Disneyland: Day Three

Day three was our first day in the park! I was so excited because it was my parents' first time, as well as Tayva's first time. We decided to visit Elsa and Anna on our first park day, and since the website predicted four hour waits, we planned out how we would get the best possible spot in line. I think it can best be summarized by my brother's Facebook status upon our return:

Disneyland was awesome. We successfully met Anna and Elsa and the girls loved it. We hit it right when they opened. They lowered the rope to open the park and the mob to get in line was unleashed. Who knew strollers with 3 kids in it could move so fast. If I would have stopped I would have either been pushed into the pond or trampled into the cobblestone road right in front of the castle. Good news though we avoided the 4 hour line by about 2 minutes Victory for Mindy and Darin. Another great trip in the books.

It was pretty great. Basically, Darin ran ahead to get a spot in line, while Mindy ran behind him with the girls, and I guided my parents to join them. Mindy's friend made the most adorable dresses for the girls, though it ended up being too hot for them to wear their dresses all day. The good news is that they matched Anna and Elsa perfectly.

 We visited Tom Sawyer's Island, which I'd never been to before. They closed the island just as we were ready to leave. They claimed that there was a broken bathroom, but the Disney "hazmat" team came over on the raft, equipped with what appeared to be a towel covered grabber (like those animal head grabbers you had as a kid).

 Next up: Toon Town! Minnie's house first. I love Minnie's house.

The traditional picture of me with Minnie's all-cheese shopping list.

Tayva was so excited to meet Minnie.

 Next, we met Mickey!

And Daisy! One thing I love about Disneyland is the individual attention they give to kids. The girls met Daisy when she first came out, and she held their hands and walked over to where she was going to stand.

 More good times in Toon Town:

The boy on the right sort of photo-bombed us.

The Winnie the Pooh ride:

 Lastly, this picture of my parents in front of the castle, Tayva eating a giant pickle, and me wrapped up in Kyra's costume because it got chilly in the evening.

Disneyland: Days One and Two

Having finished telling the tale of Peru, I've got a lot of catching up to do! I thought I'd move on to our family Disneyland trip. It was a really great trip, despite the sad absence of my younger siblings, Bret and Heather.

We decided it would be better to drive than fly, so we rented a seven person van. Road trip! We stayed halfway in Mesquite, making a few stops on the way. We discovered, somehow, that the old state capital building could be visited in Fillmore, so we stopped and took a tour. 

Only part of the original state capital building was actually built. This was just one wing.

After that, we drove on to St George, where the public swimming pool awaited us. They had a regular pool, a kiddie pool, a lazy river (which was a little too strong of a current, I felt. I kept getting pushed into strange positions and had to swim anyway to stay properly above water), and a big water slide. My brother and dad talked me into going down the slide, which I usually avoid because I don't like water in my face. It was fun going down, but despite my best efforts I still ended up with water up my nose. Not so fun.

 On the way out of town, we went to the temple and walked around. I'd never been to the St George temple, so I really enjoyed seeing it and taking pictures.

The rest of the road trip was fairly uneventful, though I do remember vividly how hot it was, even when we left in the morning. So hot! We ate in the very smoky casino at the hotel we stayed at (the smoke especially bothered Kyra - well, the smoke and the smoking - and I didn't appreciate it much either), and I took this adorable picture of Kyra and Tayva in the restaurant. 

Our first night in California, we went to Medieval Times, which is a dinner show. You eat a medieval meal (chicken, ribs, etc.) with your hands and watch knights ride and fight on horses. The stadium is divided into sections to support each of the knights in the show. It's really quite the experience. 

Peru: Day Eight - Part Two

Okay folks, here it is: the final blog post. Thanks for sticking with me for the almost year that it took me to finish all these posts. I apologize.

After returning to Lima, we went to the temple! I'm sad that we didn't have time to do a session in the temple (plus Bergs said there might not be any workers that spoke English), but it was still such a blessing to see the temple. I really love that the spirit is the same on any temple grounds you visit. We walked around for a while and took some pictures, noticing that the ground workers had started putting up Christmas lights and a manger scene. They also have, at this temple, a hotel for members to stay in while attending the temple. That was built since Bergs was there on her mission.

Ecstatic that I could drink the water.

 The visitor hotel.

 The beginning of the manger scene.

 Christmas lights!

After the temple, we headed to the local Papa John's for a nice American Thanksgiving meal. We ordered a pizza, and then took these exciting "carving" pictures.

Our sending off event was a visit to the "water park", as the Peruvians called it. It's a large area with a variety of water fountains, each with a different design. It was really cool, and there was a laser show at the end! It was a lot like World of Color at Disneyland, but like from the eighties.

After that, it was off to a very late flight out of Lima. The flight home was long... We went through customs in Dallas and had to declare what we had spent, but it turns out that it's way easier to get into the country when you're from here. We got to skip all the long lines.

From there, we flew home to Salt Lake, where my dad and brother were waiting for us. And thus ends one of the most exciting adventures of my life.