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Sean's mom and dad arrived at our house on February 12 and the next morning we all got in the Suburban and drove down to the Los Angeles area. We were going to spend a few days with Sean's grandfather who would be having surgery to remove lung cancer within a week or so. We visited with Grandpa (and Grandma) Johnson on Friday and then took Aunt Laurie with us to Disneyland on Saturday. Then visited with Grandpa again on Sunday before driving home. The trip down was planned quickly and Disney was thrown in at the last minute. Thankfully we had time and money to do both. Sean's Grandpa went in for his surgery on Tuesday, February 18 and the doctor's feel they got all the cancer. Please pray for him to heal quickly and regain his appetite which he lost prior to surgery. He is a fighter, but needs our prayers as well.
Here are a some pictures from Disneyland. We decided not to take any with Grandpa Johnson as he was not feeling well. That would have been mean of us, but when we go down there next time we will get some of the kids and their Great-Grandparents.
Here is Everyone walking down Main Street on our way to It's a Small World.
Disney has changed the music and lights inside It's a Small World and add the Disney Characters. Here are some of the pictures Sean was able to take when on the ride. They are more characters, so you will have to go for a ride and see.
This was my favorite new addition to It's a Small World.
Since I wanted to get a picture of Hayley on the ride I decided to stay off. He is the rest of them in line for the Matterhorn. It was funny that we ended up at Disneyland as we had just measured Hayley and Trevor. She was so excited that she was able to do the big kid rides. The last time we went to a Disney Park was in May 2007 (I know it has been a long time) and Hayley was only 39.5 inches. She was too small for the big kid rides and they did not have the Matterhorn at Disney World. Trevor was able to do that one at Disneyland just before he turned 3 due to his height.
About to get on the ride.
You can barely see Hayley in front of Sean.
At the very end of the ride.
She has a smile on her face. When she got off she told Sean, "That was awesome." She liked everything except the Snowman guy.
Here is Hayley in the front of the line just about to go on Space Mountain. Yes, Space Mountain. She absolutely loved it. We are very fortunate to have wild kids like us. It will make our cross country Amusement Park vacation in a few years even better.
This was the best picture I could get of Trevor and Papa Bear. The last time he was at Disneyland with Trevor I am not sure they had this ride.
Grammy was excited to be able to ride with Hayley on this ride. This was the first time Grammy and Papa Bear have been to Disneyland with Hayley. They moved from Huntington Beach to South Dakota in 2004 just months before Hayley was born.
This picture came out just as I wanted. I was going for a picture that looked like the person holding the camera was also in the picture. Can you guess if Laurie or myself is holding the camera?
The kids just before going on Star Tours. This was Hayley's first time on this ride as well.
This was taken in line for the Haunted Mansion. How handsome.
After Haunted Mansion, Sean introduced Aunt Laurie to a Pineapple Dole Whip.
She had never had one before and really like it. I had a Mickey Mouse Shaped Pretzel instead.
We paid a bit extra and were able to visit California Adventure on the same day as well.
Sean and the kids on the way to Soaring Over California.
After we got our Fast Pass for Soaring we went over to Tower of Terror. Sean, Trevor and I have been on this before, but for Grammy, Hayley and Papa Bear it was their first time. They all did great and Hayley even called this her favorite ride today.
Laurie and Trevor all ready for Toy Soy Midway Mania in California Adventure.
Sean and Hayley rode this together. Grammy and Papa Bear are in the car behind me so no pictures of them or me. Sorry, I know you wanted to see the 3 of us as well.
The line for Midway Mania took about 45 minutes and by the time we were done on the ride the Fireworks in Disneyland had already started. So we just got as close to the front of California Adventure as we could and watched from there. Here are pictures of the fireworks as seen from inside California Adventure. I really like that we watched them through the Golden Gate Bridge as soon this will be gone from the park.
This picture is my favorite.
It was one of the last ones I took, but for some reason the bridge is dark and the fireworks are incredibly bright. I think it looks really cool.
This was taken on Lombard Street in San Francisco. Why is Sean holding a penguin on a stick you ask? Well, Sean's Mom Terry sent us this penguin from the elementary school she works with in South Dakota. The 3rd grade class is learning about Geography and so they sent these penguins to family and friends all over the United States and we in turn took the penguin around town and took his/her picture. Hayley said our penguin was a boy. We chose to go to San Francisco and show Mr. Penguin around. We also collected brochures and other things that will help the students learn about the SF Bay Area. Here are a few of the other places we (I mean Mr. Penguin visited).
AT & T Park. This was taken when we drove by. It was funny because the people walking on the street even stopped so they would not be in the picture. I just smiled and said, "Thank you, I am doing a project for school with my penguin." I bet they hear that all the time.
The Famous McCovey Cove behind AT & T Park.
After AT & T Park we took Mr. Penguin down the Embarcadero.
Alcatraz
Trevor and I decided we had to be in the picture with Mr. Penguin since he can't stand up by himself, especially with a ruler strapped to his back.
Coit Tower to Mr. Penguin's right and the TransAmerica Building to his left.
The Golden Gate Bridge (taken from Pier 39).
Forbes Island and the Sea Lions that live at Pier 39.
