Disneyland!

Every kid loves Disneyland, right? Well, I do too. I was so excited to go with the boys on this trip. Unfortunately we had kind of blah California weather. It rained a lot. I was hopeful that our Disneyland day wouldn't get rained on, but alas, as we left the house it was pouring. I resigned us to getting wet and planned on still enjoying the day. We were armed with ponchos and jackets and close toed shoes. :) It actually wasn't too bad. We did get rained on a little in the morning, but we were mostly in covered lines, so we didn't get too soaked. The rain cleared up completely by lunch time and we had nice, cool, somewhat sunny weather the rest of the day. My hair was a complete loss though. Oh well. It was a fabulous day. I wasn't sure how long the boys would last. In the past they have never made it past 4-5pm-ish. I told Weston at lunch that as long as everyone was happy and having fun we could stay until bed time when the park closed at 8pm. That seemed to sink in and he did great. Dav caught a little nap in the stroller in the late afternoon and managed to be happy the whole time too, so we stayed the entire day!
We started the rainy morning in Fantasy Land. I have never seen the Dumbo ride's line so short, so that was our first stop. Next up was Peter Pan. It poured while we waited for/went on Peter Pan . . . and I forgot to cover the stroller. Whoops. At least we didn't get too wet. Next we ran over to the carousel. It was a big hit. We walked over to the Nemo ride next. We had never done that one before. The line was mostly covered and by the time we got off it the rain was done. Also we loved the Nemo ride. I really thought it was cool! And Davin's face was priceless. I also liked the break for my feet. The worker we talked to later that night when we rode it again said that it is 18 minutes from load to unload. It sure doesn't feel quite that long, but I'll take her word for it.
Just as we were getting off the Nemo ride the Star Wars characters were getting set up for a photo op. The Jedi Training show was cancelled because of the rain, but instead we got to take pictures with all the cool Star Wars guys. You have no idea how exciting this was. For everyone. It's like seeing the princesses but for boys, and with a shorter line. :) BTW the posing with Darth Maul was all Weston's idea.
After seeing the Star Wars guys we walked around the corner to the Buzz Lightyear ride. Another priceless Davin face was when he saw the big talking Buzz during the line. He loved shooting the Zurg. It was probably his favorite part of the day. By this time it was about noon and we were hungry. We went to a great little cafe near Pirates and got clam chowder in bread bowls for us and mac and cheese with grapes for the kiddos. It was a perfect soup in a bread bowl day. Mmm. That gave us a chance to sit and re-group too. Next we walked onto Pirates, which Weston really liked this time around. Especially the big, long tummy tickle (aka that first big drop).
On our way to the Nemo ride earlier in the day we had stopped and measured Weston to see if he was big enough to go on the Matterhorn. He was! He had no idea what kind of ride the Matterhorn was, but since he was big enough he was dying to go on it, so after Pirates we headed back that direction. Ian took Weston on the Matterhorn while Mom and I took Dav on It's a Small World. Davin actually really loved Small World. He kept saying "Wook! Wook!" and pointing at everything. Weston was less thrilled with Matterhorn. I think it was a little fast and scary for him, but he was brave about it.
We had never taken the kids to Toon Town, so that was next on our list. It was a success! We didn't bother with the little roller coaster with the long line. Instead we just explored the characters' houses. We played in Goofy's house and yard, then wandered into Mickey's house. Just after we walked in, so did Minnie! So we grabbed a quick picture then kept wandering through the house. I didn't realize that Mickey's house ended with seeing Mickey, but that was a nice perk. We waited in the 20 minute line without any problems. They are genius and show a cute film in the line of classic Mickey trailers with Donald and Goofy running the projector and commentating. The kids were riveted and didn't mind the wait at all. Our Mickey pictures didn't turn out too great, but Davin sure was in awe of the real Mickey. Adorable.
We finished up Toon Town with Minnie's house and Chip and Dale's treehouse. By this time the sun was out and we were warming up. The Alice in Wonderland ride had re-opened so we headed there next. That was another one we had never done, but we recently got the movie from the library and so we wanted to do the ride this time since the movie was fresh in our heads. Another first was Autopia, which we did next. The kids liked it, but Weston was a little upset when he got off and the Jedi Training show was half over. I didn't realize that they had started doing them again, but I was sitting right there when it started. We stayed and watched the end of it, then walked toward Main Street. After a pit stop at the Baby Center (Disneyland just thinks of everything!) we went to the Silhouette Shop to do Davin's official Disneyland silhouette. Now I just need a place to hang them!

We wanted to get to California Adventure in time for the Pixar parade, so we walked across to the other park. Davin fell asleep during the walk, so Grandma took him with her and staked out a great bench for us while Ian and I took Weston on the Monsters Inc. ride. We killed a little more time before the parade in the Bug's Life land, but we only went on the Heimlich train, which was pretty lame. Weston wanted to go on the bumper bugs, but he was too young to ride by himself and I was too pregnant to take him. Luckily Daddy said he would take him after the parade.

The Pixar parade was SO great! Only about 20 minutes long and it had all the boys' favorite characters in it. Boo from Monster's Inc. and Mr. Potato Head both paid the boys a close up visit. They loved it. Davin's face when he saw the robot from Incredible's was hilarious. He couldn't believe it was there in front of him. Seriously, Disneyland with kids is so magical.
While we were in California Adventure Ian really wanted to go on California Screamin'. Well, I am definitely too pregnant for that one, but he convinced Mom to go with him. I took the kids on the Little Mermaid carousel 4 times while they rode. Good thing my kids are easily entertained with the carousel. Turns out Mom loved the roller coaster and declared it her favorite ride.
It was getting dark, but we weren't done being happy and having fun, so we walked back to Disneyland and let the kids pick the last couple rides. We went on Buzz again, then they picked Nemo again as their last ride. It was right about then that they hit their wall and started to break down. Good thing it was the end of the day. After Nemo we walked back to the tram, then the car. Mom and I were practically limping because our feet were so sore and tired, but we made it and really had such a great time. A big thanks to Mom for coming with us and helping out so much! We all can't wait until our next Disneyland trip!