Disneyland!

Oh poor neglected blog.  Once upon a time, last November, I got a new church calling that knocked me off my feet for a little bit.  Recording our family's goings-on on our blog got pushed way way down on my to-do list.  But I'm feeling a little more on top of things now and one of our YW goals for the summer is to journal.  This is my journal.  Our little family photobook, and it desperately needs to be caught up!  So here we go.

Way back in the end of January we surprised the boys with a trip to Disneyland.  We had planned it a few months prior with Cody, Aubry and their family and we waited until the morning of to surprise the boys.  They were thrilled and their reaction was so worth waiting for.

At the airport I overheard Tate whispering to Finn, "This is just what I wished for when I threw my penny in the fountain!"  Such dear, sweet kiddos.

The first night after we arrived we wandered over and picked up our tickets then found somewhere yummy for dinner in Downtown Disney.  Then we found a fun street performer and camped out dancing to his music while we waited for Cody and Aubry and crew to arrive so we could say hi for a second before heading back to bed.  Aubry's parents decided to join us and we were so excited to spend time with them too.  Brent and Suzanne were like adopted grandparents to our kiddos.  So helpful and kind all day long every day.  They were amazing Disney companions.  But of course, we knew they would be, Aubry is their daughter.  How could they be anything but wonderful Disneymaniacs?

I think this might be the best trip to Disney we've had.  Unfortunately a lot of things were closed for refurbishment because it's the off season, but most of the main stuff was still open and it was amazing how easy it was to get around and get on rides.  Lines were short nearly everywhere and I actually enjoyed the shortened park hours too.  We were at the park from opening to closing and our kids still got a full nights' sleep and weren't overtired on top of being worn out from walking all day.

Our first day we started off with California Adventure which meant Radiator Springs Racers!  We met up with the Hansen crew in line.

It's bizarre to me how much Tate loves being abused by his Uncle Cody.  We're in line at our first ride and Cody picks Tate up and pretends to throw him in the garbage and Tate just looks up at him and says, "I love you."  They have a strange but somehow sweet relationship.

We spent the morning in Cars land riding rides to our hearts' content.

We were worried that our little 2 year old Finny was going to be much more trouble than last year's one year old Finny.  We were pretty sure we were going to lose him at some point.  The kid just has no fear.  Luckily, we didn't lose him even once and he was pretty darn pleasant the whole time.  He'd get cranky and conk out when he was tired.  He didn't throw a tantrum when he was too short to ride something that Tate went on, we just took him somewhere else and he was fine.  It was a surprisingly good trip for the little guy.

Here we are sharing some ice cream treats and waiting for Cody and Mya to come down Grizzly River Rapids.  

A Bug's Land was fun for little man Finny.  He could ride everything and felt like such a big boy.

 Sweet Gramma Keetch with our lady bug full of kiddos.

 Here we are after World of Color the first night.  It was Glenn's first time seeing the show and he really liked it. The kids were pretty exhausted even though I think the show was only at 8, so I'm not sure how much they remember, but it was a pretty fantastic ending to our first day.

 Sweet Gramma and Grampa Keetch.  

 The next day we did Disneyland.  We started in Fantasyland since those lines tend to get long quick.  Peter Pan is still one of my very favorites.  Well worth the wait for me.  

 The cousins tried hard to get the sword from the stone but no luck.  Maybe next time kiddos.

 Sweet Aubry and her sweet little Sade-o.

 Finny loves taking tickle abuse from Uncle Cody too.  These boys love their Uncle.

 Waiting in the long line for the Casey Jr. train we found the perfect solution for getting Finny to stay still in line!  If they only had spare chains every few feet in every line in the park, we'd be set!

 Tate rode the Matterhorn for the first time this year.  He loved it.  He's getting to be such a brave boy.  He loved Space Mountain too and said it was his very favorite.  I'm pretty sure Finny face is going to be a brave rider as well.

 Poor Finny fell backwards out of the stroller onto the cement in the middle of a tantrum.  Poor boy had a pretty big goose egg really fast.  Luckily he has a really handsome Daddy to snuggle him all better.  

While we ate lunch we watched the Star Ward Training Academy show.  Tate and Finn were entranced by the kids fighting Darth Maul and Darth Vader.  It was like a dream come true.  Since we've been home the boys have asked to watch it several times on youtube.  They are so ready to participate next time.  

 Tate and I on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.  I wish I had a picture of Finny on this ride.  It was his absolute favorite.  Glenn and I took him on it over and over while one of us went with Tate on Space Mountain and Star Tours right next door.  Finn loved it so much.  He kept saying "I want to play my game!"  And now, 6 months later, he still tells people on the phone or in the store, "Did you know I went on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters?"  Which is just delicious to hear his little voice say.

 Little man Hayze was such a darling on this trip.  His "ticked" cry is still so mild and sweet.  It just sounds so sad.  And the little doll just smiles so easily.  I wanna kiss his face all day long!

 That night Uncle Seth came up from San Diego to have dinner with us in Downtown Disney.  It was so good to see him and he was so kind to drive all that way just to have dinner with us.  He's a good uncle and was very sweet to the boys who were SUPER tired after our second Disney day.

Our last day we started in California Adventure by talking to Dude Crush. Tate even got to ask him a question which was pretty exciting.

 Tate found another favorite ride.  Goofy's Sky School.  He probably rode it 4 or 5 times.

 Nana gave Tate a Disney gift card for our trip and he waited until the end of our second day to spend it on this R2D2 Micky hat.  He wore it all the next day and was very careful to store it during rides and collect it right after.  It was a precious souvenir. 

 Daddy getting some love from Finnster while waiting in line at Toy Story Mania.

 

 The boys saying "hi" to Red the Firetruck.

 Little Finny and Glenn on Luigi's Flying Tires.

 I love this picture of Tate on the "Never Tire" advertisement bench, completely exhausted from our day.

 We spent our last evening in Disneyland hitting up some more rides all over the park and we ended the night spinning in the teacups.  Then Glenn let me shop just a little bit on the way out before he and the boys were done.  

Just enough time for one more picture with my Disney partner in crime.  I'm so glad she's my sister and always up for a Disney adventure.  We just do Disney so well together.  We know where to eat, how to beat the lines, and do everything that we want without being stressed.  It's bliss.  I hope we can do this many many more times over the years.