We went to Disneyland!

The next morning we packed a lunch and headed out for Disneyland. One of the perks of living in Southern California is that you can buy a "membership" to Disneyland and go when you like (within a few boundaries). Another advantage of living in southern CA is that you probably know someone who works at Disney (or know someone who knows someone) and can get your visitors in for free! You can't beat a free day at Disneyland!



Thomas and Katherine were very happy to be there.


For our first ride we went on the carousel.  Thomas loved it.


And even though it wasn't her first time, Katherine seemed to enjoy it too.


Next it was time for our first long line of the day (Sheena said it was much more crowded than a usual non-summer Friday...we think some folks were on spring break), to ride the Dumbo ride.


Finally it was our turn.  Sheena and the girls picked their Dumbo:


And Thomas and I got in ours:


He was a little nervous about going high, but he enjoyed it.  Here he was in mid-flight:


In future Disney trips, we'll stand in line to take all the appropriate pictures with various Disney characters, but Thomas was really too shy to pose anyway and that just wasn't important on this particular visit.  Instead, I tried to take pictures of some of them as they rushed by to go take a break or something.  Like Winnie the Pooh...


And here's Thomas (down in front in the stroller) waving to Tigger:


If you asked Thomas what he enjoyed most at Disneyland, he would probably tell you it was riding the train that went around the park.  He loved that train.

Notice he even was wearing his favorite shirt that day...a train shirt.

Anyway, the ride was great fun for him...


We rode the train all the way around, and made a few stops along the way (this was at the main gate area).  We got on at the New Orleans Square area.




Next we went to Tomorrowland and rode the rocket ride:


Sheena decided to sit this one out with (7-month old) Lauren, so I took the two children with me. 


Thomas was in front and he was a bit nervous at first:


But he finally relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the ride. 

Next we headed over to Toon Town (VERY young child friendly).  The kids enjoyed playing in some stationary cars:


Then Aunt Sheena took them into this large boat while I sat out with a napping Lauren.


Then we (the kids and I, while Sheena was feeding Lauren and we were waiting for Pete to join us) went in Chip & Dale's "house" -- which was a treehouse you walked into and then right back down some stairs.  So I was thinking (wrongfully) that Mickey's house would be the same.  I didn't think Mickey would be there.  Then I found a line at the back and thought Mickey was right around the corner.  Those Disney people are smart.  You can't see much of the line in front of you because it kept going around corners.  Before I knew it, we were at a point where we might as well wait, but it was quite a wait (at least 30 minutes).  At least there were entertaining props along the way.




Then we got to last section before we got to see Mickey.  It was a movie theater like room showing old clips of Mickey Mouse.  Thomas was entranced.  Finally it was our turn to go in and meet Mickey.  Both the children initially went up to him, but as soon as I pulled out the camera, Thomas ran to me and Katherine turned shy.  :)


I managed to get Thomas back in the picture by standing there with him, but he still didn't want to look at the camera.  Oh well...better luck next time!


By the time we made it to our last ride of the day, the kiddie roller coaster, the kids were deliriously tired.  They were a little slap happy, screaming every time the coaster went over our heads.




Everyone around us was probably most happy when it was finally our turn (and I'm sure their ears were thankful too).  Thomas was happy when he got in...


But he wasn't a fan of the roller coaster.  I was glad it was really short because I'm not a fan either.  We made it through and there were no tears, but he did yell out most of the end of it, "I don't like this!!!!"  Sheena has a video of it; I'll have to get it from her!

On the way out, we stopped at the Disneyland fire station and the kids had a blast playing in there.




Somehow Thomas managed to stay awake for the ride home (just barely!), but Katherine gave in to her body's better senses:


The next morning at breakfast, they were still very much in a Disney sort of mood:


Many thanks to Sheena (and Pete) for sharing such a fun adventure with us; and to their church friend with connections for making it a free adventure! 

More California stories to come...