Our California Adventure

Tyler found a denture course in California that he wanted to take so we decided what the heck lets do it. We booked our flights, booked Tyler's mom to watch Quinn and planned our getaway. Well the night before we were supposed to leave Tyler's mom had some health concerns (which turned out to be nothing. Thank goodness!!) so we had no one to watch Quinn. We looked into cancelling everything or possibly driving her down to Southern Alberta but nothing seemed to be working out for us. We finally decided to just bring her along and start off on our very first real family vacation.

We got through security and boarded our plane on Thursday afternoon with not too many problems. Quinn got a new Dora backpack that she could put her things in to keep her busy on the plane and she got pretty attached to it really fast.

 Scarlett's first plane ride went well and after a stop in vancouver we made it to LA.

After we landed we figured out how to rent a car, took a bus to the car rental place (which Quinn loved), ate some tacos and found our hotel on Sunset blvd. We planned the trip prior to thinking we were bringing Quinn so our hotel wasn't overly kid friendly but it was just for one night so we survived. The next morning we were on our way to Disneyland!

When we planned this trip we didn't plan to go to Disneyland. We had both been and riding all the rides alone didn't sound all that appealing to us. Then when we had to bring Quinn Tyler was absolutely convinced that we NEEDED to go to Disneyland so I gave in and away we went. Turns out it was fun and I'm glad we went!

The first person we saw when we walked through the gates was Snow White and Quinn was pretty excited.

This is what waiting in line with Quinn usually looked like. We ended up spending most of the day with one of us in line while the other was with Quinn until it was almost our turn for the ride or to see the character.

Tangled is one of Quinn's favorite movies so it was fun to see Rapunzel even though Quinn acted shy.

We thought it would be fun to go see all the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters in their Halloween costumes...boy were we wrong. Quinn freaked out after Goofy lunged at her and I had a mini meltdown and suggested we leave. Tyler powered through and thank goodness for his patience cause it definitely was better after this. Quinn still talks about how scary Goofy is haha

We went on some rides as a family. It was fun to be able to take Scarlett on a few of them. We went on Mr. Toad's wild ride and let me tell you those old rides are TERRIFYING. Quinn rode the whole thing with her hands covering her eyes. No wonder the line was so short...

 Then we headed over to toon town which was by far Quinn's favorite part. They had an awesome roller coaster that she loved and she got to meet all her favorite people. After the Goofy debaucle we were worried about how she would do but she went right up to Minnie and gave her a hug and told her she liked her flowers. It was so sweet!

Then while I waited in line to meet Mickey Tyler took her through Minnie's house and of course bought her some Minnie Mouse ears and a spinning light up Minnie toy. I guess that is why we have Dads.

Lucky for our kids I don't get motion sick at all so I got voluntold to ride the tea cups and Quinn loved them. Hopefully she got my genetics and doesn't have motion sickness either!

Scar spent a lot of her time in the stroller...She is such a good baby!

Quinny loved the Dumbo ride and Autopia. By far her favorites.

 We got a great seat for the parade just in time for Quinn to fall asleep. Tyler tried to wake her up but she wasn't having it...until Minnie's voice came over the loud speaker and then she perked up and danced and sang and loved the parade!

We went out of the park for supper and came back just in time to see the princesses with almost no wait. Oh how Disneyland has changed since having kids...We also used our single stroller as a double. Yep we are stellar parents.

Quinn was tired and didn't want to meet Cinderella so she was hiding in the corner. Then Cinderella walked over and talked to her about her hair and her shoes in her sweet princess voice and won Quinn over. It was the sweetest thing!

We tried to stay for the fireworks but this is how our kids were watching them so we headed on home. This proves a successful day at Disneyland. I love that place. It really is the happiest place on earth. I can't wait to go back in a few years!

The day after Disneyland was Tyler's conference. I drove him and dropped him off. California traffic is intense! Then we spent the day at the hotel and by the pool. It was very relaxing and the weather was gorgeous. It was Scarlett's first time swimming and she loved it of course.

Tyler's cousins always talk about Chick-fil-A so we decided to try it and it was so worth it! I loved that their chicken nuggets were actual chicken not mystery meat. Let's just say I'm a fan and they can bring it to Canada anytime!

After lunch and a nice long nap we picked up Tyler and headed to Newport Beach. It was windy and getting late but we stayed for a couple hours. Quinn loved the water and I loved the sunset. It was so beautiful. I can't even imagine living in such an amazing place. 

On our last day we headed back to Los Angeles and had some time to kill before we had to catch our flight so we hit up Rodeo Drive and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This is my fourth time in LA and I have never been to either so it was about time. The walk of fame is busy and crowded but it was pretty cool and we made it out with no one getting lost or kidnapped so I consider it a success.

We made a quick stop to feed Scarlett at the LA temple which is beautiful of course. We were driving by and saw Moroni in the distance so we decided to make a quick stop. We dropped of the car and caught our plane home. It was delayed so when we got to our layover in Phoenix we were late. Tyler ran through the whole airport with our bags and I caught a ride luckily with the two kids. They held the plane for us so we literally ran from one plane to the next. Luckily all our carseats made it home and we were happy to be back in Edmonton. It sure was fun and I can't wait for our next family adventure.