Well it was once again time for our trip to see Uncle Joe! I wasn't going to go this year because of Hannah but was easily persuaded:). Of course Uncle Joe just happens to live in LA so where do we all meet? Disneyland of course! It is such a highlight for our family because my brother was with us for all 6 nights and 5 days. We really were able to enjoy some quality time as a family and we all loved it.
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| Our beloved Uncle Joe |
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| Daddy sent us off with a farewell breakfast of mickey mouse pancakes! |
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| My little traveling companion! |
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| All tuckered out on the plane! |
We landed and Nana & Pops took us to dinner! Hudson and Pops read the sign:).
Joe joined us at the restaurant and spent the first night with us! Then it was off to Disneyland!
After some character fun, we headed to the Tiki Room, per Hudson's request:).
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| Jungle Cruise! I love this ride's sarcastic drivers, so funny! |
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| On the Jungle Cruise with Pops! |
And who was outside the Jungle Cruise?
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| Aladdin! |
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| Although the ducks were more entertaining at times |
Then we headed back for naps and went to California Adventure!
Here we are riding Luigi's Tires.
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| Ended the evening with some magical fireworks |
The next day we headed to Uncle Joe's hood in Silver Lake. We did the farmers market again. Pops was so excited because the Jamaican drummer was there playing kid songs again. So Pops joined in.
Hudson had other ideas
Then we headed to Huntington Beach. I thought it was so cool because a sand Soccer Tournament was going on. I've never heard of sand soccer!
We rented a cruiser again:).
Hudson found the sand and this time I brought toys!
Yeah, he was covered head to toe with sand. We went out to eat that night and there were sand trails throughout the restaurant….whoops.
The next day we hit Disneyland again! The only ride we really waited for was the Toy Story one on the Pier in California Adventure because it doesn't have a fast pass.
Hudson loved it! He's really into shooting stuff now!
Then we met Flik from A Bug's Life.
I was lucky enough to have a good Whitworth friend meet me with her adorable twins Audrey and Ethan. They are 1 day older than Hudson:). So we hung around and did the Bug's Life rides and then went to a Disney Theatre presentation. I've never been to a show there but it was so cute with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Doc McStuffins and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. The kids LOVED it!
After nap we hit up the Cars ride again. I think it was a bit intense for Hudson the first time because it was at night so this time it was during the daytime and we put him in back:).
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| Waiting for Radiator Racers with Pops |
Probably one of my favorite things at Cars Land is when the neon turns on. They play that epic song "Life Could Be Dreams" in the movie where all the cars cruise on the new road with the neon on. That song plays and the neon turns on, so cool!
We hit up the Mad Hatters techno club. I quite enjoyed this:).
Then the final day we were all Disneyland! We actually spent most of the previous days in California Adventure and a jump here and there to Disneyland so we were missing our "traditional rides." Look who we bumped into:
Since this is our 3rd trip in a row to Disney, I wanted to try some new things. Hudson has been watching this Disney video my mother-in-law bought Jared when he went there in junior high or high school, so it's old school! Well he really wanted to drive the cars so to Autopia we went! This is how my family felt about it
Hudson was excited!
He rode with Pops!
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| Watch out! Here comes Mama! |
Autopia is in Tomorrowland and since we were there, we rode a different Buzz Light Year ride. Yes it still shoots things so Hudson was elated! Another new experience!
Then we took Hud on Star Tours. I thought he wouldn't like it but it was around nap time so he was out of it and he kept saying he wanted to ride it again:).
Then it was off to Fantasyland for some good ole Peter Pan!
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| You can fly, You can fly, You can fly! |
As we were walking out of Fantasy land, the Paddle Boat pulled up. Another first!
Then it was off to Critter Country to ride the Winne the Pooh ride. That was another first! It was super cute and when you walk out there are characters to get autographs of!
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| This is how Hudson waits in line |
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| I love his stance |
Back to Jungle Cruise!
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| This is how Pops carried Hudson through longer lines |
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| On this particular day it was a downpour of rain but then cleared out-great day for rides, no lines! |
Off to Toontown to get Mickey and Minnie's autographs
Another first was we rode the monorail, since it was Hudson's favorite ride (and the tram that takes you to the parking garage which is free) last year. We even got to sit up front with the driver!
But probably my favorite thing we did on our trip was a Character Breakfast at the Grand California hotel. We did this the last day, the day we left actually.
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| Scoping out the characters! |
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| This mocha was as good as it looked! |
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| Koda |
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| Dale |
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| Pluto! |
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| Yum! Mickey Waffles! |
All the kids lined up for follow the leader and a little Hokey Pokey fun!
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| Hudson was right behind Koda at the front! |
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| He actually participated, I was shocked! |
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| Chip! |
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| But Hudson's favorite was the Raccoon! Why? I have no idea! Maybe because of his cousin's Raylee's party? |
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| Packing up to say good bye! |
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| Chillin in the airport Testing his distance-staying where I can see him:). |
This trip was so fun! I'm so lucky to have such an amazing family to share it with! Thank you Nana & Pops for an amazing trip! It was so wonderful seeing my brother for a solid 4 days. It was good quality sibling time:). I will treasure this trip forever with my little boy. He has grown so much from riding new, bigger rides to trying new things. He was just amazing, full of life, excitement, and giggles all trip. Matter of fact, he grew up this trip:(. I'm just glad I was part of it. He is becoming such a young man and just sweet as can be. This little boys' heart is made of gold. As he gets older, I appreciate his father even more because Hudson is so much like Jared and it just makes me love them both, more! On the other hand, I sure missed my baby girl and my hubby! Luckily they were both in good hands with Grandma Ev and Nicole to the rescue. I will say, I don't ever want to travel without my whole family again, but Jared politely reminded me that I'm too free spirited for that:). I did miss them and couldn't wait to be home together again.
