Our Last Magical Day in Disneyland

On our last day in Disneyland we were able to go to a Character Breakfast! IT WAS A BLAST! We picked the Haywain Breakfast Buffet with Lilo and Stitch! The food was incredible, I think it was the best breakfast we've had to date! They had all the normal food choices, pancakes waffles, bacon, sausage, eggs and and egg chef! Plus every kind of fresh fruit and then 2 kinds of Salmon, potatoes, rice and lots more! It was really good!

Each character came and visited with us at our table and the kids loved the one on one time!

First we saw Minnie Mouse the kids were excited to see her!

As we got our food and sat down Stitch came to meet us! He played with the baby, teased the kids, and gave both the boys big hugs!!!

Then the Stitch saw BJ and pretended to steal his food! It was so cute and the kids loved the way he was playful with BJ!

Lilo came around after Spencer chased her down! She had a lot of personality and pretended to dump ketchup in my cup and just loved up on the kids!

As we were leaving we saw Donald come out and got a quick picture with him!

After a very filling breakfast we went to Adventureland and Frontierland. The boys and I caught a show at the TIKI TIKI room! BJ went to go get a fast pass for Indiana Jones so I didn't get any pictures! But afterwards we all boarded the boat on the Jungle Cruise! It was totally scary! The hippos are ferocious!!

After wondering if we would return in one piece BJ went on the Indiana Jones ride and I took the kids to play in Tarzan's Tree house! They loved it, I was a bit overwhelmed trying to keep an eye on all 3! But it was a blast and BJ was back in a flash!

We ran into Aladdin in Frontierland! It totally looked like him too!

We stopped to get a fastpass for Splash Mountain and then went on the Winnie the Pooh ride! And as soon as we got off who did we run into but the Gang from the Hundred Acre Woods!

One of my favorite rides I went on with Spencer was Splash Mountain! We didn't really wait in line AT ALL (so that was nice) but it was neat to watch him! The 3 teenage girls in front of us were screaming the whole time! But my 4 year old was excited but calm the whole time! He loved the big drop and was SO excited to go back on the ride again with BJ!

We walked down and I took the 2 big boys to the Haunted Mansion! They were both being SO brave I thought they could handle it .... I was wrong!!! As soon as the entry way started to stretch out and the room went black, everyone in the room started screaming and so did the boys! The rest of the ride they were very quiet and anxious!

Luckily the next ride we went on was a hit! But who doesn't love PIRATES? The kids were mesmerized! And with the scenes from the movie BJ and I thought it was over the top!

Both the boys wanted to see the boats while we waited in line! Isn't BJ great!

It was getting pretty hot and we were all a little tired so we decided to ride the train over to Toon Town to re-take pictures of what we missed when the camera died and to try one more time to see Mickey! We explored all the little stops and Spencer and BJ rode the Chip and Dale roller coaster! We went over to Mickey House and there wasn't a line so we ran in and looked at all the neat things in his house!

Then when we got to the garage where he was filming a new movie we got a chance to meet him! The big Mouse himself! This was the one and only time both the boys were a bit STAR STRUCK! But afterwards they were both SO excited and Spencer couldn't stop talking about it!

After seeing Mickey we went back and rode Spencer's FAVORITE roller coaster Rockey Mountain Railroad, where he held his hands up THE WHOLE TIME! He was even braver then me! :)

As we left we snapped a family picture in front of the castle! We had a great trip, it was so nice to go with just our little family! We usually vacation with a big group so it was really special to go together! My favorite part was watching the boys face as they would see a character or get off a really fun ride! The glow of excitement is almost magical when you see it on your own sons face! I CANT wait to go back

Disneyland

Day 2 started out with a special treat! We were able to go into Toon Town an hour early for a special show and chance to meet the characters before the rush from the rest of the park!

But even with our tickets the line to get it in was INSANE!

But once we got to Toon town it was only about 100 people with the tickets and so the lines for the characters and rides were super short! We meet Minnie

Chip and Dale

Rode in a few of the Characters cars

Stopped and visited their houses

Spencer's favorite thing in Toon Town was the door to the Power Plant, it sparked and lite up when you opened it (like you were being shocked) and both the boys thought it was HILARIOUS!!!

and then we settled in for the show....

where we all became honorary Toon Town Citizens!!

You might notice that they have 2 different outfits, we had to come back our last day to get pictures because right after the show our camera battery died! It was SUPER SAD but they have a place to charge your batteries so it turned out ok!!! (I almost had a melt down I was so sad but BJ held it together and we got it all taken care of.... :)

After Toon Town the boys and I went to Its a Small World while BJ ran to get the battery charged! (sorry no pics) but the kids loved it and it was our first boat ride so the water was really exciting! But no one fell in! HURRAY! And the boys loved looking for different movie characters hidden in the different countries!

When we found BJ again we went over to Fantasyland and hit up Dumbo and the tea cups!

The boys and I rode on the Carousel and BJ took Spencer on the Maderhorn, which he loved by the way!

We kinda went between Fantasyland and Tomorrow land all through the day depending on our Fastpasses! I really liked Tomorrow land, a lot of the rides I used to love as a kid are there and so it was fun for me to go back! Plus they have Spencer's

FAVORITE RIDE... BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!

We all went on this ride so the boys got to go twice, but after they went a 2nd time with BJ and came out (into the INTENSE toy store) we had our one and only scary moment....ok more like 5 minutes!!

COOPER GOT LOST!

I wanted a picture and Spencer ran off to look at a toy, I went after him, Cooper came after me and BJ was parking the stroller! He thought I had him, I thought he had him!

AAAAHHHH, take a breath!

BJ went looking in the ride and I looked around the store, as time started to pass, I started to get even MORE scared and asked the man at the check out counter! He calmly made a call and then came back and said "I think they have him..... "

Oooooh take another breath!

He was down around the corner! Some cast members had stoped him and were bribing him to stay with stickers! I was SO happy to see him! There were just SO many people and SO many places he could have gone! When I saw him my heart just stopped! I was so grateful! SO needless to say from then on COOPER was buckled in ALL THE TIME!

After our trauma we wanted a cool down ride so we went on Space Tours (my favorite ride as a kid!!) BJ and I both went so Spencer got to go twice, he loved the silly robot that couldn't drive he spaceship!

We got a picture of BJ in his Micky Grad cap and headed over to see the Jedi Training camp!

The put on a great show where they picked kids out of the audience to train to be Jedi then Darth Vador and Dark Mal would come out of the ground and each kid got to fight them with a light savor! Unfortunately both time the Jedi master picked every kid around Spencer but him! The second time he tried really hard to raise his hand and say please pick me but it wasn't meant to be! We practised raising his hand and so while he waited he kept turning around and giving me a thumbs up and saying he was ready! IT WAS SO CUTE! Maybe next time!

After the show we went over to the Nemo submarine ride! This was the longest line! But it was totally worth it!

We stayed for the Dance Party Parade! The sidewalk filled up an hour and half before the show! It was CRAZY how many people there were and how anxious everyone was for a good spot! Luckily we got there just in time and i stayed with the baby while BJ took the kids on a few rides! In the end it was such a GREAT time! The dancing and singing was out of this world! They had TONS of Characters!

And they involved the kids! Spencer was able to go out and dance with the special dancers! He was so excited, and a bit nervous! It was a special end to our 2nd day!

You Just Graduated What Are You Going To Do Now?......GO TO DISNEYLAND OF COURSE

We were so lucky to receive a much needed vacation to Disneyland as a Graduation gift from my parents (We cant thank you enough!!) We decided to hurry and go before school got out so the lines wouldn't be as long and the weather wouldn't be too hot! So we left on May 18th and spent the 19th through the 21st at the Park! We had SO much fun! It was the first trip BJ and I have ever done on our own! Whenever we go somewhere we have always been with family or friends! So this was really exciting to go off on our own with just our little family!

I am a notorious over packer so this time I REALLY focused on not bringing things we didn't need! We packed food for lunches and snacks so we didn't have to buy those in the park! When we left we had 2 strollers, a bumbo chair, 1 LARGE suitcase, 2 coolers, and a bag with clothes and snacks packed to take with us into the park! whew.... it sounds like a lot but I was proud of myself for keeping it in check!

We had about a 7 hour drive (that included frequent breaks for the kids)! They did pretty well on the drive though, except for the occasional whimper from Spencer telling us " his bumb was SO sore from sitting TOO long!!!" it was pretty funny!

We also had a very funny first for us... Spencer said he HAD to go to the bathroom immediately and couldn't wait so we did what so many parent have done before and pulled over!! It was SO funny and classic that I HAD to document it! And wouldn't you know it he was to nervous to actually get it done! Oh well! Now we can say we've pulled over to go to the bathroom! :)

We made it to our hotel pretty late Monday night, got a little shut eye and woke up bright and early so we could get to Disneyland early! We were close enough that it was only a 10 minute walk, yea we didn't have to pay for parking- 14 dollars a day:(

So here we are heading out bright and early excited and anxious! It was a really nice 10 minute walk! There was a little convince store on the way and each morning we stopped for a banana and muffin!

Our first day we decided to hit up California Adventure! They were having a Pixar Parade and a Playhouse Disney LIVE show, we didn't want to miss! We got there early and we able to be one of the first to get our picture with our all time favorite CARS......

As soon as the park opened officially we went right over to bug land to see Flicks Fun Fair!

This was the section of California Adventure that is kid oriented! I am so glad we went there first because we were able to walk right onto each ride! The kids LOVED it! I couldn't pick which of these pics to add so you get to see a WHOLE LOT of them! GET READY....

These are Fliks Flyers! They were going so fast and too high to get a pic of the boys and I flying high!

Next we jumped on Francis' Ladybug Boogie, Spencer and I loved this ride! Cooper kinda slipped all over! He wasn't real sure of what the heck was going on! He came and sat with me near the end and was giggling as he got off, defiantly a favorite!!

BJ jumped at the chance to take Spencer (Coop was just a little too short) on Tuck 'n' Roll's Drive 'em Buggies (Bumper cars)! They had a great time and Cooper was such a great watcher! He had just as much fun watching, I was really proud of him for not freaking out!!! :)

We wrote the boys names and BJ's cell number on their arms so JUST IN CASE they got lost the Disney people could get a hold of us ASAP! It looke funny but it made me feel better and Spencer and Coop thought it was SO neat that Mom would color on them!! :)

There were so many rides at Fliks Fun Fair but these were our favs!

It was time to go to Playhouse Disney LIVE! We were ALL so excited to see Mickey and all the Little Einsteins in "real life!"

In the show they had characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einstein's, Handy Manny and My Friends Tigger and Pooh!

They really involved the kids, asking them to say the magic words to make the clubhouse appear, asking tootles to bring a mouse-ca-tools!

There were bubbles that came down and leaves that dropped from the sky and the kids helped solve all the problems so Minny could have a great surprise party! It was such a blast!

After the show we rode the Tower of Terror! Spencer was tall enough so he went with Dad while I waited with the little kids! It was the first time we used a Fast Pass and a Switch Pass! They really made all the difference! We didn't ever have to wait in a long line and after BJ was done on the ride I took the Switch Pass and got to go the the front of the line! I usually took Spencer on the ride a second time but this ride was the ONLY ride that scared him! He DIDN'T like the scary ghosts and the way the ride DROPPED HIM! On each roller coaster following this he was sure to ask if the ride was going to drop him!! He is so tough I was proud of him!

We spotted a bunch of characters as the day went on! Spencer and I found a autograph book when we first got there and I told him all about finding the characters and how they would take a picture with him and sign his special book! HE WAS SO EXCITED! And neither one of the kids were the least bit nervous! They were both so in shock to see the people in the their favorite movies "ALIVE" (as Spencer put it:)

We went on a Monsters Inc ride a roller coaster (that just Bj and I did, separately of course) a really big Mickey Ferris Wheel and a big swing set that brought you really high in the air!

We also went on a new Toy Story ride that was A LOT of fun! It was a 3d ride where you played games with a little toy that "shot" darts at different targets! The kids LOVED it! It was our LONGEST line but it was totally worth it!

At this point you might be wondering "Where is your baby? What was Graham doing this whole time?" And the answer is sleeping, eating and crying! He liked switching between laying in the stroller and being held in the pack! I would feed him while BJ was on a ride with the kids or the boys would help him drink a bottle in the stroller! He was his sweet little self, very chill!

We closed the day with the Pixar Parade! And it was SO memorable! Disney really knows how to put on a parade!

First up was the Monsters from Monsters Inc. Ross came right up to Spencer and Cooper and asked them in their little brother was dangerous?

The Incredibles Family was up next and Spencer and Cooper were captivated by their cool gliders! And the amazing guys on stilts!

Spencers face after a little sprinkle from Jack Jack (and pretty much the whole parade)

Followed by Nemo, thier float shot water all over us! It felt SOOO nice in the hot humidity!

The Bugs from a Bugs Life were all over the place, swinging and gliding!

Toy Story was really fun, the green army guys were really cool, I love watching all the dancers!

The beginning and the end of the parade had our 2 favorite characters! Can you guess who?

It was such a thrill! The kids really enjoyed seeing all the characters and I loved all the dancing and singing! It was just awesome!

By the end of this WONDERFUL day we were all VERY tired.....

We walked home got some P.F. Changs take out and fell asleep! Dreaming about the next 2 days at the happiest place on earth! Stay tuned....