We ended our long school break and time in California with a trip down to Disneyland!! It had only been 18 months since we went to Disney World in October of 2008, but Leah didn’t really remember anything, so I was excited to take the kids again! Dan flew back to San Jose on Wednesday night so he could join us on the trip. Thursday morning we loaded up my Mom’s new Escalade (it was a sweet ride down!) and drove the 6 hours with my mom and Michael. We got there around 1:00ish, checked into our hotel, grabbed some lunch, and headed on over to Disneyland! We went with my mom’s brother, Russ, and his family, and also Monica and Gary Brinton flew down from Utah! My dad flew down Friday morning. So it was kind of a “smaller” group than normal for us (16 being small:) but it was still so much fun.
Annie was our little map girl this trip . . . . every day as we entered the park she made sure to grab a few maps (so Leah and James wouldn’t steal hers), and then studied it as we made our way around.
On the rockets: 
Why are all the lines for characters soooo long? It’s kind of a joke, really. We never do too many, but Leah really wanted to wait in line for Pooh and friends, so, we waited.
We were next in line to take a picture with Pooh, when it was time for him to go have a honey snack (shift change). He mauled kissed me as he went by . . . . uh, yeah, it’s probably good we don’t know who’s under there. 
James looks kind of scared in this picture, but he actually LOVED the carousel. He thought it was so fun to sit on that horse. 
Some more map studying going on with my cousin Elyse.
Friday we spent most the day in California Adventure. Here we are in line for Toy Story Mania! 
So happy when Grandpa finally met up with us! 
And then back to Disneyland for the rest of the evening/night. It’s a tradition that we end the night with a few rounds of Thunder Mountain Railroad at 11:30pm, slipping in wrong fast passes and screaming silly things like “This ride is epic!” as loud as we can as the train pulls into the station at the end over the waiting crowded line. It’s so silly, but we think it’s hilarious. We’ve been doing it for YEARS, and those are the memories I love. Even my mom gets into it . . . . it’s awesome. 
More studying of the maps . . . . 
Showing Grandpa a balloon probably. This kid LOVES balloons and was sure to point out each one of the hundreds we saw. 
Saturday, our third day, we started out in Toon Town! Annie loved the roller coaster there! Leah tolerated it:)
Usually when we go to Disneyland, my whole immediate family is with us as well . . . . which we love, don’t get me wrong. But it was kind of fun having Grandma, Grandpa, and Michael all to ourselves on this trip! 
Leah was really excited to go to Minnie’s house! 
Sleeping on Minnie’s bed.
And playing in her kitchen!
Goofy just happened to be home as well!
And of course we waited for an hour to meet the princesses! haha . . . . We met Ariel, Jasmine, and Belle.
Then it was off to more kid rides! Annie really really wanted to ride Dumbo all by herself, but you have to be 7 years old to ride by yourself. The ride operator told Dan, “If you just tell me she’s 7, she can ride alone . . .” “Ok, yeah, she’s 7.” Annie was thrilled.
Michael, Annie, Leah, Hannah, Elyse, Allison, Julie, and Russ on the Jungle Cruise! 
My two boys.
The group, minus Russ (who’s taking the picture) and Gary & Monica (who flew back to Utah on Saturday afternoon). This was on Tom Sawyer’s Island. 
We took this little umbrella stroller along with our double stroller so we wouldn’t have to carry any sleeping kids at the end of the night. Annie and James crashed each night at around 9:30 pm so they always ended up in the double stroller with the seats that lay back. Leah’s our little night owl who never needs as much sleep, and she outlasted Annie every night. She zonked out a little earlier than usual on the last night (at 10:30ish), but I guess that’s what 2 1/2 days of Disneyland will do to a 4 year old! 
More memories of this trip: We started both girls out on Thunder Mountain Railroad, sitting in the very front where it’s the slowest. Annie liked it, Leah cried through the whole ride. So we didn’t make Leah go on any other big rides. Next we took Annie on Space Mountain, which she LOVED!!! She was always so excited to go on it again. She went on it 5 times. She also tried Tower of Terror . . . . she was so brave. Dan explained exactly how the ride was going to be, and she even knew that my mom was too scared to go on it. But she kept saying, “I just want to try it.” Well, she did not like it. It even got my stomach more this time than I remember in the past, so, I don’t blame her one bit. I’m just proud of her for trying it. So, Annie’s favorite ride was definitely Space Mountain. Leah’s favorites were Small World and Dumbo. And they both love the Tea Cups and also Soarin’ Over California. The popular souvenir this year was this toy gun that shoots out bubbles. Annie was obsessed with the thing and asked us constantly for the bubble gun for 2 days straight. We finally bought it for her on the last day, just so she could shoot bubbles out of it for 5 minutes before it ran out of bubble solution. Leah was hounding us for cotton candy, which we finally bought for her as well. She took a few little bites of it and said, “I don’t like this, it’s just sugar.” Haha . . . . I guess that’s what Disneyland is all about!
Disneyland Trip - April 14 – 17, 2011
