Disneyland

After the picnic at the beach, we loaded up and headed out, adding my cousin Sydni to our group.  We drove to Anaheim, where we would spend the next two days at Disneyland!  From our hotel room we could see the park, and at night, we could watch the fireworks from the comfort of our beds. 

 

We were ALL excited about our room, as it was composed of two rooms, with a conference type room between the two.  The best part of that room was that it boasted a large table with a television.  This was quickly designated as the "warroom" and the "Planning and Strategy" table.  Matthew and Jeff set out to procure maps of Disneyland, and we all sat down to work out our plan for the next two days.  Sort of.  Most of our time was spent trying to talk over each other, while using as many acronyms as possible.  Needless to say, very little planning or strategizing was accomplished, but we had a lot of fun doing it.

The next two days were a blur of fun and true Disney magic.  The kids tried some of the bigger rides which really impressed us, but not surprisingly enjoyed the smaller ones much more.  They loved Winnie the Pooh, Autotopia, Finding Nemo, the Jungle Cruise, Dumbo the new CARS ride, and the Mater ride.  But their all time favorites were the Sleeping Beauty's Carousel and the Tea Cups.  Papa took them on the carousel as many times as they asked, and Daddy took them on the Tea Cups about 400 times.

Unfortunately our camera experienced a malfunction and we had to rely on the kids' cameras they'd received for their birthdays this year (thanks Granny and Gramps!).  So we don't have as many pictures as we'd like.  But it didn't  slow us down.  We got to go see a Star Wars show where young kids were picked for Padawan training.  Justin was desperate to join them, but was obviously just a little too young.  Norah got to meet Tinkerbell, who she described as beautiful.

Our first night at the park Grandma and Papa treated us to a very special dinner, which provided us with amazing seats for Disney's World of Color light show.  Afterwards, they took their two very tired grandbabies back to the hotel room, while the rest of us went on as many rides as possible before the park closed.

The second day was filled with lots of yummy food, fun rides, and we let the kids pick out their souvenirs.  We ended the day with fireworks as we ate dinner, then watched Fantasmic.  While we were all exhausted it was an amazing two days and we are so thankful that we got to enjoy them with our family.

Some things we learned:

• The kids were scared of everything at first, but had fun once they realized what it was.
• Just because they say they want to go on a ride doesn't necessarily mean they'll ride it (Norah and Pirates of the Carribean).
• Just because they say they are scared of a ride, doesn't mean they wont ask to ride it first thing the next day (Justin and Pirates of the Carribean)!
• While they may be silent when meeting characters, they will talk about it nonstop after everyone has walked off.
• They were EXTREMELY patient in lines.  We've never been so impressed.