Holidays 2011

I've been away for a while, so much catching up to do...
Where to begin?

The holidays were such a blur this year - many hours at work,
and much going on.

Grandma's Christmas party went off without a hitch again this year,
even without grandpa. He was missed though.


Had a very good turn out - most of the family was there except for a few out-of-state renegades...

Our little Christmas Eve gathering was less than perfect - a couple of the girls had the stomach flu, so they took turns leaving the room to... expel their demons (or, dinners.)



And we didn't do the annual Christmas morning breakfast, because we had to hurry and get ready for church.
(Our program was really nice though - even though Wayland got called out of the meeting to go with his brother to the hospital.)

Christmas morning



We spent Christmas day packing.

Early the next morning (we're talking 5-ish) we hit the road for California.
It was a long ride, especially with everyone in my son's family still sick. We arrived at our hotel around 4:00. We were all so beat, most of us went to bed as soon as we checked in!

But first thing the next morning, we were all raring to go!

Leaving the hotel Tuesday morning to catch the shuttle to the park.



Disneyland!



We rode every ride we could, from morning 'til night...

Jenny waiting to set sail on the pirate ship;


It's a Small World was by far the most festive:
(Hubby and I went twice)


Inside


We saw lots of celebrities:

Pooh Bear

Eyore

Tigger

Tinkerbell

Blue Fairy

Mickey


Photo opps a plenty;

Fairy door

Jeff meets White Rabbit;



The parade was exciting the first time we saw it, but after a few times, we started running whenever we started to see people line up - once you get in that mess of people, you can't get out!



You always expect to see strange animals in a place like this,
Santa's Reindeer



...but this poor house cat was definitely lost! (Spied him hanging out with the fairies.)


Random decorative shots:
Frontierland was very Christmasy;


New Orleans Square:



Chip & Dale's Treehouse:


Love Goofy's garden:


Always wondered where Santa goes when Christmas is over:



Millie got the chance to do battle with Darth Vader (which broke Arilie's heart when she wasn't chosen.)


The firework show was canceled for the duration of our stay, due to some insurance debaucle, but the lights at night were pretty;


I always wondered what Christmas time would be like in a place where there was no snow, but I think I could live with it...

We spent a little time at California Adventure too.
(But not much, totally different vibe there.)



Hubby and I left a little early on Thursday to drive down to San Diego to visit with his sister. The rest of the family joined us on Friday.
That afternoon, we convinced Kelsey (niece) to drive us to the beach.

At the beach at Del Mar:


We had so much fun, I'm so glad we took this opportunity to go. I don't think I would ever go at Christmas time again though - SO many people!

Melissa sent us a text telling us that she had seen on the news that Disneyland set a record this year for the most people in one spot at the same time. They were turning people away at the gate.
I totally believe it, it was crazy! We saw both of the football teams who would be playing in the Rose Bowl, (along with the rest of the world.)
I think it would be safe to say that every country, state, race and walk of life was represented there.

Well, that's our vacation in a nutshell. We arrived safe at home on New Year's Eve.

Not all is well though; note the sure sign that the end is truly coming in 2012...

Hubby drinking COKE! (California is NOT a Pepsi friendly state!)
.