Disneyland at Last!

The countdown till we were going to Disneyland went on for, what seemed like, years.  Every night Ruby would try to tell me, "And when we wake up....we're going to Disneyland!" before she would go to sleep.  I would have to say, "Not yet, but soon..." even when it was still like two months away.  Ross and Ruby would play, "Going to Disneyland" at home and have no idea what that actually meant, but because everyone was excited to go, they figured it must be a good thing. ;)

Keeping Sanity and Excitement at the Airport!

WELL - the day FINALLY came!  Our flight was at 8:15 in the morning...and of course, us boony livers who live 3 1/2 hours away from the airport had to leave at 2 in the morning.  We were hoping the kids would go right back to sleep in the car, but like THAT was happening after we confirmed to them, that we were in fact going to Disneyland.  SO we infiltrated them with Disney shows instead - watching Pinnochio and Peter Pan - CLASSICS (even if Pinnochio doesn't ever seem to learn).

It was a busy day at the airport, but we made it through just fine - kids in their jammies and all.  :)  Our flight was smooth, Rowly played with a baby nearby, and we landed at the John Wayne airport, paid tribute to the Duke and got our rental car. ;)

Lookin' good Mr. Duke

We rented a 4 Runner which Steve was oggling over (it was the one he tried to convince me to get instead of a minivan).  Of course we all felt a bit cooler riding in it and Steve got to have his dream for the week.  We went to Costco and the grocery store before heading to the "Disneyland house" as our kids still call it.  At the grocery store I somehow forgot we were already packed to the brim with our bags and Costco stuff, and I still bought everything for the week...yikes!  Steve was our tetris man and we managed to fit everything in and make it to the Disneyland house in one piece.  

Mickey Mouse!

A Transformer to protect us!

We settled in and the kids explored every nook and cranny of the house.  It even came with Disney dress up costumes!  Ruby's world was made. :) We got dinner started and then the rest of the crew showed up and we had a fun evening starting the White reunion.  After dinner we played some games and then had our first Lip Sync Battle which went MUCH better than I expected.  Of course, Disney songs were the theme, and everyone got into them!  In the end, I believe it was Auntie Meghan who won with her rendition of, "I Won't Say I'm in Love" from Hercules. :)  

Catching up on some Uncle time.  Watching Veggie Tales

The Cousin Crew....

Taking on Uncle Nathan...eeek!

Playin' Cut Throat...

Steve introducing the Lip Sync Battle - and passing out the Mickeys earned. ;)

Rowland loves a good ball ;)

Rowland LOVES dancing to music ;)

The next day was Sunday so we went to church in the afternoon which was nice - tons of visitors from Utah ;) and then had dinner, relaxed, played more games, and then had a family meeting.  We attempted to go to bed early since the next day was DISNEYLAND!!

The Princesses had to disarm everyone from their phones so we could pay attention.  Uncle Nathan had like four! ;)

Getting some order in the family. ;)

Now, my plan for Disneyland, was to get there right when it opened, stay till the afternoon, leave for a few hours to give kids naps/rest, and then come back that evening till it closed.  We did manage to get 13 people up and AT the park by 7:15AM.  Later I was labeled the "Whipping people in shape" lady with my dedication to getting to Disneyland right when it opened.  Haha!  We DEFINITELY maximized ALL our time at Disneyland.  Tip: Make awesome Disneyland shirts that are bright neon green.  You can spot the rest of your group ANYWHERE. ;)

When we got into Disneyland, we got some pictures first, of course, and then went to ride Peter Pan, but we found Mickey and his friends.  THAT was when the magic started happening for me at Disneyland.  Ruby was out-of-her-skin SO excited to see Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy, Goofy and Pluto (though we never managed to catch Pluto - we were always caught short of the line).  They were truly the REAL thing to her.  She hugged them, danced with them, kissed their noses, complimented Daisy's dress, shoes, and eyes, held hands with them, and wanted to tell them anything she could think of.  It was SERIOUSLY magical.  With all the other fun things we did at Disneyland, she ALWAYS has said seeing them was her favorite part.  MAGIC!!!

Minnie was the first one we saw.  Ruby was star struck! "I love your dress!" ;)

Rowland may need another year or two till he's into Mickey. ;)

This girl could have hung out with Mickey all day.  BEST BUDS

"Daisy, I love your dress!  I love your eyes! Oh! And I love your shoes!" - Ruby

LOVE these faces :)

FINALLY in Disneyland!  First timers ;)

After hanging out with Mickey and his gang, we went to Peter Pan which was STILL a 30 minute wait, but it was fun flying over London and seeing the alligator trying to bite Captain Hook's bum!   

Rowland decided to try turning his button into a binky ;)

Waiting for Peter Pan ;)

After that we rode the Finding Nemo Submarine which the kids all loved (though our cute little cousin Alex was NOT comfortable with it getting dark - a little too scary).  We went to see Winnie the Pooh as well which was also magical.  Ruby was so happy to see Winnie.  She put her pointer fingers together and said, "Cut the pickle, Winnie the Pooh!"  Hahahahaha!  Which of course, he did, and she tickled him!  She talked to him about all his honey, and Tigger, and Piglet, and then we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride after.  Super cute.  

A little Nemo! ;)

Waiting for Pooh Bear ;)

Met Tigger!  

And Eyeore ;)

"Winnie the Poooohh, cut the pickle!!" ;) 

Riding Winnie the Pooh ride!

We rode Dumbo and then we were going to wait for Aunts and Uncles to ride Splash Mountain. 

(MASSIVE Tip: if you have wonderful older family/friends who are single or without kids - they will help with the hard labor of carrying kids AND run and get the fast passes for you--also, you can get fast passes using your little kids tickets even if they are too small to go on the ride-then others can go twice.  Another tip:You can get switch passes for if you have babies and one of you has to stay with the baby - you can use the pass after the others go to skip the line again and ride with your kids - so they get to ride twice.  The pass if for up to three people.  We TOTALLY capitalized on this.)  

I was going to sit with the kids while Steve went with his siblings on Splash Mountain.  Ross looked at me and said, "Mom, I REALLY want to go on Splash Mountain."  I know Ross doesn't LOVE being soaked or scared, so I explained everything the ride was, but he was pretty adamant.  SO, he went with Dad and the rest of the big kids.  Steve told me he was thinking when they were getting on the ride that he may be scarring his child for life.  After going through the ride and getting half soaked, Ross got out and turned around to his Dad with THE BIGGEST grin and said it was AWESOME, and he wanted to go again!  Kids ALWAYS surprise you!  He went again and loved it AGAIN.  My baby is growing up!  AHHH.

Splash Mountain!  Ross did it!!

After that we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean.  Rowland had hung in there for the most part, but finally fell asleep while waiting in line.  Ross LOVED the Pirates ride as well.  Ruby hung in there, but told me it was too scary after she got off.  It is pretty dark most of the ride. :)  

This cute guy is the BEST Dad who loves his babies. :)

Dumbo ride!  Flyin' high!

After that I took the kids back to the house to relax.  Rowland didn't even nap, Ruby has taken a cat nap before as well, but Ross crashed pretty hard and it took a lot to wake him up!  I fed them some dinner and then we headed back to the park.  This idea seemed like a good one, but the process to get out of the park and then back in takes like 45 minutes.  Not sure if it was really worth it or not.  

When we met up with everyone we did the teacups of course, and a few other rides - Pinnochio, Space Mountain, and Indiana Jones.  Ross was bummed he wasn't tall enough for Indiana Jones, but he DID decide to get a giant rubber snake from the gift shop next door as his Disneyland souvenir.  It was hilarious because he was keeping it in his bag, because he wanted to surprise Grandpa with what he got when we met them back at the Mark Twain Ferry Boat.  Grandpa was a little distracted when Ross started getting ready to show him what he got, and when he whipped out the snake, Grandpa nearly jumped out of his skin!!  (Grandpa Don HATES snakes)  Ross thought it was HILARIOUS after that, and I had a good laugh about it the rest of the afternoon. :)

That night we munched on our snacks and PB&Js we had brought with us, and then waited for the Paint the Night Parade to start.  It did NOT disappoint!!  The kids were completely mesmerized and we were all totally satisfied with all the lights, dancing, floats, and characters.  Afterwards, we tried to see the fireworks, but were crowded out, so we went for splash mountain once more.  Ross went again (of course) and started to feel bummed out, when Grandpa was going to take his turn and Ross couldn't go with him...of course that suckered Grandpa and he grabbed Ross and we all went on it one more time to finish off the night.  

Watching the parade!

Tinker Belle!

Ruby yelled "Hello!" to every Princess and character....so did Uncle Michael ;)

Ross seeing Mike Wazouski - his character from our shirts. ;)

AND guess what he saw next!!!

MAC!!!!

It was a perfect Disneyland Day and the kids went straight to bed when we got back and slept HARD.  Which was good, because the next morning was California Adventure Day...and guess which slave driver made sure to get everyone there right when it opened???  That's right.  ME.