To D, or not to D?

Matt and I call Disneyland "the big D" when we're around the boys (so as not to instigate unwanted whining regarding going to said park).

It has been about a year now that Isaac has loved going on the rollercoasters at Disneyland. That's about all he cares about. He doesn't seem to know or care about all of the other wonderful things about Disneyland that people pay big money for. He doesn't know ANYthing about Disney. Granted, I don't spend much time reinforcing disney character's names, etc. (No, I take that back, I tried pointing out a Woody character one time when we were walking around and he looked at his gargantuan mask and flailing arms like, "what the heck is that?") But, honestly, he has never showed one INKLING of interest in any of it....and our passes were about to expire.

Hence, the BIG decision: To D or not to D?

Now, on the other hand, Isaac LOVES trains (still). He is also very interested in all things "old and fashioned" as he says. He also talks a lot about mining since we got to see some first hand gold digging during a mountain trip and went to the Kenecott copper mine in Utah this summer. So, I found myself thinking, what better place than Knott's? It's got everything Isaac wants.

Well, the decision came in the summer when I showed Isaac a rock shaped like Mickey Mouse and asked him what it looked like to which he replied, "that Disneyland thing." At that exact moment my decision was made. Knott's it is!

So we went for a quick preview on Monday and here's what we did:






SO, here are the pros and cons to Knott's for our family:

CONS
~ All the questions that come along with Isaac's interest in everything he sees there (like trains and old fashioned tools, etc). Should've seen that one coming!
~ It really is pretty ghetto (as my good friend Jackie has pointed out), but nothing we can't handle!
~ I'm guessing we'll be dealing with more teens.
~ Not the best place for a romantic-ish night out with hubby. (Like Dland)
~ No Dole Whips. =(

PROS
~ Super easy to park and walk into theme park. (compared to Dland) I feel like I could do this any day alone. I never did at Dland.
~ No one plans major vacations involving Knotts=rarely crowded.
~ Therefore, no waiting in lines!!!!!!! We basically walked on every ride on monday. That's a necessity with 2 little boys.
~ A great place for a super fun date night.
~ Much better food (Johnny Rockets, TGI Friday's, Panda Express, Dippin' Dots, Funnel cakes)
~ Supreme Scream and more big-kid rides. (Bummed they took out the Scrambler, that was my fav!)
~ Characters Isaac can actually recognize what they are and likes them.

As you can see, it's a pretty close call, but perhaps the biggest determining factor was when I found out that I could get four season passes (with NO blockout dates) for LESS than one deluxe pass to Disneyland, I almost flipped.

I feel like I'm explaining why I left all that I believe in or something! Don't worry, I haven't lost the faith. It was just time for some change$. ;)

If anyone has Knott's passes let me know and we can meet up sometime!

Labor Day Weekend

We took a last-minute camping trip to Buckhorn with some of our AWESOMEST friends for the weekend. Luckily we found a beautiful, humongous shared site. We had lots of fun and enjoyed it so much, we found ourselves wishing we could stay just one more day.

Labor Day Weekend

This is a little oasis we found off a hiking trail near the campground (you can hear the water dribbling down the rocks in the background). The woman helping me is someone I met earlier that morning at the campground who happened to be there as well.

Sequoia

Butterfly-catching in Sequoia

Privacy Please

I think I can officially say that Seth is potty trained now. He's been waking up in the middle of his naps and the middle of the night to go tot he bathroom. I guess that's trained enough.

These pics were taken before he was one, but of course, he's a couple of months away from turning three now.

"Hmmm, this is fun!"

"I'm a big boy!"

Sometimes You Just Gotta Walk Away!

And that's just what we did....after waiting and waiting on the temporarily impaired Toy Story Mania before the cast members finally freed us from our seats and shuffled us out.

(Thank goodness for Spencer's arrow pass! It made it less traumatic since we didn't have to wait an hour in line like most people only to make it halfway through the ride!)

We got some pretty cool pictures that most people will never get, though.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at the amount of decor there is that isn't even part of the ride. It's amazing how much there is that you never see unless you have a minute!

On the way out a cast member gave us a card to get right back on the ride when it was operational again. Not that we needed it since Spencer's pass does the same thing. (Thanks Natalie for letting us get our fill of the ride while we had you in our clutches!)

We're hoping the next ride we get escorted through will be Pirates of the Caribbean!

Swimming at grandpa's

Grandma Reynolds and Rebecca and Kevin Visit

Grandma's visit and Su's Bday

7/31-8/01 2008