MCO California Tour 2022

 

Monday afternoon was Josie’s kindergarten graduation. Josie melted our hearts with all her cuteness. The Kindergartners worked very hard to memorize lots of songs showing what they learned this year. Her cute knobby knees! Her funny expressions and dance moves! Ahhhh! Everett sat next to Justin and I for the program. Josie got to go home with me after the program. We had some Mom and Josie time at Walmart for a couple last minute trip items. 

Tuesday the 24th of May Everett’s grade had a field trip to the rec center. I signed up to chaperone but completely forgot that Phillip and Evelyn had counseling with Nina. Everett said he loved playing racquetball! I found some really cute shirts at Fred Meyer’s for the summer. Phillip needed some shorts so he stocked up on shorts for our trip. I feverishly worked on the dance photos from April 30th, got those posted and completed before midnight! YAYAY! 

Wednesday was a whirlwind of laundry, packing, cleaning, and arranging the van for our trip. The kids were very excited to come home and pack their belongings. The hardest part was only choosing one stuffy to take, we almost had a mutiny because I said no pillows and only one small blanket. The van was stuffed to the gills, cartop carrier and all. The little girls wanted to attend their last dance class of the season because we will miss the recital. 

We were OFF! In a cloud of chicken manure! YaY! California or BUST.

Family trips. Chaos. Tiring. Boring. Emotional. Exciting. Long. Memorable. The fastest route to LA took us on two-way highways with bare bone services. It was strange to travel with little to no cell-phone coverage. Almost felt like we went back in time 30 years to pit toilets, flickering gas station lights, and passing cars on a two-way highway. We saw the backside of California and Nevada’s inner soul. I often wondered what life is like without technology, depending solely on the land for food, intermittent electricity, and rationed water. What life is like on farms and ranches that span thousands of acres. Our route took us through Winnemucca and Fallon. We learned about Grandma Jean, Great-Grandparents Crook, and a bit of life in the deserts of Nevada. We discovered the 40-mile desert, learned about Eliza Rocksina Murdock born under the shade of a rock in that very desert, the mother who got up minutes after birth to finish walking out of the desert before the desert took her life. There was no water to wash the baby or mother so the kids urinated into a pan for liquid to wash the birth mess away. Her name! Rocksina! The story is that those who crossed this desert quoted, “We saw the Elephant and ate its tail.” Meaning only those who physically walked across this stretch and survived could understand the experience, had “truly seen the elephant.”

Everett celebrated his 11th birthday in our van driving 10 hours to Lone Pine, CA. He opened his gifts the day before of a new large scooter, Harry Potter merchandise (Elder wand, origami books, glasses, robe), origami paper, and an origami box book. He was thrilled with Mexican food for his birthday dinner at Chihuahuas in Winnemucca. He got to choose a HP movie to watch during the drive. We stopped in Bishop for dinner of random grocery store food and a cheesecake. Down the street from the store we found a pretty park to play at after the long day’s drive. Yay! We sang Happy Birthday then ate stale cheesecake! Our hotel was another hour or so from Bishop, CA. The hotel beds were like concrete slabs, so terrible. We all woke up crabby and nitpicking at each other. A little breakfast at McD perked up the kids. Our view of Mt Whitney and the high Sierras was magnificent! Justin relived memories of hikes in that area with his scout troop. Soon the desert faded away and melded into the suburbs of Los Angeles. We passed through the Hollywood area, that was an experience! I remembered that the LA area had a couple Bonchon restaurants, indeed! We got to eat our favorite chicken wings of all time for lunch. I ordered half spicy half honey-garlic. Unfortunately, the spicy wings were way too spicy for us to enjoy, thus we ordered more regular wings. Josie alone ate about 5-6 wings! That was delicious. We headed to our hotel for the next 9 nights at Stanford Suites. We had a family room with two queen beds and a separate room with a set of bunk beds, the two bathrooms was so, so nice as well. We took a moment to unpack, get the clothes into drawers and bags put away, at least start out with things organized. MCO had an early check-in between 3:30 and 4:30 with an optional practice from 4:40 until 9 pm for all choirs. Checking in early on Friday saved us from arriving on Saturday two hours early. Nice! The Christ Cathedral Campus rivaled our Temple Square! The campus was owned by the Protestant church until 2012 when the Roman Catholic Church purchased the campus. The Crystal Cathedral is aptly named, it is gorgeous inside, white and glowing with light. We explored part of the gardens and admired some of the statues while waiting for the rehearsals to start. The kids were able to rehearse inside the cathedral both the songs and logistics. For dinner the older kids enjoyed chips, pretzels, nuts, and granola bars. Justin, Josie and I found a nearby Walmart to stock up on refrigerator food and drinks for the week. We tried to join the Secret Hotel Crock Pot Society, that experiment failed per lack of time. I had a pork loin roast simmering for a couple days until it ended up in the trash. Maybe next time society…The kids were exhausted by the time rehearsal ended. I dropped the kids off at the hotel then went in search of nasal decongestant and sore throat relief for Evelyn and I. Of course my body decided to nurture a lovely sinus infection at exactly the wrong time. 

Saturday started early with breakfast. The waffles and batter dispenser was the favorite for everyone except Josie. She survived on fruit loops. I dropped the kids off at 10 am in street clothes with a snack. Josie had a couple hours of downtime to relax. Justin napped for 3-4 hours. I ironed clothes and made clothing repairs for the entire morning rehearsal. We made some lunch at the hotel before dressing in choir clothes. The kids needed that small break to just sit and be comfortable for 90 minutes. Everett had a moment because Justin kept yelling at him about his socks, belt, tie, hair, etc. He was moving like molasses. All the kids were dropped off for second rehearsal at 3 pm in choir attire and a bagged dinner. I signed Justin and I up for usher duty at the front doors for the first performance. It was then I realized I did not have an appropriate dress, just a beach dress. Grrrrrr, so off to Target for a dress. Justin almost got his mouth washed out with soap, he keeps using the F-bomb in front of the kids. Then he got mad at me because I forgot the paper tickets in our rush to get out of the hotel room. Things worked out fine but I was not feeling very nice at the moment. It was also freezing cold outside, I almost went back to the store for kid pants because I only packed summer clothing. While ushering Justin and I got to see Amelia, Evelyn, and Josie. Phillip and Everett were on the opposite side so we did not see those two at all. My friend Candace from Sidney, NE moved to Huntington Beach 3 years ago, I invited her to attend the evening concert with Justin and I. The setting, the acoustics, 13 hundred youth, live orchestra, and a mix of magic made the performance thrilling. It really was magical. The orchestra was so perfect they sounded like a recording. Justin and I could almost touch Evelyn from our seats. Her cute little mouth working hard to sing made me smile. We felt the spirit so strongly many times during the performance. Candace said she is not a religious person but felt the urge to pull out her Bible after years. By the time our kids were checked out it was almost midnight. 

Thankfully we did not have anything scheduled until 3 pm on Sunday. The kids all slept in until 11 am! We ate some cold cereal for breakfast. The swimming pool was calling our names! The little girls got to use their mermaid tails, Josie for the first time! She finally got to use her birthday present. We cleaned up for church around 2 pm then drove to Huntington for church with the conductors. The chapel was filled with hundreds of MCO families for sacrament meeting. Three youths from different areas spoke to us all. After church we had a 90 minutes before the older kids needed to be at Cross Point church for a devotional. I found a local Doner (schmarma) restaurant, no white people in line told us it was a legit place. I got two orders of Doner fries, a wrap, and a sandwich. Oh man, it was delicious! Justin parked at a local park for a quick picnic. After dropping off Amelia and Phillip we headed to the beach in the Newport area. Justin found a parking spot on River Ave butted right against the Pacific Coast Hwy, next to West Newport Park. We enjoyed the 56th St Jetty until the sunset. The kids got soaked as the tide started to crawl in. Justin plopped our stuff down next to a sandy drop, 4 feet drop to the waves. Gracious, the kids had so much fun trying to avoid the waves. Amelia said the devotional was awesome, Tyler Griffin spoke to the kids. Tyler is an Associate Dean at BYU, he has a show called Taylor and Tyler on YouTube I like to watch sometimes. We got back to home base after 10 pm. 

Memorial Day dawned bright and early for us at 6:30 am. We donned our MCO tour shirts for Disneyland Day with the conductors. I bought 5-day bus tickets for our family to get to and from Disney without driving and parking the van, it was about $50 cheaper. We arrived at Disney at 7:15ish to find a large crowd already assembled. Another family advised we get there early in order to ride the new Rise of the Resistance attraction. We literally ran with the crowd to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, empty one moment next moment an hour wait for the ride. Memorial Day was not the best day for Disney, it was packed to the gills. No COVID worries there. Ha ha. We are all impressed with the Galaxy’s Edge area. Even the bathrooms are in theme and fancy. Josie was not impressed by our early arrival, she was a crabby bear for most of the morning. We learned there was a Star Wars convention over the weekend and through Memorial Day. That explained the family of Ewoks and hordes of people in cosplay. Phillip loved every moment! We headed to Fantaland next for Josie’s sake. We were in line next for the carousel when Belle and Rapunzel got on the ride! Evelyn got to sit next to Belle, she was advised to build her own private library. Josie sat right next to Rapunzel! That was quite a rare treat. Josie did not cheer up until Justin got her a mickey bubble wand, she spread the joy (bubbles) many times over the next couple days. It was a bit frustrating for the girls that we only rode a few rides by noon. The boys split off to ride Matterhorn while the girls rode the Storybook boats. I loved watching the kid’s faces while we experienced It’s a Small World ride, my ultimate favorite: it’s cool, dark, comfy, and mostly unchanged. Amelia got herself pretzel Mickey ears, Evelyn fell in love with Encanto ears, and Josie was thrilled to find squishy doughnut ears. The boys took longer to find favorite hats. We mostly stayed in Fantasy and tomorrow land. The conductors invited us all to the Memorial Day celebration at the Main Street train station. The Navy band marched in to give us all a stirring performance. They lowered and folded the flag in memory of our fallen soldiers. Veterans were invited to stand as the military song was sung. We visited with the conductors for a moment before heading back to the rides.  Our feet were swollen, aching blobs by 6 pm. We finally threw the towel in the wind and went Disney wild, the kids got chicken strip meals served with a droid purse. Magic. The lines were looooong and boring. I discovered an app the kids could take turns playing games in line, that helped pass some time. It was difficult to find a spot for the Electric parade. The little kids wriggled their way to suitable viewing spots. We left the park during the fireworks show, real snow came falling on our heads as we waded like salmon upstream toward the exit. 

Tuesday was another very early morning for us with an 8 am arrival time for the beach event. The kids had to arrive in specific clothes for a music video recording with Conlon Bonner of the famous Bonner Family. Justin and Josie set up the sunshade and got to playing in the sand. MCO reserved the beach between lifeguard posts 11 and 9, the beach was cordoned off to the public. I laughed as the conductors and volunteers kept yelling at the kids to drop the sand and stop playing in the sand. It took about an hour for the kids to properly form the word HOPE and get footage of that with a drone. Parents were on hand with water and sunscreen during the first break. We all rushed in, threw water into mouths, scrubbed sunblock on burning skin, then quickly retreated. Children’s chorus finished first, I helped Evelyn and Everett change into swimsuits and find our spot on the other side of post 11. Phillip finished next, he changed and got in the water. Amelia was last of all to finish around noon, four hours of filming made for a long morning. Candace met us at the beach with her son Deacon. The waves were quite literally gnarly, huge waves nearly 3-4 in height. We were advised to stay within 20-30 feet of the shore. All the kids were boogie boarding experts, we love the water as a family. Jana and Rudy met us at the beach sometime after 1 pm. Yay! Cousin time! Rudy and Phillip dug an epic hole, 4 feet deep. The little ones decorated the sand with carrots, kelp, shells, and lots of ocean debris. Josie declared herself a sand Koala. We called it a day around 3 pm. Jana and Rudy wisely turned in for the night. We played, went swimming then took the bus to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping. I fell in love with the cute Nuimos dolls, soft mini dolls that can be dressed up. So fun. I started some laundry before we left. I came back to find another guest had monopolized the laundry room complete with all the female family members. I got to wait until well after midnight for the dryers. I did not crawl into bed until 2 am. 

We slept in a bit on Wednesday, arriving to the park around 10 am. Jana and family enjoyed most of the rides before we got to California Adventure. The little girls wore matching outfits, so cute. Justin opted to stay with Rachel while she napped, he felt like a native sleeping on park bench. The rest of us rode the water ride, Justin hates theme park water rides. Josie and Phillip got drenched. Rudy joined the hat club after purchasing a hat to cover his burned head. We separated for a bit, the littles, Jana, and I went to ride the kiddie rides while the others went on a Goofy ride. The kids loved the Incredicoaster, Amelia was shaking from the adrenaline rush. I introduced Jana to the single-rider trick, we skipped the hour line for a 15 minute wait. I remember when Justin and I rode that coaster like 5-6 times in a row. He about passed out, I was ready for more. It was really hot and humid on Wednesday, phew. Jana and Rudy headed back to the hotel around 6 pm, or said they were. The park became crushed around 3  for graduation night. We tried out the clam chowder for dinner, yum. Evelyn threw a fit because I got the little ones hot dogs instead of the expensive food. Amelia took the girls and Everett to ride the Little Mermaid ride a couple of times while Justin and I took Phillip on the Avenger’s Tower ride, another personal favorite. Phillip sat next to me, his expression was so memorable. He had a blank stare and wide-eyes for a few seconds after the ride ended. It’s a doozy! The park closed to the public at 9 pm so we went back early. I splurged on an ice cream treat in a Minnie Mouse sink. Disney knows how to appeal to even the measliest skinflint. The little girls even posed with Minnie Mouse!

Thursday was our last Disney day. We were determined to spend every last moment, even arrived before 10 am! I got lightening lane passes for us so we could ride the busy rides without waiting so long in line. We were able to ride more rides and enjoy the Disney details. Hannah, Rachel, Evelyn, and Josie all wore Princess dresses for the day. The little girls were thrilled to walk through Aurora’s castle. I was easily persuaded to buy Cinderella and Aurora costume jewelry at the Bibibobidi boutique. Josie really just wanted the jewelry AND the bag the custom dresses were sold in. Josie and Evelyn rode their first roller coaster on Big Thunder Mountain, they loved it! Josie wore shoes that rubbed her ankles raw, had to find her slip-on shoes. Phillip spent his money on a shoulder rat thing he fondly named Jimmy-chunga in Star Wars land. Evelyn got to meet Fennic, some girl Star Wars character, Justin told Fennic that Evelyn was spicy, she inquired if Evelyn was involved in the Spice Trade. LOL. Everett challenged Kylo Ren to a duel with his staff. His data pad was immediately wiped. We met up with Jana and Rudy briefly but we did not stay together long. We did watch the Tiki room show together. Jana did not want to wait for Dole whip so they left to ride some last rides at Fantasyland. Josie absolutely loved the Jungle Cruise, all the elephants especially the baby elephant named Ellie. The highlight was eating dole whip floats outside the Tiki room. It was soooo hot the treat really hit home. I finally got to ride Space Mountain, refurbished as a Star Wars ride. The kids also loved autopia, Josie is a crazy driver. We rode the monorail out to Downtown Disney, Amelia needed to get back to California Adventure to exchange a shirt for a different size. Dinner consisted of fair-level corn dogs. We used an extra lightening pass to ride the Guardians elevator ride as a family. We got to sit in the front row! Evelyn and Josie’s nail marks are still imprinted on my skin. Best family photo of the year! We had to rush out of that park and back to Disneyland before the Electric Parade. The sidewalks were so packed there was no feasible way to watch the parade. An attendant told us the parade would come again at 10:45, so we went to ride Autopia again. Justin found spots to watch the fireworks. The fireworks show was cancelled due to high atmosphere winds. Boo. Jana did not miss out after all! Instead of fireworks we enjoyed a street dance party. Justin urged me to challenge another weird mom (trying to get her kids to dance) to a dance off! Challenge accepted! My sprinkler move was on par let me tell you. We decided to ride Small World again. A fun Encanto show was projected every 30 minutes onto the ride’s castle. Josie melted down after the ride, literally crying because she had not spent her allowance money and didn’t know what to buy. She had that crazy, disconnected look on her face looking for anything to buy, just anything! I picked her up for a snuggle instead. We enjoyed the second showing of the Electric Parade with front sidewalk spaces. Midnight came all too soon, the Disney magic coming along in the form of merchandise. Josie bought a Stitch stuffy, Evelyn spent her money on a Belle doll set, and Everett finally got a shoulder bird he named Mr Schwazers. 

Best morning ever, sleeping in from 12:45 am until 10:45 the next morning. We were trashed. Hannah and Rachel even slept in until 8:30, an unheard of feat. We headed back to Huntington Beach for another afternoon of sand and sun. The temperature was cooler and the waves just as wild. Everett spent 3 hours playing in the waves! He almost turned into Merman 2.0. Rudy joined him for a good hour of body surfing. The littles were content to play in the sand. We forgot the cooler, had to scrounge for water and crackers left in the van. I wasn’t that hungry. Candace and Skylar joined us for an hour. Candace lent us her stroller for the week, it was indispensable. The stroller saved the little girls  tired legs, carted around the cooler, and kept all our stuff in one space. We convinced the Suapaia’s to join us for dinner at Bonchon. Not surprisingly (to us), they quite enjoyed the food. Our large platter of chicken barely fed the horde, it was a tremendous amount of chicken. We washed off the ocean salt in the hotel pool. Hannah and Evelyn morphed into mermaids for a good while. I am so glad Jana and Rudy joined us in one last adventure for Italian ices from Joe’s down the street from our hotel. We walked there as a family. So delicious! Amelia’s order was the most delicious, creamy Italian ice with ice cream. The rest of our evening we worked on packing up our clothes and gathering stuff for easy transport to the van. 

Saturday morning we were able to get the van loaded, eat breakfast, and take off for home before 10 am. Yay! Seems like the drive home always takes longer. Gratefully, no exciting details to report! We did finish listening to the 5th Gryphon Chronicles book, the book is 19 hours long! Evelyn was able to listen to part of her book "The Wild Robot" for a while during our trip. Evelyn colored, cut, and created some art for her side of the van, the kids said she was "flexing" on everyone else: I get to go to Disneyland! I get to swim at the beach! All with pretty pictures. The weather was much cooler going back to Idaho, it was nice to admire the changing landscapes with gorgeous clouds constantly changing in the background. We made it to Fallon, NV for the night. Dad gave me Nathan Wadsworth's phone number in case we could connect. Most of the hotels will filled to capacity with High School graduation. Justin finally found two rooms in spite of spotty cell coverage. Nathan and his family were all gathered at the main farm for two baby blessings. The babies were born the same day, same hospital just a few rooms apart! How fun is that? Nathan had 30 minutes to give us a very short tour before church started. We are so grateful for his time. Everett was highly amused about the number of doors around the Crook/Wadsworth home. Brent let us check out the front room and the kitchen both of which I remember. It was fun to imagine Grandpa Lane running about in the old corral, milk barn, on the tractors, and such as a young boy. Nathan treated us to ice cream from a machine they have in one of the garages. We even got to see a tractor Royal tinkered with and used back in the 60's. We visited with Brent for another few minutes before we headed for home. Turns out Brent remembered Harold Call, Justin's grandfather. They share a family connection through the Hinckley family. We listened to a talk given by Holland back in 1990, "Do This in Remembrance of Me." That talk fit right in with the week's Come Follow Me about the book of Judges. We listened to a couple more talks that related to the CFM lesson. Justin was a trooper getting us home around 5:30 pm with large rain/storm clouds racing behind us. A lovely triple rainbow hung in the dusk for quite a while after the rain stopped. Due to me laundry efforts we were able to get the van unloaded and vacuumed, bags unpacked, and 90% of the trip stuff put away before 8 pm. Phew.   

Justin: buying at AT-AT popcorn holder, natural quack phenomenon, riding Guardians of Galaxy (the photo expressions), faces after incredicoaster, Josie spreading the magic, me acknowledging that Justin was behaving much better than Jenni expected, the fabulous concert, making Jenni dance with anther mom, LOVED the parade, finding Small World merchandise, Jenni spoiling the kids with all the merchandise, seeing Mt Whitney, visiting the Wadsworth farm in Fallon (lots of family connections, Brent remembered Harold Call)

 

Mia: loved the new Star Wars Ride, eating Dole Whip Floats, the MCO Concert, Disney shopping, Italian ices with Cousins, buying a Daisy Nuimo

Phillip: buying tuktuk/Jimmychonga, riding the roller coasters (incredible, elevator, and space mt), eating Dole whip, beach days, sleeping in until 11 am,  spending time with family at the beach (digging holes, buried)

Everett: living his inner dolphin at the beach, playing with his Rey staff and making a light saber, eating Dole whip, cousin time, Riding the roller coasters, epic dance party the last Disney night, churros, staying up late

Evelyn: riding with Belle, eating Dole Whip, Space Mt ride, the bibbidi bobbidi boutique, Small world, surfer babe, mermaid with Hannah

Josie: riding Small World, eating Bonchon chicken, riding with Rapunzel, princess shopping, all the shopping, the Jungle Cruise (the elephants) 

Trip song sung to "Little Einstein's" Theme 

We’re going on a trip in our favorite minivan 

Zooming through the streets, swagger wagon,

Climb aboard, but please don’t use that door 

Because it’s broken swagger wagon