Disneyland Moffat Vacation 2013 (1 of 5)

It's been weeks since we got back from our trip, but it's been a very busy November! So, here we go, the first of several Disney posts. It was Grandma's dream to take all of us to Disneyland together, and she worked hard for years to make it happen. The trip was greatly anticipated, as most Disney trips are, but this one had been postponed once, so there was a lot of time to anticipate! :) There were 19 of us, 8 adults and 11 kids--Kari, the oldest kid at 9 years old, down to Bailey, the youngest at 5 months of age. The plane ride there was nice and uneventful, and we were able to hit the park that afternoon as soon as we dropped off our luggage at the Paradise Pier Hotel. Those sentences make it sound so simple and easy, but we found that nothing is simple when there are 19 people involved! However, there weren't any major hiccups, very few injuries, no illness, and no one got lost. Pretty incredible, really! We had 5 day hopper passes, and we used them all five days. We did so many fun things, and the kids had such a wonderful time with their cousins. It was truly a memorable trip. Here are some of the things I don't want to forget:

• Joel and Maggie as Jedis-in-training
• "It's a Small World" Christmas lights coming on at the perfect moment
• Stuffing Grant's tallest athletic shoes with tissues so he would be 40 inches (was 1/2 in short the first day) and would be able to ride more rides
• Cousins together, figuring out who would ride together in each line
• Experiencing Cars Land for the first time
• Watching the fireworks in front of the castle and watching the kids' faces
• Aubrey screaming over and over again on Tower of Terror: "I CAN'T do Tower of Terror!!"
• The Pixar Parade and watching Miles enjoy it
• Kari loving every single wild and crazy, fast ride
• Splash Mountain with our whole family of six and Aubrey loving it this time
• Whole family group photos and our blue and green shirts
• Mickey's Christmas Parade and watching all the kids' delighted faces
• Grant being a total champ on the almost 4 hour plane ride home
• Getting picked up from the airport in two cars--both Mom and Polly--because the van wouldn't start, and switching to "wedding" mode immediately after our homecoming
• Holding Bailey Sue
• Star Tours (three times with the kids) and convincing Dad to go on it--he liked it!
• Getting multiple Churros
• Lots of fanny pack-wearing family members
• The Power Pack meal (yogurt, fish crackers, fruit) and the Mac n' Cheese meal--the two kid meals Grant ate every day, for almost every meal
• Going on Astro Blasters multiple times with Grant and Brennan, and Grant asking for Buzz constantly
• Utilizing the "rider switch pass" well
• Eric and Sam being picked in the Golden Horseshoe show
• Grant meeting "Jake" from Jake and the Neverland Pirates

*Thank you, Leah, for bringing your nice camera and documenting the trip for us all! The fuzzy, poor-lighting photos are from our little camera. The clear, focused ones are hers. :)

I think besides just being with his cousins, being picked for the Star War Jedi-in-training show was the highlight of Joel's trip. He didn't get chosen when we were there a year and a half ago and was very disappointed. The grin on his face, which, of course, we did not capture because we were so excited with him and cheering, was awesome! We were pretty happy two of our crew got to be part of it--Joel and Maggie. I also enjoyed watching Grant's face during the show. He was totally enthralled. Being a little brother of a big brother who is into Star Wars, Grant is schooled in the ways of The Force, so it was pretty exciting for him to be there and see these characters in person.

Joel and Maggie both ended up fighting at the same time--Joel with Darth Vader and Maggie with Darth Mal.

They had just started decorating for Christmas when we got there. We were in our boat, floating into Small World when they turned on the Christmas lights for the first time. It was pretty cool!

It was all lit up when we got out.