Disneyland Vacation - Day 1

I got home from Phoenix Friday night.  That left me one day to recover from that trip and be ready to head out on another.  I did laundry and shopping and packing at a feverish pace.  And amazingly, it all came together and we were ready to fly out Sunday morning.

My neighbor Kendi kept Kate for us while we went gallivanting off to California.  I will never be able to repay her in favors for that.   She tells me they had fun with her, which I believe, but I also know how much work a baby is, especially when you aren't used to having one around.  I got Kate off to Kendi's, then turned my focus to getting the other 6 kids ready to go. 

The kids woke up Sunday morning so excited for our trip!

When we booked the plane tickets, we used sky miles for all of them (so they were all free!).  We had 6 tickets on our credit card rewards, and 4 tickets on Scott's frequent flier miles.  We booked the 6 tickets first (me, Scott, Savannah, Josh, Sara, and Aaron).  Then we tried to book the other 4.  Only it wouldn't let us book it on the same flight, so my parents and Owen and Nate ended up on a completely different flight.  That stressed me out more than anything.  I was a nervous wreck as I watched my two little boys get on a plane without me. 

I've got to be honest, though, traveling with the oldest 4 was very easy and peaceful.  But, I worried the whole time about how my parents were doing with the little boys. 

Buck and Lovey all strapped in with Aaron.

We had a layover in San Diego.  We grabbed some food for the kids, and talked to the little boys on the phone (their layover was in Seattle). 

After our checked baggage fiasco in Phoenix, I made up my mind that we would not be checking any bags on this trip.  Everyone strapped on a backpack and had to fit all their belongings into that one back pack.  Ten people in all, and not a single piece of checked baggage!

Our flight arrived in LA about 2 hours before my parents' flight.  So, Scott and I went and picked up our two rental cars.  I took the 4 kids with me and drove to the house we'd be staying in, and Scott took his car back to the airport to pick up my parents and the boys.  We got to the house after dark, but that didn't stop the kids from swimming in the heated pool in the backyard.  We let them swim while Scott and I headed to Walmart to stock up on groceries for our week.