Let the Disneyland Family Vacation Begin

For many months the Thomas family had been looking forward to our big Disneyland vacation and finally it was upon us.

With one small glitch...

Glen and I had planned to drive to California a day or two ahead of the rest of the family and enjoy a little bit of alone time before the big invasion.

Well, apparently nobody told G&K of our plans because they went and planned a big general managers meeting those days and Glen was required to attend because he needed to make presentations during the meetings. UGH!!

Plan B then went into effect with me driving our car to California and him flying in a plane to California from Minnesota. He's the one that LOVES to DRIVE and I'm the one stuck driving ALL THE WAY BY MYSELF! The injustice of it all!!

I asked him before he left town if the car was all ready to make the long drive or if we needed to change the oil or something like that. He assured me it was good to go.

The day before the road trip, imagine my dismay when I got in the car and saw a yellow warning light. Thankfully it only required a little air in the tires. Apparently when the temperature gets cold, it affects tire air pressure.

Another thing to be thankful for was both Rebecca and Sarah were willing to have me caravan with them to California.

A third thing to be thankful for was I chose to go with Sarah's family. They were stopping at Jeff's parents' second home in St. George for the night and we were able to get there in good time before dark.

Rebecca's family got a late start and didn't get to St. George until the middle of the night.

The next morning we were off and on our way to Anaheim with a stopover in Vegas for an early In-n-out lunch.

It was so fun to be back at the same place we rented two years ago almost this exact same week of September. We love the cute murals on the walls of Belle's Castle House in Anaheim. Claire quickly made herself at home in the toy room.

Rebecca and Dallas were going to stay in their same bedroom, but when we saw this unexpected addition to that room, their children claimed the new bunk bed for themselves and that left their parents in the Peter Pan room sleeping in twin beds.

The princess room Glen and I sleep in had new beautifully painted princess blinds hanging on the windows.

Glen had arrived at the house about the time the Excells and I were arriving, so it worked out perfectly. Sarah got busy ordering pizza for the group while Glen and I went grocery shopping.

The big kitchen/dining/living rooms are so spacious and easily accommodated the 26 of us. Glen got right to work the next morning fixing his famous French toast breakfast for the masses.

 Logan loved his grandpa's cooking.

Little Madison was always sitting off in the corner during mealtimes, but she never complained.

This looks like I'm right there helping Glen with the food, but the picture is deceiving. He had been slaving away for an hour while I was upstairs getting ready for the day. I arrived on the scene each morning after the majority of the people had been fed. I was part of the clean-up crew.

Here's the cute dining room mural with Spencer shielding his eyes from the bright light of morning.

The shirt color the first day was green. Carson and Eli are all decked out in regular clothes and have their hair slicked down because their mother was going to make them have family pictures taken before they could play at the beach.

Jeff went along with the idea and so did Dallas, their photographer. Of course Sarah blamed me for the hassle claiming it was all because of my yearly request for an updated family photo. I reassured her I did not request a beach shot. She put that requirement all upon herself!

Here's a little bathing beauty all ready to spend the day at the beach.

First things first! It was a tradition last time to stand in front of the castle mural wall on our way out the door for the day for family photos. There were some extra eager photo bombers for the first family shot.

This looks more like the real Golden family--Caroline, Brooke, Rebecca, Madison, Dallas and Spencer in front.

Look at the cute shirts we were wearing that day. The older grandchildren designed the letters of our family name. We all signed our first names. Sarah did a great job getting all the t-shirts made.

Jacob and Laurie's family--Natalie, Emma, Claire, Luke and Logan.

Ben brought Haley with him.

Off to Newport Beach we went. Here is a selfie I took to send to my visiting teachers who were texting to see if they could visit me the following week. Not a chance!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back from the beach we found Abe's family had arrived at the house. Everyone was anxious to get a good Wynne baby squeeze.

The activity for the rest of the day was the BYU football game. Truth be told, this was the reason we were even doing the Disneyland trip. Jacob wanted to go to the ball game so he got everyone on board to do another family Disneyland trip so we would be there the exact time BYU was playing. Smart, conniving son we raised.

This called for more photos in front of the castle mural before leaving the house. Jacob left his three younger children home with me.

Jeff was the only one going from his family.

Abe and Klarissa took Wynne and left Newland home with me.

 

The whole BYU-shirt-wearing-going-to-the-game people. Except Newland. He didn't go with them.

So happy Dallas stayed behind with Rebecca, Sarah and me to help entertain the children with his electronic skills.

The evening was a success once Jacob's three and Abe's one were sound asleep in their beds.

Turned out the game was a loss and the BYU attenders were not very happy about it. That and the fact it took forever to get home and they all got to bed so late. 

Sure glad I decided to be part of the stay-home crowd. I got an extra couple of hours of sleep. Sure felt good!!