We got all the kids up and into the car and after several return trips into Grandma's house, we finally left the driveway...before sunrise. We made a map of the trip we were taking and every hour we put a little car-shaped sticker on the map to mark our progress. This idea was a last-minute stroke of genius or inspiration. No one ever asked how much longer or if we were almost there. Instead they asked to see the map or where we were on the map. If we have to make another long trip like that again, I will definitely make another map! We used two different colors of stickers...one for the way down and one for the way back.
We lunched at a rest area somewhere around Cedar City and the kids got their wiggles out by throwing acorns at each other. Too bad they don't have better aim - I got hit by a few. Chad's Grandma lived in St. George (she recently moved, or is moving soon) so we gave her about 2 hours notice and stopped for a visit. We used to visit her often when we lived in Las Vegas. Our last visit to her home was spring of 2006.
As it turned out, Grandma Russell still gave rides on her ottoman. Sarah was the first lucky rider because Grandma was trying to warm her up a bit.
It soon turned into a major attraction among the younger kids. Of course, we must fight so Grandma will know we're normal kids.
We got a group picture with Grandma Russell before we left. It's not easy to get Grandma to take a picture. Hopefully, she has forgiven us.
We grabbed some gas on our way to the interstate. Chad was doing something goofy outside the van, and the kids were watching him. Maybe they were shocked at his crazy behavior. ;) It was already getting really warm, especially for us Idaho folks!
We stopped in Las Vegas to change Sarah's diaper and cooked a little more. We stopped in Barstow, CA for hamburgers, play time and then gas. That drained our wallet! We were glad to arrive in Anaheim and check into our hotel room.
We have six pairs of these headphones. I LOVE THEM! I'm so tired of hearing movies I can't see. There are so many movies that I have imagined in my mind while driving. I'm sure it would be like watching them for the first time if I ever sat down to actually view them because it would be so different from the pictures I created for them!
The room was a two-room suite with a common area between them. There was a pool and free laundry. (They also had an exercise room, but how likely was I to use that?) When we checked in, I left again. Chad had "given" me new shoes for my upcoming birthday so that my feet wouldn't get so sore while we walked around Disneyland. So I located an outlet mall nearby and went out shoe shopping.
You might think that getting brand new shoes the night before I'm going to walk in them for 10 hours is crazy. But those shoes saved me! My feet were sore, but they weren't as bad as they would have been in my old sneakers. It was a great birthday idea. :)
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