Mimi, GG, Riley, Kaiya, Kaydence, Ryder, Kyndall, Rustin and Kassidy


Eating the ridiculously expensive lunch at Disney


Locked up!


M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

The longest line we waited in, was the line to see Micky Mouse. It was highly deceptive....we kept thinking that he was around the corner, only to be placed in another waiting room. Had we known how long the line really was, we probably wouldn't have done it, but by the time we figured it out, we had already invested enough time that we stuck it out!


Mickey with Rustin, Riley, Ryder, Kyndall, Kaydence, Kaiya, and Kassidy


Riley


Kaiya


Kassidy


Kaydence


Rustin


Kyndall


Ryder


Tiare, Mimi, Mickey, Rachelle & GG


During the big "parade" the kids boogied in front of the Princess Castle--It was a perfect end to a perfect day!


Mimi, Rachelle & Tiare at Yogurtland---YUM!

After we got the kids to bed, we left Jayson in charge and headed out for a "girl's night" (I know that sounds terribly mean---"Hey honey, I know you didn't get to go with us to Disney, but now we want to ditch you and go get frozen yogurt without you", but he was pretty stressed about his work stuff and couldn't break away. He definitely deserves to be "Husband of the Year")


Tiare, Mimi and Rachelle in front of Hard Rock Cafe


Tiare and Rachelle---if you look really close you can see the Hollywood sign all blurry in the background.


In-focus picture of the Hollywood sign

Stay tuned for more pictures from our trip.....


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12 comments:

Tracey's Life said...

What a brave woman you are taking all those children to Disney! Guess you still have to live life though, so I truly commend you for your bravery. It looks like you all had a truly marvelous time. I think that is what I admire you most for - seven children would overwhelm most people and you make it look so easy!

How did get all your "kid stuff" and all your family to Disney from Texas? Please share your packing secrets!

Crazy Granny said...

Looks like a wild ride with or without Mr. Toad.

Stephanie said...

My son was 5 when we went to Disney, and he was scared of the Snow White ride too! Not quite sure why thats right in the middle of the kidland!
Looks like you all had such a great time!!
You are a brave woman! I felt crazy just taking one! ha

Teresa Dawn said...

Yes the snowwhite ride is scary for youngsters.

I was terrified of the costumed characters when I was the quints age. I remember the only one I consented to approaching (after a LOT of coaxing) was Snow White.

Andrea said...

You guys are brave! I'm also wondering how you got all the stuff to Disney, especially 5 pack-n-plays! and I'm surprised they didn't let you to the front of lines, you know, with 5-almost 3 year olds =] Glad you all had fun!

elsies7gifts said...

What a great trip it looks like you had.
I love how you say things are finally 'settled down' - your everyday life would be enough to throw many into never being caught up. Somehow M.O.M.s (Moms Of Many) view everyday life caos as 'normal'.

Anonymous said...

Disneyland Rocks! Glad you could go. However, while you were out having fun, your wallpaper fell off.

Anonymous said...

wow what a fantastic adventure you all had .Fab way to start summer break.I would love to go to Disney one day and visit America I better start saving now since i live in New Zealand.you and you're family are inspiring .

Grandma Honey said...

Love the picture of all the porta cribs in the hotel room. Incredible!

Anonymous said...

love all the pictures and the story -- you are so brave to take all the kids to a motel with it being the first time out of cribs!!

have a great summer and looking forward to your next post!!

what an adventure for everyone!

katianna

Anonymous said...

Looks like fun :D:D
Quick Question, What is the funniest rection you have had regarding the quints?

Rachelle said...

To answer your question "anonymous", we get lots of comments when we go places---usually things like "Are they all yours?" or "You've got your hands full!", but the funniest reactions we have gotten were on this trip. We stopped for gas in a small town at a country gast station. A couple of old guys in cowboy hats were sitting out front and when we pulled up in our van and started unloading, one of them said, "Are you terrorists?"

Another thing I thought was funny was at the theme park---people would come up to us and (without asking) take their picture with us. One lady just planted herself in the middle of our family and even went so far as to tell my kids to get in closer and smile for her picture.