back to DISNEYLAND!

We just can’t get enough of the happiest place on earth.

This time my kids were invited.

Wes was working in California all week so Sam and I packed up the boys and drove to Anaheim first thing Thursday morning.  Wes couldn’t take that day off so Sam and I met up with two childhood friends who live in So Cal. with Disney passes – Katie & Natalie.  It was great to catch up and visit with friends we’ve had for 20+ years. 

Wes met us for dinner at Downtown Disney that night & then we checked in to our hotel.  This was the first time Ryan has slept in the same general area as the rest of us & definitely the first time he shared a room with Nate.  Lets just say it was a long night and luckily Nate was exhausted and slept through it all.  At one point, Ryan was sleeping next to Wes and he fell off the bed.  It was an experience I’m not really looking forward to again.  But we survived.  The best part was as the boys were trying to fall asleep Ryan just kept saying, “Nate.  Nate.  Nate.”  and as soon as he woke up he started saying “Nate. Nate. Nate.”

Friday was our day at Disneyland with Wes.  He hasn’t been with us since Nate was 2 and I was pregnant with Ryan.  It was so great to have him there!  It was his first time at California Adventure so I wanted him to just go have fun so Ryan was my little buddy for most of the day so Wes could go with Sam/Nate on a lot of the rides & we met up in between. 

We weren’t going to wait in the long Cars Land line but as we were sitting in A Bugs Land, a cute old couple came up and asked if 3 of us wanted to go with them right then on the Cars ride because they had a special pass and their grandkids were asleep at the hotel.  It was our lucky day!

 

This was really Ryan’s first trip to Disneyland. [He went for a few hours in July but that didn’t really count].  He absolutely loved the rides.  He cried and tried to stay on the ride almost every time.  As we’d walk past Thunder Mountain or Splash Mountain – he’d yell “me ride dat.  Me big.  Me ride dat.”  He wished he was 40” all day long.  But he truly loved every ride [well, except for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride] and had a great time.  His favorite ride was definitely Jungle Cruise.  He loved seeing the animals!  We went 3 times. 

The poor guy was hammered and by the end of the 2 days I thought my arms were going to fall off from carrying him so much.  Even though it’s exhausting, I had a great time with my little guy. 

Nate overcame a few of his Disneyland fears [he’s a bit of a weenie] but he still definitely is not a fan of a few of them, too.  But he did tell me yesterday that he’d go on almost any ride for a treat! 

[We were standing in the Toy Story line and I held Ryan like this and within a minute or two he was dead asleep!  This is the boy who doesn’t sleep anywhere but his bed so you know he was tired!]

It was a great trip – glad Wes was able to join us!