DISNEYLAND WITH RILEY AND PARKER

Riley and Parker chose for their trip with Grammy and Granddad, Disneyland.  Shocker!  We flew out of Provo which was so nice.  Erik picked us up June 1^st at 8:30 AM. We were all so excited.  Riley had spent the night with Parker so they could be close.  Our flight was wonderful.  It was a full flight.  We arrived in Los Angeles and went straight to the Super Shuttle which took us to the Castle Inn Hotel.  

Riley

We checked in and went straight to Down Town Disney.  The day before we left I had dropped a huge window grate on my feet and was afraid I wouldn’t be able to walk well but all was perfect.  (Of course the cortisone shot and the steroid pills didn’t hurt.)  We started at the Lego store to see what was on display.  It was amazing.  We have no idea how they make such incredible formations.

  The Innovemtions (in Tomorrowland) was also interesting. (This actually occurred later in the week, but so what.)

 It was just fun to be together.  Parker was our guide and took us to every souvenir store there.  Later we ate at Tortilla Joes and had such good meals.  We finally went to our room and turned in for the night. 

Monday we got up early so we could get to the park when it opened.  I awakened them with the BYU fight song.  They loved it I’m sure.  We had a devotional 2 of the 4 days.  Slipped up on 2 of them.

 They wanted to do Disneyland the first day and went right to the Jungle Ride and then souvenir shops. Remember when Parker was little and kept his eyes glued to the map all day?  Now he was glued to my phone for 4 days (traded a map for an "ap") and knew every souvenir shop and what was in each one the entire time. He continually reported on the facts of the park and life without even taking a breath.  We got such a kick out of him.  Riley is now filled with such knowledge.  We did every ride they wanted and were thrilled when they got granddad wet on the log ride.  We love Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion and Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Riley went on Indiana Jones and we just did everything we wanted. 

 Parker insisted we do the Winnie the Pooh ride.  I have great memories of the little girls on that ride. 

See how excited Riley is?

I have no idea about this picture.

We never had to wait in a line for very long.  We ate anything we wanted whenever we wanted.  We had their wonderful corn dogs for lunch.  We love those.  We went back to the hotel for a rest (The boys were tired and wanted to swim. We way out did them,)  We went back in the park and played, watched the parade and stayed for Fantasmic.  We all loved that show.  We ate at Captain Kidds which was not very good food.  We dropped into bed. The boys were almost asleep before family prayer.  What a great day.

Tuesday they decided to do California Adventure.  Again I awakened them with my beautiful singing. The minute we got in Parker guided us to the Radiator Springs Racers fast pass line. It was a 55 min wait so it was good to get a fast pass. 

have no idea where this is

 We then went on Soaring over California, Riley insisted we do this ride, which had no line at all.  We all loved that ride.  

Riley went alone on this ride.  He got a headache.  Go figure.

Riley did this ride in honor of his sisters.  He styled Parker's hair.

The boys went on the California Screamin’ 3 times.  I think they were a little dizzy after that.  There is no way I can tell all the things we did in this blog but believe me we did all we wanted and then some.  Radiator Springs is worth going to if one did nothing else. 

 It so reminded us of San Juan and the beauty of the red rock cliffs there. 

no idea when or where I took this picture

 It was Parker’s 13^th birthday and I got him a pin that said Happy Birthday so everyone he passed wished him a Happy Birthday.  We think he still missed his family.  He is such a fine young man who wants and tries so hard to do the right things.  We are so proud of the way he looks after us.  He was always stopping to make sure we were okay and that we didn't need anything. 

hair by Riley

 He excels in school and gets all A's.  He loves taking different kinds of classes and wants to know something or everything about all things.  His love is football which he also does well.   He knows the ins and outs of that game.  We love watching him.  He honors his priesthood which is most important to us and he loves his family which was shown by how important the right gift was for each one.  
We did the other rides there and even went on Tower of Terror. 

 Parker was so tipsy from Screamin’ he didn’t do the tower. Again the boys were tired so we went back to the hotel for our daily rest. (Which we were grateful for) When we went back we told him we would eat wherever he wanted for his birthday. 
 He chose Flo’s Cafe and boy was that a great meal. 

 It was just like home cookin’  Again we did whatever they wanted and Parker took us to all the gift shops.  He was constantly on my phone seeing how long the waits were and what gift was the right one for his brothers.  Those two boys were so kind, polite and fun the entire time.  It was rewarding just to be with them.  Both boys ran into families from home while in the park.  We did some more Radiator Springs.

 We had passes to the World of Color that evening and it was also amazing.  After the show we headed back to the hotel.  I think Riley was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

The last day they decided to go to California Adventure first and then end the day with Disneyland. 

The boys wanted to try something different. Right!

It was not crowded at all so we did all we wanted and then went back to Disneyland.  Another corn dog, Mickey pretzels, ice cream, junk from home and our favorite Dole pineapple drinks, more junk food and just fun.  We did Star Tours 4 times in all and loved every second.  We even went on the Peter Pan ride.  We did Pirates again and visited every gift shop again.  I even bought something.  

The boys were really tired so we headed back to the hotel to rest and swim.  We did more in Disneyland and then headed to Down Town Disney again.  Gosh we loved everything.  We ate at the ESPN Zone while we watched the hockey game.  Parker order a hot dog that was bigger than him.  It was half a pound and covered his plate.  Riley ordered a hamburger that he could not get his mouth around.  

We think Parker could have finished his hot dog if he hadn’t had 4 glasses of Power Aid, and all his French fries first. 

unfinished

 He was headed to the boys room before we left.  We laughed our heads off.  That boy can eat all day.  We were shocked that Riley finished all his dinner and many drinks. 

After we finished our meal.

 We took the monorail back to Disneyland and told the boys we were going back to the hotel but they wanted to stay until the park closed.  Before we even got to the hotel they called to say they were too tired to stay so we all went back together.  I don’t know how we could have had more fun.  What great memories we have of these two young men and the time we were able to spend together.  We love them so much.
Something to cheer you is the new prices at Disneyland.   Ouch!

We had a time stuffing all the souvenirs in our bag but we made it.  We had to juggle things to be within our weight at the airport the next morning but all ended well.  Erik met us at the airport and we went to our house to get things straight and then they headed to Erik’s.

I was thinking about the wonderful time we had with two such prepared young men when I thought of Helaman's stripling young warriors.  They had been taught in their youth to serve the Lord and follow the teachings of their parents.  They did not waver when needed to leave home and fight for their homes families and their God.    I felt such tender yearnings as I thought of the mothers and fathers who sent their sons to fight grown men.  How hard that must have been.  We honor them and the example set for us to strengthen our faith in our Savior. These two young men are of the same caliber. They have been taught while yet in their youth. They are sons of God and will always follow Him.  They love their Savior, Jesus Christ, and their families.  They will help in bringing the world His truth.  We love them so much. 

We met the three boys and their families a few hours later at Deer Creek Reservoir so Clark. Erik and Scott could swim in preparation for their tri next weekend. 

Clark, Scott, Erik

We just brought our own food and played in the water and had a great time.  Even Ashley and Tyler were there.

Asher and Nixon after a swim

 Friday we got up and spent 5 hours in the garden.  There were more weeds than veggies.  We were so tired.  We then went to SLC to see Milt.  He was so improved.  He talked to us for an hour.  He is off all machines and doing much better.

Saturday we got up early and worked in the yard again. 

lunch break

 The boys came to mow the lawns and we tended Ava and Nixon so we had a huge water game and they shot each other with water guns. 

 What a fun time.  We love being with family.  It is the great plan our Father in Heaven has freely given us if we but live the Doctrine of Christ.  We love our family and the restored gospel.  It blesses us daily.