Bountiful Harvest!

You've heard the saying: If life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Around here right now we are saying:

If life gives you apples...
(a basket of homegrown just-picked golden delicious apples)

....make an apple dessert!

(apple cake with caramel sauce)

It's going to be a yummy month!

Beach Day in L.A.!

Josh and Andrea picked the best day of the vacation to go to the beach! October 1st and it was over 80 degrees at Huntington State Beach. Everyone had a great time!

I love this photo that Dan took of Julia and Emma running from the waves:

And how thoughtful of them to provide a nice, shady tent for Sophie and me. Everyone knows how much I love sitting out in the sun all day long!

Afterwards everyone got to wash off all the sand in the hotel swimming pool and spa!

Sophie was such a good sport everywhere we went!

California Adventure!

We spent a good part of our second day at California Adventure. It was also decorated for Halloween with a candy corn theme. "The Candy Man" by Sammy Davis Jr. was blaring throughout the park and I got that stuck in my head (Who can take a sunrise? Sprinkle it with dew. Cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two..... Got ya!)

We spent a lot of time here because we discovered "A Bug's Land" which had several rides perfect for the ages of the kids and there were virtually no lines so they could go on them as much as the they wanted!
Francis' Ladybug Boogie ("Take a spin on a ladybug's back!"):

Flik's Flyers ("Soar through the air in a hot air balloon made of leaves!"):

Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies (Bumper cars):

Julia liked this one because she was tall enough to go on it by herself.

Heimlich's Chew Chew Train ("Ride along in search of caterpillar snacks!"):

Wave to us and we'll wave to you!

All done in Bug's Land!

"The Candy Man makes everything he bakes satisfying and delicious. Talk about your childhood wishes, you can even eat the dishes..."

Next we checked out Hollywood Pictures Backlot. The kids loved this ride: Monsters, Inc. Mike and Sully to the Rescue. This is the building it was in.They were able to go on it quite a few times!

Then we watched a live show called "Drawn to the Magic: A High Energy Musical Tribute to the Magic of Disney Animation." At the end some of the animation came to life: Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, and Woody from Toy Story.


Then back across the park to the Golden State area where the kids played on Brother Bear's Redwood Creek Challenge Trail which included rope bridges, zip lines and sliding down down hollow logs:

And finally some went on the Grizzly River Run. What made it fun for the rest was they had an area for the "waiters" to watch for their friends and family come down the falls but they also might get wet as the rafts splashed. Emma and Matthew had fun trying to keep dry while we waited.

"The Candy Man can 'cause he mixes it with love, and makes the world taste good!"

Disneyland!

All decked out for Halloween!

Our maps/guides: Very helpful!


The first ride we went on:

Sophie was such a good 3-month old!

Getting ready to get a song in our heads!

Katie especially liked this rocket ride called the Astro Orbitor:

A ride with Emma on Dumbo:

Waiting in line:

Autopia drivers:

The Jungle Cruise:

I have no pictures of the ride we went on the most: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters--at least 4 or 5 times. It was so much for for everyone! It's a slow moving indoor ride through scenes but you also have blaster guns and you try to shoot at targets. It keeps track of your score. From Katie on up to Grandpa--we all enjoyed it a lot! (Here is a shot from Google Images of the ride)

Here are the Disneyland rides that some or all of us went on:

Disneyland Railroad, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Enchanted Tiki Room, Indiana Jones Adventure, Jungle Cruise , Tarzan's Treehouse, Carousel, Dumbo, Teacups , Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Small World, Astro Orbitor, Astro Blaster , Submarine Voyage, Autopia, Innoventions, Jedi Training , Star Tours. If that doesn't seem like very much, don't forget we also spent a lot of time at California Adventure--check out the post on that tomorrow!

Matthew shopping in a Tomorrowland shop. Each of the kids saved some money to buy a souvenir:

Katie chose a Baby Belle:

We watched a little of the Celebrate! A Street Party parade:

Heading down Main Street at the end of our last day in the Magic Kingdom!

One last look back at the castle!