Disneyland Fun

I know, I know.... these collages are on here 2x, but the ones below won't let you click to enlarge, and these will...I can't figure it out but until I do I'll just leave these up! The post really starts below....

OUR DISNEYLAND ADVENTURE
September 14-19th, 2009

Get ready for a major overload of pictures!!!Above are Parker and Emmie as we walked in through the bright & shiny D-Land gates on Monday morning. Parker glowing with anticipation....
Emmie.....SOUND ASLEEP.

That's right. Right next to the marching band!

Our week at the Happiest Place on Earth was full of excitement, big smiles, exhaustion, and a few (to be expected) break downs. Overall, it really was so magical! There is just something about Disney that makes for an incredible experience. Watching Parker and Emmie's faces light up at every turn was absolutely priceless and we definitely created some memorable moments!

10 of our FAVORITE THINGS on this trip.....

(in random order!)

10. Meeting Disney characters!
Parker was so excited to get everyone's 'autograph', and the cute little book he had them signing also provides a place to put each character's picture above it. He is going to love looking through it once we get the pictures developed!

9. The Tiki Room!
This is a show of dancing and singing birds and Parker and Emmie loved it! Chris and I loved the A/C that accompanied the show! :)
Also a favorite in that neck of the woods was Pirates of the Caribbean. Parker referred to it as the 'scary' ride and told us the first couple days that it was his favorite.

(Keep reading to find out what quickly became his true #1)

8. Turning 30 at Disneyland! (That's right - I said T-H-I-R-T-Y!!!)
Celebrating my birthday at the park (Tuesday, the 15th) was so much fun. I was given a Happy Birthday button to wear with my name it and every time a Disney employee spotted my button, they would say, "Happy Birthday, Michelle!" For some reason it was just fun to have random strangers constantly yelling out "Happy Birthday!". Plus they gave me a $72 gift card to use on merchandise in the park. I totally recommend going for your big day. It was really, really fun!
After our day at Disney, we went to the Cheesecake Factory (now just down the street) for dinner. I was blessed to end my Big Day with some Oreo cheesecake.
Now THAT is something to celebrate!!!


7. Feeding the ducks in Critter Country at lunch time.
Parker loved this when we did it with him at 20 months, and he loved it at three!


6. Finding Nemo!
We only went on this twice due to lines, but Parker and Emmie both really loved it!

5. Toy Story Ride!

There is a new Toy Story ride over in CA Adventure, and it is sooooo much fun! We went numerous times and it was definitely a top favorite!

4. Emmie meeting the characters!


Her face would just light up every time we got close to a character. Some kids were afraid of them... Not our Emmie. She was grinning ear to ear and would try to grab their noses and even attempted to eat a few of them....! (Surprise, surprise.:))

3. The Pixar Parade in CA Adventure Park!

This parade was soooooooooo well done! The kids loooved it and the choreography was amazing. Definitely a highlight!

2. Parker meeting his beloved friend, Mickey Mouse.
Parker has been infatuated with his buddy Mickey for about a year and a half now. He was Mickey for Halloween last year, is a HUGE Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan, sleeps with his two Mickey's every night.... you get the idea. We've been talking about meeting Mickey all summer and he was really looking forward to it! Luckily, we had several run-ins with Mickey during our stay. It was very exciting! :)


1. What was Parker's favorite ride you ask??? None else but
THE MATTERHORN!!!
That's right, my (barely) 3 year old looooved one of the fastest rides in the park! He went on it four times, and it would have been a lot more but the lines were long. This was the only 'big' ride that he was tall enough for....can't wait to see what he thinks of Space Mountain in a year or two!

Amidst all of the excitement, by the end of the day (like 5:00!) our kids were more into DREAMland than DISNEYland. It was such a fun trip, but truly exhausting for all of us!

We are so grateful that we could go and spend such adventurous, quality time together.

We LOVED it and can't wait to do it again! :)