Disneyland - Part II

We definitely covered a lot of ground on our Disney adventure. We only took the Monorail into the park on our first morning. After that, we just made the walk through Downtown Disney. It didn't seem like a long walk, especially in the mornings when we'd stop to get a Jamba Juice for breakfast!

Nick dancing with Mickey down Main Street!

DISNEYLAND
Since a picture is "worth 1,000 words," here are some of our favorite memories from our trip . . . though not necessarily in the order we experienced them. We hopped between Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure park and went on a few rides more than once.

TOMORROWLAND
The Autopia was probably one of our most favorite rides. Nick LOVED driving . . . it didn't matter that he couldn't see where we were going! I'd just call out LEFT or RIGHT, and Nick would crank the steering wheel one way or the other. It felt more like driving on a long bumper car ride. Nick didn't mind. He usually ended up in hysterical giggles before we finished.








































Buzz Lightyear was probably John's favorite ride . . . plus, he loved the speed of getting on the ride via the "Fast Pass." I liked the ride and getting an "email" photo to send home was nice. But, Nick didn't like it as much--I think it was too loud for him.





FRONTIERLAND
I hadn't been to Tom Sawyer's island for over 15 years. I was amazed at how much I'd forgotten . . . or maybe they've changed a few things (the addition of a "real" Captain Jack was definitely new). Even so, I swear those caves seemed MUCH bigger back then.


























ADVENTURELAND
The Tiki Room is one of those shows that you can't miss, but that you don't really plan for "when" to actually go. It just happened that as we were walking by they were closing the gate. We RAN in just before they closed the theater doors--WHEW!!!





















CRITTER COUNTRY
One of our "can't miss rides" is Winnie the Pooh. If you know the movie The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, then you know this ride. However, this ride spends a lot of time on Pooh's dream where he meets the "Heffalumps & Woozles." Thus, my friend Lori has taught us to call this the Psychedelic Pooh ride. (Trivia note: this space used to house the Bear Country Jamboree.) Our bonus was meeting Pooh, Eeyore, & Tigger just as we got off the ride.



FANTASYLAND
Some of my earliest memories are of Fantasyland. Though some of those memories are the stories I'd hear about how my dad worked there as a ride operator (Casey Jr's Circus Train, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, and many others). Nick LOVED the Dumbo ride. He thought it was fun to make the elephant fly up/down as we went round & round in circles.



MICKEY'S TOONTOWN
On our second morning, we used an invitation to get into Toontown one hour early. We were sworn in as honorary citizens of Toontown by Mayor Mickey Mouse. Then, we ran around Toontown trying to get photos with as many Disney characters as we could. We saw Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto and Dale. But, the highlight was taking Nick on his first roller coaster ride!





Well then . . . join us for Nick's 1st roller coaster ride!

NEW ORLEANS SQUARE
Our most anticipated ride was the Pirates of the Caribbean because we had just missed the re-opening the last time we had come in 2006. For all the hype, I have to say . . . I like the old version better. The new version retains a lot of the old segments (a few have been moved around--they did keep the "Take a Wench for a Bride"). But, the ride just seems darker and less cohesive now that they've added in Captain Jack.


Even the Haunted House seemed darker . I almost thought my eyesight was going. I was squinting to see most of the holograms. I almost couldn't see the ghost that hitchhikes with you in your car on the way out.



















MAIN STREET, U.S.A.
I think this was one of our favorite parts of each day . . . watching a parade. Disneyland's current parade is the "Parade of Dreams" and was amazing to watch! We had a great location right at the top of Main Street.

I believe our dreams really did come true on this trip. We packed in a mind-boggling amount of activity, kept a 3-year-old going almost non-stop (it was hard to slow him down), and ended the trip with a dinner out with some special friends.





However, no matter how much a 3-year-old wants to keep going . . .

Every night ended much the same way . . .
he was asleep before his head hit the pillow!


Stay tuned for Part III -- the final segment!

Disneyland - Part 1

Sorry to leave you hanging . . . I feel like I've been on a
non-stop roller coaster lately (FINALLY, some time for blog updates).



Disneyland was fabulous, fun, and non-stop. Next time, I SERIOUSLY need to plan a vacation that has some DOWN time built into it. Our Disney excitement actually started Monday morning before our flight. Nick got a phone call from Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy! They told Nick how excited they were that Nick was coming to visit them.

Our flight went really smoothly. Nick has been on an airplane several times, but this was our longest flight yet. I surprised Nick by pulling out a DVD player and let him watch a video. This was the first flight I actually got some "mommy time."
We took the resort bus to the Disneyland hotel and ended up with the whole bus to ourselves.
Nick was so excited that he got to stay in a HO-tel (as he pronounces it), that he knew exactly where our room was after only going to it once.



On our first night at the resort, we met a couple (in the "Lost Bar") wearing a Mickey Mouse ear-ed wedding veil and top hat. They got married in Tahoe, honeymooned up to Canada and back down to Disney, and were heading back to Tahoe. They were really nice and kept commenting on how well behaved Nick was (he was mesmerized by the hockey game on the big screen TV . . . too bad I wasn't, my sucky margarita might have tasted better, but I digress, ha-ha).

Each day, we would be out of the hotel by 9am and not get back until around 9pm or later. We NEVER came back for a nap. Nick NEVER fell asleep in his stroller. Although, there was one exception--Wednesday night. Nick fell asleep in his chair at the Italian restaurant just before 9:00pm. I guess we might have pushed it just a "little" bit hard that day.

OH, and he had his FIRST time in a swimming pool just before that. Before you say, "What???" The only reason we hadn't gone before was that I couldn't get Nick to put on/keep on his swimming trunks.














The travel package we got allowed us to enter Toon Town an hour early and take part in a special "Town Hall" celebration, where we all became honorary Toon Town citizens. We got LOTS of character photos (not all are "framers" but Nick loved meeting everyone) . . . Mickey-a few times, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip & Dale. We also met several other characters throughout Disneyland and CA Disney--Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Jasmine & Aladdin, Cinderella, Alice, and Mulan.














It was a great trip! We semi-decided that our next trip will be when Nick is 7 years old. He went at 18 mos, 3.5 years (a little more than double), so the next trip he should be twice his current age . . . unless, we just can't wait, but I think we can.

Tomorrow, I'll share some of our adventures from going on the rides, watching the shows, and enjoying the parades!

Snowmen in May?

Here it is the LAST day of May -- teasingly close to the first day of summer. It was a nice sunny 70 degree day today.

However, at bed time . . . all that Nicholas could talk about was what we were going to do for Christmas. I kept telling him that Christmas wasn't for another 6 months!

But, that didn't matter. He just kept saying "No, Mama. I want it to be Christmas!"

Ahhh, yes. It starts early doesn't it.

Notice that HE chose to wear his red snowmen jammies tonight.

Digger Day

Back in February, our little branch library had a Princess Party ... so, now that it's the end of spring, they thought they should do something for the little men. So, they created Digger Day!












Although half of the kids attending were girls, Nicholas had a great time. He created some "signs" for his toy area and decorated his hard hat. He did the Dump Truck Relay--



running the truck up the path, putting a rock in the truck, and running it back to unload. There was a small sandcastle building area. And, of course, there were snacks--gummy worms and chocolate pudding (as close to worms and dirt as you could get).

I WAS a Gilmore Girl

If you didn't already know . . . I really love the television show
Gilmore girls.

Long story short . . .

Last night during our Firkin dinner,
Brenda and I were sharing our "college" stories.


As I told one of mine, I mentioned the dorm I used to live in -- Gilmore Hall (at UC Davis). All of a sudden, I heard myself say it, and I started laughing. I stopped my story, looked straight at Brenda, and said . . . "Oh, Wow! I really WAS a Gilmore girl."