Day 3: California Adventure's Magical Moment

It took us all morning to finish with Cars land. After Lunch Dave and I ran over to Tower of Terror, while Kerri and Adam took the boys to bugs land. I love Tower of Terror. Really I can't explain why, but something about the way it drops has me laughing the whole time. Afterwards my Dad joined the Rowlands and Us on the Grizzly rapids. Nathan wasn't to thrilled with the ride but Aidan loved it and rode it twice since we were able to use the ride swap passes. My Dad, Kerri and I rode the second time with Aidan and he let us know ahead of time about all the different drops. It was a great way to cool off but some how I seemed to get the most wet.
We then rode the Little Mermaid ride and headed to the Pier, but Nathan was not interested in any of those rides so we decided to head across the park the the Monster's inc ride. And that is when the most magical part of our day happened. As we were walking towards the ride Pluto crossed our path. Once Nathan saw him he jumped out of the stroller and raced after him. Luckily my Dad was still with us and he was able to follow Nathan until I could catch up. Once Pluto arrived at his destination Nathan was able to get in line to meet him. While we were waiting for his turn he noticed all the other kids were getting Pluto's autograph. Finally we made it to the front of the line and Nathan excitedly gave Pluto a big hug and could hardly keep himself from bouncing. Seriously I never realized how important it was for Nathan to meet Pluto until that moment. After taking a couple pictures I told Nathan to say bye to Pluto and he got really quiet and upset, and started saying he needed Pluto to sign something. I felt bad that I didn't have anything on me since I had raced after Nathan and left the stroller and bags behind with Dave. But then the cast member that was standing with Pluto told Nathan she would find something and took him by his hand and walked around looking for a park map for Pluto to sign. My Dad was able to pull his map out and then she brought a sharpie and took Nathan back to the front of the line so that he could get Pluto's autograph. The look on Nathan's face was priceless. It made his whole day and really it made mine too. I was just so impressed that they cared enough to really interact and create a magical moment for Nathan.

Once we were done meeting Pluto we headed straight to the Disney Junior show. Nathan loved the show!  I am sure every kid who watches Disney Junior will love this show. Nathan stayed standing the whole time and really got involved with all the actions.

Finally after the show we made it to the Monster's inc ride. Another great one for Nathan. After a full day at the park my parents were nice enough to watch all our boys while Jeremy, Cameo, Kerri, Adam, Dave, and I went to dinner at the Blue Bayou inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We rode the Monorail into the park for dinner. While we were waiting on the platform we started chatting a little with one of the workers and when the Monorail arrived she asked if we would like to ride in the back. She enter a code into the door and let us pile into the back. It was fun to get the opportunity to experience the monorail in a new way. One inside the park we made our way over to the restaurant and enjoyed the food and company. It really is amazing how they can make the place feel like it is outside in the bayou(minus the mosquitoes) even though it is all indoors.
We then met back up with my parents to pick up Nathan and head back to California Adventure to watch World of Color. It is pretty amazing what then can do with lights and water.

It was late by the time the show was over and Nathan was so tired that he didn't even make it back to the hotel before falling asleep.

I would say that it was a successful and magical day!

Day 3: Cars Land

We started Wednesday morning by arriving early to California Adventure  to take advantage of the extra time we had before the park was open to the general public. Even then there still was a huge crowd waiting to enter Cars Land. We immediately got in line for the radiator springs racers since we knew that the line would soon be over 1 hour long. I was able to go first with Nathan while Dave waited behind with Brady. Luckily Disneyland has ride swap passes, which allow guest to wait behind with children who are to small to ride and then once the other guest is done they are allowed to enter the fast pass lane instead of having to stand in line for another hour. Unfortunately the ride broke just as Dave was getting ready to take Nathan again so he had to wait until later but since we had the ride swap he was able to get right to the front of the line once it was up and running. While we waited for the line to open I went and got some fast passes for Tower of Terror(my favorite) and Dave took Nathan on Luigi's Tires.

                                                             Cameo and Logan

                                                                   Dave and Nathan

                                                             Jeremy and Aidan

 I then stood in line to meet Mater while Dave and Nathan rode on the racers. They really did a great job with that ride, especially at the end when you race the other car. Even now when we are on a winding road Nathan thinks it is like being on the cars ride. Nathan of course was excited to meet Mater.

 We then headed over to Mater's Junkyard to ride in the tractor's. Cars Land was so amazing. They really made sure every detail was covered. It was like walking into the movie. We even ate dinner at Flo's V8 cafe.

                                            Aidan and Me at the Cozy Cone

On our way out of the park that evening I tried to get a few night time shots because it was even more amazing with all the lights on.

Day2: Disneyland

We started our first official day in the parks by having breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. Buffet style breakfast with some of the Disney Characters. It was a great way to start the day. And boy was Nathan excited to meet everyone. It was here that I first started to realize that it may be important to meet Pluto, since he kept yelling for him to come over with no luck. But he had a great time interacting with the other characters.

 Nathan had the most fun with the Mad Hatter. Seriously who would have known?

 After breakfast we headed into Disneyland to start the day. Of course we had to get a group shot at the entrance before we all took off in different directions. My mom order us all some family reunion shirts and they were a big hit. We were asked all day long where we got the shirts.

Because we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel we got to get into the parks an hour early everyday, but on the first day we planned on the breakfast instead. Since we wanted to do Fantasy land with a smaller crowd we started our day off in Adventure land. Our first ride of the week was the Jungle cruise.

                                                                Waiting in line.

 The kids waiting while the Adults take turns on Indiana Jones.

We then moved onto New Orleans square and rode Pirates of the Caribbean. Brady promptly fell asleep once we got in the boats. He had been struggling to fall asleep all morning so much noise and light. Pirates was the perfect atmosphere for him to relax. Of course Nathan hated the ride because it wad too dark and scary for him. But After lunch we rode Winnie the Pooh, he loved this ride. So much so that he told us he wanted to ride splash mountain with us. And at first he really liked it, that is until the big drop and then all he wanted to do was to get off. After that we tried to avoid taking him on any of the rides that might scare him. So after taking a cruise on the riverboat, my parents took Nathan over to tomorrow land while Dave and I went to the Haunted Mansion. I wore Brady in the ergo carrier during the ride and this was another perfect one for Brady to fall asleep in, yeah for naps! Then we headed over to join everyone else in tomorrow land. Nathan was having a great time with Grandma and Grandpa on the submarine and autotopia. It took me awhile to find Nathan but eventually I got to enjoy several of the rides with him. Nathan loved Buzz lightyear and the nemo Submarine ride.

We then headed to main street to watch the Soundsational Parade. Nathan loved it and was completely mesmerized by the music and dancing.

After the parade we ran over to Fantasyland and ended our day by riding the Casey Jr. train. Not a suprise that Nathan was most excited for the train ride. Then it was off to the Hotel, where Kerri was nice enough to get my boys to bed so Dave and I could go soak in the spa for a while.