Disneyland

I finally got the rest of the Disneyland pictures up! I took way too many pictures. We were so excited when we got to Disneyland. We got the opportunity to teach the kids a little patience right from the start. The kids really struggled with the lines the first day we were there, but by the third day they were great while we waited-sometimes more patient than Mom and Dad. We had so much fun-there's no way I'm going to get everything written down-so I'll just highlight a few things. The first day we were in Anaheim we went to California Adventure. We wanted to save Disneyland for Ellee and Luke's birthday. Luke and Ellee were treated so well on their birthday-they gave them badges that said their name and that it was their birthday so every worker at Disneyland and each character we saw made sure to wish them a Happy Birthday. They didn't realize it was because of their badge and thought everyone just new it was their birthday. It was so fun to watch. Cole's badge said "1st Time at Disneyland" so he was treated just as well. He also loved playing the part of big brother and making sure that everyone knew that not only was it Luke and Ellee's birthday but that they were also twins. He was so proud of them.

It was so fun to walk down Disneyland Main Street and to see the castle and Mickey Mouse statue. The kids were so excited-it was all we could do to keep them with us-they just wanted to run in every direction and to do everything at once.

I hadn't been to Disneyland since I went with my family when I was really young. I didn't remember anything except for Small World and that was the one ride that I really wanted to make sure we went on-and I absolutely loved it this time around as well. We made it there on our last day-we were the very first people on it that morning and got a whole boat for just our family. The kids thought it was fun looking for all the Disney characters hidden throughout the ride. Ellee danced the whole time we were on the ride-and YES, the song was in my head for the rest of the day.

Damon hadn't been since he was younger either but seemed to know his way around better than I did. We got some good advice to make sure we used the stroller pass and fast pass tickets to get through the lines faster. Lucky Cole! He got to go on each ride twice. We really liked the stroller pass-Damon and Cole would wait in line and I would get a ticket to go with Cole after they waited in line-the twins and I would go on different rides while the big boys waited in line and then Damon and I would switch. It worked out pretty well. We even got some stroller passes without having to wait in line :)

We loved Toon Town and all the characters up there. I am still shocked at just how busy everything was. The kids walked around with the biggest eyes all throughout Toon Town-they couldn't believe all the characters we were seeing. Pluto was the first character we ran into-the boys were thrilled-Ellee was a little nervous and wouldn't take her eyes off Pluto. After seeing Pluto that was all Luke would talk about-he even picked a Pluto t-shirt when we let the kids choose a t-shirt the last day. We also ran into Goofy while in Toon Town. We didn't wait in line to see Mickey or Minnie because we knew the kids would see them at the birthday party later.

The two rides the kids enjoyed the most were the Buzz Lightyear Ride and the Finding Nemo ride. Ellee and Luke still tell everyone we see about the Nemo Ride-and they remember it play by play-every little detail. They especially liked when we were eaten by a whale.

We tried to go through the Haunted Mansion-but once they got us in the room right before they closed the doors Cole decided it was too much for him and started crying and bolted out the door-so we followed him out. He was so upset we didn't even bother trying again.

We made it to all the rides that were open there. Damon and I both loved the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride-Ellee was nervous-Luke kind of giggled at some parts but then would get really serious when we would pass the pirates shooting back and forth. Damon and Cole had fun trying to find Jack Sparrow throughout the ride-I still don't know how many they counted.

The Jungle Cruise was so funny. The whole time we were at Sea World Cole kept asking to see Piranhas and we had to keep telling him that there weren't any there. Our guide on the Jungle Cruise was so funny-at one point he said "Say hello to the piranhas." Cole was so excited he leaned forward and right then the piranha's jumped out of the water. His reaction was so funny-I still laugh at how high he jumped and how he covered his face so they wouldn't get him-so cute!

So I can't write about every ride-all I will say is that they were all tons of fun! And the kids remember them all and can still tell us about them.

We went to the fireworks show the last night we were there. It was so cool. They had little mini shows that went along with music for all the different rides, movies, and characters. Tinkerbell flew across the castle and sprinkled fairy dust. Luke was a little nervous during the fireworks. He loved part of it-and hated other parts. Cole and Ellee just loved it-they both got a little scared during the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean fireworks. I am so glad that we decided to stay for the fireworks. It was awesome-a good conclusion to our Disneyland vacation.