Our California Adventure At California Adventure And Other Adventures

I recently got back from a busy week and a half.  We did so much and it included the boys' first day at a Disney park.  Here is what we did.

We flew into San Diego on a Thursday and visited my in-laws.  The boys did well on the plane.  We entertained them with snacks, books, stuffed animals and stickers for a while and then we broke out the iPad.  What did parents do on planes before apps???  The games kept them busy for most of the flight.

Thursday we got to play with grandma and grandpa and the cousins.  Friday afternoon we headed up towards L.A. to visit my cousin who was having his bar mitzvah.  My parents, brother and cousin flew in for the celebration too.

The boys were not happy sitting in the synagogue listening to a religious service.  They were screaming when we took them into the service so we wound up playing with some puzzles in the lobby.  After the service and the reception we didn't get the boys to bed until nearly 10:00 p.m.  Saturday morning was the big service and again it was impossible to get a two year old to sit through a religious ceremony which was half in Hebrew.  After the service, though, was a lunch and that's when the boys realized how much fun their cousins can be.  The boys started warming up to playing with other kids.  There was another party at night filled with games, ice cream and lots of running around.  

Sunday was Disney day.  We headed to California Adventure and spent most of the day at the Bug's Life area.  The boys were miserable when we first got there.  Sensory overload and messed up nap time for three days will do that to you when you're only two years old.  However, after the first ride you could see that look of "Wait a minute...what's going on?" on their faces and by the time we were done with the second ride they were hooked.  They realized this was a day of playing.  Their favorite ride was the spinning ladybugs.  They could have stayed on that all day.  

Derek and I even got to go on one adult ride, The Tower of Terror, while the boys napped.  

It was so much fun to have all the familes together.  

The next few days were spent playing with the family.  

I don't post much online when I'm away.  I don't like to announce I'm out of town.  However, I couldn't resist posting a quick video of our lady bug ride.  As luck would have it my amazing surrogate was in southern California too.  She was staying about 15 minutes from my in-law's house.  We had a big party for all of the San Diego people we know and our surrogate and her family was able to come.  It was so nice to see her, get to know her fiancee and his son, and see her son who has grown up so much in the four years we have known him.  What a nice surprise.

The vacation was crazy, exhausting and so much fun.  I'm so glad we got to spend time with everyone.