the Adventure begins...

Since Scot was gone on Monday, I had some anxieties about getting everything ready in the morning so we could meet early at the gates. Because of that I didn't sleep well. I woke up at about 2:30 in the morning and couldn't really go back to sleep. Finally I got up and started getting everything ready. My kids started to get up about 6:30. Things went pretty smoothly, and I was pretty impressed with myself when we arrived at the Disneyland gates at 7:45, five minutes ahead of schedule. Then I realized that I had forgotten to put on most of my make-up. Oh well, it certainly wasn't worth going back to the hotel for. I would just live with out it. Hey we were there, and I could still have fun with out make-up. I was just bummed out that I didn't do quite as good of a job getting out the door as I thought. Unfortunately for us, the rest of the group was running a little behing schedule, and they still had to pick up their passes. So I spent the next little while taking random pictures of the kids in the area between Disneyland and California Adventure. (See sample above.) And looking for interesting things on the name blocks, on the ground.
After everyone was ready, we headed into Disneyland. Out of the 10 grandchildren of Scot's parents, only my kids had ever been to Disneyland before. So it was a really fun thing to see how the kids reacted to all of the different things. Since it really is like its own little world. Some of the littler kids were kind of nervous and unsure about a lot of things. But after a little while and a couple trips on Small World. It was all good.

We decided to start in Fantasyland since those storylines were more familiar to the kids. It was a good choice. Not such a great choice to start with Snow White, but the carosel, Dumbo, and the tea cups were big hits.

Spencer was really excited to hold his magic feather while we waited for Dumbo. This is his new face that he makes when I pull out the camera. It is hilarious.

Lucy really wanted to ride on Dumbo with Grandma Cham. She told me that since she rode on it with her other Grandma, now she could ride on it with both. She loves Dumbo.

The teacups were a favorite all week long. I do not go on them. But fortunately for the kids, their cool Uncle Dave and Cleadus were great to take them. They probably rode this ride more than any other ride. They are making the face I would make if I went on this ride.

These are our whale watchers. (on the storybook canal) It looks like we found one. When we got in the boat the guide asked Emma and Ben if they wanted to be whale watchers. Emma asked her cousin Jenna if she wanted to do it instead, becuase Emma had had a chance before when we had come, she wanted Jenna to have a turn too. I was proud of her that she thought of her cousin.

Small World was a huge hit. We went many times. This is Lucy telling her grandpa all about it. She was so excited to share her favorite ride with him.

Going on Splash Mountain. Having Cleadus in the front was great for me (I didn't get very wet), but he got soaked. Emma loved it. Pooh was the first character we saw. Spencer wasn't really sure what he thought about him. At first he just looked at him, but then finally he warmed up a little bit and wanted to touch him. I love this stroller! Especially when the kids fall asleep. It is a lot more comfortable for them.

Aunt Kim was my biggest help, especially when Scot wasn't there. Spencer actually started to like her. (He is very attached to me.) They became buddies.

We went to the Jedi training and Luke was very exctied. But then when Darth Mal came out and was walking around, he kept ducking behind another person to hide. It was really cute!

As always, Buzz Lightyear was a big hit! Spencer loves to hold the astro blaster.

One of Lucy's favorite rides is Heimlich the Chew Chew train. She is always saying what he says "I miss you already". Now we have passed the saying on to other family members too.

We were all very happy when Scot showed up. He only spent an hour with us at the park, but the kids loved it. Everyone else had called it an earlier night, so it was just us and Kim. But we hit a few rides and had a great time.