Thursday, October 30, 2008

Family Reunion - Day 3

Day three was Disneyland day! Everyone was so excited! Gam and Pa rode with us on the 60 mile drive from our beach house in Oceanside to Anaheim. Anaheim always feels a bit like home to me since my grandma has lived about a mile away from Disneyland my entire life. It felt strange to be that close to her and not see her, but it was just not possible that day.




Hooray!! We're almost there!

Gam and Pa were with us in the beginning.....and then we split up most of the day. As much as we wanted to spend time with family....it sounded too hard to move around in a group of 20+ people ranging in age from 2-64!

We had one day hopper pass tickets, so we went to California Adventure for the first couple hours of the day. Here's my inexperienced opinion: If you only have one or two days to go to Disneyland and you rarely get to go, DON'T go to California Adventure. Get two day Disney tickets. But if you get to go fairly often (at least once per year) and have a couple days, do a whole day at Disney and a whole day at C.A. I just think that both parks in one day dilutes them both too much and feels like you are wasting precious time. There were some fun parts to C.A......it's just that we felt anxious to get to Disney so we were rushing a bit. (This was a fun picture....they had EVERYTHING decorated for Halloween, including this "A" from California Adventure as a big candy corn).

This was the girls' first really high ride. They were a little scared at first, but ended up loving it. It shot up in the air (not too fast) and then bounced up and down a few more times before landing.

We spent a little bit of time in the Bug's Life area of California Adventure. This ride was sort of like the Dumbo ride.....but I swear they make the newer rides even shorter. I think it was a 30 second ride, TOPS. But it was simple and fun. You may not be able to tell, but I was probably fake-smiling by this point. I was on my period (sorry, TMI), grumpy, tired, and HOT...it was like 95 degrees and that is NOT what I was expecting at the end of October! My mood lightened up (a bit) throughout the day, but sadly, I would not have won the award for the most cheerful mom in the park.

Peyton did fairly well during the long day. She didn't nap until late, so she was a bit ornery and whiney. But she perked right up when we saw these crayons at the Princess' area! Who knew! A $ .98 box of crayons brought as much or more joy than a $60 ticket to Disneyland!


I let the girls pick out a face painting at the princess boutique. They were so excited! I can't explain how fast these ladies did it. I was glad I snapped this picture right away because the second I turned around, Jordyn was tugging on my shirt to show me her painting. Literally, maybe 60 seconds. They felt special and like they got the (albiet short) royal treatment!


Jordyn picked a beautiful bouquet of hearts for her princess face painting.


Lexi LOVED her make-up and was so sad when it washed off!


My three cute princesses!

Always gotta go on the Carousel! The girls love it!

Peyton and Mommy on the Carousel!


I convinced Jordyn and Lexi to go on their first official roller coaster "Thunder Mountain". They were hesitant, but I talked them into it. They had to be 40 inches tall, and they are both a little taller than that, so Tucker stayed with Peyton and off we ran! I was glad there wasn't much of a wait because they didn't have time to think about backing out. It was a great first roller coaster for them! They were a bit freaked out during it, but I think a little part of them also liked it. Jordyn told me she was scared, but liked it still. And Lexi said she hated it!

Lexi wasn't sure. Said she hated it and even cried. But then just today told me that when she thinks about the train ride, she actually loves it! (told ya Lex!)


Jordyn's pure and honest freak-out on the ride!


What a cute Winnie the Pooh bear! This was right after the psychadellic Pooh ride.


Me, Jordyn, Lexi and my father-in-law Neal on the tea cups. I love 'em and want to go as fast as possible......Tucker, on the other hand, nearly throws up at the mere thought of a tea cup.


Most of the gang! We are missing Maren, Greg and their kids. We didn't see each other until the end of the long day, and we were lucky to get this picture on our way out of the park!

3 comments:

Daytrippingmom Media said...

The girls looked like they had so much fun. I love Jordyn's roller coaster picture. I can't believe they both went on the ride. I still get scared on that one. LOL!! The face painting is always so fun. I love seeing all the little princesses walking around with their face painted.

Your opinion of the parks is right on-I totally agree about California Adventure. It's just impossible to do two parks in one day and if you are from out of town I would definitely only do Disneyland. California Adventure is really more of a locals park.

Daytrippingmom Media said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
britt said...

As TIRING as day 2 and 3 sound, I am sure it was a lot of fun! I remember all of that, as if we were there yesterday and it was over a year ago. We would love to go to Sea World, but when we were down there, the cost just seemed way too much and our time was limited!
Keep havin' fun!!
One of these days, b4 our kids are teenagers, it would be so fun to go to Disneyland together!