Last 2 days. Disneyland and California Adventure

On the downhill run - not much to report other than a lot of fun at both Disneyland and California Adventure. I'm pleased to report I went on every ride the kids did - even the Hollywood Tower Hotel - Twilight Zone Tower of Terror!! So much fun and the best laugh we'd had in ages. There was one ride called the Grizzly River Run - a white water run. We had to wait until the end of the day to get on it and as we saw person after person covered in water, and a sign that said, "You will get wet, you may get soaked", we were a little worried about going for a meal afterwards. Well the sign was right on both counts - we just laughed and laughed as each one of us was drenched. Damian and Joseph won the prize for being drenched.

We spent a day in each world and then today we decided which rides we wanted to go back on. We got on just about every ride we wanted - and some we got multiple times. 

Cars world -

Amazing reproduction of the set. 

A quick last post. We're at the airport and our flight has just been called. Can't wait to see you all at home! Hope you've enjoyed the blog!! Love Louise. 

Thursday 17th July

Happiest place on earth today - Disneyland!!
So much fun, though it was very crowded because today was Disneyland's birthday - 59 years old!! There were celebrations everywhere and possibly more people than ever - there are a lot of people very passionate about Disneyland (we've seen a number of people with shirts covered in badges and pins from every part of Disneyland).  It was very festive, and just so happy - so no complaints.

The rides are amazing, though a bit of a leap of faith - you can't really see a ride and decide if you like it - you just have to be brave enough to line up, see the warnings, ignore the part that says, "last chance to leave" and then go for it.  Nothing has been too terrifying and I'm proud to say I've kept up with the kids and gone on everything they have. This may change tomorrow when we go to California Adventure - the newest part of Disneyland - a separate park next door - we have access to both.  The lines for rides can be quite long too, but it doesn't really matter - it gives your stomach time to settle and it's a nice way of meeting people, or planning out which ride to do next.

Another interesting part of Disneyland is the crowd here. We have landed ourselves in the middle of  USA National dance competition!!  Apologies to Danzart and Miss Kimberley - despite years of ballet, jazz etc with my daughters, despite making a tutu and hand-sewing sequins over the years, I'm quite a failure as a stage mother.  To find ourselves  in the middle of the largest dance competition in the USA with fake hair, buns, glitter, costumes and the entire set of "Dance Moms" is both hilarious and terrifying all at once.  Every table we walk past in the evening has a 2 foot trophy on it and I'm beginning to think every child wins a prize.  Alice is desperate to watch the dancing but we don't know where it actually is - just that 100,000 girls must be in it!!

Apart from that, we had a good shopping day for Mickey Mouse Ears and Pluto Hats and we ticked off every ride we hoped for in Disneyland. Another big day tomorrow so off to bed!!

Finbarr driving in Autopia

The boys found a storm trooper!

 

Princesses and pirates and Peter Pan!! 

Wednesday 16th July - to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Today we reluctantly farewelled Boston (especially as it was another early start - at the airport by 6.15am!).  However, even our sleepiest were happy to get up today as we were heading to California - finally off to Disneyland.  It was a 6 hour flight, and we've gained 3 hours again so we are a bit confused about timing!

Disneyland proclaims to be the "Happiest Place on Earth" and it really tries to live up to this. From the minute we walked in we were smiling from ear to ear - whether watching the excitement of the kids, or just thoroughly enjoying it ourselves (and reliving past memories of earlier visits), we just had a wonderful afternoon and evening.  We got on quite a few rides, watched the grand parade, had dinner at "Big Thunder Ranch" and then watched the beautiful fireworks display from our hotel.

So much fun and it's only just begun! We can't wait to get back there tomorrow!

Tuesday 15th July - JFK Library

A new city and a new public transport system to navigate - today we made our way via two trains and a shuttle bus to the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.  This housed an amazing collection of memorabilia and  documentation from his childhood, right through the beginning of his political career, his Presidential Campaign and leadership as President.  It also had rooms dedicated to his family life, both as a child and with Jackie and his children.  It was well worth the visit - surprisingly uncrowded and really interesting - another venue that's made me want to get home and study up on JFK's story as there's so much more I'd like to know.  As a reference to his love of sailing and the ocean, the museum was built beside the water with his sailing boat displayed outside during summer - a spectacular location viewed from a beautiful glass atrium.

The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to finishing shopping, packing and then enjoying a night out for dinner.  Damian and I had our last USA date night. I've been following a show for a long time now called "Top Chef" - a US show a bit like Masterchef, but competition is between professional chefs. One of the regular guests and judges on the show, Chef Barbara Lynch, has 6 restaurants in Boston, and I was very keen to try one.  We got into "Menton" and had a spectucular meal - 4 course taster menu (each course gave you 4 choices), and each was superb.  After the meal we were invited to the back of house for a kitchen tour.  We were really impressed with that - we met Scott Jones (head chef of Menton) who gave us a great insight into what they do.  It was an enormous kitchen, but even more impressive was the whole floor below being dedicated to a food preparation area for that restaurant and it's neighbouring one.  The service was amazing - even down to them calling us this morning to see if we'd enjoyed our evening - nice touch! 

"Spectacularly good lobster" - quote from Damian Power. 

Kitchen tour! 

Nice story from the concierge

We are staying at a really lovely old hotel in Back Bay, Boston called the Lenox Hotel - it's so lovely and everyone is really friendly.  Today the guy on concierge showed us a display cabinet of memorabilia from the hotel and one thing was an original receipt from a couple who'd stayed at the hotel for their honeymoon in 1954.  Their son had found the receipt while helping them move home and sent it to the hotel, explaining he thought they might like it's historical significance - the couple's wedding night cost $4.40 at the time.  When the hotel manger enquired and found out the couple were alive and well and happily together, he invited them to spend their 60th wedding anniversary at the hotel, and they charged them $4.40 for their stay.  They made a big deal of them and gave the real VIP treatment.  The funny thing is, when the car pulled up with the couple in, the old man got out and  said, "What is this place?? We've never been here have we?!!" Very cute!!

The real reason we came to America...

Em had some paperwork to fill out...

Lobster craving fulfilled.