Disneyland Part 2: Flying

I was excited and really nervous about flying with a bunch of kids.  We could not have done it without Lucy.  We buddied up and took charge of 2 kids each.  That system sort of worked, but we had to switch it around a lot.  The morning started off early at about 4 AM.  Peter and I had gone  to bed at about 2 AM.  We dressed the kids before they went to bed so all we had to do was stick them in the car and go.  Each person carried a rolling carry on and a backpack.  We also had 4 car seats and our big stroller. We did not check anything so it all went with us to the gate.  This was a big challenge, but we got through the airport quickly and quietly and the airline got us all loaded on pretty easily.  The flight was about 2 hours so we brought a laptop with movies and a couple of Ipods with games.  The big kids did well, but the little ones had a hard time.  I was holding Luke and he kept trying to fall asleep. Carter was next to me being very wiggly, so every time I had to help him Luke would wake up and cry for a few minutes.  Luke was under the weather so he was much fussier than usual. 

It was a very high stress situation, but Peter and I were so happy knowing that we were saving 4 days of traveling so it was worth an intense few hours.  We rented a Toyota Sienna and got to our hotel by 10 AM.  We dropped our bags off, loaded up the stroller and walked over the park right away.  We were able to get a full day of play in.  Running on 2 hours of sleep, I felt like I was a zombie, but willed myself to keep going. 

Portland Airport:

Here we are off to our first day of adventure...California Adventure that is.  
Our first stop was Toy Story Mania.  We immediately noticed the gawking.  Did I mention these shirts were bright?  I didn't realize what a spectacle we were until people would literally stop and watch us walk by with our triple stroller and plethora of small kids.  When we were in line for the ride, people would peer around corners to take a look.  We thought it was really funny.  Peter said he felt like a yellow highlighter marker.   We easily stayed together this way though, and everyone was very friendly to us.  When Lily tried to run off, someone would quickly match us back up. One time we got of a ride and went one way and Peter was behind.  He was trying to figure out which way to go and a stranger quickly pointed and said "Your family went that way."  HA HA HA.  This happened more times than I can count over the 8 days.  We played hard all day and enjoyed the short lines, being the slow time of year.  We would take turns riding big rides and used the Stroller Pass option which was great.  Everone got to ride this way and the big kids, more than once. By the time we got back to our Hotel everyone was exhausted and grouchy.  I went to the store for groceries and we all slept really well.   I really liked our Hotel.  The price was unbelievable for a 2 bedroom 4 queen bed suite (like $58 a night!).  It was old and not pretty and a little gross, but we all fit so comfortably and the sheets were clean. We were only there for sleeping mostly anyway.  Our number one requirement besides cost was walking distance so it was perfect.  I was so glad that we could just walk each day and save the hassle of shuttles or driving.  I wouldn't do it any other way. The Hotel is called Eden Roc Inn.
To be continued...