Disneyland Day 2

Our last day on our Disney adventure was back to Disneyland. We were so excited, because some friends of ours surprised Nana and Papa with tickets so they could come with us! Then Nana and Papa brought my Grandma (Gram, to Henry and John) and our family friend, Vonnie Baird who was travelling with Nana in California to help Gram.

Nana, Papa, Gram, and Sister Baird got to the gate really early, so we were some of the first people through the gate! That was fun. We chilled on Main Street again so we could catch Mickey before we got busy in the Park. Henry and Papa looked at the Toy Story Windows together, Nana and Johnny said a quick hi to Pluto on his way by, and we just enjoyed a few quiet minutes in the park.

And then....there was Mickey!! It was another sweet reaction by Johnny. He was SO excited to see Mickey again. He and Nana talked to him for quite a while, which was so sweet. We all had a chance to take a picture with him in our awesome t-shirts (which Derek and I stayed up very late one night cutting out and ironing) and then we headed to Fantasyland again.

Henry was so excited to take Nana on Dumbo, "a-cause elephants are Nana's favorite animal!" So we went there first. Nana and Henry snagged a green hatted Dumbo, and Sister Baird, John, and I took the purple one in front of them. It was so fun to hear Henry giggling behind us as he took Nana up and down in their Dumbo. He really does love that ride!

When we got off, we ran right into Captain Hook! The boys were not so sure about him. They kept looking at him, but refused to interact. It made me laugh. Sister Baird enjoyed a quick dance with him, however! That was great.

After our brief meet and greet with Captain Hook, we went on my favorite ride in Disneyland: "Storybook Land!" I love seeing all the little details in the houses and the tiny plants. It's just so charming. Henry and John both really liked it, too, which was fun. Henry kept talking about all the little houses and castles, but especially going inside Monstro! He loved that.

We hopped on that boat and headed for the next: Small World! We got to sit up front, which was great. Henry was gripping the bar when we first started; I think he was expected some big dips like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. He did like all the singing, though, and loved all the different dolls. But he did tell me afterwards that it was a "long long long long long ride, Mama." I agree, dude! And so did Johnny: he fell right to sleep on Nana's shoulder!

With a sleeping Johnny, we went over to get a time to go on Peter Pan. Gram was in a wheel chair, which meant for rides like Peter Pan we could go right up to the front. But they try to stagger the wheel chair entry, so they scanned our tickets to give us a time to come back. While Nana and Papa did that, Henry and Derek convinced me to go on the Teacups!! Ugh, I felt awful afterwards, but it was fun seeing how much Henry liked it. "I changed my favorite ride," he said. "it's Teacups." But if you ask him what his favorite ride was, he says: "Dumbo. Oh, but I changed it to Teacups." so I think it's a bit of a tie.

While we waited for our time with Peter Pan, we went on Snow White's Scary Adventures. I forgot how scary that ride really is! Luckily Henry wasn't too scared, but he didn't really like it. He was much happier to go get on Peter Pan and fly over London again!

We switched gears after that and headed to Adventure Land. Papa had gotten us fast passes to go on Indiana Jones, so Derek, Papa, Sister Baird, and I went on that. Nana, Gram and the boys chilled outside. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad we got to go on it, but I was very happy to get back to the boys and have fun with them. Henry was ready to go to  New Orleans Square to go on Pirates of the Caribbean.

He sat with Nana and Papa this time, which he really enjoyed and laughed and sang the "Yo-Ho" song the whole time. We did get stuck at the very end for almost 15 minutes, which was a bummer. Johnny wasn't super happy about being on that dark ride again, and kept trying to climb out of my arms in an attempt to get off the ride. He was very happy when the got the ride working again and we were able to get out!

We walked around the corner to the Haunted Mansion, a ride we didn't make it on on Monday. I'm glad we went on it, but I could tell Henry didn't like it much. He rode with Derek and I, and we spent the whole time trying to make it funny, but he didn't like it. He mentioned the room getting long after we got off it and how he didn't like how cold it was. "I needed my blank, Mama." Nana and Papa told us John didn't really love it either. Poor guy--when they turned off all the lights in the stretched room, every one screamed and it scared him to death. Papa said he almost leaped out of his arms! He was ready to get out of the Mansion right then and there, I think.

After New Orleans Square, we split up for a little bit. Derek and I took the boys to see the Disneyland train engines. The train is closed right now, as they are expanding the park, but they have the engines parked outside where you can go see them. We talked to some of the engineers and even got to blow a train whistle! John really liked that. Henry was hungry. But on our way to lunch, we decided to go to the Tiki Room. I wanted Dole Whip, anyway!

Of course I loved my ice cream (and so did Johnny, by the way) but the best part of the Tiki Room was John. He LOVED it. Seriously. LOVED it. He danced, sang, and clapped his hands through the entire thing. It was so fun to watch him. It was definitely his favorite "ride"! Usually people take their babies to the Tiki Room to have a nap--not Mr. John! It's dance time there!

We were all actually hungry after this, so we went to Golden Horseshoe for lunch. Guess what Henry had? Yep: French fries and a few chicken nuggets. The one thing he branched out on was having fruit punch instead of juice. Silly kid.


We had fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad after that. I was SO excited to go with Derek on this ride. Next to Storybook Land, it's my favorite, and the last two times we've been to Disneyland it's been closed. So I was thrilled to get to go on it with him. It was also nice to have just a few minutes of the toy of us. We left Henry with Nana and Papa by some cool drinking fountains that I knew he would want to take a million drinks out of.

When we met back up, we decided to go over to Tomorrowland and do a few things. But first, Henry really wanted to take me on the Mark Twain Boat, which he had gone on with his Daddy for a few minutes. Nana and Papa took John towards Tomorrowland (hoping he would fall asleep) and we went towards the riverboat. As we walked in, who did we see but Princess Tiana! I convinced Henry to go talk to her. He was really shy at first, but then I got him to tell her his favorite color. When she said it was her favorite too, he was a lot more keen to talk to her. He flirted and laughed and even gave her a kiss on the cheek! It was so silly and sweet.

It was fun chasing Henry all around the river boat. I think he could have spent the better part of the afternoon on the boat. We sat on some chairs and looked out at the Rivers of America. We danced to the music the band was playing and just laughed and talked. I wished that we had John and we could have spent more time there, but we wanted to meet up with everyone. Turns out, the line for Buzz Blasters was super long, so Nana and Papa kept sleeping Johnny and did some shopping while Derek and I took him on the Nemo Submarine Ride.

That was fun! Henry loved it. He loved looking out the port hole window and watching for the fish. He also really liked the bit where we were "swallowed by a whale." He was so excited: "we went inside TWO whales today, Mommy! TWO WHALES IN ONE DAY!" It was funny. Oh, and I got to eat a delicious "Darth by Chocolate" while we waited in line. So good! That was my favorite part.

When we caught up with Nana and Papa and went on Buzz Blasters. Henry had a lot of fun on that one again. I rode with Gram, which was fun. John really liked all the lights and so I was actually able to do some shooting! It was funny though, because Gram only scored 500 points! We all had a good laugh about that one.

Buzz Blasters then sent us back in to Fantasyland. We stopped by the Wishing Well and threw in some more change before walking behind the castle. Henry, Derek, and John tried to get King Arthur's Sword out of the stone, but didn't quite get it. Henry tried REALLY hard though! He wanted to get that sword out so badly. It was sweet. He asked to go on the Carousel again after that, which I definitely wasn't going to say no to! He, Derek, John, Nana, and I all went together. The wait in line was bit tough, as Henry was getting a bit tired of being stuck in lines. Once we finally got on the horses, he was fine, though. Every time we went by Papa and Gram he yelled "Hi Papa! Hi Grammie!" Whenever he yells, his voice goes so much deeper and it just makes me laugh and laugh.

We said good bye to our horses and then went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride! Henry loved "driving" his own car on that ride and laughed when I pretended he was crashing. Luckily he didn't get nervous in the scary bits, because he was so distracted by the steering wheel. That was a-ok with me!

We were all pretty hungry at this point, so we went to the Plaza Inn for dinner. It's another tradition for my family to have one meal there. You get quite a bit of food, so it was perfect for us to split. Of course Henry only wanted fries, however, so I ran as quick as I could to Frontier Land to get him some. Luckily, there was no line and I was there and back again in just a few minutes!

After dinner, I went to do a little shopping with Nana and Henry, while Derek, John, and the others staked out a good spot on Main Street for the Parade and Fireworks. Then I got the boys in pajamas and left them with Derek before going to take some pictures around Fantasyland with Nana and Papa. By the time I got back, John had collapsed in exhaustion in Sister Baird's arms (after screaming and throwing up, apparently) and Henry was bouncing around. Derek was obviously exhausted and we barely made it back in time to keep our spot. Good thing we hurried back!

The Paint the Night Parade was an absolutely blast again. John slept through the whole thing, but Henry was just so sweet and so excited. He waved to everyone, got excited when he saw Mack and Lightening again, but oh was he tired! The fireworks were cancelled due to wind (again) but we did get to see a cool lazer light show as a consolation prize. But really, it was actually good the fireworks were cancelled, because we were all super tired and ready to head back. We were driving back to San Diego that night, so we hurried back to the hotel where our car was parked, loaded up, and got on our way.

Thus ended our Disney Adventure. We had so much fun; it was probably one of the best times I've ever had at Disneyland. I loved seeing the magic and the wonder in my boys eyes. I loved seeing the characters as "real" again the way they did. Going on the rides with them made it feel like the first time, it was so fun. I can't wait to take them back again and go on the rides Henry was a bit too short for; it will be an all new Disneyland again!

Disneyland Video

California Adventure (AKA Cars Land)

Tuesday, was Cars Land Day! At least according to Henry. I tried to explain to him a few times that Cars Land was in California Adventure, but he just said "yeah, in Cars Land." That works. :) He was so excited about his shirt for this day: we made Cars shirts for everyone, green ones. Henry had Lightening McQueen, Derek had Mater ("because Daddy and I are best buds like they are"), and John had Guido. We put Mickey ears on them. They turned out awesome!!

It was another early-ish day for us, but perfect timing to get us out the door and to California Adventure. We were inside the park before it officially opened, so we were able to snag great Fast Passes for the World of Color that evening. Then, we headed straight for Radiator Springs!

Walking into Radiator Springs was another magical moment for us, especially Henry. He was pointing out Fillmore's house, Sarge's house, and the Cozy Cone right away. I showed him Mater's House and guess what?! Mater was driving down the street right when we got there! It was so fun to see the look on his face. "Oh Mama, we're walking on the road Lightening made, huh?" and "Sally must not be home, cause I don't see her at the Cozy Cone." He also told us that he wanted to talk to Lightening and Mater and tell them hi.

We waited in line for a little bit to talk to Lightening first, which was cool. He was parked right at the Cozy Cone. Henry loved the fountain, "just like in the movie!", and told Derek that he wanted to build one for our house as soon as we got back home. When we finally got to Lightening, he was feeling a bit shy, though, and was nervous about touching Lightening or talking to him. But oh, did he grin and grin! After we walked away, he said "Mama, Lightening talked to us, huh? He's real, huh?" That, was awesome.

We went on Luigi's Rollicking Roadsters nest, as there was basically no line. Johnny was too small, so Derek and Henry waited and took pictures. I must admit--if I had known what kind of ride it was, I probably would have let Derek take Henry. It's a spin around teacup style ride, and by the end I was feeling a little queasy. Not too bad, thanks to my Mommy enthusiasm, but I was ready to walk around and breathe in and out deeply for a while.

So, we went and saw the Stanley Statue at City Hall, where Henry and Johnny enjoyed playing in the fountain. Derek reminded Henry about the time Lightening made Stanley fly, and Henry said "Yeah, but he's back here now, huh Daddy?"

We looked at Lizzy's store with all the signs and the gas pumps, before we went and saw Mater at the Cozy Cone. Henry had warmed up a little bit at this point, and was more willing to talk to Mater, but we were hungry. So it was a quick hello. Henry gave him a headlight high five (Mater turned on his light to high five him!) and then we headed to Flo's for a snack and watched the Radiator Springs Racers go by.

Our one disappointment for the day was that Henry wasn't tall enough to do the Radiator Springs Racers. He didn't seem to care at all, though, which made it a lot better. I was sad, though! I had really been looking forward to taking him on it. I've never been on it, as this was also my first time in Cars Land (Derek's too, for that matter). We put two layers of cardboard and some folded up socks in Henry's shoes, but making up an inch and half was just a bit hard. Next time!

Derek and Henry then decided to go on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree--another teacup style ride. Johnny and I hung out while they waited in line and then watched as they laughed and laughed through the whole thing. I guess Henry likes spinning around a lot--almost all his favorite rides spin and spin!

We took a quick break from Cars Land after that, running through the Bug's Life area. Henry and I played a little bit in the water area, where we ran through the dripping water from a GIANT hose! Henry was pretty excited about the hose, especially because we could sit on it. He kept talking about it for a while after that. :)

Johnny fell asleep shortly after that, and I was ready to get some lunch. We learned there was only ONE place in the whole of California Adventure that you could get chicken nuggets and French fries. LAME! It's the grill over by Soaring Over California, so we went there and got our lunch. It was a nice break. One thing we've learned about our family--being well fed makes for happier people and a LOT more fun. Especially with Henry's diabetes, we need to make sure and take snack breaks and sit down and eat. Not eat on the go like I'm used to at Disney, but that's ok. While it does cost a little more, happiness is worth it!

After lunch, we went back to Cars Land and did a little shopping! Henry was SO excited to pick out a toy at Sarge's Surplus Hut. It's an entire store dedicated to Cars toys! Henry was in heaven. I quickly found a toy I thought he would like and--sure enough, he wanted to get it! He reminded me that he had some "Mickey Mouse Monies" that he had saved up, and that he had enough for this one. "It only costs two Mickey Mouse Monies, and I have that much!" It was a little more than he had saved, but he was so excited about it. It had a Mack, a Lightening McQueen, a Francesco, and a little mat of Radiator Springs to drive them on. He has been wanting his own Mack to play with for a long time, which is why I picked it up in the first place. He insisted on carrying it around the store while we looked for something for Johnny (we didn't end up getting him anything there, however.)

We gave Henry some cash, and he and I went to the register to pay for his toy. He handed the lady the money, telling her "Here's two Mickey Mouse Monies" and then insisted that he was going to carry the toy all day! They put it in a bag for him, and he was on his way. It was a bit big for him to carry, but it took us quite a while to convince him to put it in the buggy. He was just so excited!

Our shopping excursion led us over to Buena Vista Street, where we went on the Monsters, Inc. ride. Henry hadn't seen it yet, but he really liked the ride and asked to watch the movie when we got home. Which we did, and it has become one of his favorites.

John fell asleep again, which was good because he was SO tired! Henry and I decided to go on the Little Mermaid ride--there was no line! We walked right up. That was awesome! I hadn't been on it yet, and that was my favorite movie as a kid. Henry loved the "Under the Sea" song and pointing out all of the clams. He thought they were "so so so silly!" When we came out, he said he wanted to go right away again. We found Derek and John was awake, so we all went together again. Also no line, so we walked right up and got in our clam.

Derek and I were pretty tired from walking around at this point. Two days of walking and walking and carrying heavy kids meant we wanted to rest more often. Derek and I both went to bed the night before with very sore arms and woke up a little stiff. We carried the boys a bit too much the day before, I think! We found a bench right in front of the pier where we could see everything and let the boys just play for a minute. Just play and take a bunch of pictures. They are some of my favorite photos from the whole trip. We were just relaxing and enjoying the sunshine, laughing and playing. Henry was hilarious and John was so smiley. We had fun.

After that, we walked across the bridge to go on Toy Story Mania, another ride I'd never been on before. It was a long wait: almost 50 minutes. The longest wait in California Adventure. Henry found some leaves to play with and had his favorite snack of the trip: Mini Oreos. He LOVED those. I put a few in little baggies for him, and he had 3 or 4 baggies of them each day. Between the Oreos and the pretty green leaves, the line didn't seem so horrendously long. And it was such a fun ride! Henry loved the 3D glasses, and thought it was so cool we all had matching ones. John was pretty frightened of the way it spun around so fast and was a little loud. He gripped my arms again so tightly. Henry and Derek went together, and they had a fun time shooting their guns at everything. It's definitely a ride I enjoyed and would love to do again. I wasn't even super bothered by the 3D. But the wait was always quite long!

Toy Story led us to the Ferris Wheel. Henry wanted to go up high and see "all of Disneyland". I told Derek I would go if we could get in a stationary cage, not the ones that swung around. Which was good--I don't think John would have liked the swinging one anyway. The line for the stationary cages was 45 minutes though, as opposed to the 5 minutes for the swinging ones. But it was worth it! Both the boys loved that ride. We let Henry take his blanket on it (the only one Blankie was allowed on), and we enjoyed the beautiful views of Disneyland and California Adventure for a while.

When we were done, we headed back to Cars Land. We read some of the history of Radiator Springs, which was hilarious and so detailed. It's another bit of the magic of Disney. Henry loved looking at all the cactus and standing up on the ledge to look at the desert vegetation. We said hello to the Stanley Statue again, before Henry and Derek waited in line for Luigi's Roadsters again. John and I played outside Luigi's. He liked the tires a lot, and even stood up by a few of them! Unfortunately, Henry had to use the bathroom halfway through the line, so Derek never made it on the ride. Oh well!

Hunger struck again, so we headed out to the main part of the park to find a snack. I got a frozen banana, as is tradition, and Derek snagged a favorite of his: frozen lemonade. John fell asleep, again, as we were walking so we found a quiet spot over by Grizzly Mountain to have our snacks. It was another lovely moment. John slept for almost half an hour, while Derek, Henry, and I ate and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Henry fed Derek some of the lemonade, which was hilarious. He kept sticking his tongue out as he tried to scrape some onto the wooden spoon, then said "mmmm" as he placed it in Derek's mouth.

Henry decided to clean up all the leaves in that area and throw them away. He spent a good 10 minutes scampering around collecting leaves and throwing them in the bin while Derek and I relaxed and John slept. After John woke up, we headed back to the pier to go on the Ferris Wheel again. On the way, we stopped and enjoyed the Green Army Men street performers. Henry wasn't really into it, however, so we left before they finished.

We spent a little money to play a boardwalk game: Bullseye's Racers! Derek and Johnny won! Henry and I were a close second, though. Mostly, it was just fun to play. John won a little Mickey guy, which he loved. That ended up being the only toy we got him on the trip, which was ok because he loved him!

We wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel again, but it was almost dinner time and Henry started getting a little crazy. He wouldn't stay in line, so we did that hard parent thing and left the line. He cried a little and was sad, but Derek and I just weren't in the mood. Dinner time!!

We went back to the grill again (Henry LIVED on French fries the whole trip. Oh well). And that was just what we needed before going to wait for the World of Color.

The wait was long--we almost 2 hours for us, really. We sat and played with our little light toys (so glad I bought some before we got there) and watched the Ferris Wheel change colors. But oh! World of Color was amazing! And the boys LOVED it. Both Henry and John were transfixed on the lights and the water. Henry especially liked the bits with the fire exploding. John just loved the lights.

By the time the show ended, we were all exhausted and ready to go back to the hotel. We walked by Radiator Springs to see all the neon, which was beautiful, but headed straight for the hotel and our beds. Both of the boys were asleep before we got back to the hotel, and went straight to bed. Which was good, because boy--Derek and I were exhausted, too!

Disneyland Day 1

The boys woke up pretty early (for them) Monday, which was fortuitous, since we wanted to get to Disneyland just before it opened. Henry was so excited that we were all wearing our matching Mickey shirts. He helped us cut out the Mickeys with the vinyl cutter, and he kept telling everybody that he made them. :)

We got the buggy loaded up with snacks, drinks, jackets, a few little light-up toys for the parade, and finally the boys. Our hotel was just across the street from the entrance to Downtown Disney, which was SO nice! It was less than 10 minutes for us to get from our hotel room to the gate of Disneyland!

We waited in line for about 20 minutes, putting on sunscreen and giving Henry a snack since was "so, so, so hungry!" Johnny was just happy to be there, smiling at everybody and playing with his little "Mousekesinger" (a toy that I thought would be so obnoxious, but I knew the boys would love. They did and still do!) When we finally made it to the gate, they took our pictures to associate with our 3 Day Tickets, and we were finally in Disneyland!

There really isn't anything that can describe how I feel walking into Disneyland. Walking beneath the sign "Here you leave today and enter the world of tomorrow and fantasy" really is the truth--we can leave our cares behind us and just enjoy the magic of Disney!

First thing when we walked in, we headed to The Mad Hatters. We got John a pair of traditional Mickey Mouse ears with his name on them, and Henry picked out an awesome Lightening McQueen hat. It looks like McQueen is wearing Mickey Ears. Henry loved it. (incidentally, he wore them basically every minute while we were there!)

We waited around the entrance to Main Street, USA for a little while, hoping to see Mickey. We looked at the windows in the Emporium, which was fun. Henry especially liked the Toy Story Window. It didn't take long before we saw Mickey heading onto main street though! We were some of the first in line, which was wonderful.

John LOVED Mickey. As soon as he saw him, John started kicking his legs and reaching out for him. The whole time we visited with Mickey, Johnny was kissing him, grinning ear to ear, and showing Mickey his own set of Mickey ears. I think this was the highlight of the trip for me with John. He wanted to stay with Mickey all day, and was sad when we had to leave him. Henry was a bit nervous around Mickey, and though he did smile, he wasn't interested in talking to him or anything. Which is ok!

After talking to Mickey, we said hello to Goofy which was another bit of  John giving kisses and loving the character. Henry stood with Derek and watched. :) After that, we headed straight to Fantasyland! In the past, Derek and I have gone on the Peter Pan ride first, but the line was already so long. Henry spotted the Dumbo ride and said "Mama, what is that?" So we parked the buggy and got in line for Dumbo.

Henry and John both LOVED it. Henry went with Derek in a Dumbo with a green hat, and John and I sat in the dumbo just in front of them. Henry used the little lever to make the elephant go up and down, which he really liked. As soon as we got off the ride he asked to go again, and continued asking for the rest of the day!

We quickly jumped King Arthur's Carousel after Dumbo. It's one of my favorite rides! I love the Sleeping Beauty paintings all around, and of course because I get to sit on a horse I have fun. :) Both Henry and John loved going up and down and were smiling and laughing throughout the ride. While we were on the Carousel, Henry noticed the Casey Jr. Train and asked to go on it next.

We only waited in line for a little while, which was nice. The boys played with Derek and laughed and giggled, before we finally got to get on! Unfortunately, they had miscounted and didn't have enough room for me and John. They sent Henry and Derek around, and then let us on the next ride--so Henry and Derek got to go twice in a row! So really, it ended up being a really fun thing. We sat in the caboose, which Henry really enjoyed.

 Following Casey Jr., we grabbed some lunch at the Village Haus Restaurant, which is Pinocchio themed and right in the middle of Fantasyland. I have a lot of childhood memories eating here, and they had fries--so it was perfect! While we ate, we talked about our favorite rides so far and Henry kept going on and on about how much fun the Dumbo ride was. We ate our fill, then Henry took a million drinks from the drinking fountain nearby. He was so excited that there were drinking fountains he could reach without help! We spent a lot of time stopping at the fountains throughout the park.

John fell asleep shortly after this, so he and I went to the Walt and Mickey statue in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, while Henry and Derek went on the Buzz Blaster's ride. Another one Henry loved! He was so excited when they came and found us-- "I got to shoot and shoot! And I turned our car all around!" I was glad Derek went with him and not me--I probably would have ended up sick! Meanwhile, John slept while I enjoyed watching people. When he woke up, we sat on a bench in the sunshine and just enjoyed the Disneyland atmosphere. Can't beat that.

We headed to Pirates of the Caribbean after that. I was a bit nervous that Henry wouldn't like it, especially the drops. Boy, was I wrong: the drops were his favorite part! After the first one, he kept asking if there were more "big dips" and if we could do it again. He liked singing the Pirate song and Derek pointed out all the cool stuff for him. Poor Johnny though--he didn't like the dark and was definitely not sure about the loud noises in the attack on the fort. He gripped my arms SO tight when we went down the dips and cried when we got splashed a little. For most of it, he had his fingers digging into my arms and his eyes wide with fear. Poor fellow.

After Pirates, Derek and Henry decided to go on the Teacups. John and I watched. :) Derek told me Henry giggled through the whole thing and LOVED spinning it around himself. I enjoyed watching and John snacked on puffs while we waited.

We made our way to ToonTown next, hoping to go into Mickey's house without a long line. Luckily, he wasn't there! So we scampered through really quick. It was so fun to see Henry in there. He kept talking about how Mickey likes to sit in his chair, listen to the radio, and even answer his phone. He just knew that Mickey REALLY lived there! We took a quick pit stop in the shade and rode in the toon car for a minute, but everyone was getting pretty tired. When we came out, we realized we were just a little bit away from a show starting in the theater in Fantasyland. It was Mickey and the Magical Map! It was just perfect for a break. Henry loved watching Mickey and singing to the music. There were a bunch of fun songs he knew and some he didn't, but both he and Johnny had their eyes fixed on the stage. It was a perfect opportunity for Derek and I to put our feet up.

One thing that was a little sad for us: Henry had been talking for WEEKS about getting a special Mickey balloon. We'd looked for the vendors all day and couldn't find one. Finally, we went and asked at the information booth on Main Street when Henry started crying. We asked, I turned around...and Henry was totally zonked in the buggy. Both he and John! Yes--the crying was definitely from a busy morning/afternoon! We picked a bench on Main Street and let the boys sleep. Finally, the balloon vendors came out! As soon as Henry woke up, we went and got him a balloon. Success!!

The balloon led us to Snow White's Wishing Well, where Henry threw all my change in. :) He loved the plop plop noise the coins made falling into the water and said he was "making tons of wishes for us." Then he said he wished "that we can go on the Dumbo ride again!" So we did!

After Dumbo, we braved the long line for Peter Pan. It was definitely the longest line the entire time we were at Disneyland. Henry had to go potty half way through, so he and I escaped and jumped back in line. Whew! That helped break the long time up, which was good for him. It was fun "flying over London" with him. He recognized Big Ben and the river. He also knew some of the characters, as we watched Peter Pan not that long ago. That was fun.

After Peter Pan, we got some dinner in Tomorrowland before it started to get dark. We hadn't planned on the parade, and Henry was asking to go back to the hotel and rest, but we found a great spot by Matterhorn Mountain and decided to stay. I'm SO glad we did!

The Paint the Night Parade was amazing! The most amazing part though, was seeing Henry's face when he spotted Lightening McQueen and Mack in the parade. "Mama, they're real!" he said, and just kept grinning and grinning. He said "whoa!" and "wow!" so many times, pointing to the lights and dancing to the music. Yes--true Disney magic right there!

We walked back to the hotel with two very tired little boys, but the day was a complete success! The magic was truly there for both of them, making it magical for both Derek and I, too.

On our Way to Disney...by way of San Diego and Huntington Beach

We finally made it to Disneyland! Ok, I know--I have been to Disneyland far more than most people can even dream of. But we've been scrimping and saving since we got home from England so we could take Henry, and then when Johnny was born I knew IT WAS TIME. So, I did some babysitting, we did lots of saving, Henry did odd jobs for Nana and Papa, and we finally got enough together to go this last week!

We drove straight through Saturday, starting at about 8:00. The boys were SO good. We brought Derek's tablet and a little DVD drive, and Henry was so excited to watch movies in the car. I had also collected little prizes and wrapped them up. He got to choose one every couple of hours. That was one of the best ideas ever--it really helped when he was having a hard time. I'd say "are you ready for a prize?" and it would keep him happy for at least another hour. Whew!

Mickey looking out the window "cause he's so excited!"

We made a few brief stops, but really, we drove and drove. We had a good lunch stop in St. George where we played at a playground near the Temple for about an hour. That was wonderful. Henry ran around for a bit, used the potty (after much negotiation), and then we jumped back in the car and headed on down to California.

We stayed with my Aunt Kim that night in San Diego. We visited, Henry and Johnny had a great time petting and playing with her dogs/puppies, and relaxed. Sunday morning we took it easy--too easy, really. By the time we left for church, we were all really excited to get out and DO something!

Church was WONDERFUL. Derek and I both felt so much peace attending Sacrament meeting in the Del Mar Ward. The boys were restless, but it was just so nice to take the Sacrament and sing and listen to some great talks about the gospel.

After church, we headed up to Huntington Beach to meet up with Derek's Aunt and Uncle who he hasn't seen in 17 years! We met at the Pier and walked around, then headed down to the beach. Henry LOVED the sand. Unfortunately, we sent Derek and John to put the buggy back in the car, and they missed out on the beach because...Henry got smashed by a wave! He was just dipping his toes in, but a big wave sent him straight on his back. Surprisingly, he wasn't upset by it at all. He just got really cold. i took his wet clothes off and let him run around in his undies, but he was still shivering.
By the time we got back with Daddy and Johnny, he was shivering and turning blue. We said good-bye and headed to Anaheim and our hotel.

We really had a lovely visit with Char and Tom. I've been wanting to meet them for years, literally. They were just as friendly and wonderful as I knew they would be. I'm sure that if we lived close, we could be such great friends. It was fun to see them, even if it was only for an hour.

When we arrived at the hotel, we went and got some dinner (at McDonald's, of course) and then gave the boys a much needed bath. They both went to bed very quickly, which was wonderful because we were all so tired. And the next day we had a busy day because....it would be our first Disney Day!!

Easter Eggs

We dyed Easter eggs today! I was so excited to mine all green! Mama wanted to make hers pink, of course!

I liked putting the stickers on my eggs before I put them in the cups with the dye. I used my crayons to draw a little bit, but the stickers were my favorite. Mama said we could eat them, but I don't really like eggs. I would rather have French fries!



--Little Brute