Trip of a lifetime! Between my older sister and I, we have 7 little girls under 7. Naturally, we decided Disneyland was a must before they got any older. They drove out from Lubbock and we left Layton on Sunday and we met at our hotel in Anaheim! Maddie and Cora (just 2 months apart) weren't too sure about each other at first (and honestly, I'm not sure that ever really changed...) Maddie may have been a bit of a bully? Anyway, connecting rooms made for lots of fun for the kids.
But Cora did warm up to me! No small feat.
The first morning, Monday, every one was up bright and early and excited for the beach!
Breakfast at the hotel- many of us still in pjs.
They will be besties one day.
We decided to check out Laguna Beach- just 40 minutes away! We got there, and it was freezing! Cloudy and windy. But we made the best of it and set up camp.
Sharon: "I could do twins."
And good thing we stuck it out, because after about an hour the sun came out and the weather was perfect! Nice and warm.
Reagan enjoyed burying herself in the toasty sand.
When the sun came out Maddie literally and figuratively warmed up and turned out to be a complete tiny beach bum.
I've never seen a baby so happy to crawl around in the sand for hours, completely entertained and utterly happy. She was covered head to toe with a solid crusting all over her face. She didn't even eat it- tried it once and discovered it wasn't that great, so I didn't have to worry about it.
One picture of all the kids. Since we had two birthdays on the trip, this is the only time we had a 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 year old. Pretty fun!
Happy family!
Except for just one thing. We took this picture when it was time to leave. Moments later, we started packing up. We were loaded up and about ready to walk back to the car when I looked around and realized Reagan wasn't there. No one had seen her since we took that family photo. The beach wasn't too crowded so we could ascertain fairly quickly that she wasn't nearby. I started to freak out and Lance took off up and down the beach. I went and found a lifeguard who sent out searches up and down the beach and we started walking. I have never been so scared in my life. Lance thought she had been kidnapped, but I was sure she had been knocked over by a wave in the shallow water and drowned. I was pretty much hysterical. It was the longest 10-15 minutes of my life for sure. Lance finally found her waaay down the beach. She's not really one to wander off, so I was shocked. Turns out, she had walked back from the water looking for the big blue beach umbrella that we had just packed up. When she didn't see it, she just kept walking and walking, thinking she was in the wrong spot or that we left without her. Such relief when I saw Lance carrying her back! And we were so grateful for everyone that helped us find her- including strangers praying on the beach. Such a miracle!
Anyway, Sharon and Andrew watched all the other kids during this. Maddie crashed and slept through the whole thing. It took me a while to recover emotionally. Just writing about it is bringing back some awful feelings.
We went back to the hotel and bathed everyone- more effort than you would think, especially with all that sand. Then we decided to check out Downtown Disney! The LEGO store especially was a big hit, as was the World of Disney Store.
Dinner at Earl of Sandwich.
And ice cream at Haagen Daz before heading back early to get a good night's sleep before hitting Disney the next day!
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