The Happiest Place on Earth!!

*Thursday, March 18 ~ Sunday, March 21*

Yippy – We’re at Disneyland…The Happiest Place on Earth!!!

And, we are 5 happy people, that’s for sure! After a good night sleep, everyone was bursting with excitement to get to Disneyland. What a blast we are having! I thought that we would NEVER do this but, we got a great deal on 6 day passes and went for it! We will do 4 days now and the other 2 days after a visit further East to see Grammie and Papa Landon in Apache Junction, AZ and up to the Grand Canyon. I could never imagine spending that much time at Disney and Cal Adventure Parks but, it has been great! Our RV is parked just a mile from Disney and the shuttle comes every 30 minutes so we are able to come and go as we please. What a treat not to feel rushed! The last time we visited Disneyworld we busted it out in a FULL day – from opening gate until closing time – resulting in very exhausted kids, over stimulated, over sugared, and one getting sick in the car on the way out. A lasting memory, for sure. But, this time, is a bit more relaxing. If that can be said in the same paragraph as the word, “Disneyland.” :)

We have packed 4 full days and have saved some things for our next 2. Some of the highlights…

Trevor is in heaven – the faster, taller, and noisier, the better. He is our adventure seeker, by nature. On every ride (unless there is a wheel or laser gun to hold) he raises his hands high in the air like when you descend on a roller coaster. It doesn’t matter if the ride is turning circles, ascending, descending or standing still. It is so cute – he is getting lots of giggles from other riders. He keeps BEGGING to go on the parachute drop, roller coaster, and ferris wheel. He is not tall enough(by a lot) for the first two but, was able to ride the ferris wheel, much to his mom’s dismay. I love coasters, heights, etc but the ferris wheel scares me. If we had to ride it, we did it up right. We boarded our cage just in time to watch the closing fireworks show from the air. It was pretty spectacular and a good diversion from the swinging cage – this was no ordinary, swinging seat but rather a cage attached to rails by wheels that swung the car from the outside of the wheel to the inside. Maybe the pictures will do my poor description justice. Paul and Trevor loved it – the only thing that would have made them happier is if the cage rotated 360 degrees. Nicholas was okay but, not loving it. Zachary and I huddled together and held our breath.

They all loved It's a Small World, Pirates of the Carribean, Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear, and The Matterhorn. There are so many new rides and attractions like Aladdyn on stage, a wonderful stage performance in a beautiful theater and a submarine ride to Find Nemo. They especially loved learning how to draw Winnie the Pooh (they did an awesome job) and Talking with Crush (an interactive exhibit where you can actually talk with Crush the Turtle from the movie, "Finding Nemo.") It was amazing! I was talking with one of the hosts and they gave me a ticket for special seating. The boys got to ask him questions that he answered. He called Nicholas “Knarly Nicholas” and Zachary was “Zipping Zachary”. The boys asked him what his favorite foods were and how he liked swimming in the ocean every day, all day. He gave them the answers and asked them questions – it was really amazing and entertaining.

It has been a "magical" 4 days...

(NOTE: I have enough bandwidth at our new location to upload the text but, not enough for photos. I'll update when possible. Just think of happy, smiling Landon faces and you will have the right mental picture!) :)