I don’t know when my feet have ever been this tired.  My faker-fit bit is on overload, and still today was GREAT!!! We are in Anaheim visiting Disneyland today and tomorrow, and LOVING our matching shirts 😍 So far, my observation of Disneyland vs. Disney world is that they are slight variations of the same park, with Disney World being larger. Even rides and locations are same (Tomorrow is to your right, Frontierland is on your left and the Castle (again smaller) is the center point.)

Since Disney bought the rights to Star Wars, Tomorrowland is basically all things Star Wars!  We arrived about 8:45, and spent the entire morning on Star Wars rides! 

After today, Mike and I are now a little nervous about Michael and Leo ever getting their drivers license after seeing them drive!!!

It makes me even more nervous because Leo drove like this most of the tune

We loved loved loved the Star Wars rides and exhibit. One walk-through had the scale models used in the movies! We know all this because Michael read EVERY plaque in the entire exhibit!

But the highlight of Star Wars area …

Plus what we all knew as “Space Mountain” has now been starwars’d into Hyperspace Mountain!

We had to do the old faithful rides – Peter Pan’s Flight, the Tea Cups , and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

And we did some serious American Ninja Warrior training on Tarzan’s Tree House:

After an awesome dinner at Blue Bayou, we rode a couple rides, and then headed back to Tomorrowland for what we’ve been waiting on… Build Your Own Lightsaber!!!! 😍😳😄😍😳😄

We were about to leave when we ran right into The Electric Light parade! The boys were loving it until the last 4 floats were all princesses 😝😬😝 but the parade was really good! Always fun to see the parade but they have done a lot of updating and upgrading!

So that’s it – 14+ hours, 18,400 steps, a wiped out mama and daddy, and 2 little boys who still said “can we go swimming when we get back to hotel?” Seriously???

We are checking out California Adventure tomorrow and then headed to Los Angeles tomorrow after dinner. Starting  to feel like the little engine that could “I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!” 

Nothing a good night’s sleep can cure! 

California adventure, here we come!

Day Three is in the books and It. Was. Awesome! We spent today at the USS Midway in San Diego, decommissioned in 1992 after the Gulf War. 

Honestly, I had no idea we would be there all day but this thing is HUGE! Since we are still getting used to West Coast Time, we are some early morning people ☀️ (at least until we get adjusted). We were second in line this morning when they opened and spent the next 7 hours touring every spot on that carrier that was open to the public!

This place was a boys’ paradise and by boys, I mean ALL boys! Mike was in Heaven! War ships, war planes, and war veterans all talking about war ships, war planes and war veterans – Heaven!  I swear, there had to be a millions buttons to push  and switches to switch! And we pushed and switched every single one!

We went up and down, and up and down, and up and down! We spent some time in the Brig, and checked out the sailors’ bunks. 

We had lunch on board, and boys were just amazed that we had lunch off the back of aircraft carrier! 

But our absolute favorite parts of the ship was sitting in the cockpits and the flight simulators! WOW!  I think I can now mark “pilot” off my possible career path 😬😳  I especially got tickled hearing Leo say to his brother “Michael, I promise I won’t throw up on you.” Now is that love or what? ❤️ It was a valid promise because these simulators went up, down, upside down, sideways – it was crazy!

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Mike and I both went to the Battleship in Wilmington growing up, but the Midway is at least 2, if not 3, times the size of our Battleship.  I know the boys had a great time today but the grown-ups had just as much fun – It really was an incredible day!

After the Midway, we left San Diego, with a promise to come back with Michael and Leo’s kids one day 😍.

So after a full day of touring (all 11,237 steps of it), we were careful to leave San Diego at a good time to avoid all the California traffic that we’d been warned about… (See photo of clock in car 😬)

That’s when we pulled out of the garage 😂😜😂😜 but honestly traffic wasn’t too bad – better than Charlotte at 5!!!

So now we are headed toward Anaheim and Disneyland for their Diamond Celebration of 60 years. We had a good drive seeing all the landscapes that were so different from home

The Holiday Roooooaaaddd continues… 😀

This will go down as one of the best days ever! Day started off a little rocky with some time-zone-adjustment-overly-excited-about-vacation grumpiness BUT the mood changed once we found…

the automatic pancake maker at breakfast!!!! Seriously, we were like country mouse done come to the city!  Hahaha! But we weren’t the only ones – it was the talk of all the breakfast tables😀

While we waited for the (free 😍) Zoo Shuttle, we worked in a little Ninja Warrior Training 

And then in true Jimmy Maske style, we arrived at the Zoo just when they turned the key to open, and we started our day! 

I know we have a fantastic Zoo in NC, but this zoo is absolutely amazing! We saw some of the coolest creatures! Even my little zookeepers were impressed –

We saw a snake necked turtle. It literally is a turtle with a snake’s head on it. We saw blue lizards, giant anacondas, Tapirs, capybaras and a real panda bear! I have always wanted to see a panda! Bucket list item – check!

Boys made us loop back around because somehow we missed the leopard area. We found it – was like a giant cat house all areas connecting to gather in overhead bridges for the cats.  Apparently Michael and Leo look like lunch to snow leopards (look above their heads)

I have to say one of the highlights from the day (and life) was hand feeding the giraffes! 

Their tongues look like black snakes and these things are HUGE!! Who just hand feed giraffes? This crowd right here! 

If  we leave tomorrow, their faces made it totally worth it! 

We saw tigers taking a bath, and met a yellow lab named Honey who’s best friend is a cheetah named Bakka.

We finally got to see the full sized hippos (because the Pygmy Hippos didn’t count) 

And enjoyed a water fall with Daddy

We road a double decker bus, got small (suitcases won’t hold much more), and made our picture on EVERYTHING! It was such a great day and it only took 10 hours and 16,646 steps! 😬😳👣👣👣👣👣

So just when we think the adventure is  over… So we leave the Zoo planning to just have Domino’s deliver to Hotel. Our shuttle driver suggested a local pizzeria nearby. I love an adventure (clearly) so off we go to Luigi’s on 25th… OH MY WORD! I have had pizza in Little Italy in New York and in Chicago, but this was THE BEST pizza I have ever had and it was cheap – 2 HUGE slices and a drink for $6! And delicious kinds too – artichoke tomato and pesto, potato skins pizza (called the Sportsbar), sausage and pepperoni, and the ol’ standby: cheese.  If you are ever anywhere in San Diego, this pizza is worth a drive!🍕🍕🍕

After all that, Michael and Leo made it about 10 minutes after a shower… Looks like it was a good day 

Tomorrow we are off to the USS Midway and a few other stops from recommendations from folks we met today – shocking, right that we struck up conversations with strangers 😜  Hope my vacationers aren’t too pooped for Day 3!

Picture says it all! After 5 hours on the plane, we landed in San Diego – 75 degrees and ZERO humidity 😳  Mike and I laughed at the Hertz lady who asked if we could believe how hot it was here?!?! Um yeah, I think we can handle this.

Made it to the hotel (Holiday Inn Express San Diego Downtown).  Just like I read online – it’s dated but clean.  And the staff is great especially with loud boys!! After bouncing off the walls while Mike parked the car, we went straight to the pool. The boys swam…

And Mike and I found what may be the funniest sign I have ever read:

Now I wouldn’t think people need this pointed out to them, but it’s a good reminder for us all! We may need to get this for our house too 😂😄😂😄. As an added bonus, Michael and Leo laughed for  at least an hour because “the sign at the pool says diarrhea!”  Oh, life with boys!

After the pool, we headed out for dinner and stumbled on this local place called the Taco Stand 🌮 – it was delicious! Boys were amazed watching them make their tortilla shells fresh (and that we got to eat at the bar and watch the guys cook. I told them they were welcome to watch me cook any night of the week, and all I heard was crickets)  After dinner, the boys went to their first bar – The Donut Bar 🍩.  According to USA Today, it is one of the Top 10 Donuts Shops in the United States . Instead of alcohol, they had HUGE donuts and coffee drinks!! Perfect for the Browns! Now if they could just mix in some ice cream…

It’s perfect start to vacation! 

Tomorrow we are so excited to go to the San Diego Zoo.  Hope the zookeepers are ready for these two!

Packed and in the car for the airport (on time I might add!) – no worries for safety since Captain American is traveling with us – shocking, right?  Thanks Brian for being airport shuttle for us  😀

The escalator was big hit for boys so we wasted 10 minutes going down and up, and down and up, and down and up.

So now enjoying the Hot-Lanta airport and waiting for the plane to San Diego ✈️

Oh. My. Word! After years of talking about this trip, and months of planning, tomorrow is the day! I’ve spent most of today packing, and packing, and packing…

I am taking the advice of a friend (thanks Sally) and packed each day of the boy’s clothes in gallon ziploc  bags. Each bag has their shorts, shirt, socks and underwear for the day.  I’m hoping this will avoid the “mom! Where are my clothes?” routine (that usually leads to me screaming) and then the suitcase explosion that develops as the trip unfolds. 

If it works, I am going to end up owing an apology to my future daughter-in-laws because my boys will have no idea how to pack for themselves.  But seriously, who am I kidding? I’ll probably end up with a suitcase full of clothes and empty ziplocs. But I tried. 

One last swim (to try to wear them out), and we are off to bed! Hope we can sleep- Because I am SO EXCITED!!!!

I’ve never thought of writing a blog. I couldn’t imagine having the time to write a blog, or that any one would want to read it – because seriously, what am I going to say that you can”t figure out for yourself.  However, in planning our family’s vacation this year, I relied a great deal on the blogs of other mothers.  Let’s be honest, when you are going to a new city, it’s fine for a hotel to tell me that their hotel is “family-friendly” but it means a whole lot more coming from another mom – especially if it comes from the mother of boys – like me.  So, to repay all those moms whose blogs I used and enjoyed, and at the recommendation of a friend who uses wordpress to blog (thanks for the encouragement Amy)… Here it is… The Brown Family Adventures… It’s not always pretty, but it sure is fun!