We're back :)

I'm sitting here at home, finally finishing off this blog...at least, for this trip.  The wifi connection over the last few days of our holiday was terrible, so I gave up.

Anyway, all up to date now.

Our trip home wasn't the best.  It was probably the worst turbulence I've ever had.  The hostesses had to abandon the dinner service half way through, and remained seated for about an hour.  Never mind, we made it home in one piece.  Once things settled on the plane, Lauren slept for about 7 hours, and Tay about 8.  Mum slept most of the way and even I slept for about 5 hours, on and off.  Poor Bry didn't get a lot of sleep, but enjoyed watching movies and listening to music.

Getting through customs and immigration was quick and we made it to the domestic terminal with enough time to spare for a decent cup of coffee...it was SOOOO GOOD!!

All our bags managed to squeeze into the car when we got back to Christchurch and are all now unpacked and away (have to say, the girls drawers are bulging!)

Back in Christchurch

We had the most amazing holiday.  5 weeks was an awesome time to be away.  Although I cursed writing this blog at times (when I was exhausted and everyone else had fallen asleep), I'm so pleased I stuck with it as we now have a written 'memory' of our holiday, something that I'm sure we'll read over and over again.

As for our next trip....watch this space.
xxxx

It's time to go home....

We got ourselves up, managed to pack the car with our 6 suitcases, Mum's 2 and all our carry on luggage, checked out of the hotel and headed to Disney for a couple of hours.

Our 2 bedroom suite at Howard Johnsons...great place to stay

The place was mad, but we knew it would be.  We got ourselves coffee and Bry and the girls decided they wanted to ride on California Screaming at DCA one last time, while Mum and I headed to Disneyland to go on Startours.  Apparently there are 7 different scenarios you can find yourselves in, and ours was definitely different from the first time....soooo much fun.

in the queueing area

Still in the queueing area

We meet up with Bry and the girls in front of the castle, said our goodbyes to Disneyland and headed back to our car (which we had left at Hojos) for the last time.

Our plan was to head to the California ScienCenter to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour.  It was really interesting to see.

The tyres from its final landing

A space loo

The tiles on the exterior

Apollo

Tay trying to lift  a ute

We had to rush through and didn't get to see everything but what we did see was worth the visit.

Right next door to the museum was the Olympic area.

Downtown LA

The last place we wanted to visit before we left was the Griffith Observatory.  We made it to Griffith Park and realised that everyone was enjoying the hot day and had headed there for a family day out.  We weren't able to drive up the hill to the observatory because all the carparks were full, so we parked at the bottom and headed up the hill.  It was fairly steep and very hot, but all the miles we had walked helped us get to the top without to much trouble.  We were so pleased we had made the effort as the views were amazing.

Looking towards Disneyland...somewhere out there

Just as we got back to the car, they opened the road to the top back up...we felt good, knowing that we had walked up (yeah, right).

It was now that time, time to head to the airport.  :-(

We dropped our car off at Alamo's rental car lot, got on their shuttle to the airport, made it through customs extra quick and then spent the next couple of hours in the most boring terminal ever.

Thank goodness for fully charged tablets

Madhatters T Party

After an unexpected visit to the local mall to buy yet another suitcase, we headed to Disney for our last night.

Two VERY lucky girls with their 14 day Disney passes

While we had been there, the Haunted Mansion had been closed so they could take down the Halloween/ Christmas overlay they put up every year.  This morning was the first time it had been opened so we headed straight for it. 
There was a real difference in the number of people who were at the parks.  It was the start of a long weekend, and the weather was beautiful so there were people everywhere.  There was also going to be a half- marathon held at Disneyland on the Sunday, so lots of people were there for that too.

Anyway, we made it into the Haunted Mansion, and it was as neat as I remembered it.

Lining up

Should I be scared?

Ahh, what am I doing?

Along the waiting area

It was so hot, it was time for a cold treat.

A Mickey icecream sandwich

A frozen chocolate covered banana



 

We hadn't spent much time in Tomorrowland so we headed over to watch the 3D Michael Jackson short movie, Captain EO, and then we went into Inoventions.  Here we saw a newly designed robot...it was quite incredible to watch.

We headed over to the Monorail which we took to Downtown Disney.

An the Monorail

going past the bus entrance to Disney

Where we ate on our first night

At Disneyland Hotel

The Lego store in Downtown Disney

At the Marceline Store...a candy apple.  We got the girls one to share...under the chocolate there was a layer of caramel, then a Granny Smith apple.  They couldn't eat it...it was way too sweet.

A window display at the Downtown Disney disney store...just for Flynn.

Heading to DCA

We headed back into Disney California Adventures.  The plan was to do Midway Mania and Soaring over California again, and to also watch the Mad Hatters T party.  We waited 50 minutes to do Midway Mania, but had fastpasses for Soaring, so got straight on....and also got back on it right on closing.

A marshmallow Mickey tail...way too sweet so it ended up in the bin too

Wasting time while waiting in a queue...all our new runners we were wearing

The interesting Mad Hatters T party

Alice singing

It was a great last night.