Upon hearing that Matt and Becca had to travel to Los Angeles, we jumped on board and tagged along. I was really looking forward to this trip. I mean seriously -- Los Angeles = Disneyland = Fun. Mister and I had located The Anaheim Islander, a decent hotel within walking distance from Disneyland. It had two bedrooms giving us plenty of room for privacy and yet the price of only one room. Awesome. While everyone unpacked, Miss Zyra happily played with my hat for awhile.
First up -- let's go to the beach! Of course. Not too far from us was Huntington Beach and we had heard good things about it. One of the things I remember most about this was that Zyra would just stand still and wiggle her toes deep into the dry sand, staring at them the whole time. When we hit the wet sand, she high-stepped it. Goodness, she kept me giggling the whole time.
Hyrum, on the other hand, was not so sure about the water at all. and wanted to stay as far from it as he could. We all took turns running down to it to show him how fun it was, but he wasn't having any part of it. Most of the time, he was moving back up onto the beach as quick as he could. And yet, he had been so excited to go to the "beach". 
This is one of the only pictures we got of Grandpa AND most of the pier. Zyra is digging her toes in again. I love it.We start making footprints in the sand and watching the water wash them away. Finally, Hyrum likes this game and gives it a try after dad runs circles with him in tow to teach him that the water won't "get him".
It is so fun to just be together here. After the kids are finished exploring and chasing birds, we decided to walk out onto the pier. As we go, the temperature drops quickly and it is quite chilly out at the tip. I cannot wait until Hyrum is older and says, "Gammy, did you really have to include this picture?" Well, of course I did. You look just way too cute in Mom's jacket.
The views of the ocean from the pier are incredible, but windy and cold. After our time on the beach, we walked up to Main Street where there was a street fair/farmers market and looked around for awhile.We finished with Dinner at Duke's - Huntington Beach in a booth overlooking the ocean. It was getting late and both of the grands fell asleep during dinner. Time to get them back to the hotel and some sleep for everyone.
We were up early the next morning to get into Beverly Hills where the Brazilian Consulate is located. After a turn around because the paperwork was still in the hotel, we were off. We had stopped the day before and gotten everything notarized and copied -- we were ready! Yeah right. Governments, no matter whose, mean red tape. It turned out that everything had to be done by "approved" notaries,etc. They didn't even like the money orders we had bought and so now had to buy more. What a mess. After HOURS, a parking ticket, and crabby kids, we finally finished and were able to enjoy what was left of the day. We can't lose focus here, the purpose for the trip was to do this paperwork, but dang it was sure a tedious process.
We were now starving and so first stop was at The Original Farmers Market. What a great place! Started in 1934 and still thriving today, it was full of energy and unique shops. Mister had Becca stand under the sign for Pampas Grill since it was Brazilian food. Silly? Yep.After lunch, Becca and I found a chocolate shop. Oh my! Mister bought us chocolates and sure looks as though everyone liked it.
Next stop: Hollywood walk of Fame. We only did a portion of it and yet we walked forever up one side of Hollywood Boulevard and down the other. The shops along the way are pretty seedy, which is sad, but we still enjoyed ourselves. Mister and I knew a large amount of the names but the next generation were a bit more challenged by them.I had purchased tickets ahead of time for Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. After a quick stop at Grauman's Chinese Theater, we were off to the museum. Oh, but not without a quick photo op with Mickey Mouse.
It had been a long and busy day and the kids were already starting to fall over. They had been wonderful -- absolutely no complaints and so well behaved, but it was definitely time for some dinner and bed. We had the long drive back to Anaheim ahead of us as well. Tomorrow is the day that Hyrum gets to go to the "big park". Yep, we were all looking forward to it. I honestly think Becca was more excited than anyone. It was fun to watch her eyes light up even when we told the kids what we were doing the next day.
I had not been to Disneyland since 1976. It had been even longer for Mister and the others had never been so this was a special time. As soon as the gates opened and we were able to enter the park, Hyrum's eyes lit up. So did his mom's. It was great. The first ride we came to was The Astro Orbitor and off went Matt and Hyrum.
I kept Zyra while everyone else went into Buzz Lightyear to play for awhile. Then Hyrum and I were off to Autopia, where he got to drive the car and had such a great time. Skipping the submarine ride as the line was massive, we decided to hop the Monorail and have a look around. I am not sure that anyone in this car is noticing a thing about the park though. However, there is no doubt that we are having a good time. We then got in line for the Matterhorn, only to discover that it was not operating and people were just waiting -- forget that. On to something else.
It was bathroom break time and so Grandpa and I kept the little miss and had a sit down right on the walkway. As long as he sat with her, she would stay put.The line for "it's a small world" was not too bad and seemed to be moving quickly. I have always loved this ride and always will. To me, it has such a profound message for everyone.
Continuing around the park, we come to Mickey's Toontown. This is a new "land" for me as it was not here the last time I was. The kids love it though and it doesn't take Hyrum long to find something to climb into. I notice that the sun is starting to get to the kids and so find a little hat shop and hats for the kids. Now the only stubborn one is my son who claims he is "not a hat person." Grandpa and Hyrum hop onto Gadgets Go Coaster and even though they look a little leary here, they came out all smiles in the end.
Hyrum LOVED Toontown! His next find was Donalds Boat which he was allowed to go and enjoy all by himself. After quite awhile, he exited and joined dad on Roger Rabbits Car Toon Spin/. Who is having the most fun?
It was lunchtime -- yay! As we passed through Fantasyland, a stop at the Village Haus Restaurant revived everyone enough to tackle a couple more "lands" and Frontierland was the next on our path. 
Ah, Matt found his perfect spot at The Shootin Exposition. We also rode the Sailing Ship Columbia while allowing our food to digest enough for us adults to take turns on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster. We let Matt and Becca go first while we watched kids and then it was our turn. Miss Zyra posed for pictures while we waited. New Orleans Square beckoned and we pointed ourselves in that direction. We visited the Haunted Mansion and the Pirates Of The Caribbean before coming to Tarzans Treehouse, which somehow I remember as the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. It doesn't matter because Hyrum is in heaven. He goes up with dad and then goes back by himself at least two more times after that.
Once we drag him down, we make a restroom stop near the Tiki Room and Mister walked around the corner to check it out. Hyrum instantly wanted to know where Grandpa was and ran to find him, sending Gammy into a bit of a panic to make sure that he didn't go too far. Ugh. As our day was coming to an end, we decided to cut across the park one last time and see if we could get on the submarine. Nope -- lines were incredible again. Oh well.
We took a quick look at Innoventions, but the kids were really about done. Matt ran to see if he could get fast passes for the Matterhorn while we waited and played with the kids.He managed to get some for 11:00 that evening and we decided to take the kids and call it a night. We would let the younger generation go out and ride all night. Back at the hotel, we fed the grands on leftovers in the room and played until they had to go to bed. This was a great trip.
Next stop: San Diego
