Ross Girls' Disneyland Trip 2010

Note: I've decided the most stressful part of a fun trip is deciding which pictures to post on your blog when you get back. After realizing that there's no such thing as the "Best 25 Pics" when you have 350 really fun pics, I just quickly chose some and tried to make sure I had pictures of everyone that went. (Anyone who wants to is welcome to come by my house and see all my pics!)

Last Monday I hopped on a plane to California. I got to spend 3 1/2 days with my sister Ashley and her family by myself. Then my other sisters and my mom showed up to join the party for the last 2 1/2 days. We took our annual trip to Disneyland. Lots of fun!

My nephew Marshall and I were stylin' in our sunglasses together and getting ready to do some serious grocery shopping:

Our Disneyland day started out with a fun surprise: We were chosen as "Guests of the Day." Apparently the computer randomly picks a time every morning. The first car to drive through the pay booths after that time is the "Guest of the Day." There were all sorts of things that happened on our way there -- such as getting out of the carpool lane too soon and getting stuck in slow traffic, and Ashley leaving her wallet in the trunk of their car -- that suddenly became things we were grateful for. It put is through the pay booth at just the right time!

A guy on a bike drove us to a parking spot that was the closest one to the trams. They had cones there to make sure no one else was in "our" spot. We also got to park for FREE! Yeah! We were so excited! Here is Alyson and I right after we parked. You can see the "Guest of the Day" certificate in our windshield.

At the end of the day, we took one more picture with the "Guest of the Day" certificate. Such a fun surprise (especially given that it was a packed day at Disneyland)!

My mom had the fun idea of getting us all matching shirts for this trip. Great idea, Mom! Getting ready to get on the tram: Alyson, Mom, Me, Lindsey, Ashley

Taking a trip on the Jungle Cruise: Ash, Aly, Linz, Me, Mom

Lindsey and I on Autopia:

Lindsey took this picture of me while I was busy taking pictures of everyone else on Autopia (you can see we had a very steady young driver at the wheel!):

Marshall is one lucky kid! He got to go to Disneyland with a bunch of his aunts and with Grandma Ross. All the other kids got left behind with the husbands.

Having Marshall around was usually lots of fun. There was that one time, however, when he had a blow-out accident just before some of us were getting ready to get on Big Thunder Railroad. That wouldn't have been a problem except that we had the diaper bag with us. Lindsey ran to get the bag from us just before the train took off. Way to hustle, Linz! :)

All us sisters together -- Me, Ash, Aly, & Linz

I rubbed the lamp, but no genie appeared. Bummer.

Me and Mom getting ready to ride on Big Thunder Railroad (one of our favorite rides that, unfortunately, closed down early at the end of the day):

Funny thing, that darn sword doesn't come out no matter how many girls you get to pull on it at the same time!

Alyson and Me on Big Thunder Railroad:

Whew! We made it through the ride in one piece! :)

Our other favorite ride is Splash Mountain. I offered to ride in the front (thinking I'd have a chance to dry before it got dark and then someone else would have to be in front when it got a bit colder -- unfortunately, I got REALLY wet and didn't dry before dark...)

It's a little hard to tell how soaking wet I am in this picture...

...but a lot more obvious in this picture! :)

It's always so nice of Ashley and Derek to let us crash at their apartment on these crazy, fun trips to California and Disneyland! I think Derek enjoyed himself a little extra this year -- we went on his birthday; but more importantly, we went two days after he finished his first set of boards for optometry school. Good job, Derek!

Ashley and Derek left around 10 pm to get little Marshall into bed. The rest of us left when the park closed at midnight. What a super fun, long day!

The next day, we took a trip to the beach. It was in the upper 70s and really nice. I got to play in the sand with little Marshall:

The only problem with the beach is that the water was freezing! We opted instead to play in Ashley's pool after the beach. Lindsey and I were working on helping each other get adjusted to the temperature of the water. :)

Lindsey, Alyson and I had several swim races. In between races, we relaxed on the side of the pool:

We're not sure if we'll be able to make the trip next year or not, since Ashley and Derek will be leaving for rotations about the time we usually take the trip. Thankfully, we have lots and lots of fun memories to last us a lifetime (including rolling on the floor laughing outside the bathrooms -- love you girls!)!