Imagine walking into an airport looking for 8 people. You've never met them before but you are about to spend a 13 hour flight together followed by a week in the USA with them! Lucky you're going to the happiest place on Earth so there were no nerves, just excitement!
Ok, so there were a few nerves about the fact that four of the group were boys under the age of 8! These brothers have never had a holiday together as they live in two separate households, so there was much excitement in just seeing each other at the airport.
I'll never forget seeing a red suitcase rolling along and wondering how it was moving by itself and then seeing Tyson's little head pop up.
It takes a long time to get 9 people and their luggage checked in for an international flight but we managed without too much drama. Off we rushed to get to our gate in time to hear the announcement of an indefinite delay to...yep, our plane. 'Where is our plane?', 'when can we get on the plane Tara?', 'When are we flying to America?' were common questions for the next few hours. Not even airport staff had answers so the adults had to be creative.
The excitement alone of the boys getting on a big plane was fun to watch, though the fact that many of them had minimal sleep was not so entertaining for their family!
LA was warm and sunny on arrival and off we went to Hotel Ménage, Anaheim where we were welcomed with plates of warm cookies. The boys couldn't resist a swim in the hotel pool before heading to downtown Disney to explore, find food and discuss our plans for tomorrow, Disneyland of course!!
Day 1 of Disneyland involved some very excited boys who had clearly been doing their research. After a train ride around the park to orient ourselves and study the maps it was time to get riding!! We stumbled upon Autopia where Liam got his first driving experience! I think grandma was relieved that the car was on rails and not in the full control of a 7-year-old!
Next up, our first big ride, The Matterhorn, which became known as the Mountain Mountain so as to not confuse it with Space Mountain. We learnt a few things on this ride:1. Tara hadn't been to Disneyland for a few years and forgot that there were some dark bits. 2. There were a few adrenalin junkies in the group, and 3. There were a few who would become adrenaline junkies, but not when there's a red eyed yeti inside a dark mountain! Everyone was very brave and it kicked off a great day of riding!
Most impressive was Zac riding on Space Mountain. What started as a nervous 5 year old emerged as a brave giggling young man who wanted to go again!!
We sure made the most of our day, which was spent lining up (the boys became experts at this), thrill seeking, shopping for toys and marvelling in the Magic Kingdom. We had the biggest pizzas we'd ever seen at dinner time and then discovered we'd missed the last bus home. Now, it really wasn't far from Disneyland to our hotel, but after the long day we'd had there were some little legs who felt like we might as well be walking back to Australia! I had the pleasure of piggybacking young Aiden home and hearing all about his day and what he planned to do tomorrow, after a biiig sleep!
Boy did we sleep! After a bit of a lie in we made our way to Disney's California Adventure Park. The boys love cars and Cars the movie so we headed off to the most popular ride, the Radiator Springs Racers. It was a long wait that was well worthwhile! We had so much fun whizzing around the racetrack, and the boys were thrilled because they won!! The boys loved Cars Land and went on every ride. Then it was time to test out the giant, looming beast of a roller coaster that is California Screamin'! I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, grandpa or the boys, but It went straight onto the re ride list!!
After we were all ridden out we went to watch the parade and share some much requested fairy floss! So, now we had more energy to burn!
A small contingent of our crew lined up for the Hollywood Tower. I explained that I was not brave enough to go, so Tyson kept me and Tracee company while Aiden took grandma to A Bug's Land. Well, never have I seen an adventure lover as defeated as poor little Zac who was so upset after the scary ride that he didn't even want to look at it anymore. Even Liam said he was scared, while Elyssa wanted to go again!
Aiden introduced his brothers to A Bug's Land and they all found some nice, fun and gentle rides to distract them from the terror-ble tower!
Of course, it turned into another late night, at least this time we caught the bus and saved our weary legs.
A 'rest day' was had the following day, though I don't think much resting was done!! I believe there was some retail therapy, swimming, a re visit to Disneyland and meeting Mickey Mouse!!
We returned to both Disney parks on Thursday to fit in the rides we had missed. A highlight was Soarin' Over California and watching the water and lights show 'World of Colour'.
Friday: day trip!!! Off to LA we went in search of Hollywood, celebrities and fame. We found Hollywood! Our driver, Johnny, took us for a tour of the stars homes and Rodeo drive before leaving us at Universal Studios for the day. This was a fun day for our four little minions who had been hanging out all week to go on the Despicable Me ride. It was worth the wait! We got to almost every ride and attraction, which involved an encounter with Godzilla, a massive shark, a flood, fighting evil with the Transformers, seeing Donkey & Shrek get out of a tricky situation and a few Mummy hair raising moments. We got home in time to see the spectacular Disney fireworks from our hotel balcony before hitting the sack after yet another exhausting day.
The weekend!! Well, the place was much busier on the weekend but the boys fit in some more re rides on Saturday before joining the massive crowd in front of the Disney castle waiting for the fireworks. Unfortunately they never came due to the high winds. We were a bit sad about this but realised that we had done so many other cool things this week that we would be ok.
Sunday: a BIG day. This was not only our last day of the trip but it was Mothers Day and the twins birthday. Whoa!! The day was started with kisses, hugs, gifts and well wishes, and a big yummy brunch!!! Of course we had a lot of last things to do: re rides, downtown Disney shopping, enjoying the sunshine, peanut butter m&m's, the list goes on!
Back to LAX we went and everything ran smoothly. Our plane home had quite a few empty rows so we took advantage of extra space, blankets and pillows and went to sleep!
As always, arriving home was bittersweet. Everyone was looking forward to their own beds but our trip was over.
What a privilege it was to spend a week with this amazing bunch of people, all of them with remarkable stories who have stepped up to care for these four gorgeous, energetic boys who lost their mum at such a young age. I can only imagine the emotions experienced particularly by grandma and grandpa as they watched their grandsons having the time of their lives but also reflected on the loss of their daughter.
Thanks to Linda, Neil, Tracey, Elyssa and especially Liam, Aiden, Tyson and Zac, for sharing so much of yourselves with me and allowing me to join you on you trip of a lifetime.
Tara
