Disneyland!

I am new to this blogging bit and even though it's been 3 months since the trek of the Rodarte Family Adventures in California, I though that I would start there.

We started out on April 3rd in this 37 passenger bus that Dad bought and made some adjustments to specifically for this trip. He added a stove, small fridge, a bed in the very back, accessories in the bathroom as well as a sink that he designed, an extra fuel tank, paper towel racks. . . it was pretty amazing. I've learned after being a part of this family for almost 8 years now that whatever Dad can imagine in his "Great Brain", he can make happen.

So the adventure begins as we depart Enumclaw, destination Disneyland. I forgot to mention that at this point I am 9 months pregnant, expecting our 3rd! Some of my friends thought that I needed to reevaluate my decision to go, but I really felt that everything would be okay. The only thing I worried about was subjecting the rest of the family to a grouchy pregnant woman. We aren't the cuddliest things around. Dad was very accomodating to me and rigged the very back seats to face each other and then fabricated a padded board to sit flush with them to make a type of bed so that I could put my feet up. What a guy! We were loaded up with snacks everyone provided and little pillows Mom & Dad got, ipods, video games, movies and lots of Rodartes. This was going to be something that would go down in the record books as an amazing family vacation.

After 20 hours and 5 driver shifts we reached our hotel and before the bus could slow down the restless little ones were scrambling to the pool with a few beraggled parents following behind. Oh, there is nothing better than lots of sunshine and a cool pool! I wasn't quite in the mood to strut my bad self in a swim suit ("in my delicate condition") so Aaron took care of helping Lana and Peyton was pretty confidant on his own. You've never been to the pool until you've been with this family~cannon balls, splashing, laughing, piggyback rides. . . anything fun and they are a part of it. Jared had two of the five driving shifts and was too pooped to pool, so he sacked out on the bed instead.

Day 3~

SEAWORLD! Left right Shamu Shamu-Left Right Shamu Shamu

This was one of my favorite days! We went to dophin shows, a cute seal show, the Shamu show-walked and saw penguins, felt an ice wall, we all loved it! Lana still chants "Left, Right, Shamu, Shamu", along with the arm motions that the trainers did for the show. She'll sit down with me and say, "Mom, 'member when we were at Disneylan' and Shamu made us wet". She says a lot more but I know that there are many things about this trip that are engraved on her little brain.

Nearing the end of our day, Jared and a few others discovered a ride called Atlantis and with the park closing soon, they went on it about 4 or more times. The kids and Audrey and I watched them as the splashed down at one point. The ride was about 15 minutes long, so I waited and watched. They were having a good time.

More to come soon. . .