California Trip

We surprised the boys and took them to Disneyland! This trip has been in the works for a long, long time, but back in December things got stressful with Ben's job (The team he worked on at MarketStar (Polycom) ended up terminating their contract with MarketStar, and Polycom ended up just bringing Ben on directly to do the same thing he was already doing for them- but the whole process was about 3 weeks of intense unknowns until the official offer finally came.) Once we had a secure job, still a little uneasy from the stressful month right before we were unsure if we really wanted to go. Things ended up falling into place perfectly with Ben's new job starting immediately when the old one stopped. A friend offered to let us stay with her parents in beautiful Laguna Niguel- so with a free place to stay, a job in place, and rewards money from our credit card to pay for park tickets we ended up deciding we had to go. Our kids are growing up too fast and we felt like we needed to seize the opportunity that we had and create family memories. Family vacations were a huge part of my life growing up- and my fondest memories- and Ben and I had always said we wanted the same experience for our kids. Now that real life has really kicked in, we are realizing they don't just easily happen. We will probably never feel like we have plenty of time and money, and we just need to do it and enjoy this beautiful time we have with our boys!

We didn't tell the boys until the morning we left, and Chase's reaction was priceless. After asking about 4 clarifying questions he jumped into my arms in excitement and gave me the biggest hug. Hudson didn't really know what was coming, but he thought the idea of seeing Mickey's house sounded fun, so he was in as well! We pulled out around 8:30 Saturday morning and set off for sunny California!

Our trip down went incredibly smoothly. We had several places to stop along the way to visit with friends, eat at a favorite restaurant in Cedar City, and then spent that night with the Jensen's in Las Vegas. We lived in the same neighborhood as Jesse and Marissa a few years ago and have kept in touch with them and it was so fun to catch up and see their beautiful home! Our boys loved playing there with their boys and it broke up the drive wonderfully! 

Sunday morning we stopped in a random ward in Vegas to go to Sacrament meeting (during which Hudson loudly called out Ben several times for not wearing his "church clothes"- Ben didn't have a tie on and wasn't wearing his normal white shirt). Then we drove uneventfully the rest of the way to beautiful Laguna Niguel. We have stayed in California several times, but never in this area and we thoroughly enjoyed how beautiful, green and manicured everything was! Having a free place to stay was not only wonderful- it really made the trip possible and we are so grateful to the Myers for opening their home to us! 

We needed to get some fresh air so we headed right for the beach! We didn't wear our swim suits, which was fine, it wasn't that warm. The boys loved playing in the sand and got completely sandy and a little wet. This was Hudson's first time to the ocean! 

Since Monday was a holiday (MLK day) we didn't want to be in the park, we decided to have a quieter day and show the boys a little more of what California had to offer. We decided to head to Balboa island, a place we had heard about but never been before. On our drive there we passed right by the Newport Beach Temple, so we stopped for a few minutes and let the boys walk around the grounds and touch the walls of the temple. Then headed the rest of the way to Balboa!

 Balboa was so charming and I'm so glad we stopped there! The boys loved seeing the boats (although they were both just itching to get into the sand and play some more). We stopped for the famous balboa bars (which we all heartily gave two thumbs up) and a frozen banana. And then we headed off to find another beach.

We had plans to head back to the same beach as the night before, but on our drive up the highway running directly parallel to the ocean we passed by a beautiful, sandy, completely uncrowded beach right there and decided to stop and enjoy it! We stayed for a few hours, the boys dug and made sand castles, we had a picnic and then Ben took them out to experience the ocean a little. The waves were huge, and it wasn't a super warm day, so they mostly just got their feet wet. It was darling to hear them running around and laughing like crazy! It was an understatement to say they loved it! 

 The next day we started out at California Adventure. Our main reason in choosing a whole day for this park is Cars Land! They have built a whole Radiator Springs there, and since our boys are obsessed with all things Cars, we just had to go! It did not disappoint! The boys got the meet the characters first thing, and they were completely star struck! They met Mater, Big Red and Lightning McQueen. I loved when Chase first saw Lightning and his first reaction was to show him his shoes! (Chase has ONLY worn light-up Lightning McQueen shoes for the last three years!) The boys loved every single ride they went on, but a clear favorite were the Radiator Springs Racers- such a darling ride. It's super fast at the end, and I was a little worried Hudson would be freaked out, but he was all smiles! We got fast passes and went on the ride twice- and would have kept going on it all day if there wasn't such a huge line! The day was hardly crowded at all- we walked on almost every single ride- except this one always had at least an hour line! (We never waited in it, thanks to fast passes!)

There is a darling Toy Story ride there, which we also went on twice. Then the boys went over to meet Buzz Lightyear and Jessie. Hudson, just in the last week, has been obsessed with Toy Story and he was completely in awe of Buzz! We also went to Disney Jr Live- a darling interactive show that was perfect for my boys! When the Mickey Mouse puppet popped up Chase yelled out, "Mickey! I've seen you on TV!" I was surprised that Chase still totally believed he was seeing and meeting the real characters!

After watching the Pixar Parade (which they loved) we went on our favorite rides again. We were glad we picked this week to go- with hardly any time spent waiting in lines we were able to do everything in the park easily! Our last stop was one of our favorites- Turtle Talk with Crush (the sea turtle from Finding Nemo). Crush appears on a huge screen in front of the audience and Ben and I couldn't believe the way they manipulate the turtle- it's like he's really there, moving and talking and interacting with the kids! There were only a few kids in the audience and Chase got to ask Crush questions, their darling and hilarious conversation went like this:
Crush: Little dude! What's your name?
Chase: Chase.
Crush: Hi Chase! Do you have a question for me?
Chase: Actually, my name is Chase Anderson Hugo. How is coral made? (all the other kids asked questions like "What is your favorite color?" "Who is your best friend?")
Crush: Dude! It's actually a really long process and it grows really slowly... (And then crush proceeded to go get a little Buzz doll and said he found under the ocean and talked to Chase all about it! Chase was giggling like crazy-the adults were too, Crush was hilarious- and they had a good long talk) The whole experience was incredible!

We left the park about 30 minutes before it closed, pretty tired, but so happy from a day well spent! And even more excited for the next day- we saved the best for last- Disneyland!

We got to Disneyland right as it opened and walked in as they were playing the magical music. I kind of had a moment of disbelief that we were really there- it was all so magical and fun to see stars in my kid's eyes. We were all so happy and having so much fun together, and I was just so glad that this trip actually happened! The crowds were really low the first few hours of the day, so we were able to ride Peter Pan, meet Mickey Mouse, ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, meet the Pooh characters, and Pirates of the Caribbean all in the first hour of the day! It was incredible! Our boys continued to amaze me- especially Hudson- they had NO FEAR whatsoever. I kept thinking they would freak out about something- especially the big drop on Splash Mountain- but the faster the ride the better for these boys! They were all smiles! The only thing Hudson was a little scared of was meeting the characters- he insisted that I hold him, and then he would talk to them. I think he was surprised they were so big!

We quickly made our way through the whole park- we rode pretty much everything! We spent some time up in Toon Town (they boys LOVED it and I wished we had longer to stay there). By the time our fast pass was ready for HyperSpace Mountain, Hudson had fallen asleep in the stroller, so I stayed off and let him sleep and Ben took Chase on the ride. Ben and I laughed at Chase's face in the picture, but Chase assured us he had fun and even said it was one of his favorite rides!

Chase was just barely too short for Indiana Jones, which is one of my favorite rides. I really wanted him to go on it with me, so we stuffed his shoes with napkins to give him the little lift he needed and he was able to get on it! I prepped him ahead of time that he didn't need to be scared, everything is pretend and nothing can hurt him. As we got on I reminded him, "Chase, remember you don't need to be scared..." and he replied with "Yeah mom, because you'll be holding my hand!" So sweet, I love this little boy! He was so excited to be there, he just oozes enthusiasm and made the day so much more magical. He randomly kept giving me hugs and held my hand all day long!

We stayed until the park closed, finishing off the day with the incredible "Paint the Night" parade- which is electric and just amazing. And then we watched fireworks (except for Hudson who insisted on sitting in the stroller with his sun shade down the whole time). I put Chase on my back and could hear his cute little commentary and excitement all the way through their incredible firework show, which just made my heart swell with joy! We truly had a magical day and had an amazing time at the happiest place on earth!

The next day we drove home. It was an 11 hour drive (plus a little longer with stops) and we were all pretty much DONE by the time we rolled into the driveway. It was worth it though- the trip was a huge success and we had a great time together. Hudson's comment one night perfectly describes our trip, "I LOVE VACATIONS!"