Disneyland...day one

At 5 A.M. Monday morning we woke up the kids, snuggled them up in their car seats
and started our long drive to California. Although for us road warriors, 11 hours is almost a cinch compared to our annual Kansas road trip.

Our kids are usually really good travelers. In fact, Luke and Madelyn would probably just be content to look out the window or sleep the whole time. But their brother has to have someone to bounce his energy off of or he goes crazy. If someone is asleep, he must wake them up. If someone is eating, he must eat. If it is too quiet, he must scream. You get the idea. It's a bit of a challenge traveling with Evan. He is a wonderful kid, but a horrible traveler. Although, we do get a good hour break when he is sleeping.Jonathan and I have decided he needs a cage all to himself...with a straight jacket...and a muzzle. Or maybe he will just grow out of it soon. We hope the latter is true.

Poor Jonathan has a hard time staying awake in the wee hours of the morning. He did not inherit the Starr gene of being able to drive through the night. So around Cedar City I took over the driving until we got to Vegas.

I love driving on an open highway and seeing the beautiful country we live in. I am a nerd about watching documentaries (I take after my dad and his love of history) and recently watched "America: the story of us" and it reflected on the pioneer spirit of America. Thomas Jefferson once thought it would take over 200 years for Americans to explore and discover any land past the Mississippi river, but instead it took only 100 years to explore and settle almost all of the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. Driving through the Sierra Nevada desert and all of the beautiful mountains made me remember the sacrifice and hard work it took for many so that we can now not only drive through such a place, but live in such a place. (I love our country.)

We were ready to stop for awhile, and decided to have lunch in Las Vegas. We stopped by M&M world next door to look around and watch a short movie. The kids each picked out one M&M souvenir: Madelyn got a May bear with m&m's, and Evan picked out a Star Wars light saber that lit up and held m&m's inside of it.

We finally made it to Anaheim and checked into our hotel. Awaiting the kids in the room were notes and pajamas from their favorite Disney characters...and Mickey and Minnie Mouse too.

They were so excited and surprised! They couldn't believe Buzz and Sleeping Beauty had sent such fun jammies just for them, and they loved reading their notes over and over.

(Thanks Shari!!)

We ordered take-out from Buca di Beppo next door, and the kids were finally able to let off some energy. Our room started to feel (and look) a little more like home.

We got settled in our jammies and read some favorite Disney stories: Snow White and
Three Little Pigs. Lights out by 8 (CA time). It was a long day, but we made it!

And the next day we were going to DISNEYLAND!!!