California!

Oh my goodness!  There is so much to say about our trip!  In thinking about the best way to sum it all up in a couple of posts I have decided to start with Disney. Disneyland was the true thrust of this trip for me.  As a kid we visited Disneyland for the first time when I was 14.  I was so excited!  My mom had made her first trip at a similar age, so it felt like we were carrying on a tradition.  We even stayed at the same hotel she stayed at all those years ago!  This time around though, we did things a bit differently.  We opted for Homewood Suites where we had a bit of room to stretch out and we could put the kids to bed a bit before we retired ourselves.  They serve breakfast AND dinner and have a super-sunny pool, so we were quite happy with our lodgings.

I opted for 4 one park per day tickets figuring we would do two days at Disneyland and two days at California Adventure.  In my mind we would do Disneyland first for two days and then California Adventure for two days.  Following the kids' lead though, we went to Disneyland on Monday and then California Adventure on Tuesday.  We took Wednesday off from theme parks and then went back to Disneyland on Thursday and Friday.  In the end we felt like we had seen all that we wanted to see in California Adventure in one day.  Disneyland has more hidden things to explore.  Even on Friday, our third day in the park, we were still riding new rides!  The kids had fun at both parks...they were so overwhelmed the first day.  The park was packed that day and there was so much to see!  We watched the parade and took in the show Mickey's Magical Map.  They were both fantastic...Disney parades are one of my favorite things!

There are sooooo many pictures, it's hard to choose just a few to share, but I tried...

Day One: Disneyland

we had been inside the park for about 15 minutes here...

my favorite part of the parade!

girls with Grandma in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle

Kelsey and Grandma before their first real ride

Stacy and I before our first real ride

Stacy's face after Thunder Mountain Railroad

Day Two: California Adventure

Kelsey before the first ride of the day

Stacy before the first ride of the day

by far my favorite part of California Adventure!

of course we posed with Lightening McQueen!

Day Three: Disneyland

Autopia was a hit...the driver's licenses were too!

after visiting the Lego store in Downtown Disney

their reaction to Disney after dark...priceless!

Day Four: Disneyland

heading into Star Tours for the 2nd time

yup...holding hands!

this guy's job is to sit in this room in the dream house in Tomorrowland and tell stories--another dream job!

Of course, if you want to see more photos you can visit Fotki...there are lots for your browsing!

Disneyland Day One
Disneyland Day Two
Disneyland Day Three
California Adventure

I'll do my best to be back tomorrow to tell you about our other non-Disney adventures!