Disneyland - Part II

In no particular order, here are some photos from our wonderful few days at Disneyland! I have to admit, I was skeptical about the Disney experience, thinking it would be gaudy, in-your-face marketing, but I was wrong. Yes, there are a million places to buy Disney paraphernalia, but the whole concept of Disneyland is just so impressive, appealing to adults and children alike. I was won over immediately (and not just by the Pirates Suite!).

Nana & Julia in the princess outfit that G-da got her (you can tell which photos are from the first day because that was the only day she didn't wear her princess dress)


"Hey, Mickey? Yep, I'm here in Disneyland. Where are you?"
(Liam's new favorite past time...talking on the 'phone')


Playing the steel drums in Tarzan's Treehouse

"But mom, it's a lot quicker if you just crawl under this pesky ole rope"
Liam didn't understand the concept of waiting in line

The lines weren't actually all that bad, and with lots to look at Julia didn't usually mind the wait

Waiting with sleeping Liam

Except for the scary tunnel filled with giant dinosaurs, the train that went around the whole perimeter of the park was great fun!

Skipping down Main Street


Watching a parade


Mesmerized by Playhouse Disney- Live .... best thing we did! Both children absolutely loved the show!

Dancing along to Handy Manny


Nana's favorite character meet-and-greet


The children weren't the only ones excited by the candy shop!


Relaxing during a parade


Tired princess with her giant baloon


Hanging out on Main Street

If you look closely enough you can see Nana, G-da, & Liam on the Alice in Wonderland ride

Relaxing at our banquet table after a long day at Disney

Disneyland - Part I

As usual, this post is long overdue... The children and (more importantly) I survived the 13-hour flight from Brisbane to LA. Although they only slept for about 3 hours total, they did as well as could be expected. Julia thought it was such a treat to get virtually unlimited TV-viewing time, which left me free to wrangle monkey-man Liam as he tried to crawl over the seats and out of the plane. Liam is a little ham though when he's got an audience, so once he discovered that he could stand up in the carseat facing the back of his seat and "perform" (i.e. crowing and squealing) for row upon row of people behind him, he was pretty content. He also got some good walking practice as he and Julia and I did laps around the plane...walking down a narrow aisle on a slope in the middle of turbulence is a great way for a 1-yr-old to improve his balance!

No matter how well a flight goes, when you're traveling by yourself with 2 toddlers on a 13-hour flight, you're gonna be completely exhausted by the time you actually get off the plane. It was such a joy to finally clear customs with 2 tired littlies and a lot of luggage and be greeted by my parents who were well-rested (for perhaps the last time on this visit) and ready to help! We somehow managed to get us all on the Disneyland Express and headed straight to the Disneyland Hotel. Julia excitedly chatted with Nana & G-da about seeing Mickey Mouse and Cinderella.

Checking-in

When we got to the hotel (around 10am) they told us our rooms wouldn't be ready till 3pm. I was so ready for a shower and a chance to unload all our stuff, and I must have just looked and sounded incredibly pitiful when I said to the lady, "Is there ANY other room that might be ready now?" She said to wait a minute and then disappeared into the back. When she came back, the manager was with her, and they were both grinning. "I think you'll like this room," she said, and she told us to come with her to just "check and see if it'll work for us."

They ushered us into the elevator and up to the top floor of the hotel. Down at the end of one hall, beyond all of the ordinary hotel-room doors was a set of dark wooden double doors and a doorbell. She pressed the doorbell, opened the door, and as "A Pirate's Life for Me" played on the doorbell, she showed us into the Pirates of the Carribean Suite. As we all stared wide-eyed and grinning, they gave us the tour of the penthouse suite.

Our entry hall

Looking from the entry hall into the living area with banquet table, chandelier, fireplace, bar...oh yeah, and a lot of the actual props from the Pirates of the Carribean movie (e.g. Jack Sparrow's gun). Basically the only thing missing was Johnny Depp himself!


The living room

Part of the view from mine and Julia's bedroom (looking down you could see the pool). From our living room we could see the fireworks each night, and the balcony went around the whole place. I didn't get any photos of the master bedroom but it was massive!

As we walked around we kept waiting for the "catch", but there wasn't one. I never win anything, and suddenly we'd been upgraded from the most basic room to the nicest suite in the hotel (which we were told normally rents for $7000/night!) at no extra charge! When we asked why we were so lucky, the manager said. "We just like to make a little magic!" Welcome to Disneyland!!!!

After we got over the awe and shock of the suite, we headed to Downtown Disneyland for lunch at Brennan's. Julia slept through a delicious meal, but Liam enjoyed his lunch and lots of people-watching from our patio seats.

Sharing his grilled cheese with G-da

By the time we actually entered the Disneyland park, though, both children were sound asleep...
It actually worked out well though, because we walked all around while they slept, getting our bearings and scoping out the best toddler-friendly rides for when they woke up. More on that soon....

Easter at Wivenhoe

Every Easter Matt's family gathers at Wivenhoe Dam. Peter (Matt's dad's cousin) and his wife Jennie have a house there with lots of land and horses -- perfect for camping out while still having access to all the amenities, including a lot of good food! This year my exams started the week after Easter, so Matt took the children to Wivenhoe on Friday, and I stayed home studying till Sunday then went to join them. Julia and Liam had a fabulous time with lots of cousins to dote on them and keep them busy (I think Matt even got a bit of a break despite my absence).

A small slice of the view of Wivenhoe Dam

Not sure what Matt was going for with the first few of these posed pictures, but here are some glimpses of the family...

Taylor


Jennie & Greg (family friend)Connor, Jessie-Claire, Tobias

Happy Liam playing with the pebbles by the BBQ grill --
'Hey Mom, look at these great snacks I found!'


Peter (Jon's cousin) with Jon & Liam -- Julia calls Matt's dad 'Pop' and when she saw Peter with similar features (including a moustache), she began calling him 'Uncle Pop'

This year for our big Easter dinner, we had a traditional New Zealand 'Hungi'. I'd never heard of a Hungi (traditional or non-traditional), so I was interested to see the process which began with digging a huge pit in the ground. It's a lot more involved than your average pig roast (not that I'm entirely clear on the process there either), and the preparations took nearly 3 days! Rocks are placed in the pit and then the food is prepared...

Pound after pound of meats (lamb, chicken, pork) were placed into these foil-lined crates. Potatoes, cabbage, and corn went into other crates, and then the crates were placed on top of the pit on sticks (I think) with a fire over the top. They poured ice onto the hot rocks below to create steam and halfway through the cooking process, the crates then drop down onto the hot rocks. I'm sure there was a lot more to it than that, but the result was some incredibly tender meat and delicious veggies! Quite an experience!


**Pictures from our USA trip coming soon***

Bunny Eggventures

The weekend before Easter, the Ipswich Rail Museum (a current favorite destination) put on the "Bunny Eggventures"-- a day of Easter-themed train activities (or train-themed Easter activities)...either way, it was a great outing! Julia and I usually have most of Saturday as a girls' day out. She has gymnastics first thing in the morning, and I take her to that and then out for morning tea and an activity most weekends. Meanwhile, Liam and Matt have a boys morning together and then head to Gymboree. So after gymnastics, Julia and I headed over to Ipswich and ended up spending most of the day there!

We started with some of the standard favorites....

The Thomas-the-tank-engine bouncy house is always a hit!

Climbing over the train bridge

And the first of many kid-sized trains to drive.


Then the Easter bunny stopped in for a visit...

Julia wasn't interested in waiting in line for a proper photo (which was fine with me!), but she was VERY interested in his basket of chocolate eggs!

We spent awhile at the craft station, decorating Easter bonnets and coloring in pictures of bunnies (too busy there to take pictures). Then we headed to the 'Little Nippers' train station....

Driving her car to the station

Have to buy a ticket to board the train

All aboard!

Doing some construction work on the rails...have to put on a helmet!

While everything was fun at the Museum, the absolute highlight of our day out was getting to ride the real train! On these special event weekends, they have an old-fashioned steam train that goes for a couple of hours on a scenic tour of rural Queensland. I was a little hesitant about it (once you're on it, there's no getting off for the full 2 hours), but I'm glad I took the gamble because Julia absolutely loved it and so did I!

Cushy leather seats from back when riding trains was a luxury -- very comfortable!

Julia was glued to the window before we even left the station

Looking up at the massive bridge supports as we crossed over the river

More views from the bridge

We spent a lot of time out on the verandahs between the carriages

Julia tried out the sleeping berths


Great day out! We're ready for the next adventure!