Day 4 Disneyland

This ended up being my favorite day of the entire trip. By this time we had figured out the layout of Disneyland. The weather cooled off enough by this day that we felt like we had renewed energy. The kids had slept well and no one was cranky. We kept commenting that we felt like we could go forever.

 I insisted that we do a family photo in front of the castle first thing 

because I knew as the day went on people would be less happy. 

I made the ears for everybody before we left. I knew I didn't want to spend

$20 per person on hats with ears and I just needed it for this picture. There

were a few grumbles amongst the male crowd but I think everyone looks cute. 

I saw Mary Poppins earlier in the week across the park and I really wanted a picture with her. 

When we came in that morning and saw her on Main Street I insisted we get a picture. 

 For this day we headed to Adventure Land. The kids loved climbing up Tarzan's Treehouse. It was great because there were no lines and the kids could climb and explore. 

 They did mention that Papa should build one of these tree houses in his backyard. 

 At the end there is an interactive section for the kids that once again was perfect for my kids. 

 We then jumped on the Jungle River Cruise. It had a bunch of corny jokes, 

but the kids thought it was fun. 

 Throughout the week Little Miss kept telling us she wanted to see Jasmine. Just behind my father was a place that my parents had seen Jasmine earlier in the week, but when we asked on this day they said she wasn't planning on returning. We had hoped to see her the day before at Ariel's Grotto, but she wasn't there either. Jasmine and Ariel are her favorite princesses and she really wanted to see her. She didn't get to see her this day, but it is important to know just how much she wanted to see her and kept looking for her throughout the week. 

 We then headed over to Splash Mountain. Here we all are right before boarding. Midge was a little nervous. I don't think Little Miss had a clue as to what was in store for her. 

This was our expressions when we made the plunge.

I asked Midge to show me again what her face looked like.

 We really liked Pooh's corner. It was really cool with all of the trees.

 At this point my parents took Huck back to the hotel and I took the 3 oldest to Bibbity Boppity Boutique for makeovers while Ken did rides by himself. The day before Leo commented that he had felt left out when we went to Ariel's Grotto. I asked him if he wanted to come when we did makeovers at the castle and he said he did. I told him it might be a little girly, but he is used to that around our house. Here he is showing off his manly strength.

Supposedly every once in awhile when the sword is pulled it raises.

 Little Miss about to be transformed by her fairy Godmother. Once we got into the
salon everyone referred to the girls as princesses. It was a little expensive, but it was a special
 treat from their great grandparents. The great thing about it was that it was relaxing and by this
time in our trip we wanted to just sit in air conditioning and relax. They said that girls sometimes
fall asleep in the chair while they are having their hair done.

Here are their before pictures

 When they are done they wave a wand over them that sprinkles glitter on them. They give them a shield to hold so it doesn't get in their eyes. Midge and Leo absolutely refused to have the glitter, but they still insisted on waving the wand on them.

 Then they have the child say Bibbity Bobbity Boo and the curtain magically opens and revels a mirror that has magical flowers that light up. It was really cute. The older two weren't totally into the magical part, but the big revel was part of the tradition. Why do they have to grow up so fast?

 If you ever get the chance to go to Disneyland with a little girl jump on the chance.
Seeing it through their eyes is amazing.

 My gorgeous girl. I love that smile.

 Leo insisted that he didn't want anything crazy, not a crazy mohawk and absolutely no glitter.
They did put green gel dots into his hair. They also managed to put little cut out mickey's into his hair.

 He took the entire time so seriously.

 They knighted him and presented him with his sword and shield which
his younger brother later promptly tried to steal.

 Little Miss desperately wanted to get a Jasmine doll this was a gift from her Mimi and Papa. She loved it and carried it around with her for the rest of the trip.

 Midge's favorite ride was Big Thunder Mountain. Her and I kept getting on it over and over.

 We then took a nice peaceful ride on the steamship.
The weather was so beautiful and it was fun to just relax and enjoy the day.

 My sweet prince. Isn't he cute.

 We then needed to get to Downtown Disney so we decided to take the Monorail.
We asked them if we could sit up front with the conductor. It was so much fun and the kids loved seeing the view and the speed.

 Downtown Disney was fun. The Lego store was amazing.

 The best part was that they had a station out front where the kids could build cars out of legos. This was a favorite of our kids and a perfect activity for them.

 We were supposed to meet my mom's cousin that night for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. My parents had called and because of the unreliableness of the shuttle and the heavy traffic they were running behind. One thing about Disneyland is that it is very loud. My phone doesn't have texting ability, so any time I talked to my parents on the cell phone I was only picking up about every few words. I finally understood that they were late and that I needed to meet up with my second cousin to let them know my parents were coming, but I didn't know her last name. I literally thought my dad had said her last name was Carrot. I decided to just go to the restaurant and hope for the best.
There were a ton of people, but there was one woman standing out in front who looked just like my mom and aunts. I took a chance and went up to her and sure enough it was her. Everything worked out just fine and my parents arrived with Huck a short time later but I thought it was pretty funny.

 This restaurant was amazing. It was a whole experience. Every 15 minutes there is a thunderstorm where the lights darken and there is lightning, thunder and rain. The kids ate the entire time looking up and around at everything.

Huck's favorite part was the giant arched aquarium with tropical fish.

 It was a nice visit and a good opportunity to reconnect with family.

After we left Downtown Disney we headed back into Disneyland to show the kids what the park looks like at night. We took a ride on Autotopia again and then Ken took the 2 older ones to Star Tours which we had fast passes for but didn't prove to be very effective. At first I had a great time with the two little ones. The lights were coming on and at one point we were watching a fountain by the castle when underwater lights and music started up and the kids were amazed that there was a little show just for them. Evie turned to me and asked, "Is this because I am a princess today?"

After that we kept waiting but Ken and the kids weren't coming. It was Grad Night and they were roping off the castle where Ken and I were supposed to meet. We kept getting told to move to other areas and it was hard to keep the kids entertained because there was no where for us to go and I was worried we wouldn't meet up with them. Eventually after 45 minutes they finally came back and I was ready to go home and crash.

Day 3: California Adventure Land

Today was our day to explore California Adventure Land

 Our first ride ended up being one of the most favorite rides of the entire trip. It was Toy Story Mania. You get to wear 3D glasses and shot at different things to earn points. Everyone loved it. Unfortunately there is no fast pass line so you do have to wait for quite awhile. 

 The kids found another carousal in this park that they fell in love with. 

 The daring two ended up being Ken and my dad who rode California Screaming. We the smart wimpy ones had fun watching and making fun of them before they started the ride.

 Finally we got our picture with Mickey. Can I just say there are a crazy number of people who like to have their pictures taken with characters who don't even have children with them. I get Mickey, but everyone else really???

 We then headed over to Ariel's Undersea Adventure. The kids loved this especially Little Miss because  Ariel is her favorite princess and it was a really fast line. 

 We then took Mimi and Papa over to our favorite ride we had discovered the afternoon before, Grizzly River Run. In the pictures above and below I asked everyone to get me their expressions when they went over the falls. These were pretty accurate. We used fast passes on this ride multiple times and it was awesome. You pick up a fast pass and you come back later in the day and you can by pass most of the people standing in line. The thing that nobody knows is that you don't have to show up during the appointed time on your fast pass, and as soon as the first hour is up you can get another fast pass even for the same ride. We would save them up and then just go at our convenience. 

So here are my parents going with Ken and the kids on the river run. 

It is a ton of fun, but be prepared to get wet. Huck wasn't tall enough so he had to stay

 with me, but he would yell to them as they drifted by.

The girls then separated from the boys and got dressed up for our lunch date with the princesses.

 So here is the deal on Ariel's Grotto. Yes it is a little expensive, but if you have got a little girl that loves princesses then it is worth it. Standing in line for 45 minutes - 1 hour to see a couple of princesses for a few minutes is such a huge chunk of time. At this point in our trip it was fun to have time to just relax with the girls. The princesses came to our table and we got a lot of food that was pretty good. 

 When you come down the circular staircase Ariel is waiting just for you. Midge wasn't

 as in to the whole thing, but she was wonderful at indulging Little Miss and would get 

her really excited. Going to Disneyland with a little girl at this age is magical and it is so much

 fun to see the park through their eyes. 

 Midge was so impressed with the flower bread.

 As I said all of the princesses come up to the table to take pictures and great you. We were out on the deck and it ended up being really nice because it was shaded and breezy. California Adventure is much hotter than the rest of the park because there is so little shade, but this was perfect.

 The major highlight was the dessert. You get a large plate full of different desserts to choose from. The kids had a blast sampling everything. 

 Including this white chocolate sea shell.

 While we were eating the boys had lunch at a bakery and then hung out at Bug's Land. 

This is a fun place because there is a lot of things for little ones and water to cool off. 

We watched the 3D movie and loved it. 

 After our big adventures Mimi and Papa went back to the hotel with the two little ones and we explored some more with Maddy and Liam. We loved Soaring over California and went on Grizzly River Run again. Then later that night Ken and I were able to leave the kids with my parents and go back into Disneyland by ourselves. We were so excited to explore the park. We knew we wanted to go on the Indian Jones ride because we had a fast pass from earlier in the day, so we went straight there and got right on the ride only to get stuck right at the beginning. We were stuck for about 15 minutes. All the lights came on and we tried to laugh it off. The freaky part is that you are completely strapped in and you can't unbuckle. If something were to happen and you needed to get out you try to tell yourself that somehow you would manage, but it does play with your mind a little. After a time they got the broken down car off the track and we got going again. Only within a few minutes our car stopped again and this time we had to sit for even longer. Eventually they shut down the ride and told us we were going to be escorted out. So for our date 1 hour had passed and we hadn't completed a ride and the park was going to close in one hour. They gave us a go to the front of the line card so we ran over to Haunted Mansion and got in quickly there and then ran over to the Jungle River Cruise. 

 It wasn't quite the night we thought we were going to have, but it was amazing to be in the park at night with just my sweetie and no kids.