our disney adventure

after a 3 hour delay due to fog in the tri-cities and the panic search for a lost 3 year old, who was told by their dad they could head back to security to find their mom, which obviously resulted in a heated argument between ned and i, we were finally off to sunny california!!  

our flight went smoothly and after we arrived we picked up our rental car, drove to our hotel, desert palms, ate dinner at ihop, took a dip in the pool, watched re-runs of waverly place, made a run to the grocery store for snacks, planned out our day at disneyland and then hit the sack!!

our first day at disneyland!!  we were excited and anxious for a fun filled day!!  i had been to disneyland when i was about 11 and disneyworld when i was in high school and ned and the kids had never been so it was a brand new adventure for all of us!!  william was such a good kid too!  by day 3,  not so much!!our goal the first day was to get on as many rides as we could.  since it is off-season, the lines were not very long and so we were pretty successful in hitting every ride we wanted to and then some!!  ned had this great app on his i-phone that made it easy to see how long the wait was at different rides.  so we would check out the wait and then head wherever the lines were shortest.  we also split up a bit, ned taking the older kids and me with the younger kids or vice versa.  this helped keep everyone happy!  

after we joined up with ned and the kids we
went over to adventureland to try out thunder
mountain, indiana jones, pirates of the carribean, etc.
while taking a lunch break, we explored tarzans' tree
house and the jungle boats.

 the first place me and the little kids hit was fantasyland.   we were able to get on most of the rides before ned returned with hunter and emma. we took about 40 min. out of our riding time to stand in line to meet rapunzel and flynn rider.  i wasn't too excited about standing in line, but when we got into the room to meet them, it was awesome!!!! the best part of the day for me and issy!






they were super friendly and they spoke to issy and william for almost 5 min.  they were in character the entire time, asking questions about our kingdom "washington" and all about the "bird" we flew on to get to california.  it was so wonderful!!!  we took pictures with them as well.
william was a little tentative at first but flynn was very kind and friendly and in the end he and will were friends.

splash mountain was one of our favorite rides.  the second day at disney the lines were really short so we went on this ride several times!! while william waited for the older kids to go on splash mountain, he enjoyed going on the winnie the pooh ride with me or ned!

jailed in toon town!

will and i enjoyed toon town! we even got to ride in mickey's car,
right after meeting the famous mouse!!

one of hunter's favorite rides was space mountain.  he loved all the rollercoasters!! 
anything with some speed!

thunder mountain was another favorite roller coaster! all the kids enjoyed this ride!  william went on it once and that was enough for him!!  he was pretty brave but it was a slightly too intense for his first real roller coaster ride!

 buzz lightyear was one of me and will's favorite rides.  he and i both loved shooting our guns at evil zurg!!!! hahahaaaa!!! take that!!

our 2nd day we spent at california adventure!  we had just as much fun, but it wasn't quite as magical as disneyland.  not to mention ned and i went on the california screamin' and got very sick, so the first part of the day ned and i had to let hunter take the kids on the rides.  he, william and issy had stomachs' of steel.  emma did pretty good, she went on everything, even though it did make her a little sick too.  

william LOVED the bumper cars.  

another ride he went on several times over and over!

we were able to take in a show at california adventure park.  it was a disney junior show.  even though william doesn't look happy in this picture(he had just had a tired breakdown a few minutes before) he loved the show once it started.  

bugs' life show.  it was great for older kids, but very intense and scary for william.

  it was in 3D and had lots of scary loud bugs.  i loved the feeling of bugs crawling under our benches.  pretty funny!  it was fun to try and catch the bugs flying around us.  the over-sized giant spiders falling from the ceiling was also really awesome, but not so much for william.

ned and will on the little mermaid ride.
 sweet nice ride, but unfortunately ned was still suffering from
 his nausea to enjoy it. 

tritans carousel!  

we packaged the kids up to be sold, "at a toy store near you!!" 

toy story ride was fun for the whole family.  i couldn't go on it the first time since i'd
just gone on california screamin' and was sick to my stomach.
but i went later.

william and issy were great troopers when it came to walking.  very few complaints.  it may have helped to have a double stroller on the trip too :)!!!
we were definitely wiped out by the end of the day but every morning we were ready to head out once more some fun!!

because it was the off season the lines were not very long. we were able to go on grizzly peak(A FAVORITE OF EVERYONE'S) several times in a row.  it was nice because it was pretty warm that week and it was a great place to cool off.

another favorite ride at california were soaring over california.  i didn't get a picture but it was my favorite ride.  it was a flying ride that took you over the entire state of california.  it was awesome!!  

the third day we went back to disneyland and hit all the rides again.  there were a few we didn't get to go on the first day so we went on those as well.  by midday we had been on everything we wanted to go on(again, it was do to the fact there were short lines) so we took a raft ride over to tom sawyer island to check it out.  it was awesome!  they had fun caves and rock climbing, bridges and trails to explore.  we also enjoyed a quiet leisurely lunch while we were over there too.  it was nice to get away from the crowds.  

we really enjoyed our time at disneyland and california adventure.  the kids were definitely sad to leave.  we had so much fun that when we got back we all got sick for over a week.  well, at least me, ned and the boys.  

bye bye disneyland, see you again in a few years!!