Disneyland 2011

 Waiting for the shuttle bus

 Decorated for Halloween!

 It's a Small World - my favorite

 It's a fake smile - he hates the ride.

 It's a real smile - she loves it.

 Hanging out in the lobby at the Worldmark

 Dave, Curt and Josh

 Clara playing on the bench

 Josh, Clara and Ama Ancy on Storybook Land

 Josh and Clara at Downtown Disney

 Mickey Mouse!

 The Haunted Mansion decorated for the Holidays

 Coming out of the Treehouse

 Papa Rick and Ama Ancy with Josh and Clara in front of the castle

 Clara on King Triton's Carousel

 Silly Monkey

 Josh - very focused

 Waiting for World of Color

 World of Color!

 Riding the Carousel again...and again...

 Curt, Ama Ancy, Josh and Dave on California Screamin'

 Clara gets her face painted.

 Cute Girl!

 Snaggletooth Josh

 Papa Rick and Ama Ancy waiting for the parade

 Curt, Dave and Josh waiting for the parade. 

 Watching the parade

Josh at the Phineas and Ferb Dance Party!

Spring Break 2010: Disneyland Day Two

The day was much cooler so we bought the kids jackets upon arrival at Downtown Disney. Our plan was to head to California Adventure and hit a few rides before going back to Disneyland. But, we needed a muffin first. We got that out of the way and then headed to Soarin' Over California, which is one of the coolest rides ever. Fortunately, Clara is now tall enough to ride it. We didn't have to mess with the whole stroller swap. Amabuela was a little terrified of the whole perceived heights thing, but she secretly loved it.

We then headed over to Monsters, Inc., before we parted ways so that Dave and I could go on Tower of Terror. Amabuela took the kids to a Playhouse Disney show and then we met to eat lunch. Dave went over to California Screamin' (big scary roller coaster) and then we headed back to Disneyland to go on the Submarine ride.

After that, we watched the Jedi Training. Josh was mesmerized, while Clara dozed in the stroller. We had plans to meet Tara Van Atta for dinner so we caught the Monorail over to Downtown Disney. Our restaurant of choice was Tortilla Jo's, which proved to be a GREAT choice. Clara actually just fell asleep and stayed that way through most of dinner, but woke up when an animal balloon making guy showed up. Josh got a fire breathing dragon balloon and Clara got a Sleeping Beauty balloon. It was a lot of fun to see Tara. We love that our friends from Virginia show up in the same places that we do. Tara moved to Southern California a couple of years ago.

After dinner we went back over to California Adventure to watch the electrical parade. It has been moved there from Disneyland. It is my favorite parade of all time and the floats just get better and better. My kids were nuts over the lights!

Clara lookin' sassy

Josh at Monster's, Inc.

Dave and Clara waiting for Monsters, Inc.
Dave and Heidi on Tower of Terror

My favorite Disney character!

Josh watching Jedi Training

Josh and Clara waiting for the Monorail

Josh and the fire breathing dragon

Clara's Sleeping Beauty Balloon
A group shot with our friend Tara

Spring Break 2010: Disneyland Day One

But first, we drove a lot. Don't ever drive from Las Vegas to Los Angeles (why are those spelled differently?) on a Sunday afternoon. Apparently that is when everyone is driving from LV to LA. It's ugly. And not just the traffic, but the terrain. Ugly.

We arrived in Arcadia in time for carne asada ala Aunt Polly. It was our text request along the way when she said, "What do you want for dinner?" We ate outside, which you can do in California year round, unlike Utah where you can eat outside for 20 minutes in mid-June before it gets too hot. My backyard gets too hot, anyway. After dinner we sat and talked and vegged and put the kids to bed.

Monday morning we woke up bright and early at 6am because Josh had lost his first tooth! After lots of celebrating and excitement, we got ready and headed to Disneyland. The first ride was supposed to be Small World, but it was down all day so we went to ToonTown (which is just a waste of space in my opinion) for a little while hoping the Small World glitch was temporary. Since it wasn't, we roamed around the rest of the park, going on rides and eating stuff. It was really busy that day and pretty hot, but our kids were amazingly well behaved. We did lose Clara for about four minutes, causing a massive anxiety attack for me, Dave, my mom, and Josh. She wandered off when we were about to have dinner. Fortunately, my mom spotted her about the time I started to hyperventilate. Needless to say, the kids didn't wander much after that experience. Clara was crying and said, "I couldn't find you!"

See pictures below.

Josh and the lost tooth.

Ama, Clara and Josh in front of Small World.

Josh in front of the whale at Storybook Land.

Dave and Clara on the boat for Storybook Land.

Josh on the carousel.

Clara on the carousel.

Clara, Ama, and Josh on the carousel.

Clara, Me, and Josh on the carousel.

Josh and Clara at Inovations. When you touch the screen it looks like water is rippling in a pond. Very cool!

Ama, Josh and Clara playing games at Inovations.

Clara and Buzz Lightyear

Josh and Me on the Dumbo ride.

Clara asleep in the stroller.

Josh and Ama snuggling. We were waiting for the parade, but it never appeared. They have, apparently, moved the electric light parade to California Adventure permanently.

Dave was a tired boy.

Happy parents after a happy day at Disneyland!