Sunny San Diego

It was crazy, insane but oh so much fun. The Royce family ventured West to the sunny California coast. 10 adults and 10 grandbabies we were ready for some fun. For the most part we were all headed in the same direction but some days we did our own thing. I haven't been to CA for many many years and there was so much Curtis and I wanted to do and see together that our vacation was a little more sensory overload than relaxing. (plus our kids were free everywhere we went so that helped in the decision making) We did the Southern CA city pass which got us 3 days at Disneyland, Zoo (or wild animal park), Sea World & Universal Studios (which we opted not to do)
It was great to spend time with our family and our kids loved the time with their cousins.
Gus and little miss absolutely adore each other. They both light up when they see each other. Gus is constantly asking about her and wants to play with her all day long. my favorite now is when she giggles at him and wiggles her way to play with him.

 part of our New Years Eve celebration... visit seal beach. This beach is just litter with these tubby, somewhat lazy creatures.

 Rory and Jennine found these killer mask-capes from the swap meet we went to. They were fantastic

SEA WORLD

 Oh my goodness, this was one of mine and Curtis' highlights. We had never been before and it was incredible. Mimmi joined us for the day and it was so fun to see everything

 Something we should have thought about: purchasing dozens of these ponchos from the dollar store to resell. we were sitting in the high part of the splash zone and had so many people ask where we got our ponchos. Sea World was selling theirs for like $8! we could have made so much money! the funny part to us was how upset people got when Shamu actually splashed in the splash zone. This was like drenched/soaking wet kind of splashed, but when you sit that close you had to have seen that coming especially with all the signs warning you. But still people got TICKED!

 SAN DIEGO ZOO

 The Crisciones joined us at the zoo on this beautiful sunny day. My only regret is I wish we would have spent more time here. This place is massive. We did take the bus tour around, which was nice to see so much in the amount of time we had. The food was pricey but in my opinion pretty good!
This hippo was a hoot! There were 2 hippos in here, with a monkey. This monkey kept teasing and teasing these poor hippos. I thought for sure we were going to witness some wild behavior and pay back on the hippos part but the monkey was too quick. he would swing on this branch, jump on the hippos head and taunt him then jump back to his branch in safety. The hippo would open his mouth wide as if trying to eat the monkey. It was hilarious!

This was on the sky tram they have over the zoo. The kiddos loved it!

 DISNEYLAND

There are many things to be said about Disneyland and many lessons learned:

• When going to Disneyland do pack not 1 but at least 2 extra outfits for both babies and yourself
• Don’t forget to bring your stroller on a vacation where you are visiting more than enough attractions
• Do budget and extra $100 for a trip emergency fund for unplanned expenses
• 
• You can plan, and plan and plan some more. But there will always be unexpected things to throw your plan off kilter!
• Don’t rely solely on cell service or internet service to deliver your plan, it just might be crowded enough to jam all cell towers
• Do remember that you are a family and you are going to have fun no matter what happens!
• If your kid is insistent to wear his pajama shirt just because mickey is plastered all over them, let him. Especially if he is that passionate about something
• Do make sure your portable dvd player works, for those restless moments in the car
• 
  Don’t go to Disneyland on one of the busiest days of the year
• If you don’t follow previous lesson, learn how to bulldoze your way through a crowd
• Do work the system! Fast pass+baby swap= will help you keep some sanity!
• Do eat a monte cristo sandwich from Cafe Orleans in Disneyland (oh and order some fries with it too
• Don’t forget your camera! If you do bring camera, don’t forget to take pictures!
• 

  Keep CALM!
• Do eat out on killer restaurant coupons (House of Blues!! $1 for $25 worth of food)
• Don't be disappointed if your child wont give you any "money shots" Gus rarely will let me get a picture of his dazzling smile. he just likes to give the smolder.
• Do scream your head off and belly laugh on Splash Mountain! Even if you are with complete strangers
• 
  Do remember you are there to have fun. Try not to get caught up in everything else that you forget that you are there to play!  

(world of color)

 

On the first day of Disney we rolled out of bed today we had such high hopes and fantastic intentions. Then we were quickly shot down. We had a little bit of a late start and traffic wasn’t wonderful (Immigration had a road block up and was stopping every other car). Since we are geniuses and forgot our stroller at home we figured we might as well buy a new one instead of pay the $20 a day to rent one. So our first stop was the Target just a few blocks away. I brought Gus man inside with me and shortly after check out noticed something rank. My son who was demanding to be held had severe diarrhea. Not only had it leaked all up and down his body, from his sweatshirt, clear to his socks but to my delight/sheer horror was all over me. So… back into Target I went.   By the time we got to Disneyland the lines stretched so long. It was packed.

It was stressful. It was frustrating. It was annoying. But it was Disneyland, I couldn't resist smiling and laughing and get stuck in the nostalgia of it all

 Initially we purchased the ridemax app (read more about that here) This would be a fantastic app for people planning a Disney trip. I say people, not families well maybe families with small children on insanely busy days. It definitely had some awesome pointers/tips and tricks and helped us organize our days in the park but the schedule made it difficult. It doesn't have a way to factor in baby swap (I later learned after I got an email from the owner that they suggest using the baby swap passes during your free time in the schedule) Yes I like having a plan and trying to be efficient. I also like to fly by the seat of my pants. I think that is the Royce in me. When we vacation we have a basic itinerary but also leave a lot of things open to spontaneity.

(the holiday parade, it was fun to see all the characters but it was so hot! This was our final day at Disney and we didn't have a whole lot of time. I wish we would have taken this time to do more stuff, ride more rides rather than sitting and watching the parade)

(waiting at the parade in the heat, can you see how sweaty and hot we all are)

(House of Blues... Yumm. They were a little annoyed that we were a large group, split into 4 tables so we could use our certificates but they were kind and worked with us)

Our trip was excited, busy, at times relaxing, family filled and absolutely wonderful! I never really understood those Mickey fanatics... I understand now. There is something inspiring, joyful and magical about all the places we visited. Hopefully it wont be another 10 years before I go back!

My family is wonderful, big, loud, crazy, fun, funny and I love them.