our California Aventure days 8&9

Day 8...our last day :(
We had a plan to go to California Adventure first so we slept in a tad and had a good breakfast @ IHOP.
We met Grandma (Grandpa still sick) by the "C" in the California sign and we were off. Thought we'd try to get everything we wanted to o here done just after opening and then spend the majority of the day at Disneyland.
We went on the Grizzly River Run and somehow I ended up soaked and everyone else was only damp!!! Oh well, it was a blast and it didn't take long in the California sun to dry.
We headed back to Bugsland for Gavin. We met Flik on the way in...he was funny!
Gavin got Grandma to go on the Heimlich Chew Chew train one more time and all the the rides in Bugsland!! (or so we thought)

We took Grandma to see the Tough to be a bug show...noone told her anything about what would happen either...it was pretty funny!
Waiting in line for the Monsters Inc ride, we saw this huge butterfly and of course Grandma wanted a pic....

Coming off the Monsters Inc ride, we were greeted by the Disney Dream Team. For those of you that don't know, this is "The Year of a Million Dreams" and we had won...what we weren't sure. All we knew was we had to try to get some extra passes for those family members that weren't with us and then to be at the Hollywood Pictures backlot stage at 8pm with our pass. While we waited for Brian, Zack and Carsyn to come out of the Muppets 3D show, we saw a stage performance that included Sorcerer Mickey, Cowboy Woody and Cinderella. Each of the Characters stayed for autographs and the boys chose to meet Woody.

On our way out we met Dopey...

We went back to the hotel for one las t dip in the pool. I stayed in the room to do some very creative packing so everything would fit in the suitcases. I love these shots that Brian got of the boys...

We went back in time to catch the one parade we hadn't seen yet...Disney's Pixar Play Parade...it was awesome. Here's a sampling:

Before we left Californian Adventure, we went to see the Turtle Talk with Crush show and the Dream Team was there handing out more passes so it worked out perfectly that the rest of our family had one too!
So, we go to the location and fins out we won an extra hour in California Adventure...after the park closed...how cool is that!! We had access to all the attractions and basically no line ups!!
The thirll seekers headed off to California Screamin...Zack and Carsyn were sooo excited that their Dad had agreed to go on it... and the rest of us went one final time to Bugsland. Gavin said he had to go on all the rides one more time because he was going to miss them all sooo much! So we did...all of us made that little boy very happy going on the rides with him...one last time!
Walking out of Bugsland, he started to cry! I had to carry him and try to tell him it wpuld be ok...that someday, maybe we could come back and visit, that we had tons of pictures and video and he would never forget...all the while trying to hold back the tears myself (even as I type this I'm getting a bit teary eyed).
We went on the Monsters Inc ride yet again, while Brian took Grandpa Bud on the Tower of Terror. The kids didn't want to go again but Brian wasn't leaving till he rode it at least once more!
We all gathered in Sunshine square but Brian decided he had to go buy a "I survived the Tower of Terror" shirt and as we were waiting, Mickey and Minnie were near the exits. Gavin wanted to go say goodbye and Thanked Mickey for the best holiday ever...okay, I'm crying now and I couldn't stop when he said that to Mickey either.
So, with that, we made our final exit from California Adventure park and headed back to Disneyland to shut it down!
The one ride no one had been on but was a must was Splash Mountain. Gavin wasn't having anything to do with it and Grandpa's back was bugging him, so the 2 of them stayed with Grandma and the 5 of us headed off. I can't believe that I was about to do this!! I don't do rides...what was I thinking! I was thinking that the boys and Brian really really really wanted me to do with one thing with them and I couldn't let them down! If there had been a line up, I might have talked myslef out o it but darn it...we walked right on and before we knew it...off we were. I don't need to say anything...this picture really is worth a 1000 words (gawd...I can't believe I'm about to show people this...lol)





this pic was taken just as we started to fall from the final drop...I knew it was going to be bad when just before we fell, Brian, who had a birds eye view, hollered, "holy sh*t"...he wanted to go again but once was enough for the rest of us!

And with that, it was over. Our final day at Disneyland had come to an end. It was a slow and teary stroll back to the hotel. After we left the gates and made our way toward the street, the 3 youngest boys started sobbing and of course their mom joined them...pretty much all the way back to the hotel.

Overall, we had the most amazing time. Of course there were a few moments at the beginning that caused some stresses but that's to be expected I guess. Once we got in the groove of things we loved being there together at the happiest place on Earth!
Even Brian, who wasn't sold on the idea at first was sooo happy we had gone...especially cause our kids had soooo much fun! I even got all caught up in the magical atmosphere and found myself wide eyed with amazement. The pixie dust had a magical effect on us all. It really was the trip of a lifetime!!

Day 9...coming home
Not knowing what traffic was going to be like, we headed out extra early to make it back in time to return our rental and get shuttled back to the airport. Made good time and upon checking in, found out the flight was delayed due to a snowstorm in Calgary! What? Are you kidding?

We ended up with 6 hours at the airport! We ate, shopped at the duty free store and made good use of the go fish cards, drawing paper, activity books and our ipods while we waited to board our flight home...





After a very long day and drive home after landing, we finally pulled in the driveway at 2:45am! Every one of us was exhausted but we all agreed it was worth it!!!

Two days after being home, we had already started planning our next family vacation!!