Luke's Magical Birthday

We thought and though about the very best way to celebrate our youngest son Luke's 6th birthday, and to show him how much we love him and how much he means to us, out of the goodness of our hearts, we decided to take the whole family out of school and spend the day at Disneyland!

(Yes, I know, any excuse to go to Disneyland, but we figured a birthday was as good excuse as any.)

But it was actually Luke's special day, and that made this visit to Disneyland all the more special.  When you wear one of these birthday buttons at Disney, you get special attention ALL DAY!    Strangers call you by name and tell you happy birthday!  Who wouldn't love that?

Before we left, Grandpa & Grandma gave Luke some birthday cash, and he declared right there what he was going to do with it - buy a Lotso bear at Disneyland.  And as soon as we arrived he would not be happy until he had his furry fuchsia villain from Toy Story 3, who already looked dirty when we bought him and truly smells of strawberries.  Lotso really is a lovable bear - he just needs a little TLC from an adoring 6 year old.  Welcome to the family, Lotso.

It was a gorgeous, gorgeous spring day and the weather was perfect!

We decided to start the day at Disney's California Adventure park.  We LOVE that place!  Always less crowed than Disneyland, though on a day like this it really didn't matter.  We just walked onto all the rides anyway.  Goofy's Sky School is some crazy dizzying fun.

We loved the swings!  Wheeeee!

On the Boardwalk under the sun.

Speaking of Toy Story, we had a great time popping balloons and tossing hoops at Woody's shooting gallery.  That is one great ride/game!

Then they boys and I took a few spins on my very favorite ride - California Screamin'!  I LOVE being shot like a gun, and then being flipped up side down and the rickety roller coaster feel.  Whoo Hoo!

Unfortunately, that is also the only ride in both parks that Luke is still too small for, and while he and Daddy were waiting for us, tragedy struck.  Notice the tears? Daddy got Luke a popsicle, and when he went to take his first lick, it was so cold that the popsicle stuck right to his tongue like the flag plot in A Christmas Story!  Poor kid.  It kind of freaked him out, and it took several bystanders with Dad to help him get it unstuck.  It was traumatic, but didn't require a trip to the ER or anything, and after the popsicle had warmed up a bit, we convinced him to give it another lick.

Popsicles just should not get stuck to little boys' tongues...

not at Disneyland, and especially not on your birthday!

"Hanging out" on Disney's version of Monterey's cannery row.

A sneak peek at the new Cars Town that will be opening up this summer.  It looks awesome!  Wish our passes weren't going to expire before it opens.  Looks a lot like some of the tiny towns we saw on our RV trip along Route 66 this summer.

We saw everything we wanted to see at California Adventure and the day was still young, so we headed over to Disneyland.

The Happiest Place on Earth is even happier if it is your birthday.

Since it was his day, Luke got to pick what we would do first, and what Luke wanted to do was ride the train.  Luke always wants to ride the train, and everybody always says no, because they think it is a waste of time when they can go on the big rides.  So today was the very first time we all rode the train.

Luke loved it!

Luke also always wanted to take the horse-drawn cart, so we did that too.

When we boarded the driver made an official important announcement: that it was Luke's birthday, so we all sang to him.  He got a kick out of that.

King for a day and his castle (for a day).

Looks like Dylan and Derek wanted to be king for a day too, but it just wasn't in the cards for them today.  Sorry fellas.

Everybody's favorite: Space Mountain!  You can't even see little Luke next to Dennis.

Lotso hanging out with the cool kids.

Another Disney Cruise - a Disney Jungle Cruise, that is.  No all-you-can-eat soft serve here.

We ended a fabulous Disney day watching a parade in the birthday boy's honor.  OK, so maybe they didn't throw the parade for Luke, but we could pretend.

While we watched the parade, each of my boys took turns getting their silhouettes cut.  I remember getting mine cut when I was a little girl, and I have always wanted to get them made for my boys, and I figured that this was our last chance.  She was amazing - just used scissors and black paper.  She said she has been doing this here for over 30 years, so she quite possibly was the same lady who cut mine way back when.  I was so excited to have them done.  They look great, and it is not too hard to figure out who is who.  They are already hanging up our family room.

What a great day we had!  So glad Luke had a birthday so we could have an excuse to take the family and head off to Disneyland one last time.  Nothing like a magical birthday at the happiest place on earth.  Happy Birthday Luke!

Zipping through the Sierra Madres

Wednesday, the 4th day of our cruise was our first port day, and we had big plans!!!

The ship pulled into Puerta Vallerta very early in the morning, just as the day was beginning to break.

It was a beautiful sunrise over the Sierra Madre mountain range of Mexico.

We got an early start with breakfast out on the deck overlooking the city with its palm trees.

And it is fun to watch all the activity of the port.

We got to disembark and got to see the outside of the beautiful ship for the first time in 3 days.

The five oldest boys and I were on our way to an adventure!  First we took a boat to the other side of the port.

We floated right under the bow of the ship.  I love Goofy's silhouette surfing on the waves.

There was all kinds of interesting stuff to see.

From there we walked to these big yellow ATVs.

Hang on!  This is going to be a bumpy ride!

It was a long drive into the mountains, and we had nearly an hour to see a lot of Mexico whizzing by.

Much of it stuff my boys have never seen before.

We saw beautiful scenery and greenery and children playing soccer.

Numerous fruit stands and piñatas hanging on store porches.

And a lot of colorful and old buildings that did not link like there were built to any code.  I thought it was interesting that most of the buildings were boxes with the re-bar sticking out the top so that at some point in the future, they could add another story if they wanted to.

There was a lot to see.

We passed a small caravan of cars full of kids driving slowly and noticed that they were following a kid running with a torch up the mountain road.  We also passed an LDS church, the nicest building we saw for miles.

We made our way into the jungle to the Canopy Adventure Park where we were given some instructions,

and a demonstration, and were fitted into our gear.

Yes. We were going ZIP-lining and the boys were excited!

And a bit nervous.

All geared up and ready to go after a few last-minute instructions.

This was our group - all ready to zip.  My kids were the only children in our group, so Caleb was the youngest, and I was a bit nervous that he wouldn't be able to remember all the instructions or keep up with the rest of us, but he wasn't nervous at all.

Lets do this thing!

Zipping is FUN!  We got to zip from treetop to treetop high above the ground.  (I didn't take these pictures, they did. I couldn't have carried my camera with me, and this guy risked life and limb to get these shots.  He did a great job.)

After the first zip, the boys got the hang of it, got over their nervousness, and after that it was just a ton of fun!

Woo Hoo!  This is awesome!  They were having a blast!

Caleb was doing great hanging with the big guys.  I was so proud of him!

What is more awesome family together time than 100 feet up above the ground in the treetops of Mexico?

We would zip, hike a bit, climb, zip some more.  We never knew what was next.

We probably went on a couple dozen zips, some so long that you couldn't see the end from the beginning.

Just when we were getting to be pros at zipping (don't they just look like pros?)...

Then we got to do some rappelling!  That was really fun!  Look how far down the others are.

I love me a good free fall!

You can take it down slowly, or just let it rip!

But the hardest, and I thought scariest part, were the rope ladders.  They were HIGH, and they almost looked like they were arching backward toward the top.  It was especially hard when someone else was on the ladder with you, moving it all around.

That was a ton of work!

High in the tree tops getting really for our last zip, this time on a swinging line that could twist you forward or backwards.  No control!

Awesome!

Dylan looked like he was Tarzan, king of the jungle, swinging on his vine and hollering. Ahhh Ah-Ah-Ah-Ahh  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  He was just having too much fun!

Love this pic of Caleb swinging past the trees!

Conquerors of the canopy!  We were on a high!

Our instructors were so fun, but also very knowledgeable and careful.  I felt totally safe putting my children's lives in their hands.

After the zipping we ate yummy chips and salsa and fresh fruit and watched a lady make homemade tortillas as we waited for our bus to take us back to the ship.

I think maybe our adventure wore them out a bit, don't you?

By the time we got back to the boat everyone was happy and rested, and ready to enjoy the rest of the beautiful Mexican sunshine on board the Disney Wonder.

The boys are still talking about our canopy adventure.  You know that old saying:

 "The family that zips through the jungle canopy high off the ground together, stays together... "

or something like that, right?