Adventures in California, Part 1: Disneyland

I got to spend almost 3 weeks in California with my family, thanks to my brother David who paid for my trip. My arrival was supposed to be a surprise for my dad, but mom's plans were suddenly cancelled, so she had no other way to cover up to my dad any excuse to go to the airport at 10 o'clock at night. Oh well. It was still fun. We drove down to LA and met up with my sister and her family, who were coming from Vegas, for an exciting day atWe had a little trouble finding the parking, so we saw this sign several times. The next 2 pictures are the girls' reactions to going to the most magical place on earth:

Adelynne almost looks terrified, but I promise you it was one of the best days of her lives. For the rest of her vacation in CA she kept asking when they were going back. The first ride of the day: the Tram from the parking lot.

In all honesty, Peter Pan was the first ride. It's one of my favorites. But on our way to Peter Pan, Grandma stopped for a special picture with the girls in front of Cinderella's castle.

A little more up close to catch their excitement.

The Dumbo ride. Adelynne and Amy got to ride it twice - once with Aunt Amy and Grandpa, and once with mommy and daddy. My lack of good photography skills left me with this one as the only good picture.

Casey Jr. was another favorite. Here's Grandma, Mommy (my sister Tracy) and Adelynne in the Monkey cage. Amy was with me, Grandpa, and Daddy in the Wild Animal cage. Tho, if you ask Amy and Adelynne, they will say that Adelynne went in the Wild Animal cage and Amy went in the Monkey cage. Too bad that bar is in the middle of Adelynne's face to cover up that pure excitement.

This one is a little better.

I went on the carisol with my nieces. Excuse my poor photography skills once again.

I think this is one of the only pictures that actually has my face in it. Proof that I was there, and not just my camera made the trip.

I know a lot of people do not like the It's a Small World ride, but I love it. I always have. And it always seemed to be closed whenever I went to Disneyland. Seriously. It was closed before my brother David went on his mission. It was closed when I came on band tour my senior year. It was closed when we brought my niece Heather before my mission. (Those 3 times at least were from ages 15 to 21. I was 25 when we went this time.) So, needless to say I was very excited about the ride.Here's the tuba and polka band for Joe. Poor guy had to work so he missed coming to Disneyland. Some day I'll bring him back.
My beloved Russia.
Thailand. Joe's oldest nephew Andrew is going here on his mission. He leaves the end of July. My cousin Emily also served her mission there.
And here's the tuba at the very end too.

After It's a Small World we went and stood in line to see the princesses. We got to see Belle, Aurora, and Jasmine. We were hoping to see Ariel because that is Amy's favorite princess. But both girls were excited about seeing the princesses anyway. Then they got to have their faces pained. Adelynne chose a Unicorn crown and Amy chose a Mermaid crown.Then they wandered the Princess store finding the souvineer they wanted most. Amy was especially funny to watch as she inspected each of the princess Polly Pockets.To no one's surprise she finally settled on the Ariel one and took it to her daddy. She didn't take her eyes off of it the entire time he held it.Dustin started swinging it back and forth subconsciously and Amy's head followed it back and forth like a pendulum. Quite funny.She really wanted it and was quite upset with us all that we wouldn't buy it right then. We promised her that we would buy it at the end of the day. To distract her my sister pointed out Ariel who had just gone into the princess greeting area. Amy reached out her arms and said, "Let's go get her." But we couldn't. The princesses change every hour, and the line was over an hour long, so by the time we got up front again, Ariel would be gone. Instead, Tracy and Dustin had to carry a screaming Amy on to the train. It was our only melt down of the entire day. Not bad for a 3 year old.

After the adults rested while we road the train, or tram or whatever it is called, we ventured on to Toon Town. Toon Town isn't as cool as it used to be, in my opinion at least. But I do think the girls enjoyed it. They got to meet Minnie and Mickey too. I took Amy on the roller coaster which she loved. Excuse my boob. I'm not good at taking pictures myself on a moving ride. But I loved how happy she was!Contrast that happy face to the following picture, taken on the Snow White ride, which she thought was really scary.

Once again, the thrilled, happy face:

oh, and my boob again. I don't know how to crop my pictures to take that out. sorry.

From there we ate dinner and Adelynne went on the Rocky Mountain Railroad ride with Dustin. I went with Amy and Grandpa to meet Jessie and Woody. Amy was very excited that Woody blew her a kiss. It was very cute.

We also did the Haunted Mansion and the Pirates ride. The girls enjoyed both of them. On Pirates Amy put her arms up in the air in anticipation of a drop. It was so cute! The people behind us thought it was darn cute too. I am impressed at how much the girls liked the roller coasters.

The last thing I did was go on Space Mountain with my parents and Adelynne. I love roller coasters and miss being able to go on them, especially with my bad back/neck. We had a wheel chair for me throughout the day and that really helped a lot. Space Mountain satisfied my need for thrill, but I hurt quite a bit afterwards, so it was a good thing that it was the end of the day. The girls were pretty tired too:

Disneyland was so fun! I'm so glad I was able to go. I have the cutest nieces and it was fun to share this experience with them. Good thing the party just started.