California, Disneyland, Sea World and Everything In Between

Saturday, March 16 was day one of our vacation adventures with Grandma Dahlstrom, Peggy, Ashely, Matt, Kaylee, Ryland, Mitch, Rachel, Mom, Dad, me and Blythe! We left our house around 11:30 a.m. and drove to the airport in Cedar Rapids. I got on the airplane for my very first plane ride. When we started heading down the runway, and the plane started going really fast the smile on my face was HUGE! I was sitting next to the window so I had a good view. I looked back at Dad and said, "that's really cool!" :)

I did great on our flight from CR to Denver. When we got off the plane in Denver I went with Mom off the plane onto the tarmac. She told me to stand right with our group while she grabbed stuff off the gate check cart. I must have been overcome with the excitement of everything going on around me because I didn't stay standing there. I followed the crowd into the airport - but no one saw me head in there. Thank God Grandma had headed inside already with Blythe and saw me as I got inside. She asked me what I was doing and I told her I was looking for my Mom. She then realized no one knew I came in and had me stay with her. Mommy panicked when she couldn't find me. Daddy ran inside and saw I was Grandma. Mommy said it was very scary for her not knowing where I went. She was just happy Grandma saw me come in because the airport was really, really busy and she could have easily missed me.

From Denver we got on another plane and headed to California. I spent most of the flight playing games on the ipad. When we landed in California Mommy told me Grandma started not feeling well on the plane and some helpers were going to come get her and take her to the Dr. to help her feel better. Daddy went with her. She had to stay overnight in the hospital two nights before she could come join us at our rental house. It was a surprise that Grandpa Dahlstrom and my great-aunt Donna joined us in California. They spent a couple days with us before they and Grandma drove back home to Iowa. I was happy I got to spend time sitting with Grandma around the pool at our rental house and got to tell her about some of the things I saw at Disneyland. I know she wanted to be able to come with us and I wanted her to, too but we really just wanted her to get feeling better! 

Saturday we arrived at our rental house around 8:00 p.m. We were all pretty tired from traveling so we hung around the house, did some swimming in the pool and waited for Daddy to come from the hospital to tell us how Grandma was feeling. 

We originally thought we'd be ready to head to Disneyland on Sunday but after our long day of travels it turned out no one was up for that so we spend the first part of the day relaxing at the house. That evening we headed to Corona del Mar beach. It was a little chilly there but I still had fun playing in the sand. 

Monday we got up and hit the ground running for Cars Land! We drove over to the parking Toy Story parking lot, parked and rode the Toy Story bus to Disneyland. Mom and Dad and I headed straight in to Cars Land! When we first walked in I was a bit overwhelmed. Mom said she felt like I wanted to see it all right *now*. I was excited when I started spotting things I knew, like Mater's Tow and Salvage, Fillmore's Taste In, Sarge's, Flo's V8 Cafe, Luigi's Tires, Ramones....it was so cool! Mom and I went on Mater's Tractor ride, Dad and I went on Luigi's Flying Tires and did the Toy Story Mania ride. We had lunch at Flo's V8 cafe and I also got to see 'the real' Lightning McQueen and 'the real' Mater! It was a pretty exciting day. I also did the Toy Story Mania ride with Daddy at the Paradise Pier. What made this day even better was Grandma got out of the hospital and Grandma and Donna flew in.

Tuesday, day two at Disneyland, day three of vacation was even better. It was a really, really GREAT day! Grandma, Grandpa and Donna kept Blythe at the house with them while Mom, Dad and I headed out for another Disney day. We got a little earlier start so we could be the park when it opened to get in line to ride Radiator Springs Racers. It paid off. It was such a FUN ride and we were in the park at 8:58 and off the ride by 10:05 a.m. That was great, considering the line was 2 hours long the day before. I loved that ride. We all did really. It was fast and fun! We saw Mater, Lightning, Flo, Ramone, Doc, Fillmore, Sarge, Guido and Luigi on that ride. And when we raced the other car, our car won!

We also visited Bug's Land and went on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train and Francis' Ladybug Boogie.
We saw Mr. and Mrs. Incredible and got our picture taken with them! I also did the Toy Story Mania ride again with Mommy this time! I beat her in the game - my score was higher than hers! While we were walking through the park we saw Pluto! Mommy and I went and got his autograph and our picture with him.

We took an afternoon break on Tuesday back at the house. We had lunch and naps and headed back to the park that evening and stayed until close at 10:00 p.m. The park is completely different and so neat to see at night with all the lights. We got to see some of the fireworks in the park as well as some of the World of Color light/water show they do by the Mickey Ferris Wheel in Paradise Pier. That night we had dinner at Taste Pilots' Grill. Day two was a really, REALLY great day for Mom, Dad and I. Definitely one to remember.

Wednesday, Day three we took a break from Disneyland and headed to San Diego to Sea World. This was also the day that Donna, Grandpa and Grandma headed out for their drive back to Iowa. We drove them to get their rental van and we drove as close to Disneyland as we could so they could get a little peek at it. We spent the morning at the house and headed to San Diego after lunch. It was about an 1 1/2 hour drive. Blythe and I took a nap on our way there. We met the Resier/Ranzenberger group there. We got there just in time to catch the dolphin show. That was pretty neat. There was one dolphin that "walked" across the water. I thought that was so funny. After the dolphin show the sea gulls came in to clean up the food left behind by the spectators. I thought it was funny to see then eating popcorn off the ground.

After the dolphin show we went and saw a polar bear and some penguins. From there we went to watch The Shamu Show. Daddy, Mitch and Matt went to ride a roller coaster while the rest of us headed to the show. They joined us after. When the Shamu Show started and I saw those whales I told mom, "Now this.....is more like a show." I really liked watching those big whales. My favorite part was after though, when we went and got ice cream. Kaylee and I got our ice cream in a Shamu bowl. Another funny part was when the sea gulls and a couple ducks were walking around looking for a hand out. One duck ate right out of Mitch's hand.

Thursday, Day four was our third and final day at Disneyland. Blythe joined us again on this day. Since we had only visited the California Adventure park up to this point we started out our day at the Disneyland park. This park is the original Disney park, the only one that Walt Disney saw completed. It's much, much different that California Adventure. The buildings are very historic looking, there are horse carriages and it's much smaller. Everything is pretty close together and it makes it feel much more crowded than the CA park. We visited Tomorrow Land and did the Toy Story Astro Blasters ride. I loved that so much I did it twice. Once with Mom and once with Dad. All four of us rode the monorail train around the park. I thought that was pretty neat. Daddy and I also did Tomorrowland Speedway where were drove around in a little race car. That was cool! 

We saw Alice and Mad Hatter when we first got into the park. Mommy and I rode on King Arthur's Carosel and Dad and I went and met Mickey Mouse. I got my picture taken with him and got his autograph. We saw several characters in the Disneyland park but I wasn't up for standing in line to meet them all. We saw Jessie from Toy Story, Goofy and Donald Duck. I guess we also saw Snow White when we first got there but I didn't even know who she was and I didn't care.

We visited Toon Town. That was pretty cool. That's where Mickey and Minnie's houses are. All the buildings are built to look cartoonish. We all also rode on the Disneyland train that went all around the park. That was pretty neat too. There were surprises along that ride. We saw some Dinosaurs, we saw some Native Americans and white tail deer as we went through Frontier Land. It was a nice way to see a lot of the park.

After the train ride Daddy and I went and rode the Tea Cups. We got a few pictures taken in the park before we headed out to go back to CA Park. I really needed to get back to Cars Land one last time to say goodbye before our time was over at Disneyland. We visited Cars Land and Bugs Land. On our way out of the park we caught some of the Pixar Parade. I saw some of my favorite characters in the parade. I saw the Incredibles again - but this time I also saw Frozone. We saw Mike and Sully from Monster's Inc, Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Slinky, Potato Head, aliens and army men from Toy Story, Mater, Crush, Nemo and Dori, Heimlich and Flick from A Bug's Life. It was a pretty cool parade! That concluded our time at Disneyland. It was definitely a fun, fun time!

Thursday evening Mom, Dad, Blythe and I relaxed at the house while the Reiser/Ranzenberger crew went to spend the evening at Disneyland. Daddy and I hung out in the hot tub for a long time. I loved it in there. Daddy didn't heat it up too much so it wasn't hot for me.

Friday was a down day for Mom, Blythe and I. We just hung around the house and relaxed while everyone else went to visit Universal Studios. We had a good day just playing games and watching movies at the house. Daddy had fun at Universal Studios. Friday night was our last night at the house and we had to get up really early to fly home. Daddy and I hung out in the hot tub again for a little while before I had to get to bed.

Saturday morning we had to get up around 3:45 a.m. to get ready to leave for the airport. Our flight left at 7:00 a.m. and Daddy told me it was a nap flight. We were all going to nap. We got to Denver just fine but Mom and Dad were concerned about us getting out of their because it was snowing pretty hard. There were flights delayed and cancelled and people everywhere in that airport. We were lucky though and our flight was only delayed a half hour. It ended up being an hour and a half by the time they got ice chipped off the door so it would close, the maintenance crew to write up their paperwork on what they did (chipping the ice off), then had to de-ice the plane. Finally we were in the air and landed in Cedar Rapids at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday March 23.

All in all we had a great trip. We were sad Grandma got sick and wasn't able to join us though.

I LOVED Cars Land!!!

On my very first airplane ride!

 Daddy and I looking for creatures at the beach.

 Mommy and I on King Arthur's Carousel at Disneyland Park. 

Some of the Dinosaurs we saw while on our train ride through the park.

The train we rode around the park.

 Me standing next to a palm tree in the area between California Adventure and Disneyland Park.

I loved trying to spot palm trees everywhere we went. 

A glimpse of Toon Town!

Me on one of Mater's Tractors.

Sally's Cozy Cone. We got popcorn, pop, a "Red's Apple Freeze" and pretzel bites from here.
 I only had popcorn.

Daddy and I watching other people on Radiator Springs Racers.

Daddy, Blythe and I standing next to the stack of tires outside Luigi's. 

Me standing next to the short tire stacks outside Luigi's

This was a big surprise for me! I didn't know I was going to see DJ there. He came out,
played music and did a dance party in the intersection of Radiator Springs. It was so cool! 

Flo's V8 Cafe all lit up at night!

I loved seeing Lighting McQueen drive through Radiator Springs. We saw him and Mater
drive through several times while were there. I never got tired of seeing him!

Me and the "Real Lightning McQueen"

I saw another girl with some Mater teeth and I had to have some.
When I spotted them in the store I grabbed them up. I think they are so funny!

Me and Mater! I REALLY like Mater. I was very excited to get my picture taken with him.

I think he's so funny and loved seeing him drive through Radiator Springs too.

 Mommy and I in front of the RS Rock after getting off the Radiator Springs Racers ride.

 Daddy and I on Luigi's Flying Tires ride. We went on it a couple times. It was my favorite ride there.

I kept singing one of the songs they play while on that ride. (Well what I hear them sing anyway) 

Mom, Dad, Blythe and I after The Shamu show at Sea World in San Diego.

Daddy, Blythe and I checking out the penguins.

All of us as we were leaving Sea World.

Kaylee and I checking out the polar bear. 

Blythe and I being penguins. 

Kaylee (Tangled) and I hanging out at the house.

Daddy and playing in the pool at the house.

I found these goggles in the pool toys at the house and I loved them. I want my own pair. 

A glimpse of the World of Color show. It was so cool!
Light and water show to music with Disney characters projected onto water.

Me on the Toy Story Mania ride. 

Mommy, Pluto and I and CA Park. 

Mommy, Me and Mr. & Ms. Incredible.

This is the restaurant we ate dinner in the night we were at the park!

Part of the Toy Story float in the Pixar Parade.

Mommy and I on Mater's Tractor ride.

Daddy and I on Francis' Ladybug Boogie in Bug's Land

Daddy and I on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train
Mommy and I went on this one too.

Me and the Stanley Statue in Radiator Springs

Mommy and I outside Tow Mater's Junkyard Jamboree

In the middle of Disneyland Park by the Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse Statue.

Radiator Springs at night. So cool! 

"Ornament Valley" where the Radiator Springs Racers ride is (behind us).

Mommy and I outside Lizzie's Radiator Springs Curios.

Super Boy

Mom and Dad recently introduced me to The Incredibles movie and I LOVE it! I have been running, jumping, bouncing, and sliding around here pretending I'm a super hero. Sometimes I'm Mr. Incredible, sometimes I'm "Dash" and sometimes I'm "Frozone" freezing Mom, Dad, Marlie and Blythe in their tracks. I like to jump in my bouncy house and be a super hero too. 

What else am I up to? Well I just had my last day of basketball yesterday. I shot the ball at the hoop. I hit the rim a lot and then I made one! Once I made it I was done. Dad said I wanted to go out on a high note.

My Dreams

I've recently been talking a lot more about dreams. I understand what they are now and remember a lot of my dreams. I usually tell Mom and Dad about them right away in the morning when I have them.

One dream I have a lot is a scary one about a bear. It's a big bear that chases me and tries to eat me. I run and try to get away.

I told Mom about a couple more of my dreams today.

One is about Daddy being a ghost. He closes his eyes and white light eyes shine out. That one is just a little bit scary, but not too bad. In my dream he talks to me and says, "I'm a ghost." I'm not sure if he's pretending to be a ghost or if he's really a ghost in my dream.

Another dream is that while I'm playing my Leap Frog game and an animal comes out of the screen and tries to bite my arm. At the very end of the game I say, "How do you play this game?"

Those are some crazy four (almost five) year old dreams, huh? If I have more I'll share them with you.

A Trip To Japan

Well....not a real trip I guess. It was just a pretend trip. This morning before school I asked Dad, "will we take our car to Tokyo" That's when he and Mom told me we weren't REALLY going to Japan - just pretend. Each of my school friends and I had a Passport though - that Ms. Allison made for us. Complete with our photo and name.

For the past month we've been learning a lot about Japan at school. While learning we have also been busy making things all leading up to our trip to Japan. We invited our parents to join us at school for our trip. Our class also enjoyed some Japanese food. Mom made fried rice but I didn't try any. Most of my school friends liked it. We got to try eating with chop sticks.

Some of the things we learned during our Japan lesson are: How to count to five in Japanse "ichi, ni, san, shi, go", how to say Good-bye "Sayonara", we learned about koi fish on boys day. On boys day the boys were allowed to wear hats to school. On girls day they were allowed to bring a doll to school and they made a Japanese doll. We all made Japanese lanterns, origami and Japanese flags. We had a wish tree where we each made a wish and hung it on there. We also invited our parents to make a wish.

We also made our own little volcano one day. We had a picture of on the wall. When I showed it to Mommy I said, "Do you want to know the secret?" She did so I told her, "It's not a real volcano. It's just pretend."

We also had some real Japanese items to try on and play with. There were Japanese kimonos, wooden shoes and a couple different Japanese games.

My Japanese Flag

Japanese Garden

Me and my Japanese Lantern by the Wishing Tree

Trying out some of the Japanese Games

My Origami

My Koi Fish

It was a really fun lesson and school and fun showing Mom all of the things we learned and did.

Know It All?

Dad and I had a conversation this morning. Here's how it went.

Me: I know everything!
Dad: You don't know everything.
Me: Yes, I do.
Dad: What's 800 + 800?
Me: Well, I don't know that number!
Dad: Then you don't know everything.
Me: What's 101 + 109?
Dad: 210
Me: WOW! I'll have to remember that!