We had our Gough Family Vacation this year in Palm Desert, with a day trip to Anaheim for Disneyland. We drove this year, which... could have been worse. It really could have. We did pretty well on the way down, and not too bad on the way back home. We did run into a blizzard on the way home, but it only lasted an hour or two, and it was really only dad that was stressed out.
We stayed in Las Vegas on the way down (and the way back home). Kate got her own little room in a pack n play, and you shared our room. It was pretty hard for you to fall asleep with us in the room (and just not in your own room) but it was kind of fun to actually watch the winding down process. You did okay -woke up around 3:30 and probably couldn't really get back to sleep for at least an hour and a half.
The next day we almost drove the entire 4 hours through the desert without stopping. Laila (we were caravaning (sp?) with Dusty and Shondel) needed to stop at a pretty scary rest stop, and then 20 minutes later Hyrum needed to pee. Thank goodness for boys and the ability to pee out the car door in the desert.
We finally arrived in Palm Desert and had some pool time that afternoon and the next day.
On Tuesday (our trip started Saturday) we went to The Living Desert, a zoo with animals that are in North America and Africa. You got to feed a giraffe, and we sort of saw this awesome model train exhibit that I didn't get any pictures of and we didn't ever take you back -like we had planned.
There was a petting zoo area with a bunch of goats you liked -until one of them decided to head butt you a bit. It mostly just scared you.
There were plenty of bronze animals that posed nicely for pictures.
And a fun playground that you guys could have stayed at all day.
There were plenty of bronze animals that posed nicely for pictures.
And a fun playground that you guys could have stayed at all day.
Fun with cousins at the condo in their new Disney shirts from Mimi and Papa.
I didn't get any good pictures of the beautiful resort we stayed in. You slept pretty well -dad and you shared the sofa bed most nights. Kate and I tried to sleep in the main bedroom.
Tuesday evening and Wednesday you and Kate were pretty sick. Fevers and just being extra ornery. Luckily you were both over the worst of it by Thursday, which was when we went to Disneyland. You were still a little pale and tired (and made a few extra bathroom stops) but you were a trooper.
We left for Anaheim about 7:30 am -no easy task, considering we had been up since 2:30 am because dad had some kind of allergic reaction, trip to the ER, and waking everyone else up in order for me to pick him up 2 hours later.
We've been talking up Disneyland to you and you were super excited -although you had no idea why. I suppose that's with most small kids. We got to the gates about opening time and you said hello to your first character -Pluto. (Mostly because we didn't want to stand in line for any of the more 'high profile' characters and I wasn't sure you'd care much anyway).
Our first ride was with Laila and Nolan -It's a Small World. You were excited that it was a boat and seemed to enjoy it.
We walked around for a bit, waiting for everyone to show up. Kris and Marime had a hard time with Konner and we barely saw them while we were there. You liked the Jungle Cruise -with all the animals and water that sprayed at your.
You and dad went on the Buzz Lightyear ride -"shooting Zurg" which you said was your favorite ride. You and I went on a flying dumbo ride and Autopia. You also rode the carousel with Papa. You seemed to like the Pirates of the Caribbean (Kate did NOT -so I didn't even get to notice any of your reactions).
Another one of your favorites was probably the train that goes around the entire park. We waited until the end of the day to go on it, and had to wait quite a while for it to leave (I'm not sure what kind of problems it was having) but you loved it of course. You and Kate also seemed to really like the Parade (no fireworks that night).
Oh, the cute shirts you and Kate were wearing were Shondel's doing -they were super cute.
One last picture of the cousins. Minus Konner.
Friday was another pool day and we packed up for home. We had a lot more stops on the way from Palm Desert to Las Vegas on the way back. It's never as fun on the way home from a vacation!
The place we stayed at in Las Vegas was more than big enough for our little family, and I think the 4 of us got more sleep that night that we had any other night on the trip, which was must needed.
It was pretty cold and rainy, so we didn't got to the pool, but we had a giant tub that was almost as good.
We were all pretty excited to get home on Sunday, but you keep talking about the fun time you had in Disneyland and playing in the pool.
Thanks to Mimi and Papa, it was a great vacation!
