BELIEVE in MAGIC

What a fun week we have had!

It's always a lot of work to plan and get ready for a family vacation.  I admit, I get overwhelmed and grumpy.  I hate driving long distances and worry about kids getting carsick.  However, it was all worth the anxiety!

The cheerleaders qualified for the USA National Cheer Competition in Anaheim, March 16-17.  They left on the 14th, which happened to be the first time Kylee ever flew on a plane.  They spent Friday in Disneyland, competed Saturday during the prelims and made it to the finals on Sunday!!!  They were actually in first place going into the finals by less than a point.

It was so nerve wracking!  The family stayed with Tracy and Christina at their house while Kylee stayed with the cheer team that weekend. Chet and I made the drive to the Anaheim Convention Center each day to watch our team!  They did great on Saturday with some minor mistakes.  Sunday, I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up!  They came out and did AWESOME! Come time for awards it was super scary!  There were a lot of teams going into the finals at first place that got jumped by third and second place teams to win it.

The cheeleader's hard work and theme "Believe" payed off.  They won the National Championship!!! COOLEST THING EVER!!!  I am so proud of that team and of Kylee.  She was crying after, she was so happy! We took tons of pics with her and the trophy, which is almost as big as she is!

They each got a medal and a backpack that says "USA Champions".  Her team ordered championship rings which are really BIG and very cool looking.  I am so excited for her.  It really was an amazing experience and I am so happy that we got to be there to experience it with her!  I am so sad to see this team go.  It was a great team and everybody seemed to get along well.  I was really nervous at the beginning of the year when the coach decided to make a co-ed team...YIKES!  I really didn't have too high of expectations, but to my surprise they were great!

Since we were headed to California for Nationals, we decided to make a big trip out of it and take the family as well and go to the happiest place on earth where Magic happens and Dreams come true! :)  DISNEYLAND!  We left on Thursday the 14th, stayed in Vegas for the night and got to Cali on Friday afternoon. 

That is what we gave the kids for Christmas, (if you don't remember that post).  We left Sunday night and stayed in the same hotel that Ky was in for that night and then Monday  we went to a hotel right across the street from the park.  LOVE this!  It has a fridge and microwave to save on dining costs and make it nice for us to pack a lunch into the park and a free continental breakfast.  Then you cross the street and you are literally at the Park's entrance!

Monday morning, Kylee went with the cheerleaders for the first half of the day so we met her later.  We decided to go into California Adventure first to see Cars Land.  The racers ride was a super long wait (almost 2 hours) so we decided to wait on that and the kids all voted to go on Tower of Terror first.  Cashy barely made the height limit so we decided to try it.  We were worried about it, because the poor kid had never experienced that type of feeling before of being dropped and is still too little to understand what is going on, but we decided to try and see how he would do....bad idea!  I think we traumatized him!  I was watching his face during the ride and he had a look of crying, only without the sound!  We got off and he did not like it at all.  We praised him and told him what a brave, big boy he was...then we were off to some other rides.  The next morning, when we went with Kylee, she really wanted to go on Tower of Terror b/c she did not go on it with the girls she was with (they were wimps!) so again, that was the very first ride we went on!  We talked to Cash and reminded him about the ride, how it dropped and tickled his tummy.  He seemed fine...even while walking through the "hotel Lobby" of the ride....until we got into the room where the doors shut and lights go off.  As soon as that happened, it clicked for him and he went nuts screaming, "Get me out of here!" and trying with all his might to get back out those doors!  I felt horrible! People in the room were saying, "awww" and probably thinking we were the worst parents EVER~! I certainly felt like it.  We talked to Cash and bribed/comforted him by telling him he could play games on my phone and I would buy him a special treat.  I told him to hang on to me once we were seated, which he did with all his might and I warned him before every drop.  He was a big boy and very brave...and yes, he did get what we promised him!

We also went on Splash Mountain twice back to back and he seemed to have a great time on it... he got a little wet once and was giggling.  However, when we went to go on it two to three more times after that, he would have nothing to do with the ride.  I didn't fight him on it or force him because I didn't want to make it more miserable for him in the future...I hope we haven't already done that! haha.  After the Tower of Terror, Cash asked us before every ride, "Is it scary or normal?" poor kid! (bad mom!)

I will say, that Cars Land was SO DANG CUTE and FUN!!!!  It looks just like Radiator Springs in the movie and the Racer's ride was so much fun!  We went back before closing the first night we were there and it was a 60 min wait.  We decided to just do it since we were already there and I'm so glad we did.  Everytime we checked after that, it was a 2 hour wait!  One night we ate at Flo's diner, which was expensive but it was SO good and they really gave you a lot of food.  Much more than the hotdog and drink we got for only a little bit less than it cost us there.

On Wednesday we met Tracy and his two girls to celebrate my niece's birthday.  We had such a great time over the three days at Disneyland...even with the aching feet and knees!  It was hard to leave.  Mostly because, as we were leaving we talked about this too, it is possibly the last time we will go as a family before Kylee is gone and out of the house.  The next time we go she could be in college or married...who knows.  The last time we went was 5 years ago...so if we wait another 5 years... well, you get the picture! When we talked about it she and I were in tears leaving the park.  It's always hard to go home from a fun vacation.

I think Cashy had a great time.  He didn't really want to have anything to do with the characters up close...which I was fine with, (one less line to wait in).. except for Mickey Mouse.  When it came to him, Cashy ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug!  It was so cute.

 The park was beautiful this time of year!  Trees were in blossom, which enhanced the magic and beauty of the park!

Silly Cashy!

 In the arcade by Space Mountain they had a few "Fix it Felix Jr" (Wreck it Ralph) arcade games that you could play for free!  Too Fun!

We ended our last night there with Fireworks at the Castle on Main Street.  It's always an amazing show!  What a fun place and we had a wonderful time!  I wish I was there right now!!!

Hopefully it won't be long before we can go back!  Until next time... goodbye to the Happiest Place on Earth!