Day 2, Splash mountain

Last but not least, we went to ride Splash Mountain. Brian was once again just barely tall enough, so we had been to look at it the day before and he said he wanted to do it. This is the view from the sidewalk... after seeing it, I wasn't even sure I wanted to do it!

But what the heck, we all got on anyway.

Brian was a little scared on the inside part of the ride, where it's dark and there are animatronic animals singing. But look at that smile as we go down the plunge! He's braver than most of the adults, I think!

All of us, 3 of us soaked, in Critter Country after the ride. After this we headed home for naps, which didn't happen and so we didn't go back in the evening.

Day 2 continued

After riding Autopia twice, we all went on the storybookland canal boats.

It was one of the few rides Eli could go on and I think he enjoyed it.

This is what it was like, lots of little miniature scenes from classic stories. It was peaceful after driving around with my little self-proclaimed "crazy driver".

Then we went on the circus train, another ride that everyone could do. We rode on the "Wild Animals" car, pretty appropriate!

Autopia Utopia

Finally, at 10am Autopia opened. First Brian went with Calvin...

...and then with me.

He's in heaven.

This is what Eli did in the meantime. Poor kid spend a lot of time uncomfortably scrunched up asleep in the stroller.

Disneyland: Day 2, Eli walks around Tomorrowland

On Tuesday we got to enter the park early as part of a Magic Morning. Once again, my plans were thwarted. I had wanted to take Brian on Autopia first thing, since he'd really wanted to drive the cars but there was a long wait the day before. Unfortunately, it wasn't open. So, I took Brian on the Finding Nemo Submarine voyage while Calvin and Eli waited. There was lots of open space to walk around in!

Then Calvin and I took Brian on Astro Blasters while Eli waited with grandpa.

So much fun walking around!

Day 1, part 2

In toontown we rode Gadget's go-coaster; both of the older boys loved it!

We also went through Mickey's house, but I don't think any of the kids found it that interesting. It culminates in a photo-op with Mickey, which was a lot more fun than than the house. Eli was always fascinated with the characters. After this we headed home for lunch and much-needed naps, after the late night from the day before.

An unexpected role-reversal. Actally we mostly did use the stroller for Brian. Here we are returning after naps, off to Disney's California Adventure. We rode Soarin' Over California, which Brian was just barely tall enough for. After some initial panic when the ride lights went down, I think he really enjoyed it. Then we went over to Toy Story Mania, and finally to the food court for dinner.

Grandma helps with feeding Eli his applesauce!

Disneyland: Day 1, part 1

So I'm going to apologize in advance for two things. One, Picasa only lets me post 4 pictures at a time so this will be a little bit fragmented. Also, I might include more detail than anyone wants to know because this is my only record-keeping source. So if you're just here for the pictures, ignore the text.

We got to Disneyland bright and early after our breakfast, and headed off on what was to be a rather ill-fated touring plan from my guidebook. This is us in new orleans squre on our way to splash mountain, which was closed. So we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride, and Brian thought it was scary. So next on the plan was the Haunted Mansion, and I thought if Winnie the Pooh was scary then forget that. But Brian wanted to go, so I took him, but as soon as they opened the door to the ride after a little preamble, he panicked and we had to back out of the line. Haha! I should have known.

Next on the plan was Pirates of the Carribean (this is Eli in front of it) but I thought that would be too scary too so we headed on to the Jungle cruise. That was pretty mild and I liked it a lot for the jokes and Brian liked the animals. After that we took the train over to toontown.

Look how strong we are!

Eli driving a toon car with grandpa.

To be continued!

Day 1: Character Breakfast

Our first day at Disneyland, we had a character breakfast at the Grand Californian Hotel. It was a beautiful place, and at 7:30, we had the place mostly to ourselves! That meant we got to spend a lot of time with the characters and the kids loved it.

Calvin too!

Brian giving a bear a hug. He loved these guys but I have no idea who they are...must be from a movie I didn't see.

Eli meeting Dale. I learned the difference between Chip and Dale on this trip.

Me and the boys with another unknown bear! (Yes, it's different than the first one!)