Where All Your Dreams Come True

Forwarning, if you don't like Disneyland or pictures avoid this post. However, if you don't like either of these two things then your a grinch and I don't want you reading anyway! haha
On May 10th we embarked on the long awaited journey to Disneyland. The kids had been working hard doing chores and saving money for this trip for a long time. When the day finally arrived they were beside themselves with excitement.
We drove down on Tuesday and spent the night with Grandma Lila (my grandma). It was great to see her and visit with her. I always love going to Grandma's house.
Early the next morning we headed down to Disneyland where we would spend 4 crazy days of nonstop Disney fun. For some stupid reason Junior and I imagined this nice relaxing trip where we would sleep in, go to Disney for a while, come home nap, swim in the pool, then head back to Disney for a little longer. WRONG!!! The kids couldn't get enough of that place. We were there from early morning til late night everyday.
Surprisingly there were no real meltdowns or fights for the entire 4 days we were there. The only two meltdowns we had were at the end of the 4th day. By that point Brayden was so tired he just couldn't reason with himself or anybody else. He REALLY wanted to go on Haunted Mansion a 2nd time but the walk throught he mansion to get to the ride scared him and he wanted to be able to skip that part and go straight on to the ride. He really had a hard time coming to grips with it but eventually did and kind of laughed at himself for the whole thing. The 2nd one came at the very end of the 4th day as we were getting ready to leave. All three of them were bawling saying they didn't want to leave Disneyland. you would think 4 days would be enough but apparently not.
The overall trip was an absolute blast. My mom had been visiting in Utah and drove down with us and my dad met up with us there. We hit EVERY ride you could some of them 2 or 3 times. The first two days there were NO lines! Literally the longest we waited for anything was 5 minutes. The 2nd two days was right after graduation so it was pretty choatic. However, we had tried to go see World of Color and after waiting 2 hours the show was canceled due to technical difficulties. We were given a bunch of fastpasses as compensation. So while the rides were 1-2 hour long waits we would just walk through the exits and hop right on. It was great!
As Brayden exclaimed while riding on PeterPan and "flying" over Neverland, "its like all my dreams have come true here!" We truly loved and the kids are already asking when we get to go back.
We had an insane amount of pictures so I only put up 1/4 of them. They aren't in exact order, but at least divided by days
Kalei is NOT a roadtripper. Half the trip was spent with her face buried in her hands and sobbing, the other half would be when she resigned and looked like this:
Having some fun with bubbles during a pitstop

The benefits of being a boy, you don't have to wait until a reststop. Gotta have some embarrassing pictures for the future

Our hotel room was great, very clean and comfortable beds, and the best part it was right across the street from Disneyland. Tavita discovered the only downfall of the room. As he went running in to go to the bathroom when we first got there, flipped up the toilet seat and it came off right in his hands. He was pretty bewildered by the whole thing.

The kids beyond excited to go! There is no way to describe their reaction when we first pulled up and they saw Disneyland.

As we walked in, one of the first characters we saw was Goofy. Tavita was so excited because it's his favorite Disney character.

Kalei with her first of many princesses.

Going for a spin on the teacups. This was one of the favorite rides and we went more than once. Kalei was hilarious because she would start out so excited and loving it. Then about halfway through she would get so dizzy she'd just fall into the lap of whoever was sitting next to her.

Going for an expedition on the Jungle Cruise. Another favorite, we did it three times. The boys were so funny, they swear a crocodile almost bit their hand off, they'd hit the deck at certain parts, jump to the middle of the boat at others, truly terrified something was going to happen but they loved it.

Tarzans treehouse. Always a good place to let them run for a bit

Kalei LOVED the rides where you just road/float along and looked at all that was going on around you (It's a Smallworld, Storybook boat rides, Winnie the Pooh etc)

The Disney Railroad is something new I haven't seen before. Think it replaced the Monorail and it takes you around the park. Meant to just take you from one point to another but the kids wanted to keep riding it over and over because they thought it was a ride in itself. At one point you go through a tunnel where it seems like your in the Grand Canyon then in prehistoric times.

What's a trip to Disney without MICKEY!

Putting the kids to bed was NEVER a fight the whole time they were there. They were almost anxious to climb into bed each night

Jr's dad and brother are staying here with us now (Rodney on a permanent basis) and had flown into California to drive back to Utah with us. The kids were so excited to see Uncle Rodney after 2 years.

Fun at the Splashpad in Bugs Land

Playing at the High Sierra Adventure area. The kids LOVED being way high in the air climbing across nets. No fear of heights here!

One of Brayden's favorites was the Griazley River Run. The other two were to short to go on but Brayden was hillarious throughout the entire ride.

The boys with Sully

Can you find Brayden the Bug?

All the bugs ready for "It's tough to be a bug"

Kalei was very excited to see "Donyduk". She never wanted pictures with any of the characters, she couldn't stop hugging them.

Pirates of the Carribean topped the favorite list by both the boys (and Kalei too I think) They loved it and wanted to ride it over and over. Good thing there were no lines. After the ride they decided they wanted pirate swords as their souvenirs. We walked out of the shop and there was a band of pirates playing some music. The boys decided pirates don't play music, they battle. An intense squashbuckling fight ensued. Brayden proudly proclaimed he cut the pirates leg off (but was quick to assure us not to worry because it was just pretend)

Tavita trying his hand at swordplay

"BawkBawk" and Lei Lei. Yes, its pronounces as if trying to imitate a chicken, not quite sure how she came up with this name for her Grandpa as she can say Papa quite clearly. (my parents are Grandma and Grandpa and Jr's are Nana and Papa). Nonetheless, she absolutely adores her BawkBawk.

On the AstroBlasters

My cousin Caroline lives close by Disneyland and brought her beautiful children to come swim/watch fireworks with us one night. It was so good to see her again.

All the cousins hanging out on the bed with tummies full of pizza and visions of fireworks dancing in their heads.

The fireworks we watched from our rooftop pool. By far the highlight of the hotel in our boys books.

FREEEEEZZZZING!!! but loving it!

Kalei saw this "Rella" display and was in complete love. She couldn't stop gaping at it.

WATCH OUT!!! Run away car!

Gotta hit the classic Dumbo ride!

The boys perched on the treasure they found on Tom Sawyer island

The boys were downright giddy about being able to sail on a real pirate ship.

While the boys were off doing their manly business playing pirates, Kalei was in heaven surrounded by princesses. They keep all the princesses (except Jasmine) at the Princess Fantasy Faire and it's always and hour+ wait to go in and see them. My mom totally made Kalei's trip by waiting in line for her so she could go in and see the princesses. We kept crossing out fingers that Cinderella would be out (they only have three out at a time). We first saw Princess Tiana then Ariel. At last we came across Cinderella and Kalei was at a loss for words. She stood there in awe and whispered "RElla!" I total her to go give her a hug and she took of. She loved EVERY minute sitting there talking to her. Well Cinderella talked to her and she just stared back. Thanks again mom for doing that!

Brayden swears he got it to move just a little.

My 3 musicians

For some reason Tavita was so excited when he saw this car. He ran to it, jumped in and couldn't stop smiling the whole time he was "driving" it.

The captian and his first mate sailing Donald Ducks ship

Toontown!!! The favorite of all the "lands"

Hanging out with all the citizens of Toontown during Morning Madness

Kalei with Minnie! She's head mouse in her book. Who needs Mickey?

Our last day there was the only cloudy/cool day we had. Very nice for standing in lines/walking about an amusment park. However, the kind of day where you skip over water rides. Brayden BEGGED and BEGGED to do Grizzly River Run one last time. Since we didn't get too wet the 1st time, Junior and I agreed to take him. MISTAKE!!! Junior and Brayden got the usual sprinkling but I was seated in the wrong spot and got SOAKED! Literally from head to toe. My shoes sloshed for the entire rest of the day. Brayden loved it just as much the 2nd time as the 1st though!

Midway Madness. The only LONG line we had to endure (other then the Fantasy Faire). Actually Junior endured it while I took the kids to watch Alladin. An incredible show that I was pleasantly surprised by. Made me sad Junior missed it. But am very grateful that the kids having a good time is so important to him.

Kalei with Minnie as she's about to go flying.

The crazies in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle. Two new things I learned about this place that I never knew on all my other trips to Disneyland. #1 It is Sleeping Beauty's castle, didn't know it belonged to a particular princess, and #2 you can actually walk through the castle as it tells the Sleeping Beauty story.

The kids had been begging for these giant lollipops the whole time we were there. The last day we finally succumed and endured the mess. I was amazed at how long the actually sucked on these babies. It kept the occupied for most of the day.

Our little sugar queen was the most excited about them.

They were so hoping to be the next king of England

Junior had been eyeing the turkey legs the whole trip and we got one while waiting for Fantasmic to start. Think Tavita might have eaten more then Junior!

Overal WONDERFUL trip where many memories were made!

Temple and Cinco De Mayo

So I have HUNDREDS of pictures from our epic trip to Disneyland I have to finish sorting through. Since the task is so daunting, figured I'd post a few pictures I was meaning to post before we left for Disneyland.
The past couple times Junior and I have gone to the temple Tavita has begged to go with us and was pretty upset when we told him he couldn't. We decided to take them up to walk around on the grounds for Family Home Evening. He thought it was cool but it still wasn't good enough for him. He wanted to go INSIDE with us. We had a lesson on what the temple entails and the need to wait until you are a worthy adult to enter. He seemed to accept it but was disappointed. I told him we could go up to the Salt Lake where they have Visitor Centers to allow those that don't have temple recommends to see/learn what it's like inside. My mom came in town for a few weeks before we headed down to Disney and we took them up for a visit. The kids loved it and learned a lot.
The grounds were BEAUTIFUL filled with all the spring flowers

I told the boys to go knock to see if anyone was home. They were knocking pretty hard for awhile but I was laughing too hard to take a picture. But got a good one of them hanging out on the steps.

The kids LOVED the Christus statue. They stared at it forever then went and sat at the base and stared up forever.

Beautiful temple in the background (and no, Kalei never let go of that bag until we pryed it out of her hands when we went inside).

This year we decided to have a little Cinco De Mayo celebration, the kids had no idea what it was but were up for an outing. We headed up Provo Canyon to Vivian's Park. It's a wonderful park with a fishing pond, playgrounds, little hikes and a railroad track. We had fajitas with some other Mexican trimmings, went fishing, played fetch with the dog, played on the playground and had a great time.
Grandma and Kalei playing on the slide

Daddy and Uncle Tyler teachign the ropes of fishing. Sadly no catch, but we'll get them next time!

The kids saw the fire pit and begged for a fire. Daddy being the superdad he is scavaged for wood and built quite the cozy little fire.

Yummm Fajitas!

Easter

In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE holidays. Any excuse to party and do fun activities works for me. Easter is no exceptiong.
I have 3 wonderful memories of Easter growing up.
1. The mass dying of easter eggs. We're talking dozens upon dozens.
2. The egg hunts that took HOURS. Our egg hunts were not for the faint of heart. We found eggs hidden in parts of the house we didn't even know existed. As we got older (yes we did them until the youngest was in high school, in fact, we were still having them when Brayden was born).
3. Mesa Temple Easter pageant. This is one thing I still REALLY want to take my family down to see. It's such a great way to refocus your attention on the truly important aspects of Easter. Allows you to reflect on the atonement and our Savior's love for us. As we have yet to make it down to Arizona for Easter, we settle with having lessons and stories about the atonement and ressurection. I am so grateful for this time of year and the opportunity it provides each of us to draw closer to the Savior and personalize His love for us and His unconditional sacrifice for us.
Easter this year was wonderful. We dyed eggs, went on an easter egg hunt, tried our best to relate the Easter Bunny and eggs to the atonement, made cupcakes and had a big Easter feast. My brother Tyler (who usually lives up by BYU but is staying with us for the Spring and Summer to save money; we call him Uncle Harry as in Potter more on that later)had his girlfriend entire family in visiting from Brazil (yest we are very international) and they all came for dinner. It was so fun to be able to cook a big holiday spread. With all our family so far away we don't get to do that very often
For some reason I did a horrible job of taking many pictures this year, but here are a few:
Leilei thought the whole easter egg dying thing was GREAT. We did 2 1/2 dozen and she could have done another 5 dozen. She was facinated every time she dropped a white egg in and it came out a different color.

Brayden laboring lovingly over his egg. (note the bucket of crayons, want to try something cool, rub crayons over hot eggs. They melt and you can get all sorts of cool designs)

Tavita with one of his masterpieces

The boys making/eating our traditional Easter cupcakes

I didn't get a picture of the final product but here they are from a previous year

The next day it was time for the big hunt. The boys had to give Kalei a bit of a head start hence the large number in her bag before she even made it down the stairs. All three of them were loving running through the house picking up eggs.

Kalei was very into the hunt until she realized these eggs were more then something to load into a bag. She decided to see why the eggs "shake shake". The look on her face when she opened them was pure bliss. Her focuses changed after that and would only grab eggs in between mouthfuls of candy

Tavita sliding in for an egg

Leilei finding her basket. It had Disney Princess lip gloss (her two favorite things rolled into one) and a Unicorn Pillowpet (at least a rip off version of one). The Unicorn had been on display at our local grocery store and everytime we walked in she'd run over and give it a hug. "Boppy" now sleeps with her every night.

Tavita grabbing his basket. He was so incredibly excited about the Batman toothbrush he wasn't even aware of the fishing pole sitting next to it. We don't have big chocolate bunnies in our baskets (figure they get more then enough sugar from other sources) and instead include a gift. Little did I know that the toothbrush would far outshine the fishing pole (Take a look at his face, he was like that for several minutes after finding the basket. Just sat there gawking at his toothbrush. Ahh the simple things in life)

Brayden with his basket. At least he was excited about his fishing pole. He is so excited (and Tavita too now that the toothbrush is old news) that the weather if finally going to be nice enough this week to go fishing.

Kalei slowly slipping into a candy coma. The boys were surprisingly frugal with their candy. On Friday night my mom was watching them while we went out and they at almost an entire GIANT bowl of candied pops (not the cereal but a weird mixture of popcorn and cheetos of sorts that I've only seen here in Utah. Coat them with sugary goodness and they are oh so addicting) After that night we learned it truly is possible for kids to hit their sugar limit. When we got home and went to say good night to them they were both moaning with soar stomachs. The next morning they sat down for breakfast and saw the bowl of Pops and cringed. "I DO NOT want to eat that for a VERY VERY long time"
That fact combined with their kind hearts made the candy intake quite low for them both. As they were sorting through their loot they overheard my mom and brother talking about how Tyler (my brother) hadn't had an Easter egg hunt for 4 years (he'd always been on a mission or my mom had been here). The boys thought this was one of the sadest things they have ever heard and proceeded to turn over their entire stash of easter eggs to Tyler (only held on to the gum and 2 Snickers eggs that were in their baskets). It was so sweet of them and I was really touched by how caring they were. Even as they found a few stragglers throughout the day, they'd always run it down to Tyler. (I on the other hand am not so charitable and was a little put out my the fact that there was no easter candy for consumption! hehe)

The following pictures are a little decieving. As I said earlier, I was being a space Easter Weekend with the camera and didn't even get a picture of the kids in their Easter best.
Easy fix, just dress them exactly the same the next week for church, and snap away so record shows you were on the ball. Another bonus: it was MUCH better weather which made for nicer pictures.
Nicer weather doesn't necessarily make for nicer subjects. They tried so hard but in almost every picture we had at least one looking as if they were either half asleep or in need of the restroom.
Or in some cases all 3 looking that way

These were the best two we got.


After trying their hardest to sit still we let them take whatever pictures they wanted. They were a crack-up planning out all their poses.

They insisted we did one with bunny ears since it was Easter pictures

Kalei LOVES to twirl in her dresses, even if they aren't the type that fly out. I'm on a mission to find her the perfect twirling dress so she can learn just what a wonder and beauty it could be (it was one of my favorite activties when I was younger).

2 little monkeys sitting on a fence

They spent forever getting ready for this pose, then Kalei came and crashed in on it.

Brayden posing and looking all so handome

Don't let that cute, innocent look fool you. She's quite the little firecracker.

Random picture but wanted to put it up here since it's one of our favorite activities. There are few things the kids look forward to more then "fun nights" aka whole family hanging out eating homemade pizza and watching a movie.

I know many of you are starting to fire up your ACs and pulling out your shorts. Don't you worry that here in Utah, waking up to snow is still a regular occurance. It is a darn good thing that high 60s and sun are forcasted for this week otherwise it could've had catastrophic consequnces in the Shum household at the hands of Mama Shum.
These two are from our most recent "gift" we awoke to yesterday.
"Oh, Tavita and Emma, what are those giant snowballs for?"

"For eating of course!"

However, for some reason, I have been horrible at taking pictures lately.