To all who come to this happy place...

We actually did it! We made our way to the Magic Kingdom. For years, I have caught myself getting a little misty at the idea of walking through that tunnel at the front of Disneyland and watching the look on my kids' faces. Or seeing how excited they would get when they first saw Mickey Mouse in person. -And especially thinking about the reaction they would have at seeing Fantasmic for the first time (seriously, where does the dragon come from?). I was not disappointed in the least. They loved it!

One of the most magical things about Disneyland is usually left unsaid: each visit is better than the last. This visit was that much better for me because I got to see it through my kids' eyes, as they experienced it for the first time. I was accused of re-living my childhood as well, and I readily plead guilty to that. I'll do the same when we go again, and when we go with our grandchildren.

Our first day in the park was May 20, and we took it by storm, getting there just as the park opened. Let the record show that the kids' first ride was the train that encircles the park. We made sure to go to Small World, King Arthur's Carousel, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Pirates, the Haunted Mansion, the Tiki Room... and lots more that I can't seem to recall just now. -One special treat we got to have was a preview of the new Star Tours. This was especially great for me, since I had been lamenting the fact that the park's website said it would be closed the entire time. Since both Dash and I are Star Wars geeks, it made my day to be part of the 'test crowd'. The 3-D revamp of the ride was incredible. As we were leaving, Dash kept asking "Was that real?" The best response I could come up with was "What do you think?" He gave it some thought before he said "I think it was!" We stayed all day, watched the fireworks (always awesome) and carried two dead-tired kids out at 10:00.


The next day, we took it a little easier, which was good, since it was a Saturday, and every line was insanely long. We actually ventured into the California Adventure park, which was a parking lot the last time I had been there. Of course, I loved it. Jellybean loved Soarin' Over California and Dash loved the Toy Story Mania ride. We laughed all through our run on the ferris wheel -my effort to make it seem less scary for the kids (later, it was Grandma who freaked out on it). I was able to prove a theory though... that Jellybean would be braver than Dash. -And she was. If only she would have been taller, she might have been able to really give him a run for his money. He screamed all through the Indiana Jones ride, at one point yelling "We're gonna die!!" and he meant it. Also, they both refused to go on Pirates again. I'm not sure if it was the hills or the ambiance, but they were dead-set not to return. Oddly, they both wanted to do the Haunted Mansion a second time. It was the Grizzly River Rapids that solidified my theory about Jellybean. She loved it while Dash complained the whole way through. Sadly, he was the only one to get completely soaked as well. At least he got a new shirt out of it, so it wasn't all bad.

It wasn't all Disneyland for us. We did take some downtime, swimming, relaxing at the condo, visiting the beach. But of course the highlight for me was the park. Our beach time was limited. We had a nice little place in Oceanside, but the beach had a lot of rocks. Whenever we would wade, our feet would get pummeled by rocks as the tide pushed them around. Still, it was pretty. Dash and I would make sandcastles and then try to protect them from being washed away. Of note: rock fences don't seem to help. I'll go ahead and scratch that off the list.

By the time we were ready for our last day at the park, the kids had no interest in going (I know, my children are defective or something!) It's a good thing that Grandma and Grandpa were willing to take them for the day... which left Ang and I to go and enjoy a day-long date in Disneyland! We rode it out in style, of course, hitting the big rides that we couldn't have done otherwise. Big Thunder Mountain, the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, The Hollywood Tower... all the good stuff. Well, it's ALL good stuff, but you weren't going to catch us on the Small World ride again on that day. We did find ourselves saying "Oh, I wish the kids were here... they would have loved this, or that". Oh well, all the more for us to do next time.

I know I am leaving out a lot of details, but really, no description could do it justice. The rides were great, the shows amazing (World of Color blew my mind). I already miss it, and we have only been back one week. *SIGH*

I hate that feeling when you wake up on the last day of vacation and know that you need to pack up your stuff and leave. That was our Wednesday. We had time for one last hurrah though. I wanted to visit some friends in San Diego. We found them okay, and after we terrorized them in their workplace for awhile, they recommended we visit La Jolla Shores beach, which we did. It was completely free of rocks, and perfect for sandcastles, so we jumped right in! One last chance for fun before a long drive to St. George for the night... followed by another long drive home. Good times. Our first big run to visit "Uncle Walt" was a success! TTFN!