The Magic Kingdom

Following our San Diego Family Reunion Trip, we headed straight for Disneyland...  which was a complete surprise for the kids.  They had NO idea.  All 3 kids fell asleep in the car and the way and when we got there, they were confused.  Melanie asked if we were at a museum, so I went with that.  We were parked in the boon-docks and needed to take their bus to the gates.  It wasn't until we were on the bus and the bus driver said "All you little boys and girls... make sure you thank your moms, dads or grandparents for taking you to Disneyland.  Or this bus can go to Walmart instead" that Melanie caught on (all glowing and a little nervous).  Noelle didn't understand where we were until she saw the gates.

 It was very festive, but still easy to tell that we were at the Magic Kingdom.   We had so much fun.  There are a lot of pictures, not all of them will get captions.

 We were there for 3 days, so there was plenty of time to do and see everything... but the first thing we had to see was the castle and the princesses.  That's all the girls knew was at Disneyland, and that's what they had been begging to go there for.  They didn't know there were rides or shows... just princesses.  So, first stop, Fantasy Land.

 Eventually we got them on some rides... and then the real fun began.

 Of course, we did see some princesses.

 And a few shows.

 In Frontier Land, Oliver got to pet some goats and sheep.

 Melanie's favorite ride was "It's a Small World".

 On the second day, Melanie started getting a little more daring with the rides.  It all started with Splash Mountain.  Noelle was a 1/2" too short to ride, which was fine, because she had no desire, so Oliver, Noelle and I ate our lunch and watched while all the crazy people went down the big waterfall.  We had a blast.

 And apparently, so did Melanie... who got right back in line with Dad to ride it again.

 Any time Oliver looked like this... we went to find a princess...

 Or other crazy characters.

 Then we checked out California Adventures.  There were a few times that Melanie and Dad went on bigger rides, so Noelle, Oliver and I tried out some other rides on our own.  Here we are spinning in Lady Bugs.  

 Or we would snack.

 Here is Melanie in front of the Tower of Terror, a ride that Dad convinced her to go on... and that gave her nightmares later.  Apparently it is based on the Twilight Series and involves an old fashion elevator that drops...  several times.  She says that it was her nightmare.  Then she had dreams  that night where she was saying "please don't make me ride that again".  Poor girl.

 Oliver's Favorite ride was the crazy Mator's Tractors.  I have to say, they were a lot of fun.

 On Thursday, we did some more exploring.  While  Dad and Melanie rode on Star Tours, Oliver, Noelle and I blasted some bad guys to help Buzz Lightyear save the galaxy.

 When Oliver fell asleep again, we decided to meet a few more princesses.  I am really glad that we did.

 Then we headed back to California Adventures to send the rest of our day.   

 I did something crazy.  I rode on my first Ferris Wheel... and this one was a bit crazy.  I rode in a gondola that wasn't fitted, but actually slide and swung.  I haven't been that scared in a long time.  Which, of course, scared the children too.  Thank heavens it only went around twice.  

 This smile was before my terror began.

 Woody had a fun 3-D ride.  I'm a sucker for cute kids in silly glasses, so I couldn't resist.

 While Dad and Melanie did another roller coaster, Noelle, Oliver and I checked out a wilderness path full of fun mini adventures.  One adventure (not pictured) involved us crossing several rope net bridges.  I'm sure we made quite a site... what with me 6 months pregnant, carrying a backpack that is about as big as my front is, holding Noelle's hand with one of mine and practically carrying Oliver with the other.  At this point, Oliver's feet fit through the ropes, but he still want to "walk", so I'm lifting the best I can.  Noelle is practically climbing up me for fear of her feet falling through as well... and it's all wide open, so I have nothing to use to balance myself.  Add the older kids running past us like crazy bandits.  Not sure what I was thinking, but we were proud of ourselves when we made it.  There were a lot of shooting "woo hoo!" and giving high 5's.  

After that, I was happy to find this slide that kept their attention for a while.

 We did a few more little rides...

 But eventually headed back to Mator.  What can I say, it's just too fun to pass up.

 On our way out the door, we ran into a parade and decided to stay and watch.

That was Noelle's favorite part (aside from the Princesses).  That night (Thursday) we left the park, had dinner and then drove all the way home.  We had such a great vacation.  It was so much fun.