Vacation, Part II - Happiest Place on Earth

So, since Nick and I have been married we've wanted to do a Disneyland vacation, but the timing was always off - I was pregnant, our kids were too little, it was too expensive, etc., etc. Well, a couple months ago we decided there would never be a perfect time. We were just going to do it and make the most of it. We made our reservations and looked forward to it all summer long. Well, I'm certainly glad we did because it was an awesome vacation. We all had a great time, and if we could go again tomorrow, we would. That was a lot of italics, just so you know that we had some serious fun. We had 5 day park-hopper passes, and used every day about to the max (well, minus a little siesta in the afternoons). On day 4 and 5 my brother's family joined us, which just added to the fun. So, photos...lots and lots of photos...

Day One: We had no idea what time the parks opened, so we were wandering Downtown Disney to waste some time. Well, it wasn't really a waste, as we found a new favorite treat: beignets. Yum. Autopia:

Day Two: We spent the day in California Adventure. Our first stop was Mickey's Wheel. We chose the swinging gondolas. Bad choice. It totally freaked the girls out. Like, big time. I've never seen such fear in their eyes. It didn't help when Nick says, "I'm kind of scared, too."

This photo is fuzzy, but I had to include Mr. E's sweet smiling face.

This is Ellie and Nick on the Grizzly River Run. We were very impressed with Ellie. She was very brave and rode on just about everything she was tall enough for. The fast, jerky roller coasters scared her, so by the end of the week she passed on those, but I was proud of her for trying. She loved Splash Mountain and rode it three times.

That night we attended World of Color, which was pretty amazing, as Disney does.

Day Three: We spent the morning back in California Adventure.

And the afternoon at the beach.

We went back to Disneyland that evening and had a much-raved over Dole Whip, which, by the way, we didn't find all it was talked up to be, unfortunately.

Day Four: Accompanied by my brother and his family (actually, he took most of these photos...we only brought our little snap-shot into the parks) we headed back to California Adventure.

Later in the afternoon, we headed back over to Disneyland. Here, Everett is enjoying a Mickey sucker.

That night, we had to stop and get more beignets before heading back for a promised dip in the pool. Double yum.

Day Five: The opening day of Disney's Halloween season, which meant we got to ride on Space Mountain and the Haunted Mansion (both of which were closed beforehand in preparation).

A classic: It's a Small World (the girls loved it).

Cyn and Madison took Ellie and Everett while the rest of us waited for about an hour for the Haunted Mansion. By the way, that was the longest wait our entire trip. Most of the rides we walked on all week long, almost no waiting at all. Anyway, they visited with Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore (Ellie apparantly wanted nothing to do with Eeyore).

And this one was taken while Nick, Madison, Ryan and I did Space Mountain:

Lookin' good at the end of the day...

That night we stayed for Fantasmic and Fireworks. No one does fireworks like Disney does. Did I already say we had fun? Man, we had fun.