Disneyland!!!

Here we are in Southern California. Beautiful, 75 degree, play outside all day California! We haven't blogged about it yet, so I'm assuming some of you don't know. Dan's grandma is having her 90th birthday party today, so we got to leave the cold & ridiculous snow of Washington for this beautiful place! Seriously, I see why the price of housing is so high here. Supply and demand. If it was affordable, I sure would be hoping to move here where we can play outside in the dead of winter!

So we took the obligatory trip to Disneyland on Thursday. So fun! I took most of my pictures with my real camera, so for now we'll have to make do with the 3 I happened to take with my cell phone. And this is going to be a very detailed account, feel free to skim over it. It's just the closest thing I get to writing in a journal.

Here we are waiting for Daddy to buy the tickets. Katy doesn't yet know how excited she should be, but the boys are very excited! And so was their mommy!

So as soon as we got in we saw Goofy and stopped for a quick picture. Then straight to Tomorrowland, where most of our favorite rides are! Our first stop was Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, where you ride around and shoot laser tag guns are targets on the wall. By the end of the day I had ridden on it twice, Dan five (yes, 5!) times, and the kids a variety in between. It was Dan's go-to whenever I was occupied with one or some of the other children. So, when after we went through Astro Blasters the first time the boys were ready for Star Tours, Dan went immediately back through with Katy Goo!

After Star Tours we met Dan at the Jedi Training, where David was chosen to go on stage and train! So cool! He got to wear a Jedi robe and hold a light saber, and they taught him a little routine that he got to use on Darth Maul! We have lots and lots of pictures, maybe I'll get around to posting them in a couple days. He sure thought that was exciting! Ryan was disappointed that he wasn't chosen, but decided that he didn't want to come back and try again later.

Then Ryan wanted to try Space Mountain. He went on it last time (November 07), but apparently didn't remember how fast it was. Poor little guy was scared. I spent a lot of the ride saying "This is so fun!" to try and get him in that mindset, but it didn't work. The picture was taken near the very end, where I'm trying to make him feel better. Look at his scared little face! Oh, and meanwhile Dan went back on Astro Blasters with David & Katy!

Then it was lunch time, and we spent a ridiculous amount of money on a couple slices of pizza. Then we did our other two favorite Tomorrowland games - Autopia & Finding Nemo. I rode with David & Katy, and we bumped all over the place. Apparently Ryan did a great job, driving pretty smoothly with Daddy! And Finding Nemo was kinda fun for the boys, and WAY exciting for Katy! She really loved the fish, but I think her favorite thing was all the little air bubbles to make it look like we were going way down. Silly little Katy.

Then it was time for a diaper change for Katy, so guess where Dan took the boys - Astro Blasters! I finished before he did, so I decided we hadn't yet spent enough money and really needed Mickey ears hats. I think we got some cute pictures of the three of them with the real camera, but this is all I got with the phone:

Think she wanted her picture taken? Nope! She doesn't seem to realize that I have 4 more months before I have a two year old! She does like her hat a lot, though, and is actually toddling around with it right now!

At this point Katy was getting QUITE cranky, so we rode the train over the New Orleans square and went on Pirates of the Carribean. Last time we went on it the dark soothing boat ride put 3 year old Ryan to sleep. It worked again, and Katy was sleeping soundly by the end! So we got Dan settled with her on a nice comfy bench in the shade, and he and Katy napped for nearly an hour while the boys & I went through Tarzan's treehouse, then to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Teacups (haven't done that in a long time, won't be doing it again any time soon!), and Alice in Wonderland.

When Katy woke up Dan took her over the Winnie the Pooh, which had just broken down! :( So we treked back to Daddy for David & I to go on Indiana Jones (we had Fast Passes), which had ALSO just closed down! We had a quick change of plans, and David & I did Thunder Mountain. I was afraid he'd like it as little as Ryan had like Space Mountain, but not being in the dark was a big difference and he actually enjoyed it!

Then we kept walking to Fantasyland, and decided on Casey Jr. Poor choice. The line wasn't very long, but very slow moving. It took us about 20-30 minutes, which is the longest we waited all day. The boys spent the entire time in line trying to fight with each other. We'd stand between then, and they'd keep trying. Finally David needed a break, so I made him go over the fence and sit down. He threw an absolute FIT about it, and there was much staring and embarassment. Then it was time for us to go. I really probably should have made David & me sit out, but I just couldn't do it. He had somewhat calmed down by then, so I told him that that was why he was allowed back in line.

A big portion of the naughtiness was because of hunger, so we went right across to the Village Haus. Another big mistake. It took way to long to get our food, and it wasn't that great. Oh, and the kids meals especially were RIDICULOUSLY overpriced. I know, I know, that's just what happens at places like that. But $5.99 for a juice box, a couple chicken nuggets, and a little bag of apple slices? I shared my fries to round out their meals, but was very disgusted by this dining experience.

After eating we all felt better, and ready for more. So we went to the Carousel, which I'm pretty sure was Katy's favorite. The boys loved it too! Then we hiked all the way back to Winnie the Pooh, which was open again. We waited in the short line, and were directed to the rows to wait for the next car. THEN it broke down again! This was very disappointing, especially for Katy, who kept whining "Pooh, pooh, pooh." Who decided to name a children's character "pooh" anyways?

So we went back to Indiana Jones, with more success. David & I did that one (Ryan wasn't tall enough), while Dan took the other two to the Tiki Room (another big hit with Katy Goo!). I forgot how scary it was, and David spent a lot of the ride with his hand over his eyes. Ooops.

Well, the day was coming to an end, so we decided to go do the Carousel & Astro Blasters one last time. That was a nice ending! But we didn't time it well, and ended up leaving at the same time as everybody else, meaning a longer wait to get to the car. We tried to wait it out in the restaurant by where the trams come, but it was too pricey for a snack. I wandered through the GIANT Disney store with Katy, but couldn't bring myself to spend $12 for a basic little stuffed animal. There's a Disney outlet store in Auburn, I think I'll check it out next week.

The kids were exhausted, and I'm pretty sure all three were asleep by the time we hit the freeway. Oh, and more impressive - they immediately went back to sleep after coming inside, changing into jammies, and going potty! If only that had made them sleep in the next day, the experience would've been perfect...