On Christmas, the Urness family surprised us with tickets to Disneyland and California Adventure! We left after Cooper's talk on Sunday. Dallin and I drove with Matt, Danielle and baby Maverick in one car, and the rest of the family drove in the van.
I consider Danielle to be one of my closest in-laws. I remember first "meeting" Matt when Dallin and I were in a date in high school and Matt called Dallin to ask about Danielle, who was coming home from her mission soon. Dallin had rolled his eyes, laughing about how his sister had all these suitors, but alas these high school sweethearts did exactly what Dallin and I would end up doing a few years later: write each other for the duration of each other's missions, come home, date, break up, get back together, and then get married. So even though I have been acquainted Matt for quite some time, it was nice to actually get to know him better as we drove to California. The four of us talked about their experiences living in Barbados for med school and a variety of other topics.
When we got to Anaheim, the family ate dinner at Mimi's, a French restaurant, because Rachelle and the girls lived in France two years ago. Four of the men ordered all-you-can-eat crepes, but the lady said they could only order two per person for the first round and only one at a time for every round after that. "They say all-you-can-eat, but I bet they just try to pace it so you leave before you eat that much," they realized. So the men developed a system where, as soon as the waitress had brought over the latest order of crepes, they would send in their next order. They had all had probably five or six crepes when the manager started coming over, apparently irritated. Later the waitress said, "The manager told me to tell you we are out of crepes." Unsure if the manager was actually truthful or not, the men decided to get the most for their buck and test this. "Well, if you're out of crepes, could you bring us out pancakes instead, since it's all-you-can-eat?" The waitress nodded, and soon the manager came storming out. "So I hear you want pancakes?" "Yes ma'am." I wasn't even one of the ones eating crepes/pancakes, but my face was burning at the tension, and I ducked around to the other side of the table to sit next to Danielle instead. "How many do you want?" the manager seethed. "Two each, please!"
We stayed at Disney's Grand California Hotel, where the lobby was full of cheerful carolers. I have officially been spoiled for all future Disney trips! It was so nice to be able to get into the park an hour before the crowds and to be able to come in for a nap in the middle of the day or go swimming in the evening before going back to the park! Rachelle was also the perfect planner and was so good at getting fast passes for the whole family. For the first day, everyone stayed mostly together, and on the other days we split up. Some favorite moments from Disney were exploring brand-new Star Wars Land and testing gravity at the Tower of Terror, which was recently rebranded for Guardians of the Galaxy.
Everyone took turns with the baby, and when Danielle and Matt wanted to ride the bigger rides, Dallin and I were more than happy to take Mavvies on the Cars ride or the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I have never been so baby hungry as when I was with him! People definitely thought I was his mom as I balanced him on my hip. By the end of the trip he was so sweet, calling me Kiki! When someone asked where D-Money was, he pointed to Dallin. Haha. That was Dallin's proudest moment as an uncle.
At the end of the day is when we would visit the wet rides. On the first night, Dallin, Matt, Danielle, Olivia, Cooper, and I switched into our swimsuits and made a deal with the workers to let us ride Grizzly Rapids over and over without getting off. "Just don't say it was me!" the worker instructed, and so when we came around the second time, we told the next worker "[made-up name] said we could stay on!" As we got splashed by the freezing water, we laughed so hard that our abs ached. When the ride got stuck momentarily, we screamed old songs at the top of our lungs so that the other boats full of Spanish-speakers looked at us oddly.
On another night, we did the same thing on Splash Mountain, but this time tested out what would happen if we put people of different weights in the front. It was nearing the end of one of the guy's turns in front when the ride froze. We waited for quite a long time, rocking our little boat until finally one of the workers came to fetch us. She helped us out of the boat, and we got to walk backstage of the ride, shivering and wet. At least I escaped my turn up front.
For the New Years countdown, we barely made it out of the Indiana Jones ride on time. Our group got separated as we booked it towards a crowded spot where we could see the brilliant fireworks explode as the countdown ticked to zero. Dallin and I kissed as the music blared and people cheered for the beginning of the new decade.
On one notable day of the trip, our family got kicked off Space Mountain and somehow let back on. That's a story for another time.
