Big Adventure - Day 18

Memorial, Monument, Museum ...... hot, walking, exhausted ....... mmmmm pretty much sums up this day :)
We started of at The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (Sten F. Udvar-Hazy Center) and that was brilliant. Then we headed back into DC to go to the Natural History Museum, very interesting. The line outside the American History Museum was so very long we decided to skip this and head down to the Washington Monument and the other memorials. Not too hot yet - well tolerable ;) After the Washington Monument which is just huge, we continued on down, coming to the WWII memorial which gave a us a short chance to cool off. We were getting to the point of NEEDING that hehe And then we were off again, passing through the park area which felt the brunt of the fireworks from last night. Shrapnel everywhere :)
Stopping off at the Vietnam Memorial was just so 'special' - WOW, no more words. Then it was off up to meet Mr. Lincoln. This VERY big man offered us some shade and time to cool off in his shadow. Absolutely awesome - both the statue and words.... very wise :) A short walk down the path to stop at the Korean Memorial where the girls discussed the wording "Freedom is not Free" engraved at the the memorial. Too special !
And, we head back ....
Walking in the shade as much as possibly (hot, sweaty, sticky, pink South Africans -- not a pretty sight hehehe) we stopped very quickly at the WWI memorial in the White House/Washington Monument area. A quick look and photo of the White House and then to the car. The word 'finished' doesn't seem to describe us accurately enough hehehe. All Muesumed, Monumented, and Memorialed out, we headed to the pool at the hotel to cool off.
Dinner in the room tonight - girls have been begging to order room service :)
A long but very inspiring day :)

Big Adventure - Day 17

Happy 4th of July America !
We were still battling with adjusting to coming forward in time so ended up sleeping REALLY late this morning. Once we were up and ready (10ish) we headed up the road to the Metro. The plan was to head into DC, to the Mall to watch the parade .... The news had been saying "Get there early !" Parade started at 11:45am - we got to the Constitution Avenue at 12 .... through the crowds and crowds and crowds and crowds and ..... you get the picture ;)
Parade was brilliant but very very very very very (you getting the picture again), hot ! Girls were battling and as much as we watered them ;), they missed a lot of the parade - hiding in the shade of the planter we were standing on. Yes everyone was standing, perching, leaning, climbing on anything that would elevate them enough to see the road. Once the parade finished, we walked the road a little and then headed back to the hotel via the metro to cool off.
The plan had been to head to Arlington Cemetery and then the Iwo Jima Memorial afterwards once we had cooled off but ...... well anyway, miserable children are no fun .... enough said ?
We headed up to Iwo Jima late afternoon, stopping to grab some dinner first. Then the walk up Fort Myer - UP hill :) Again crowds crowds crowds .... We took in the memorial, WOW !!!! and then settled in at a spot .......... and more and more and more and more people arrived. Fireworks started at 9:15pm (we had been settled for more than 2 hours) at people were still arriving. The were brilliant and the backdrop of the Washington Monument was great. Once they were done 9:45ish we started the slow trek out of the park area. Stopping at MacDonalds for an icecream (had promised the girls) on the way home - seems the entire crowd had the same idea ;)
Back at the hotel room about 10:30 only to find fireworks going off the entire stretch of our horizon ........ in the distance but it carried on until just after midnight. Thats how you celebrate !
Great day, hot day, special day :)

Big Adventure - Day 16

Day 16 we headed up to Annapolis to meet a freind. Had a wonderful day on the water. Exploring this historic area was so interesting.... Andre's comment "I could live here !" It is a lovely area. Good lunch and great company made for a brilliant day !

Big Adventure - Day 14 & 15

So this was our travel day to DC but we managed to squeeze in one last trip into the park. You see we had been hunting down Donald Duck for a photo and autograph since arriving at Disney and boy had he been elusive ! Anyway we managed to run into him along with a few others and the autograph bok is full - 13 characters in total. What can we say, we LOVED Disney, it was exhausting but wonderful.

Then it was off to DC, heading back into LA to the airport..... flight to NY. (Note the vending machine - these are at the airports and Andre was impressed with the idea.... forget Apples as food heheh) We had booked into a hotel for the morning - arrived at 2am and so sleep for a few hours was on the menu before the drive to DC.

Drive to DC was pretty uneventful -- busy roads, what with the celebratory weekend ahead.

Arrived at the hotel in Arlington, VA late afternoon. Movie in the park across the road - we didn't attend, long day and the girls refised to do any exploring :(

NOTE

Disney photos will follow - there are just SO many and we are having SO much fun - no time to sit trying to load photos ;)
We're still puzzled how people find the time to go to the movies as Disney ..... there is just too much to see and do - park opens at 8am and closes at midnight.

Big Adventure - Day 13

Highlight of the day - more character huntong and I finally got my ears. Lowlight - waiting in line for more than an hour (in the heat of the day) for the Grizzly River Run only to be told it had broken down and wouldn't be running anymore.
Regular morning in the park - entered at 9ish and headed straight to ToonTown to try and hunt down Donald again.... no luck :( We did see several other characters and could also finally get my ears. After this we headed over to the Princesses - we were lucky enough to have a personal visit with Tiana, Belle and Jasmine and then got to listen to Snow White telling her story. After this we stopped for some liquid refreshement - day was starting to warm up and then it was off to Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell. She was popular and we waited in ine for what felt like ages (only 45mins in total). Pictures Pictures Pictures.... then a stop for lunch on the river ... some more pictures, a little exploring including our Kayak experience (sorry no pictures here - had to concentrate on paddling and not tipping the kayak). Girls enjoyed the Silly Symphony Swings ride - nice breeze helped to cool them down. Then we headed over to the River Run - our first one had cooled us off so well we thought this would be perfect but after standing in line for more than an hour ..... only to be told it had broken down and would not be running for the rest of the day ..... grrrr we headed back to the hotel room to cool off.
A little packing forst and we headed down to the Neverland pool for a bit before dinner. We ate at Goofy's Kitchen which was wonderful - good food, good fun ! Squeezed in a few more character photos and autographs. Meal was expensive but when you look at the package ..... worth it :)
Good end to a great visit, off to bed, up early to try and fit in a few more photos.... have yet to meet Donald !

Big Adventure - Day 12

EARLY start today, after getting back to the hotel a little after 11pm last night we headed out at 6:45am to take advantage of our Morning Madness entry. We managed to get an early start on The Mattahorn and the Finding Nemo Submarine as well as Autopia. Then it was over the road from Disneyland to California to get in line to book our place for the 9pm show - World of Color. From there we went to Soarin' California which was brilliant, some character photos and then off to Grizzly Peak. We enjoyed the Brother Bear park as well as the Grizzly River Run. The Paradise Pier Roller Coaster was a HUGE hit, a few other rides, some lunch and we'd already been in the parks for more than 7hours. We headed back to the hotel room for a snooze to make sure we'd be able to last until closing time. Back into the park at 7, grabbed some food and settled in for World of Color. WOW WOW WOW, absolutely fabulous !!!!
9:45pm we headed over the road to Disney to try and catch the last showing of Fantasmic. Both shows were light/water/fire combinations. The Fantasmic show included human participants though and fireworks. The photos and section of video we managed to film just do not do either show justice.
LATE LATE night, LONG LONG day, it was 12:15am by the time we left the park. Finally managed to get the girls their custom ears before heading out. We couldn't get ears for Andre as no cap would fit :( so he ended up with Goofy ears ;)

Big Adventure - Day 11

This was our moving day - from Hollywood to Disneyland. We ended up leaving the hotel mid-morning and after a shortish stop at Universal Studios for some last minute souvenirs, we headed down to Santa Monca Pier for a last look around. Midday saw us heading out to Disney .... we checked in just before 1pm :) We were a little disappointed with our room as it meant we didn't have a view of the park as we were expecting .... as it turned out we wouldn't be needing one :)
Luggage finally delivered and we headed into the park. A quick look through Frontier Land, a ride on the Mark Twain steamboat, some lunner (lunch/dinner) and then we headed to Fantasy Land. By the time we had gone on a few rides, including first time ever carousel ride, we were heading towards 9pm. We decided to wait around with the crowds and crowds and crowds for the 9:30pm fireworks over the castle....... WOW WOW WOW so worth the wait :)
Tempted as we were to stick around for the 10:30pm show Fantasmic in FrontierLAnd, everyone was tired so we headed back to the hotel ---- would be an early morning Tuesday.... we qualified for the 7am morning madness park entry :)

Big Adventure - Day 10

More lazy SoCal days - we only left the hotel just before 11am. After sleeping VERY late we grabbed some breakfast and headed out to San Dimas to see where Andre had spent his time on his visits to the US before. Lovely little town.
BIGGEST highlight - We stopped in at TARGET and had a ball shopping - girls are almost completely re-clothed hehehe
And now as it is our last day at the Holiday Inn Universal Studios we are catching up on laundry ;)
Heading to Disneyland tomorrow with our last quick stop at Universal Studios and Santa Monica Pier - fun fun fun ahead :)

Big Adventure - Day 9

Lazy days in SoCal (Southern California) today we headed back to Universal Studios so the girls could play in the Curious George Waterpark. While waiting for the water park to open, and for the day to heat up - the day was pretty cool with all of us bundled in our sweaters, we were lucky enough to see the first show of the new Special Effects Stage at Universal - absolutely excellent ! Finally warm enough to brave the icy water, it was off to Curious George ! After a few hours of playing - mom and dad just sitting - we grabbed some food (and a tattoo each) in the City Walk. On the drive home we stopped off at Rodeo Drive for a look at where the rich and famous shop. Down to the hotel pool to cool off before retiring for the day.

Take note of the 'moving' scultpture - he is an addition to the original intended sculpture ;)

Big Adventure - Day 8

What did today hold ?? July 25 - First anniversary of Michael Jackson's death. His star on the HWofF was packed not only with people but also news crews. We hopped on a tour bus and took a look at some of the sites Hollywood had to offer, including RUSH getting their star on the HWofF.

After Hollywood we headed down to Venice Beach -- very interesting ;) Stopped to watch a few street entertainers, body builders and basketball games..... very interesting ;) Then a drive down to Santa Monica Pier - started off at the little aquarium - girls enjoyed the touch pools - all excepte the shark ones :) Then it was upstairs to enjoy the Pacific Park rides. Rides and rides and rides and rides, some photos, some food and some sculpting and some more rides and rides and rides ;)

It was almost 8pm when we left, sun just starting to set - disappointing because we wanted to take some photos of the pier at night but we were all pretty tired so we headed home.
Another fun-filled day !