Dear Friends:
(Just a warning...there are going to be lots and lots of pictures here. OK, you've been warned)
Two weeks ago, I traveled to Los Angeles for an industry conference (see last blog post). I remained in LA and brought my family down, for a little Neal Robison Family reunion. My wife and youngest kids traveled from Austin. My oldest son, his wife and my oldest grandson traveled from Dallas, and my oldest daughter, her husband and my youngest grandson traveled from the San Francisco Bay Area. We had been trying to think of a way to spend time together and decided that Disneyland was definitely the answer ; ) With the younger kids already fans of Mickey Mouse, it was a good plan.
Instead of spending several days in a hotel, we actually rented a home that was minutes away from Disneyland. It provided a great setting for the kids to relax together...and they naturally found ways to entertain themselves:
After arriving in the late afternoon, we decided to go and see Downtown Disney and grab a bite to eat:
We had a blast touring through all of the shops, finding all manner of Disney paraphernalia to purchase:
When you get pictures like this - two sisters together - it just makes my heart melt. I'm glad the kids didn't see me tearing up...because I'm an old softy ; )
I love, love spending time with all the kids and grandkids. I love the fact that the older kids have raised such fantastic grandchildren for me to play with ; ) Here's a little video clip of my oldest grandson dancing to the music:
One of the objectives of this particular visit, was to try as many of the different foods available at Disney, as possible. We started with the flavored churro cart! You'll have to click on the picture to enlarge it, but they have churros in the following flavors: Piña Colada, Cinnamon Sugar, Apple Cinnamon, Strawberry Cream, Salted Caramel and Red Mango. The winner of this group was the Salted Caramel:
The next morning, we were ready for our assault on Disneyland. For a few moments, I had the chance to play with my youngest grandson. His smile is infectious...he seems to smile with his whole body:
Since the home we rented was so close, we all walked to Disneyland...it was a procession of strollers and kids and parents the whole way:
We started out at Disney California Adventure. My oldest grandson (L) is a HUGE fan of Mater, from the film Cars. We went directly to Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. The boys had a BLAST!
Needless to say, we came back to this ride several times during the next few days. You can see the smile on L's face in this picture. That explains it all:
Cars Land is an absolutely amazing part of California Adventure. The attention to detail was mind-blowing. Radiator Springs, in particular, was beautiful to see...it was truly like you were in the movie:
My daughter and daughter-in-law with the oldest grandson - he wanted to see all of the Cars characters...and there were several to take snapshots with:
The kids also had fun on the carousel together. My youngest daughter (L) is wearing her Princess Sophia costume for the entire day at the park ; ) This will come into play a little later...
This snapshot is exactly why we love getting the kids together. Even though, technically, these two come from different generations - their proximity in age makes it so fun to play together. G-Man is really good with younger kids. I hope that's something that stays with him for a really long time. Here is G-Man and L hugging each other, while we wait in yet another line:
L with his oldest Aunt
We managed to capture pictures of the kids with several other characters. I stumbled upon Mickey, and the line sort of formed around me. It was a great chance to take a snapshot all by myself!
I managed to get my daughter and the youngest grandson over to see him. This was his very first encounter with Mickey, and we were hoping for a good experience. It was one of the best moments of the day, to be honest. Here are a couple of pictures from a series of photographs. Look at that smile as J reaches out to touch Mickey's nose:
My other adorable grandson wanted to meet Mickey, as well. He bravely approached Mickey, but like many kids, got a little scared as he got closer. Most kids don't imagine the Disney characters to be so large. When you watch them on TV, they seem much smaller. You can see the difference in his face, in these two pictures:
At this point in the day, my youngest daughter L was about to have a remarkable experience. She was headed back over to the Disneyland park to have what she called "princess hair". Basically, it was a magical make-over, as these wonderful ladies did her hair, nails and a little make-up. They treat these little girls like true princesses. It's an amazing thing to behold...and fits so perfectly with the entire Disney experience. L still talks about this:
In addition to the make-over, she had the chance to actually meet several of the Disney princesses. Another priceless encounter to remember:
While we had an absolute blast at the California Adventure park, the weather wasn't exactly helping us. The temperature was in the mid 90s with the sun beating down on us as we waited in a lot of lines. The kids were starting to melt, so we decided to go to the Hyperion Theater and see a production of Aladdin: The Musical. We initially were just looking for a place to sit - in AIR CONDITIONING. However, the production was really, really good. We couldn't take pics during the performance, but the theater was just beautiful:
My oldest son and I ran over to the Animation Academy - this is where they teach you to draw a Disney character. We tried this several years ago, when we went to DisneyWorld in Florida. My son is actually a really talented artist, and this is something we enjoy doing together. Here's a picture of my drawing...thank goodness is was an easy one!
In a never-ending pursuit of meeting Disney Princesses, we hit the holy grail - Anna and Elsa from Disney's Frozen. These ladies was so great about actually talking with the kids, given the short amount of time they have with hundreds of kids each day:
As the sun was setting, we took some great pictures in Radiator Springs. At one point my niece, who is going to college in Southern California, joined us for dinner:
Almost everyone got into the act...
One of my daughter's big objectives, was to secure classic Mickey Ears for her son. Mission accomplished! Look at that smile!!!
One thing that Disney does better than any other amusement park, is parades. We lined the streets to watch the Pixar Parade. This was a favorite snapshot as L hugs his father, awaiting the arrival of Mater:
We were treated to some up-close encounters with several characters. The look of awe in the kid's faces was so much fun to behold:
The long day at California Adventure came to a close. We hopped on the parking tram, to get us a little closer to our home. The smiles on the kids' faces told me that we had a fantastic day!
Join me in the next blog post, where we explore the Disneyland side of things!!
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