From LA to the GTA (Greater Toronto Area)

I thanked Russell last week for having a sister get married in LA. After a month of this Northeastern winter I was ready for some heat. LA delivered! It was beautiful weather and fantastic company. We had a great time at the beach, at Michelle’s wedding/reception, and at Disneyland. I was able to purchase a loaf of Tillamook cheese (I’ve been missing it) and had cheese and crackers practically everyday we were there. We also stopped at Walmart in Buffalo, New York (we flew out of Buffalo airport–much cheaper than Toronto) and picked up some Rosarita refried beans. We haven’t been able to find a refried bean that compares in flavor or price since moving to Toronto. In fact, when Russell told his co-workers that we picked some up they said, “What are refried beans?”. Mexican food is not very prevalent here and it’s one of our favorites–so we’ll just be making a stop at the Buffalo Walmart anytime we cross the border.
Michelle’s wedding was really great. All of Russell’s immediate family was there and all of us were able to attend the Sealing at the LA Temple.

Disneyland was again magical. I worried that since we went just one year ago it wouldn’t be as wonderful, but I worried for nothing. It was awesome! It was also really fun to go with Robyn and Andrew’s family. The 6 older kids got picked to be part of the Jedi Training Academy where they fought either Darth Mol or Darth Vader. My kids still talk about how cool that was and they practice their Jedi moves on each other. Space Mountain was probably everyone’s favorite except maybe Russell’s–I think his escalating score on the Buzz Lightyear ride made that his favorite. Afton got to see the princesses again, she was a little under the weather that day, but still enjoyed it immensely. We got there right when it opened and stayed all day. At one point we were ready to leave and decided we were fine missing the parade, but in the end we stayed for the parade and I’m so glad we did. That Disney parade is AWESOME! We were cheering for each one of the characters as they rode by and each character turned to us and waved, blew us kisses, winked, etc. We were all so excited by it!

The very next day we spent the day travelling home 8 hours of plane/airport time, and about 2 hours driving home from the airport. It was long, but my kids are amazing travelers–even Lea. I’m so impressed by their resilience and easy going natures. They’re the best!
We went from 75 degrees in LA to 10 degrees and a foot of snow in the GTA.

In other news, Toronto is very culturally diverse. Here is the list of kids in Reid’s class. I had to have him tell me which ones were boys and which were girls.