The Blanchard Family's California Adventure

Our long awaited Blanchard family reunion in sunny Southern California finally happened!  We partied it up January 17th - 22nd and had a marvelous time hanging out with the fam, eating yummy food, and playing in the sun.

Day 1: We arrived in Anaheim, CA on Friday afternoon.  After collecting our bags at the airport, feeding ourselves and Cal, and getting a nap in for the baby whilst doing laps around the baggage carousel (thanks, Gregg!), we caught our shuttle from LAX to the Disneyland Hotel (our drop point) and then hoofed it over to our rental house where the rest of the fam was already splashing in the pool.  Callie loved dipping her toes in the cool water (it was a bit too cool for full body submersion, especially for her tiny body, so toe splashing it was).  She was especially good at making sure the kids got some good, clean splashes to the face as they swam around her.

Tie-dye and shades - maybe Callie is a
California girl at heart?

Day 2: While the rest of the fam played all day in California Adventure park, we opted to spend our Saturday getting Callie (and her parents, let's be honest) caught up on naps after our big day of traveling.  We did do a little exploring of the neighborhood, however, and ended up at Downtown Disney for a little window shopping.  We met up with the rest of the Blanchard Adventurers for dinner at Captain Kidd's, where we stuffed our faces with some vittles at the buffet.

Looks like Cal really wants a taste of what Dad's eating.

Day 3: Sunday morning found us all dressed up and ready for church, but when we got to the chapel, we found we were late for a regional conference broadcast which was just ending.  Bummer.  Our little fam headed back to the rental house for lunch and nap (Callie) and to prepare lunch/dinner for the fam (Gregg and Kim) while the rest of the gang traveled to the temple to pay a visit to the grounds.  Unfortunately they couldn't get in (closed on Sunday, apparently), so they headed to the beach for a few minutes to enjoy the sand and waves.  That afternoon we found ourselves at the pool once again for some refreshing toe-splashing.

Avocados and prunes - a winning combo for Cal.

Day 4: Beach day!  The day was a little breezy and the water was super chilly (I still can't believe the boys - Kage and Scott and Bret - got all the way in!) but it was lovely to relax in the sand and watch the surfers.  Cal napped for most of the time, and what better white noise could you ask for than the crashing waves?  Another noteworthy part of our time at the beach: Bret came away from his surfing attempts with a sting-ray battle wound.  Poor dude.

Snoozin' in Dad's arms - she did a lot of this
during our trip.

Day 5: Tuesday was Disneyland Day. Cal got all dolled up in her new Minnie t-shirt from Grandpa and Grandma and I just couldn't help but stuff her in a matching pink tutu that we got as a hand-me-down from a family in our branch when she was born.  To complete the look, she sported a lovely crocheted Minnie ears hat - her Christmas gift from the Wihongis.  She pulled off the ensemble beautifully.  We went into our day at the park toting a seven-and-a-half-month-old with very low expectations as far as rides go; we just planned to enjoy the day and the sights and sounds and smells and if we got on a ride or two it would just be a bonus.  Thanks to the "ghost town" status of the park that day, however, we found ourselves walking onto rides without even stopping in line.  Callie was a champ to hang out with Grandma for a few minutes (even with her newfound "stranger danger" phase coming into play) while we rode Star Tours and Space Mountain.  We had a blast watching Kage and Dray defeat Darth Vader during their Jedi Training Academy.  We ate some lunch by the water and watched the ducks swimming and quacking around us.  Callie rode her first ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, and squealed and giggled the whole time.  (Thanks to Dray for sitting next to her so she wasn't scared!)  We also all rode the Haunted Mansion and the train together as a fam.  We finished the day off with a super loud but really fun Soundsational parade (Cal and Dad hung out away from the speakers and explored the castle and tried on Mouse Ears instead).  Finally, we met up with the Farrers who had spent the day recuperating from a day of barfing kiddos instead of playing with us in the park (poor fam - but they did get to go the next day, so all was not lost!) for dinner at Denny's.  And we got our one shot of the gang together outside the gates on our walk back home.

Cal is ready for this Disneyland thing in all
her tutu glory.

Nope, we're cheapskates and didn't feel like
dropping $17 for a pair of cardboard ears.
But that didn't stop Dad from snapping
a pic of our little Minnie Mouse in the iconic hat.

Callie was an awesome little traveler - we were so relieved she did so well on the planes and trains and buses and vans and car rides - and we were sure glad to be sleeping in our own beds in the thin mountain air once it was over, but we sure had a great time together as a family.  This was a trip for the memory books, for sure!