Happiest Place on Earth

We just came back from a whirlwind trip to Disneyland and California Adventure.  We surprised the kids with the news and less than a day later, we touched down at the John Wayne Airport.

The last time I felt such bliss and pure joy of truly being in the moment of an experience was witnessing the total solar eclipse for 2 minutes of totality. I was overcome with emotion and felt unexpected tears of joy on my cheeks at moments in the park. Incredibly over the top cheesy sounding but so true. I couldn't stop smiling and laughing whether it was bonding with my family, taking all the sights in, or while on a ride.  They are all so good!  I was simply in awe of this man-made "happiest place on Earth."  What does this say about me having had a similar reaction to a man-made wonder as to a natural wonder?

 I had been such a skeptic of the park and didn't give it much thought throughout my life besides thinking about the crazy crowds, high prices, and long lines.   I regret not planning better and taking my Disney-loving sister and brother in law along.  I thought I was doing them a favor by not schlepping them along with our family tornado but we had such a memorable and fun family trip;  we missed not having them there too.  

The new Star Wars ride "Rise of the Resistance" in Disneyland is the best ride I've ever been on.  It's a 20 minute ride, interactive elements, fast ride through various scenes, simulations, holograms, and special effects.  Blew me away. I know Nate would say the same. Kids loved it but they were a touch scared at moments. Thinking about all the rides we took, there wasn't one ride we didn't like.  The other rides that stood out for us were Space Mountain, Autopia, Thunder Mountain, Astro Blasters, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, It's A Small World, Radiator Springs, Toy Story Mania, and Incredicoaster. Finishing off our whirlwind trip with the World of Color water show was some damn good icing on a delicious cake.

The level of commitment to creating the different settings inside the parks is top notch.  Every single detail as well as the customer service was mind blowing.  The fast pass technology was a smart decision by Disney - it's engineered so wisely with getting to do the rides you want with minimal wait yet making sure they are spaced out enough that you have to decide whether to wait in a longish line to take a ride you can't get a fast pass for.  Genius.

So, yes based on my blog post, it's quite possible that I had more fun than my kids.  We had to sugar them up with churros to keep their energy going late into the night.  Nate and I were not done. 

Hi, my name is Nicole, and I'm a Disney convert and a newly minted Disneyland fan.  

Iconic family shot

Elise's favorite ride was Thunder Mountain Railroad.  She rode it twice.

Goofy Sky School.  Paul was all about the rollercoasters until motion sickness kicked in towards the end of our trip.  Good thing there are plenty of non-rollercoaster rides too.

 Walking into Cars Land on our way to the Radiator Springs Racing ride.  Crazy cool. 

 Space Mountain.  Can you find our kids in this pic?  Yes, they were a little scared.

Autopia was a blast for my kids getting to drive cars with what Nate thinks were lawnmower engines.

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge area.  I had no idea that every detail of the area would look like you are in the Star Wars movie.  Even the vendors selling coke - coke was spelled differently as well as the shape of the bottles

More Star Wars

Sugaring them up with Churros to keep it going into the night.

Very happy and giggly Elise driving horribly on purpose to knock our car around.

 Pixar Pier

Toy Story Mania Ride - Lily's favorite

 While waiting in line, a ladybug came to say hi to Lily

Nate was really the only one to get wet on the Grizzly River Run splash ride

 Lily had her moments of freaking herself out before rides but she still went for it and always raved about them afterwards

 Learned how to draw Pluto at the animation academy

 After a great dinner at Lamplight Lounge, we got close up seats to watch the incredibly creative water and light show "World of Color." Just thinking about all the hours the engineers worked on this in the middle of the night to test it out.

2020 Start

I'm grateful for the pictures to help remember some really fun moments since 2020 began. It hasn't been the smoothest of starts to the year but no complaints. We've had a lot of fun moments and the kids are learning and laughing.  Besides soccer and tennis, Paul is spending a good amount of time trying out sarcasm and air quotes these days. I heard Paul tell Lily that Micky Mouse called and he wants his robe back.....it made zero sense but good effort.  He works hard for a laugh.  Elise treasures any time she gets using the Storyboard and Monument Valley apps, time with her friends, and eating sweets.  Lily is very focused on school, tennis, volleyball, and piano; she is having a rough go of it battling nasty lingering viruses. Feel for her. 

We have fit quite a bit in recently...gosh especially Elise looking at all the pictures.


Fondue family night is a tradition to mark the end of a year and the start of a new one.

STEM Like a Girl workshop at PSU was impressive.  Highly recommend. They had to design a moving sculpture out of the supplies provided.

 Girl Scout Cookie season is no joke.  Marked improvement for Elise's selling skills since last year .  Not so shy this year.

Lily and her friend Izzy co-hosted the school talent show.  They were quite the comedic hams up there with several wardrobe changes.

 Date with Elise getting a behind the scenes tour at the zoo.  Thanks Girl Scouts.

 It has now been a year since Lily and I started our weekly 6am tennis date mornings.  Love that time with her.  Love the sunrise on our way home from the courts.

 Oma and Opa despise the squirrels.  Don't mess with Oma and her bird food.  A couple shopping clicks later and now Paul and Opa enjoy squirting squirrels off the bird feeders with a water gun.  

 Super fun night with friends trying out the sport of Curling.  Definitely recommend.

 One of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen

  Nate has been busy taking the kids to the mountain when schedule allows.  Elise is really taking to snowboarding. 

 Presidents Day weekend in Seattle for Lily's 3 day volleyball tournament.  The trip was a total bust due to a nasty virus but Nate, Paul, and Elise managed to escape for a day to downtown Seattle.  

 Drove Paul up to Tacoma to take home a 1st place trophy in a tennis tournament.  Wait - Paul said he would never play this tournament again because he didn't actually get a trophy.  Getting 1st place didn't suffice.  I can't say it enough - playing tennis with any of my kids brings me such joy.

 Elise got to take a friend with Dad to a Blazers game for a belated Christmas present

Moxie has definitely landed quite comfortably into the hearts and laps of Oma and Opa.

Elise has been living it up with Girl Scouts lately.  First Aid lesson with a doctor, tour of an animal hospital, behind the scenes zoo tour, upcoming overnight troop trip at a horse stable, and here powering the water hose at the local fire station.  Elise is living it up and learning lots.