First week in SoCal

Hi all, we have to apologise for being sooo late with our first post but we are just having too much FUN to spend time sitting at the laptop (Bec is forcing herself to do that right now...) After a long haul flight to LA (emphasis on the 'long'), we arrived on Monday 5th feeling slightly jetlagged (Mum & Dad having no sleep due to kids lying all over us) and spent the rest of that day browsing the local Anaheim shops fighting Mr Sandman.

Tuesday saw us hit Disneyland with a vengeance, with Rhiannon (aka Sleeping Beauty/Snow White) & Rebecca chasing down every Princess they spied for happy snaps, the boys being dragged along between rides, and Graham carrying supplies (& Rhiannon when her princess legs needed a break).

Wednesday saw us hire a car and Graham try his luck on the mega freeways on the 'wrong' side of the road - good practice for the campervan next week! - taking the gang to Newport Beach for lunch where the wealthy locals must live. Rebecca picked out her house while Graham picked out more than a few boats to his liking. Next we hit the shops where Rebecca and Jack took off like possessed demons, Rhiannon wandered along crying "I'm hungry" every few seconds (obviously supersize portions have nothing on Rhiannon's appetite), and Graham and Liam were heard on more than several occasions saying "can we go yet?"

Thursday meant back to Disneyland for a special treat for Rhiannon in particular - lunch at Ariel's Grotto with a special greeting from the mermaid one herself and personal meet 'n greet sessions at our table from Cinderella, Snow White, Belle and Sleeping Beauty. To say Rhiannon was excited is an understatement - she looked like she was about to wet her pants at one stage. Rebecca was nearly as excited, fulfilling a lifelong dream to meet her childhood heroes (sigh!) We stayed until nightfall where we watched the fantastic World of Colours show. For those who don't know, this is a water fountain show, with pyrotecnics, music and images portrayed onto the spurting water. Very impressive! Americans really know how to put on a show.

Friday we hired a car and drove north to Universal Studios for the day. The highlights were the studio tour (Rebecca was thrilled to see the Desperate Housewives set and all but Rhiannon thought the new King Kong 4D experience was awesome), the Waterworld show (where we received a little soaking from the cast), the Special Effects show where Rebecca laughed so much at the 'astronaut' that she started crying and the Animation Show (believe it or not, but we can all draw Mickey Mouse now, true....)

Saturday was a free day with a sleep-in after four days of early starts. We headed to Disney Downtown District for lunch and more shopping where Rebecca gave the c/card another hammering before we all trudged three miles (couldn't find an empty cab and the weekend bus timetable is woeful) to see the Anaheim Angels beat the NY Yankees 6-0. That's baseball for all you uninitiated beings. After the first few innings, Jack decided to pack his NY Yankee hat away and become a 'turncoat', cheering for the Angels instead.

Sunday (today) meant our third - and last - day at the 'Happiest Place on Earth' where we saw a wonderful Aladdin musical show, Liam became a Jedi knight and fought Darth Maul, both boys made their own lightsabers and Rhiannon received her last fix of cuddles from Disney princesses. We are currently recuperating around our hotel pool before heading back to Disneyland for the nighttime fireworks.

We have been pleasantly surprised by how nice and friendly the Yanks are, and by how many Aussies there are here! Tomorrow we check out of our Anaheim hotel, pick up our campervan and start our own version of 'National Lampoons Vacation'. We head first to San Diego.

Talk soon from SoCal (Southern California to those who don't know, but don't worry - Jack only figured it out a day ago...)

Outside Sleeping Beauty's Castle

 

Rhiannon (aka Snow White) with Cinderella

 

Meeting Ariel at Ariel's Grotto for lunch

 

World of Colour show

 

Clock Tower from 'Back to the Future' (Universal Studios)

 

At the Ball Game (Anaheim Angels about to hit a homer!)

 The two Sleeping Beauties posing

 Liam ducking in a battle against Darth Maul