This week was the most fun week we have ever had as a family. We went to Disneyland!!!! Now I know what all the fuss is about. It was perfect. I knew it was going to be from the moment we arrived. We stepped out of our shuttle van to check into the Disneyland Hotel and Cody got all excited about the garbage can out front. Yes, there was Disney stuff even on the garbage cans. Boy we he happy about that.
Cody's favorite thing while we were there was the ride "Alice in Wonderland". Don't ask me why this was the winner for him, it just was. I think it was because it was the very first ride we went on and we were the first people to ride it in the park that day. So he thought that was pretty cool. He loved it so much we rode it again and again. A couple of time is broke down and we couldn't ride it. But one time, he decided to wait for it to open again. So I stood there and waited with him (it only ended up being about 10 minutes). But the best part was that people saw us waiting so they started queuing up and before we knew it there was a huge line to a ride that wasn't even open. All thanks to Cody.
Kami (a friend of ours) told Cody that all his dreams would come true at Disneyland. So all he wanted was to see a dog. The first thing we saw when we walked into our hotel (besides the garbage can) was Pluto. He was so excited that all his dreams came true the minute we walked through the door.
Then about 5 minutes later, in walked Aurora. That was the one thing Kathleen wanted: to see Princess Aurora. Dreams really do come true (just don't tell Brandon. All he wanted was to see Mickey, but he didn't walk in). Someone should really tell my kids that there is more to do at Disneyland than see characters.
They got balloons and we could see Disneyland from our hotel window, which was cool (although you can't see it in this picture). There is a whole story behind our hotel that we will leave out since we are focusing on the highlights of our trip and not the low-lights.
Our first night there we went to an Angel's game. They played the Rangers. It was super fun.
Dumbo:
When we were touring Sleeping Beauty's castle, this guy popped into the window and it freaked Brandon out. I have never seen him duck so fast! Luckily I had the camera ready for the shot when it happened.
The kids LOVED Jedi Training. They got to fight Darth Vader and Darth Maul. The whole time they kept saying how excited they were to tell their cousin Tanner about how hard they were working on their Jedi Training (that is a game they play every time they get together).
We did a lot of 3-D things while we were there. Aren't they all cute getting ready for Star Tours?
Goofy's Kitchen:
Cody played fetch with a fake ball with Pluto for about 5 minutes. Dinner at Goofy's kitchen was the best!
Kathleen and Belle had fun discussing their favorite books.
Cody LOVED the peanut butter and jelly pizza. He had some for dinner AND for breakfast the next morning.
The Mickey Ferris Wheel had cars that rocked while you were in them. They slid on a track and it was actually quite terrifying...ask Cody.
Kathleen even cried at one point she was so scared. But Brandon LOVED it and couldn't get enough. He even said it was his favorite ride.
The Tower of Terror (this one made Cody cry, but he did it). See if you can find us.
Finally, after being at the park for a couple days, Brandon got to see Mickey. He was on stage dancing, so he didn't get to hang with him. But it was still cool to see Mickey rock out.
Sully!
We loved talking with Crush. Brandon got to be the kid that had a conversation with him. It was really funny. When Brandon told Crush we were from Idaho, he pretended to swim to Idaho. It was hilarious.
Kathleen loved the Grizzly River Run. She even talked her dad into a nighttime run. It was a little creepy.
Everything was decked out for Halloween, which was super fun. The best part was the Haunted Mansion was completely changed to a "Nightmare Before Christmas" ride and theme.
Space Mountain had a scary orange guy for Halloween that freaked Cody out pretty good.
Cody was too chicken to participate in Jedi training the first time. He was so disappointed that we had to go back. He was much more brave the second time around and had a great time. Brandon did too (since it was his second time getting to participate).
When people ask what my favorite part of the trip was, here it is. I got to hold my kids hands the entire time. I know that is cheesy, but I loved it. Anytime I wanted to hold hands, all I had to do was stick a hand out and at least one of my kids would grab it. Then they started to hold each others hands as well. Kathleen and Brandon were ride buddies and went on a lot of rides together. They would hold hands while waiting in line or walking to the ride. I loved it.
Mickey's house:
Cody pretended he was Pluto on Pluto's bed chewing on Mickey's shoe.
FINALLY! Brandon finally got to see Mickey. He was soooo patient waiting for this.
We had the most AWESOME spot to watch the parade. By the way, the parade was amazing. Probably my second favorite thing (next to holding kids hands).
Brandon and Cody were excited to sleep with their new friends. Brandon had Perry the Platypus and Cody had Pluto.
One of the things I can remember from Disneyland as a kid was this flower arrangement of Mickey.
It's a Small World:
We ate at Ariel's Grotto for dinner one night. World's biggest let down. It cost almost $200 for our family to eat there and there were NO princesses. That's right, NO princesses at our character dining and the food tasted like poo. Not chocolate, but poo.
The desserts tasted like poo too. But they sure looked pretty.
We loved World of Color. It was pretty cool.
Here we are getting ready to leave. Just as Kathleen was about to snap the picture, Ryan's phone rang with the shuttle company ready to take us away.
But we will always have our awesome fun memories. Sorry there are so many pictures, but I weaned them down from over 300, so not bad really.
Kathleen and Cody got "Principal's Pride" awards at school this week. Brandon didn't notice that he was left out, so that was good. But he sure was cute with his daddy.
Find the two that got the award:
We had our church "Trunk-or-Treat". The second it was over, Kathleen and Cody found a spot on the stairs to sit and eat candy.
Brandon had his end-of-year party for football. His team did really well.
Luckily, just after, at the same facility, Kathleen had her end-of-year soccer party.
Kathleen made a homemade game that the kids LOVE to play. It is pretty cute. It is a pilgrim themed game. I especially loved when Ryan got scurvy and died and had to move back 5 spaces.
We had our annual pumpkin carve night with chili and cider. Mmm.
Cody's class party:
Kathleen's class party:
Brandon's class party:
Our Halloween dinner:
Ready to trick-or-treat:
Kathleen couldn't stop giggling as she counted over 200 pieces of Candy. Cody informed me that he had 3,000...not 1,000...but 3,000! Brandon just laughed the whole time.
