We flew to Long Beach, California on June 11 to begin the first part of our vacation. The Hinson and Guignard families would be staying in the Disney Grand Californian Lodge until June 15. The hotel was amazing. It was connected to Downtown Disney and the two parks. We loved being able to walk to everything. Those of you that have been to Walt Disney World in Florida will understand the difference. We had been warned that the parks would be much more compact and the castle would be smaller. We still weren't prepared for that tiny castle, but we absolutely loved everything about the parks. The Guignards had a 4-day park hopper pass and visited the parks everyday. That still left time for relaxing by the amazing pool. Temperatures in Anaheim were lower 80's with no humidity. Considering that we had left North Carolina with temperatures near 100, we thought we were in heaven!
Billy and Jennifer celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary on June 12. What a wonderful way to celebrate the day! How will Billy top this gift next year???
On Friday, June 13, the entire gang went to see the Atlanta Braves play the Anaheim Angels. It was a lot of fun. We couldn't believe how many Braves fans were at the game. Yes, the Braves won!
Father's Day was Sunday, June 15. Tucker had a great time sneaking to the store with Mommy to buy matching Disneyland shirts for the whole family. Billy loved it! Tucker also picked out a "Soarin" pin for his dad since this is Billy's favorite ride.
The best part of Father's Day was the fact that we were leaving on the cruise! The Guignard's love cruising. The Disney Magic was on the West Coast in 2005 and we knew that if it ever returned that we wanted to be a part of it! The Disney Magic will only be in Californina this summer. The weather was beautiful and we couldn't wait for the cruise to begin!
We really had a magical week with Mickey and his friends. The Mexican Riviera was beautiful, but we decided that we prefer the Caribbean. The first port of call was Cabo San Lucas. We took a cataraman ride out to the Los Arcos. What a beautiful and amazing sight!
The next port of call was Mazatlan. Everyone decided to spend the day enjoying the boat. This was our hottest day! We cooled off in the pool and enjoyed Minnie's Fiesta Party that included real Mexican band and churros!
The last port we would visit was Puerto Vallarta. The Hinson and Guignard family enjoyed the day on a Pirate Ship. We had a fun day and took lots of dramamine! Everyone's favorite part of the day was the banana boat ride at the private beach. We ended the day with Mickey's Pirate Party. He even shot off fireworks from the cruise ship! Yes, even Bear wore his pirate clothes!
We were all sad to see our amazing "Go West Vacation" come to an end. Tucker's picture below really sums up the way we all felt! We made some great memories with our friends and family. Let's start planning our next trip!!!!
