Disneyland

Driving south on Highway 5 is like driving through a slice of heaven. Bright green vegetation flourishes on each side of the highway and for as far as you can see. We stopped for a potty break near an orange grove. The smell was so enticing. I've always wanted to photograph my kids in an orchard. The kids obliged! Next to the grove was a fruit stand. Soon we had cherry juice, strawberry juice, and freshly roasted pistachio between out teeth. Justin pulled into our hotel around 8:30 pm. The Lance kids were busy swimming...so we joined the fun for a nice post drive swim.

All the kids wore the Mickey/Minnie Mouse outfits I made on our first day to the park. I got so many compliments. One lady about fainted when she learned I embroidered the names by hand. The girls skipped and held hands for the first part of the morning. We visited Fantasyland first. Uncle Scott told Amelia that the teacup ride was the best. Alice's teacups earned the honor of first ride. Phillip's eyes were pretty big as he took in all the commotion. When I let him out of the stroller he broke free and made a run for it. We rode Peter Pan next. Jacob and Mia played a game to see who could spot the wicked Queen from Snow White peeking through the castle curtains while we waited. Lunch time quickly snuck up on us. We went out of the park to McDonald's for the kids and Mimi's Cafe for the big peoples. That not so smart. Geeze, thanks Jenni for the awful decision. We waited for an hour from arriving to getting our food. The kids were tired and bored, the adults cranky from no food. Miekka and Justin quickly established the rule to find food at 11:30 am and make it happen. Miekka's sister, Amy and her daughter, Annika also came along for the fun trip. Amy took Everett and Annika back to the hotel for naps. Amelia rode Splash Mountain with me and Justin! She is one brave gal. Phillip loved the Winnie the Pooh ride. Amelia and Phillip found fun Mickey Mouse ear hats. Phillip looked so cute wearing his R2D2 ears and Mia adorable in her Cinderella ears. While I walked back to get Everett before the parade Justin and Miekka got dinner for the group. We ended the night watching a parade in Disneyland followed by a short swim. Miekka and I enjoyed a late night Walmart trip. We were pretty loopy! Reminded me of our college days in Provo.

Amelia earned a time out when she ignored me while swimming. She had to sit in front of Disneyland for 10 minutes before going in. Torture! The second day we went to Disneyland before the Lances were ready. Amelia got to visit with the fairy Vidia and then Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell asked how the kids made their fancy shoes. Phillip heard the word shoes and showed off his Spiderman kicks. He loved the visit more than Amelia. I could hear him muttering about Tinkerbell for the next few minutes. We rode the Nemo ride with the kids. Amelia was pretty edgy when the sub went into the tunnel. Afterwards we walked over to meet up with Miekka, Amy, and kids in California Adventure. Seth and Jacob showed up soaked after their fun ride on the rapids. Miekka got us tickets for the water show, World of Color later that evening. Lia was so excited to introduce Amelia to the Ariel ride. It was amazing. The girls ended up riding it about 8-9 times over the next two days. Right on schedule we went in search for food. On the way we passed Phineas and Ferb dancing in the street. Amelia danced along with the Fireside Girls. She followed their dance moves pretty well for her age. Dance lessons are paying off! One of the cast members took Phillip's tail off his lion backpack. He was so disturbed that he spent the first half looking for his leash/tail. Once he realized I had it he intently followed Ferb, eventually scoring knuckles and high fives. We had a yummy lunch from the cafe area in California Adventure. We took Lia to explore Bug's Life land. Our kids ended up totally falling apart so we went back to the hotel for a nice long break. The boys napped for 3 hours and the girls enjoyed some pool time. Amelia started to look like Ariel, I swear she was about to turn into a mermaid. The cousins soon joined us at the pool. Miekka and Amy went to Costco for pizza and really awesome floatation devices for the kids (puddle jumpers). Amelia sat next to a Hispanic lady in the hot tub. I could see her chatting with the lady in Amelia's version of Spanish. The lady had to get out she was laughing so hard.

We celebrated Annika's second birthday with pizza for dinner. Annika blew out two candles stuck in a cute cupcake. Happy birthday little lady! Our kids were obsessed with the little birds that flock whenever food is present. The little chaps are very forward, almost tame! After dinner we headed back to the park to finish our explorations of Bug's Life, another ride on Ariel, and to find seats for the water show. The show was amazing! Miekka said we scored the best view ever. Our family Disneyland veteran would surely know! The show was awesome! Almost everyone got wet, water jets are placed all over the viewing area and not just in the pools. My favorite part was the blast of fire towards the end. It warmed me up for a second.

Thursday Amelia and Lia woke up psyched for lunch with the Disney Princesses. Our reservation was at 2:30 pm. The kids rode the auto ride with Justin. We rode on Buzz Lightyear once...or twice. Phillip was anxious to wander about, Toon Town was the perfect location to let him loose. First we took Everett and the kids on Small World. I LOVE that ride. Phillip rode the Chip and Dale roller coaster with me. He seemed to really enjoy it. After that we got some snacks for the kids: pickles, grapes, and juice. Yum. I followed Amelia and Phillip around for a good 40 minutes. Lunch with the Princesses. Ahhh. It was so fun. Lunch was served at Ariel's Grotto. Amelia wore an Ariel costume and Lia wore an Aurora dress. The girls looked fantastic. Little princesses pranced all over the premises. While we waited for our table I noticed that Everett's top left tooth broke through! Good job little buddy! Teething at Disneyland is no easy feat. First we met with Ariel. She had her human legs on just like Amelia. We ate a yummy (and expensive) meal while the Princesses met with all the tables. The girls hugged Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle. Phillip got some lip action from Snow White. She landed a kisser on his cheek leaving lip stick tracks. He was just as excited as the girls! Everett loved eating all the food, decorating the floor with food, and making silly faces.

Phillip got to meet Handy Manny. Manny even knew how to give exploding knuckles. Their thumbs up looked oddly similar to. We watched a cute Disney Jr show. Phillip was very excited about the show. Amelia finally joined the fun when gold debluns (pirate money) fell from the ceiling. Granted the debluns were paper, but still very exciting. Amelia was super brave and rode the Tower of Terror with me. The movie was a bit freaky but she enjoyed the actual ride. Amelia was quite excited that she rode it before her cousin Seth (8 yrs old). She loved the silly butterflies going crazy in her tummy. She has not ridden in an elevator since she rode the Tower of Terror. The hotel elevator is amazing, as are the airport elevators. Guess it freaked her out more than she let on. We rode Ariel three times in a row then walked back to the hotel through Downtown Disney. The kids spent their birthday money on fun toys. Miekka and kids left after the Disney Jr show to pick up James from the airport. They brought back yummy Middle Eastern food for dinner. We turned in for an early night.

Our last day in the park we started out pretty early at 8:30 am. Fantasyland was almost deserted! Amelia wanted her face painted so she got a pretty butterfly on her face. It looked like she ate a butterfly...according to Seth and Jacob. We quickly rode on Dumbo, Casey Jr, and Storybook. On the Storybook ride you enter the miniature land through the whale from Pinocchio, entering his mouth. Oddly, he has no tail. The boat guide told us that the whale lost his tail once when he sneezed. Later on Amelia asked to ride the Ariel ride, "not the one where the dolphin sneezed off his tail, but the one with the beautiful shells!" That made us all laugh! We rode on Mona Monorail. Tried to wait in line to see Rapunzel, the wait was horrendous so we gave up. Miekka suggested we watch the Princess Show. Amelia was very excited to watch the show, she spent the time waiting down in the pit dancing and curtsying like a Princess. Once the show started she clammed up and would not come down. All the kids are invited to come dance with the princesses and learn princess manners. Instead Phillip and Lia danced, curtsied, and even danced around a May pole. Pretty darn cute!! Amelia is still singing the Tikki Room song. We took the kids out for pizza then naps, swimming, and dinner. Justin found a delicious Thai restaurant for us to try out. The waitresses were funny, playing with the kids and enticing them to eat with promises of getting a toy. Amelia scored a cute pair of Minnie ears, the boys fun finger lights, Lia a necklace, and Annika a silly ball toy. We meandered back into the park in time to find spots for the fireworks show. Gotta love Disneyland fireworks. Pretty amazing. I love how the fireworks are perfectly timed to the music. Dumbo made an appearance this time, flying through the air.

Our time in Disneyland was magical. It was even more fun with family and friends. We cannot wait until the next time...in four years.

**I am having issues getting my photos from home to upload...no more photos until later