DISNEYLAND

I am FINALLY getting around to posting our Disneyland trip. We left Washington in the midst of ice and destruction and landed in California in the midst of...... rain. Bummer! But the temperature was in the 70's and we aren't afraid of a little rain so we headed straight to the park. It was fantastic! I doubt Disneyland could be less crowded. We walked right on to most of the rides and rode our favorites quite a few times that day!

The next day was Sunday and since we stayed at Disneyland until 11pm the night before we slept in and then visited some long-lost friends and family. It was so much fun to catch up! We loved being able to get re-acquainted with my Aunt Linda, Uncle Mel, and my cousin Shawnie and her cute family. I haven't seen Shawnie since before Jaxson was even born so it has been a looooong time! We were also lucky enough to have dinner at my former roommate/fantastic friend Kim's house and meet her four beautiful girls. It was a little crazy to be standing there talking to her -which felt exactly like it used to- and to have SEVEN children between the 2 of us running around upstairs. We would often fall asleep in college talking about what our families would be like some day; it was so much fun to see the result!

We spent the next 5 days at Disneyland and California Adventure. We rode every ride, saw every show (I think!), and probably ate just about every kind of food served there. We loved loved loved it.

Carson was super brave and wanted to go on every ride. We were very fortunate that he barely cleared the 40 inch height requirement so he was able to go on most of them! His favorite was Splash Mountain and his least favorite was the Haunted Mansion (duh, Mom and Dad, what were we thinking?!?!). Carson was such a champ and was willing to try everything there was to try. He found out he would get his way quickest if he started chanting, so he was often saying "Pirates! Pirates! Pirates" or "Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!" He also LOVED the parade and we went a second time just for him.

Disneyland is just the perfect place for Kaisa. She adores princesses and castles and *magic* so she loved every minute. Well, every minute except Splash Mountain and the Haunted Mansion (again, bad parenteral oversight on the Haunted Mansion but we really did think she would like Splash Mtn!). She actually started out crying when we were all just going on the swings so she came a very long way by the end of our trip. Her favorite ride was the Thunder Mountain Railroad and Soarin' Over California and Goofy's Sky School and...... We were so proud of how brave she was because we know those first few rides were not easy for her (or us!).

Jaxson is our daredevil. His favorite rides were the Tower of Terror and California Screamin' rollercoaster. He got to ride all the "big" rides at least twice since Tony and I each took turns going with him. But when he wanted to do the Tower of Terror in the dark I was happy to let Tony redo that one... I doubt there was a "least favorite" ride for Jaxson. He was such a good sport and went on all the kiddie rides without a complaint. He made a great Jedi warrior too, and we were all so relieved when he defeated Darth Maul! He also walked sooooo much. Carson usually rode on Tony's shoulders and Kaisa took Carson's place in the stroller but Jaxson was stuck walking. He was awesome, though.

We bought an autograph/photo book on our first day and had a lot of fun filling it up with character autographs. Definitely Carson's favorite was Woody. He was the only one that Carson brought out his own notebook for an autograph. And I love the adoring look on his face as he signed it...

Luckily, the weather turned beautiful and we enjoyed lots and lots of sunshine. How I miss it....

We got lots and lots of autographs. Another favorite character was Buzz Lightyear.

My favorite was Tigger. He was so cute and cuddly and he played a lot with the kids.
Tony's favorite was this guy. It felt a little wierd hugging a big hairy monster but it was kinda fun too!

Although we tried to talk the kids into another trip to Hawaii, I am really glad they won and we went to Disneyland. We had so much fun together and created so many happy memories. On the third day when Carson spontaneously said "Thank you for taking us to Disneyland" it was all worth it. The kids have mentioned some aspect of the trip almost every day since and they are looking forward to a repeat!