We slept in on our final day in Iceland, slowly packed up our gear, said goodbye to our tranquil cabin, and headed back to Reykjavik. The best way to spend the last day on vacation is by relaxing in soothing waters. We booked a reservation at the Blue Lagoon and enjoyed the tranquility of this unique geothermal seawater. It truly was an otherworldly experience and is one of the 25 wonders of the world. After spending a few hours there soaking our tired bodies, trying on face masks, drinking our free sodas and slushies, we showered and headed for the airport. Thank you, Iceland, for such a magnificent vacation!

Since we had another red eye type of flight Madeline fell asleep for the last half of the flight and was dead asleep when we arrived in Denver. Mike had to carry her all the way through customs. It's a good thing she is a little thing!

​Off to get COVID tests! Since America doesn’t believe in science all the time, all travelers (vaccinated or not) have to have a negative COVID test to go back. We had made reservations ahead of time and so we drove back to Reykjavik to get tested. The testing center was very well organized. We got our barcodes scanned and they took out little family into a room and stuffed swabs in our nose. 30 minutes later we got an email with a certificate saying that we were COVID free. How tidy! Fortunately, we were all COVID negative.  
 
Since we were back in the Capital, we headed downtown to do some shopping and eat some fish and chips. Of course, we also had to get cinnamon rolls again from Brod and Company. We shopped a little, then took a bread break, then shopped some more. Madeline found the world’s longest hop-scotch board and a track to race down. After we were done shopping, we went to the fish and chips place we went to last time, but it was out of business, so we headed a little further down the street and got fish and chips. Madeline ate her fish with lemon. Mike got traditional Icelandic fish stew (plokkfiskur) with a piece of Rye bread. It was tasty too.  

After lunch, we tried out the museum, but that was a bit of a bust, so we headed over to Fly over Iceland which was a fun little Disney style attraction where you get to fly over the gorgeous vistas of Iceland in a big theater. It was a fun way to end our time in Reykjavik. We headed back to our cabin and got in the hot tub and sat and watched the waves, the birds, and the weather. It was a divine way to end the day.  

​More hiking! Today, we set-off from our quiet cabin to Skogafoss, which is one of the more impressive waterfalls in Iceland. The cool thing about it, is that the impressiveness of the giant waterfall at the base is just the beginning. After admiring its grandeur, we headed up the steep steps to the top and then off on the trail along the Skogar river. The actual trail goes all the way up to the Fimmvorduhals pass and is about 25 km long. We did about 4 miles up the trail and it blew our minds away. There are 27 major waterfalls along this trail, and they are all unique and breathtaking. Every turn and every time we crested the knoll of a hill, the views were awe inspiring. It’s like Iceland took every cool waterfall and canyon and put them on one trail for our convenience. Madeline crushed the hike. She is such an incredible little four-year-old. She never complains. She is ever so polite. She is creative and finds ways to entertain herself and those around her. It was a hoot hiking with her. We had lunch up on the trail, and then headed back down.  
 
Once back to the car, we decided to head a little further down the road to a famous canyon, Fjaðrárgljúfu.  The drive itself was miserably boring as the topography was very bland. Once we got there, it was like a who’s who of lazy, horrible tourists swarming for a photo. It was also 20 degrees warmer here and super sunny. The canyon was very meh in comparison to what we had just done. The problem is that Justin Bieber shot a music video here and people just flocked to it and then destroyed the area, so the government closed it for a while and then created a tourist path that doesn’t really allow you to enjoy the canyon. It would have been better if you could have walked along the canyon floor, but alas, Bieber has ruined yet something else for everyone.
 
After that, we drove back to Vik and had dinner at a really good burger place called Smidjan Brugghus. The burgers were tasty, and they had Nutella covered French fries with powdered sugar on them. Not sure if that would be good, we can attest to its divinity.  
 
Since Vik sits next to the black beach, we headed down there for a quick visit to the sea. It was windy and foreboding at Reynisfjara Beach, but the basalt cliffs were pretty cool. Iceland is very grandiose when the skies are overcast and the wind blowing. It makes you want to go back to your cabin on the lake, snuggle up with a blanket and watch the wind blow across he lake. So that’s what we did.

​Back in the car! We packed up our stuff, cleaned up our little apartment and headed down the hill back into town. We stopped by a bakery and they had truly wonderful stuff. It was hard to chose! We got sandwiches for lunch, doughnuts for the girls, and a bear claw about the size of an Icelandic Horse. The funniest thing was the girl at the counter looked like a model, but she was a SOUR apple. She was clearly not going to win any service awards. I have to say, that everywhere we have gone on this trip, the vast majority of people we have interacted with at stores have been teenagers. Sometimes, really young teenagers. The gas stations, gift ships, bakeries, ice-cream shops, grocery stores, coffee shops all seem to be run by teenagers with no apparent adults. I’m beginning to wonder if there was some kind of coup d’états during COVID wherein all the adults were banished to Grimsey island. Anyway, after the bakery we went to the grocery store, got gas, then headed out on the ring road. 

The initial part of the drive was gorgeous and the mountains stunning. For some reason, the weather in the North of Iceland is warmer than the South. We drove for a couple of hours and then stopped for lunch in Blonduos. Mike cleaned the car windshield with the free hose/brooms that they have at all the gas stations and then we stopped at a park to play and eat. Every park here seems to have a big trampoline pad and there are lots of slides and ziplines. Madeline had a blast while we ate brie and grapes and our sandwiches from the bakery.  
 
Following lunch, we headed up the coast on a gravel road to Hvitserkur and saw the dragon drinking from the ocean. It was really pretty cool and it was fun to walk on the black sand in the ocean. The cliff trail going down to the ocean was silly steep and slippery and Mike fell while holding Madeline. He fell straight on his back and Madeline popped right out of his arms, like a fumbled football. Fortunately, instead of falling off a cliff, she landed in a cozy bed of moss and shrubs. Abby was the only other one to take off her shoes and walk out into the ocean, so she earned bonus awesome points.
 
Following the drinking dragon, we headed back down the road. This part of the drive was pretty boring and having driven it once is likely enough. The ring road is narrow, there are lots of slow camper vans and the drive gets rather tedious. We would recommend flying to the North and renting a car there for any future adventures. Gas isn’t cheap in Iceland and there isn’t too much to see on the way back down other than some cool waterfalls. 
 
About 6:00pm we rolled up to the cabin on the lake by Thingvellir. It was stunning. The sun was in the west, the lake was glistening, and we were no longer driving. Madeline enjoyed naming all the gnome statues and Abby found a secret path from the back deck to a hidden dock on the lake. Mike made tacos and everyone just relaxed and enjoyed the endless sunset.

​A little sleeping in doesn’t hurt when you’re on vacation, so we didn’t get started today until about 9:00am, which was nice since we had been getting up early the other days.  We headed out of town and started up the hill and had to stop to see the beautiful view of Akureyi. It really is a picturesque town nestled at the foot of the mountains with the water in the foreground. What a beautiful place!
 
We then headed out on the Diamond circle, or so they call it. We first went through a 7km tunnel, which was pretty cool, and then we drove up through Husavik, the whale watching capital of the North, and were awed by the views of the mountains and the Fjords. We headed North out of Husavik along the ring road and Mike discovered how to use the cruise control, which made the whole trip of 317 km much easier. It was fun to see the countryside and the vistas did not disappoint. We stopped at the overlook at Oxarfjordur and it was probably one of our favorite spots of the day. The cliffs were fantastic, and the puffins and fulmars nestling on the cliff edges, then catching updrafts and soaring around were awesome.  There is just something wonderful about staring out at the sea.  
 
From the Ocean, we headed deeper into Vatnajokull National Park and found our way to Asbyrgi canyon.  The canyon was either formed by glacial flooding, or when Odin’s horse, Sleipnir accidentally touched the earth here with a misplaced hoof so the legend is told. Either way, it’s a very different landscape here. The hike in the forest was dense with birch trees, artic thyme (small purple flowers), and ferns. There were also a lot of different birds and ducks than we had previously seen. Madeline enjoyed howling in the canyon and hearing the echo. It was definitely different than the endless cascade of waterfalls.
 
From there, it was on to Dettifoss, which stands in sheer magnitude as one of the great waterfalls around. The landscape is drastically different than the pastoral landscapes that abound. It was like being on the surface of the moon. Madeline pretended the sand was lava and hopped from rock to rock. The waterfall itself is voluminous and impressive. It was interesting to see the green cliffs on the Western shore from the spray. Everywhere else was desolate. There is another waterfall just upstream (Selfoss), which on its own would be a destination waterfall, but is dwarfed by the turbulent and noisy Detifoss less than 800 meters away.  
 
Saturated by waterfall viewing, we headed to something a little different, the boiling mudpots outside of Lake Myvatn. This had to be the best stop of the whole trip. It smelled like someone had taken a bunch of used diapers, set them on fire, then dumped raw sewage on it. It was horrifying and awful wrapped in a cloak of misery. The smell stayed with us for the next few hours. Why anyone would want to endure more than 30 seconds of this place, is a question I would like answered. Thank you Hverir!
 
After the mud pots, it was on to the lake where we walked around some cool green mounds and admired the vista. Lake Myvatn seems like a cool lake, but the gnats and flies there were relentless which must make for long and annoying days by the shore. Madeline fell and scuffed up her hands while running down a hill. The natural remedy, of course, was ice-cream, which was rather delicious and mostly devoid of flies.  
 
With our trip around the circle almost complete, we headed to our last stop, the magnanimous Godafoss.  Rumored to be the waterfall where the king threw in his pagan idols and adopted Christianity, the falls themselves are certainly a great setting for any kind of lore. The river, the falls, the grassy banks are spectacular.  We enjoyed the various views and the sheer power of this beautiful area.  
 
From the falls, we headed back to Akureyri for some fish and chips, only to find that the fish and chips store had closed. So we headed back to our apartment for some oven pizzas, French fries, and more ice-cream.  It was a delicious end to an adventurous day.

Happy Birthday Mike! Let’s get up and go look for whales! So, we drove up the coast to Dalvik and got on a boat with one other family and sailed out into the Fjord and the North Atlantic. There were lots of puffins to see, dolphins, and one lonely Minke whale. They say they call them stinky Minky because sometimes they have a bit of an odor, and I guess that is true because there was a bit of a stink to the Minke. Unfortunately, we saw no humpback whales on this trip, but maybe in the next 45 years or so. The crazy thing was all the waterfalls coming off the cliffs into the sea. Iceland is really the land of waterfalls. It’s stunning that everywhere you turn, there is another river, another waterfall, and another little stream. It’s amazing.
 
After whale watching, we went to a little park in the forest south of town, had cheese, grapes, and crackers and watched Madeline go down a slide about 200 times. She is an endless ball of energy and adventure.  
 
We then headed down to the Christmas store and bought a little ornament and then headed up to the Polar Hestar riding stables. The drive was gorgeous and it seemed like an endless parade of farms and fields at the base of the mountains. This country is truly gorgeous in the summer.
 
Once at the stables, Madeline played with the lambs and dogs while we waited for our horses to get ready. We then headed off down the road on our horses. Even little Madeline was riding along on her own horse right next to one of the guides. The Icelandic horses have a gear that other horses don’t have called the tolt. It was pretty fun to experience that and then ride up into the mountains. It was stunning country with a river coming through a canyon, mountain on every side with a Fjord at their base to the east. The mountain pastures were full of sheep and brand-new lambs (some just 1 week old!). It was an amazing ride with cool guides from Germany and Iceland. They were great with Madeline, and everyone had a good time. At the end, we had hot chocolate, cakes, and cookies. The only bad part was the price, which totally escaped Mike’s conversion capabilities. Sometimes, when travelling overseas, you don’t realize the price until it’s too late. This was one of those cases. A steep lesson for a seasoned traveler, but one that will not be forgotten. After that, we had dinner at the apartment, showers, and an early night. Off to more adventures tomorrow! 

The Icelandic people really love their licorice

Happy Independence Day America! We celebrated by eating a mondo breakfast at the hotel. It was Euro-fantastic. Once we were gorged, we packed up our gear into the cube and headed out to the Northern Island! 
 
On our way, we stopped at Glymur waterfall (the 2nd highest waterfall in Iceland) for a leisurely walk up a death-defying mountain with two perilous river crossings and death at every turn! It was totally up our alley. The first little bit was pretty easy, but then we had to go through a cave, and down the slope to the river where there was a really sketchy log river crossing. Of course, the water was super high, so there was some bonus traversing to be done. Abby screamed the most, and Madeline held on for dear life. Fortunately, no one fell in. 
 
After the river crossing, we headed up, up and up the steep slopes toward the waterfall. Madeline was a trooper and held onto the ropes on the steep parts, and our hands during the other really steep parts. It was kind of like Angels’ landing in Zion’s National Park except wet and slippery and a lot more Russian tourists.
 
The hike up was staggering and the beauty immersive. The waterfall did not disappoint, and the canyon was breathtaking. It’s hard to capture places like this with photos or videos because the feeling of the damp air on your face, the wind in your hair, and the exhilaration of standing on the edge of a cliff combine into a truly intense experience.  
 
Once we gained the top of the falls, we crossed the river in our water shoes (yippee for planning!).  The water was cold, and we saw another person slip and lose their backpack down the river and over the falls. I imagine that canyon is a veritable treasure trove of stuff that people lose in the river. We hiked back down the other side and made it back to our car with only some dirty butts and sore feet. Our little 4-year-old Madeline hiked the entire 4.7 miles with 1250 ft of climbing all by herself, with the exception of being carried through the river crossings and a few dangerous rocky scrambles. Once back in our Peugeot box, we made PB&J sandwiches and headed north.  
 
The drive north to Akureyri was very pastoral and the ring road is a marvel of narrowness. Driving that in bad weather is not to be underestimated, but we had good weather and made it to our rental apartment without too much drama. Then Mike headed out to get groceries and hot dogs for dinner (so that we could be at least a little American on the 4th). The amazing thing is that since the sun stays up until about 12:45am, you really can get a heck of a lot done in the evening.  

Madeline was NOT a fan of all the gnats

Flying out of Denver is never that much fun. It’s a long way to the airport, and the traffic from the I-25 gap project doesn’t make it any easier to get there. But after sitting in traffic in Larkspur, we finally made it to the airport. However, we didn’t anticipate that everyone from Colorado was going to be travelling this 4th of July. The parking lot we usually use was full, so we had to make a mad dash for another place, but it was terrible, so we finally just had to suck it up and park at the airport. Of course, parking was just the start of the lines. The line for Iceland Air was long as well. Fortunately, we waited behind some Denverites who were headed to Iceland as well, so it was entertaining listening to them. Security wasn’t too bad, and we made it to our gate just in time to start boarding. It must be said, that Icelandair is great overall for a discount airline. The flight was easy and pretty comfy overall.
 
Somewhere, over the Atlantic we popped forward a day and landed in Iceland at 6:20am. Everyone got a little sleep, but none more than Madeline who got to lay down and sleep for most of the flight. The airport in Keflavik is kitschy, but the boarder control line was ridiculous. Somehow, we made it through it relatively quickly. We had our passports, COVID-19 cards, and documents ready to go. Once through customs, we fiddle faddled until Sara asked someone where our car rental company pick-up was located. We got in a van and headed to the Dollar car rental place and picked up our box (as Emma liked to call it). Considering the absolute lemon we rented last time we were in Iceland, this was a veritable Porsche. Fortunately, all our suitcases and Madeline’s car seat fit inside without any problems.
 
With everyone and everything loaded, we headed to the Hilton in Reykjavik where we dropped off our suitcases since our room wouldn’t be ready for another 8 hours. After dropping off our gear, we headed to the downtown area for a bite of breakfast. We thought about going to a swanky place, but the line was silly, so we headed to our old staple Braud and Co. With croissants and cinnamon rolls in hand we saw Leif Erickson’s statue by the church and then headed off to the zoo.
 
It turns out the zoo was more of a who’s who of Iceland petting zoo with a fair number of carnival rides. It was a lot of fun for totally jet lagged travelers. There were seals, chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, reindeer, artic foxes, and pigs. That’s it. It was basically a collection of farm animals and seals. Seems about right. The rides were fun and there was a great playground for Madeline. Abby and Emma did some thrill rides while Madeline and Mike did the most Euro-cringey carrousel ever imagined. It was great. For some reason, Madeline had more energy than is reasonable and basically dragged us around. Emma demonstrated that she can’t do a hamster wheel and we caught it on video, ouch!
 
After the zoo/amusement park, we headed to the botanical gardens and walked around for 5 minutes but realized that our delirium was worse than we realized so we headed back to the car. From there, we went to the mall, because if you haven’t been to a mall in Iceland, then you haven’t lived. We got some lunch there and realized that malls in Iceland are about as awesome as malls in America.  
 
After slumming it at the mall, we decided that driving wasn’t safe, so we headed back to the hotel and fell asleep in the lobby until our room was ready. After that, we crashed hard in our rooms for three hours, then got up and headed out again. We got dinner at this cool hamburger joint. The guy behind the counter advised us to try the special Icelandic sauce for our fries. So, we took our meal to the park by the lake downtown and ate our hamburgers under a tarp of gnats. It turns out that the special Icelandic sauce is fry sauce. So, I guess someone from Utah taught the people in Iceland about French fries. It was delicious.  
 
After dinner, we went down to the lighthouse and walked on the ocean and let Madeline throw rocks back into the sea. At about 10:30pm, we headed back to the hotel, with the sun still shining brightly and fell asleep.

We laughed so hard when we saw this shirt. It was a little how we were feeling after being so sleep deprived from missing an entire nights sleep. And we were delirious so there's that.

We thought it would be fun to spend our last day going back to Magic Kingdom. This time we opted for the better parking lot since we knew our legs would be tired at the end of the day. It was overcast in the morning which was wonderful. This morning was all about riding the rides we didn’t make it on the first day at Magic Kingdom and riding our favorites again. The big kids headed to Space Mountain while Mike and I took Madeline to Small World since we didn’t get a chance to do that earlier in the week. The line was super short so that was a total bonus. Madeline loved that ride and just kept pointing to all the things she loved. It was so cute to watch her excitement. We ran over to Tomorrowland and met the big kids at the Astro Orbiter. We rode that and then hopped in line to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride. Mike and Peter were ridiculously good at this ride and always got the highest scores. Then we headed to ride the cars and made our way to the Haunted Mansion and passed the carousel and sword in the stone on the way. All of the kids tried pulling the sword out of the stone. It was so funny watching Madeline try so hard. She even cracked her knuckles before she tried the second time. It was hilarious. Madeline was so brave in the Haunted Mansion. There were a few sections that scared her, but she did pretty well for a 4-year-old. At this point the sun was now out and it was getting hot, so we headed over to Splash Mountain and waited in line so that we cold cool off on the ride. The line was almost an hour but totally worth it. Splash Mountain was still everyone’s favorite ride, especially Madeline. With the heat picking up we decided to find a shady spot to each lunch. On our way to eat lunch we got to see the parade with Mickey, Minnie and Pluto. That was a lot of fun! We tried to stay as cool as we could the rest of the day by doing rides that were either in the shade or inside. We explored the Swiss Family Treehouse, rode the Little Mermaid ride, and did Buzz Lightyear again. Madeline was so excited when we surprised her by buying a new Toy Story characters set for her. We ate ice-cream sundaes and then decided to call it a day since it was way too hot to keep walking around. The closer parking was an added blessing at the end of our amazing week at Disney and Universal Studios. We headed back to the house to hang by the pool and just relax.

​The girls and I decided to stay back at the house and relax while the boys left to go back to Universal Studios. While the girls and I relaxed by the pool all day, the boys spent more time at the main part of Universal Studios, riding more of the Harry Potter rides, riding the Hogwarts Express, exploring Diagon Alley, and just having fun. They came home in the early afternoon and then we all headed back to Universal Studios to eat dinner at NBC Sports Grill. After filling our tummies and waiting for the sun to go down, we decided to all go to Diagon Alley and walk through the shops. We even got to see the dragon at the top of the bank blow fire out of its mouth. It was pretty exciting. Then we all rode the Hogwarts Express train to the other side of the park. Madeline really loved the train ride. As we were walking out of the park, we saw some friends from back home in Colorado and chatted for a little bit and then headed back to the house. 

​After a few days of doing the Disney thing, we headed to Universal Studios to experience the non-Disney side of things. We were there mainly to experience all of the Harry Potter attractions. We spent most of this day exploring the Islands of Adventure Park. After a very mediocre Spiderman ride, the big kids and I stood in line for the Hulk ride while Mike took Madeline to Dr. Seuss land. The line seemed to take forever but, in the end, it was worth it because this ride was super thrilling. There were several loopty loops which was a lot of fun. Afterwards we met up with Mike and Madeline and explored the Harry Potter side of the park. We did a rider swap since Madeline was too small to ride and took turns with the big kids riding Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. I have to say this was the worst ride ever. It was so nauseating kind of poorly done. It made us all realize why there is just something so special about the Disney parks. Moving on, we walked through Hogsmeade, drank some butterbeer, and saw the Hogwarts Express. The big kids ventured over to another big kid ride while I spent some time in Dr. Suess land with Madeline. Then we all ate lunch in the shade and enjoyed some downtime. We headed back over to Hogsmeade to ride Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. Although we had a spot in the virtual line, we still waited in line for at least an hour. The weather was so hot and much of the line was outside, so we were not too happy about that but once we got inside the building all was well. The ride was amazing, and it totally exceeded our expectations. The big kids were excited to ride it twice since we had to do another rider swap because Madeline wasn’t big enough to ride it. I was a bit jealous they got to ride it twice. Since we were all melting by this point, we decided to call it a day and headed out of the park and made our way home to relax in the pool.

After a rather epic day at Magic Kingdom, we were so excited to try new rides at Hollywood Studios. We got there right before it opened and originally planned on doing the Slinky Dog ride first but when we got into the park the ride was already showing 85 minutes, so we decided to head over to the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge part of the park and jumped right in line for the Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run. We only waited 25 minutes and there were so many fun things to see while we waited in line. This ride was super fun, and our family got our own pod in the Millennium Falcon where we went on a secret interactive smuggling mission where each person got to play a role in the completion of the mission. Everyone had a blast, even Madeline who got to be in the control seat with me. After the ride we walked through the rest of the Star Wars section and got to see some Storm Troopers, Kylo Ren, and Chewbacca. We headed towards Toy Story land and Madeline, Mike and I jumped in the line for the Slinky Dog ride while Emma, Abby and Peter headed over to ride the Rockin Roller Coaster. Even though the Slinky Dog ride said it was a 90-minute wait we decided we had better ride it at least once, so we waited in line. Lucky for us it only took us 55 minutes to get to the front of the line. Madeline found a cute little friend that was with her family right in front of us and those two girls just chatted the entire time. It was so cute watching them together. The ride was so much fun and so much faster than I thought it would be. Madeline and I headed over to Toy Storia Mania and wouldn’t you know it, that same little friend was in front of us again. Madeline and I had fun on that ride while Mike snuck away to take Peter to his surprise appointment at Savi’s Workshop so he could build his own lightsaber. Peter was so surprised and excited. Mike was happy that he was able to stay and watch Afterwards, all the kids met up with me and Madeline in the Slinky Dog line. Madeline and I bought some Mickey Ice-cream to help us pass the time faster. Even though the wait time was still long, we made it to the front of the line in about the same time as before. We were a little worried because we got on the Disney App to try and get in the virtual line for the Rise of the Resistance ride and didn’t get in. The next time to try was 11:00am and we were cutting it close and thought we might be on the ride when that happened. Luckily, we got off the ride and had a few minutes to spare. By some miracle we made it in the virtual line and got an early afternoon time. We decided it was a good time to stop and eat lunch. We found some shade and some benches and enjoyed our homemade lunch and then the older kids and I headed to ride the Rockin Roller Coaster while Mike took Madeline on Toy Story Mania again. We all met up afterwards and went to the Lightening McQueen show and then stopped to eat popsicles while we watched the parade. Then we rode on Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. That was an unexpectedly exciting ride. We sat in a train so to speak and at different points of the ride each car of the train broke away and moved around to different places. It was so cool. By this point it was rather hot outside and so we were happy to be able to head over to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride. It only took us about 20 minutes to get through the line to the front of the ride. This ride was the coolest and most amazing ride any of us had ever been on. It was a multi part ride of virtual and physical entertainment. At one point we exited out of our aircraft and into a room full of storm troopers. It felt like we were on the set of one of the Star Wars movies. It became clear why this was the most coveted ride at Disney and why it was so hard to get in the virtual line. After the ride was over and our minds were completely blown, we headed over to the Cantina to look at the shops. We bought Madeline the cutest little knit baby Yoda doll. It was so small and soft, and she just loved it. It was kind of the perfect way to end our day at Hollywood Studios.

Everyone was super excited for our Magic Kingdom day. We got out the door much faster than the day before and took the ferry from the parking lot to the entrance. We raced straight to Frontierland to take Madeline on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. There wasn't any wait at either of those rides. She was a little unsure of Splash Mountain at first but after riding it once she was super excited to do it again. We ended up doing Big Thunder Mountain a few times before the lines got a bit longer. The longer we waited for that ride all day was 15-20 min. Since it was sprinkling outside, we headed to the Carousel before that line got too long and rode on the horses. Madeline picked a horse with red roses and was all smiles the entire time. So glad we only waited 15 min for that one. Since today was really all about Madeline, we did all the rides she wanted to do. We hopped over to Fantasyland and did the Little Mermaid ride. Just when we were getting to the part with Ursula the ride paused, and I thought Madeline would be super scared, but she was ok. Nothing compared to the scariness of the Dinosaur ride the day before. We took Madeline on Dumbo and then Mike and Peter took Madeline on the Barnstormer roller coaster while the big girls and I rode on Space Mountain. We all met up at Tom Sawyers Island after for some running around and to eat our lunch. It was nice and quiet over there and we even got to see the big Liberty Square Riverboat and waved to all the people as they passed us. After we finished up on the Island, we stopped to see the princess parade. Madeline absolutely loved that! Then we headed back over to Splash Mountain again.

The sun finally came out and we were all excited to find some ice-cream. Unfortunately, the ice-cream parlor was closed during COVID, so we headed over to Tomorrowland and stood in line for the Buzz Lightyear ride which wasn't that long and then headed over to the drive the cars. Madeline loved being in control of the steering wheel and I had fun getting jostled around with my little driver. We finally found some awesome ice-cream brownie sundaes and ate them before riding the Winnie the Pooh ride and the teacups. The older kids got into their own cup and spun super-fast. Mike, Madeline and I just sat in the cup and enjoyed a nice less dizzy ride. We spent the rest of our day over at Frontierland riding Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. Emma sat with Madeline and I and since Madeline was nestled between us, she finally felt comfortable enough to put her hands in the air. She was so cute to watch. On our last time riding Big Thunder Mountain, Mike skipped riding it and headed over to the nearby restaurant and ordered dinner and had all of our food set out for us at a table he had secured. He even got props from another dad. We were so thankful.

As the night was starting to set in, we just kept waiting for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride to get shorter. It hadn't been under one hour the entire day. Finally, we hopped in line when it was only 45 min. It was such a long and annoying line and we realized that some of the reasons why we loved this ride were missing from this ride at Magic Kingdom. At Tokyo Disneyland the ride starts out in an evening on the Louisiana bayou and passes rickety houseboats with glimmering fireflies and soft banjo melodies. The ride in Tokyo Disneyland is also longer, more detailed, and better maintained. It was our last ride of the night, except for the older kids who ran to Space Mountain to ride that one more time. Mike and I took Madeline on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin and then got some churros to snack on. Since it was getting to the point when the park was about to close, the food vendor just gave Mike the churros for free. It was a nice way to end our truly magical day at Magic Kingdom.

We were all a bit tired from our travel day so it was a little harder to get up on time in the morning. I had a terrible night with passing a stone between the hours of 3-5am, so I didn't get up until 7am. Still, I was blessed that I was ok by the time I got up. We made it to Animal Kingdom only 30 minutes after it opened so that wasn't too bad. In our excitement we walked extremely fast to the front gate. On our way, an annoyingly large woman yelled at us to let us know that there was a line, even though we were still in the parking lot where people were just walking to get to the park entrance. We ignored her because there was no line and we weren't even at the front gate yet. It was a reminder that we were indeed in central Florida with a different caliber of people. Yikes. 

We headed straight to the Avatar Flight of Passage ride and ended up waiting for over an hour to get on the ride. Luckily for the older kids, Madeline was too short to ride so we ended up doing the child swap and the big kids got to ride it twice and only had to wait in line once. That was a pretty sweet deal. It was such an amazing ride. We all loved it so much. Madeline and I headed over to Dinoland to ride the Triceratops ride while the others were finishing up at Avatar. We probably rode the Triceratops ride at least 3 times since the line was so short. Then we all headed over to the Everest ride. The line didn't take that long and we did the child swap again so the big kids got to ride on that one twice as well. It was similar to Big Thunder Mountain but a little different, a little faster, and some cool features like riding backwards which was so awesome. We loved it! Then it was off to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. Madeline loved seeing all of the animals and was quick to point out her favorites which were the giraffes and flamingos. After an exciting morning, we headed to a relaxation station and ate our lunch before watching the bird show. It was mostly entertaining but after it was over the kids shot out of there so fast because they wanted to ride Everest again. We all met up at the Dinosaur ride after and although the cool dinosaur fossil inside the building was cool to see while waiting in line, the ride was absolutely the worst. It was way too scary for Madeline and not really that interesting at all. Poor little Madeline shed a few tears. It was just dark and scary the entire time. So, we took her on the triceratops ride again to help her feel better. We didn't stay all day at the park but instead left before dinnertime and headed back to the house. The girls and I ordered dinner from the restaurant at the resort and the boys headed back out to try some rides at Magic Kingdom during the less crowded evening hours. It was a win win for everyone!

After two days playing at the beach, we were all a little tired and somewhat burned so we took it easy all morning. By the time we got the energy to get out the door we weren't quite sure which beach we wanted to go to, so we drove past Corona Del Mar and it was super crowded. The parking lot was completely full. We decided to head south on Rt. 1 towards Laguna Beach. Right before we made it to Laguna, we saw the most perfect section of beach, so we made a U-turn and headed back north. The first parking area we tried was also full. In fact, most of the parking lots were full but we got lucky and right when we came to the intersection for the southern end of Crystal Cove Beach, the parking lot opened up. We headed in and found a parking spot close to the trail leading down to the beach. The views from this beach were absolutely amazing and there was a ton of space to play on the beach without feeling like we were right next to someone else. The waves at this beach were also enormous so the girls didn't go on the boogie boards. Peter and Mike, however, tried to dominate the large waves. Peter had a few attempts and a few successes, but his back got pretty trashed by some of the waves, so he gave up boogie boarding and instead played soccer and frisbee. Andrew decided to build a downhill ball track in the sand that emptied into a giant pit. Everyone had a great time helping out and Madeline rolled the ball down the hill several times before the track was eventually destroyed. After 3 straight days playing at the beach and getting plenty of sun, we were all happy to chill out at the house for our last night of watching movies while eating cookies and ice-cream. 

Mike and I got up early and went for a nice long run down Ocean Blvd towards Rt. 1 and into Crystal Cove State Park. We ventured on a path towards the water and then a bit northward. We eventually made it down to the water and had fun walking around the tide pool area and the quiet sandy beach. Mornings like this make you wonder why you don't live in California. 

We spent the rest of our day back at Corona Del Mar Beach. We found another great spot, although it seemed more crowded than it did the day before but that is probably because it was Saturday. The kids did more of the same things they did the day before. This time Peter wanted to be buried so we spent time making him cozy in the sand. We even covered Emma and made her a mermaid. We took all the shells we had found the previous day and decorated her tail. It was pretty cool looking. By the early afternoon the Partridges made it to the beach and spent some time with us there. Then we headed back to the house to change our clothes. Just the adults headed out to grab some hamburgers and shakes and sit at the park and chat it up without the kids. It was so awesome being able to be with Adam and Myisha again. It was just what Mike and I needed. We were definitely sad to say goodbye later that night. The kids loved spending time with them as well and we promised that we would get together again when we could. Being able to spend time at the beach was awesome but spending time with our good friends was the cherry on the cake. There is nothing quite like amazing friends. We are lucky to have the Partridges in our life!

This morning we let the kids sleep in while we went to the grocery store to stock up on food for the next few days. Then we took Madeline for a little walk to explore the area around where we were staying. She was so excited to play at the little park across the street from our cute little condo. Eventually we all got our swimming suits on and gathered all of our beach things and headed to Corona Del Mar Beach. We didn't walk too far along the beach before we found the perfect spot to set up our beach tent and chairs. There were lots of people at the beach, but we tried to keep our distance the best we could. Madeline spent most of the time playing in the sand, jumping the waves, running away from the waves, and just having fun with her older siblings. Abby and Emma spent most of their time on the boogie boards while Peter just played with Madeline in the water and then frisbee with Mike. He stayed out of the water for the most part because of his skinned knee from the day before. Andrew enjoyed sitting in the warm sand while we buried him really good. He probably spent a good two hours just chilling in the sand. There just isn't anything better in the California sun than being at the beach and having a blast together as a family!

After sleeping in we got ready and headed over to the San Diego Zoo before it opened. We were amazed at how long the line was to get into the zoo. It kind of felt like we were at Disneyland, except the line went pretty fast. Once inside, it did not feel crowded at all. We headed first to see the flamingos. Madeline was fascinated with their pink feathers and how some of them stood on one leg. Then it was off to see the giraffes, but not without stopping first to grab some waters and a refillable cup for fun drinks. Madeline loved the giraffes as well but kept asking if we could feed them since we can do that at our zoo in Colorado Springs. It was fun to get super close to the giraffes and many of the other animals we saw. After wandering through the rest of the Urban Jungle, we wound our way through the Outback where we saw the cutest koala bears. Of course, most of them were sleeping with their heads tucked into their chest. There was only one that was awake and moving around. The further into the zoo we went the bigger animals that we saw. We saw monkeys, apes, gorillas, baboons, elephants, jaguars, lions, polar bears, ant eaters, colorful birds, and hippos. We met up with our good friends, Adam and Myisha, after lunch and had fun walking around the zoo together. One of the highlights of the zoo was seeing the baboons. When we got to the viewing window there were two baboons just sitting there against the glass. Madeline loved talking to them. She was so cute and tried to touch them through the glass. It was super fun to see them up close. After walking for most of the day we decided to head over to the shops to find something fun for Madeline to take home. She picked a baby kangaroo and a sequin snake as her souvenirs from the zoo. Then all the girls piled in Myisha's car and the boys and Madeline piled in the minivan and we all met up by the pier where we had fun playing at Waterfront Park. The kids had fun running around in the water and Madeline ended up getting soaking wet so on our way to dinner we stopped at the car and changed clothes. We walked to Puesto's where we had the most amazing Mexican food. We sat outside in the courtyard and enjoyed a casual dinner together and just had the best time. We just love Adam and Myisha and wished we lived closer. After dinner we headed back over to Waterfront Park where we picked up some dessert and ate it by the water. It was a great way to end an amazing day.