Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time (in January), we went to Disneyland...It was magical! We arrived just after lunch on a Wednesday afternoon and met my mom and my sister Heidi and family at Disneyland for the beginning of our 3 wonderful days of DISNEY.

The magic began immediately when Parker walked into Disneyland to be greeted by all of the Disney characters...Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and more!

Day 2: California Adventure
This was a first for me! We loved all of the Pixar characters and or course fell in love with the Toy Story Mania Ride! Aren't these little cousins adorable? Hannah and Braden are only 6 weeks apart and oh so cute!World of Color was amazing! Parker loved hanging out with his Aunt Heidi!

I think we wore these kiddos out! The four youngest children all managed to find a way to get in a nap when they couldn't handle the excitement anymore!

Day 3: DisneylandPirate IslandToon Town
And just for memories sake ... here are a few things I don't want to forget (most that I stole from my sister Heidi...because to be honest I have already forgotten after 8 months):

*The SUN! It was so gorgeous.
*Characters on every corner. We had so many interactions in fact, that we chose to cancel our character breakfast. We had already seen everyone!
*Watching Parker's excitement to get the characters' signatures
*Hot chocolate and donuts and muffins every morning for breakfast at our fabulous hotel, The Candy Cane Inn. One such morning I spent about 2 hours there because Braden woke up early and I knew that everyone else needed the sleep!
*Parker falling alseep for a nap and staying asleep while we carried him on the rides.
*MISSING the shuttle every evening and walking home after a long day in the park.
*Parker LOVING all of the character cars in Toon Town.
*Parker's explanation of where the different characters were and why Daisy was not at Disneyland (because she was too tired)
*Listening to at least 20 people recite the lines along with the narrator in the Haunted Mansion. "There are no windows ... and no doors ...". Screaming just for fun when all the lights went off.
*Being able to walk straight on most of the rides. Going in January is fabulous!
*Somehow managing to go on all of the spinning rides because none of the other adults would go with the kids...and I thought that I would have an out!
*Monte Cristo sandwiches. Yummmm.
*Laughing because my sister would try to make me nervous on rides and then after going I would have to tell her that she built it up a little too much! But still loving the adventure :)
*Watching Parker and his cousin Teagan have so much fun together. Especially when they were wearing 3-D glasses on Toy Story Mania.
*World of Color in California Adventure.
*Braden being scared of every character. He liked them from a distant, but didn't want to get anywhere near them. The only character that was remotely okay was Handy Manny.
*Eating funnel cake late at night.
*Swimming in the afternoon.
*Parker running into a pole and getting special attention from the Disneyland employees at lunch
*Applesauce, cookies, treats, ice cream, and more
*Parker writing a note from the parking lot as we were leaving my sister to go home and insisting that we write a note to Uncle Derek because he missed him so much.
*Realizing that I really don't like the Finding Nemo submarine (even though it doesn't go under the water) because I guess I am claustrophobic!
*Losing Asher's shirt. Finding Asher's shirt. My sister losing one her my diamond earrings. Finding the diamond earring (!). Losing my phone. Finding phone after Parker's sweet prayer. ALL of this happening on different days at different times but as we were going on the SAME ride. There must be a curse with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ...
*Having far too much fun.