Summer 2010--We went to Disneyland!

While we were in California, we took a break from beach lounging and spent a day at Disneyland. We went with the Walkers, and had a LONG but fun day. We were at Disneyland the same day that the baseball All Stars game was played in Anaheim, and when we got to Disneyland we found out there was an All Star parade through Disneyland that morning. The boys (and men) were ecstatic to see some of their favorite ball players riding in convertibles down Main St in Disneyland. We got to Disneyland at 8:30 am and didn't leave until midnight, and we covered almost the entire park that day! By the end of the day, the kids were practically asleep on their feet.

The Shippens and Walkers arrive!

This is us just after we got into Disneyland. Notice how energetic we all look--a pic taken as we left would have looked a lot different!

Pluto was the first character we saw




Notice how Cody is trying to get away from Sarah and run from the scary mouse--he didn't warm up to any of the characters at all!

Ahh--It's a Small World is always a favorite

The kids, plus Cade and Olivia Walker, in Toon Town

Can we leave them there and go to lunch?

My girls had absolutely no interest in watching the All Stars parade. They feel they've been subjected to a lifetime of torture by being dragged to all Robbie's games this year. So while everyone else watched the parade, we went to see the princesses. We got to see different ones this time, which was really fun.

Talia and Sarah with Tiana (from the Princess and the Frog)

Sarah with Ariel

Talia and Belle

Sarah loves getting her picture taken!

We LOVE the teacups! The kids love going with Chris because he can get the teacup spinning soooo fast.

Cody giggled hysterically every time we went on this ride. He hated the rides that were inside in the dark (and there are a lot of them at Disneyland!) but this was outside and he LOVED being spun until he could barely sit up

The teacups again! Notice the sweat dripping off my face--my biggest complaint about Disney in the summer is not the crowds but the heat. It seemed like it was 125 degrees all day long, and there was nowhere to go to escape it. At least it was cool in the Pirates ride!

Sarah and I on Thunder Mountain railroad. I wish I had a picture of Talia on this ride. She was tall enough to go on everything except Indiana Jones, and she LOVES the big rides. I loved going on them with her--it makes it so much more fun when you experience things for the first time with your kids. Tally held up her hands the entire time on Space Mountain and begged to go again on Splash Mountain (too bad the wait was 90 min and we didn't have any more fast passes!). She loved this ride, too. I love that my girls are total daredevils with the rides!

Hmmm.... I can't tell if Rob liked this ride

The Shippens--sweating away at Disneyland!

Brady, Robbie, and Cade with Goofy

Roger Rabbit--one of the rides Cody hated. Add to that list Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Pirates, the Haunted House, Winnie the Pooh, and a few others I can't remember now. His favorites were the outside rides--Dumbo, the carousel, the teacups, the space ships, etc.

We left Disneyland exhausted. We had left the beach house at 6:30 that morning, and didn't get out of Disney until midnight. We stopped for a late-night hamburger at In N Out, and then drove home, getting back to the beach house at 2:00 am. Good thing we had another 3 days to relax at the beach cuz we sure needed it! Despite the heat and exhaustion, I still have to say that Disneyland is one of my favorite places. I am one of those people who really thinks the place has a magical feel, and I'm glad my kids love it as much as I do (I wish I could say the same for my husband).