D to the LAND!

Back in March, Matt and I volunteered for 3 hours at some charity dinner event in Walnut Creek, thus earning us two vouchers to any Disney Theme Park. We chose Disneyland and cashed them in the week after Labor Day. We meticulously planned our trip here. We had one day and we wanted to get the most out of it. We definitely chose a good day (Friday after Labor Day) and there weren't bad lines either. The night before we drove down to Anaheim and checked into our hotel, which was across the street and a 15 minute walk to the front gate. Very convenient. We also happened to run into one of Matt's friends from growing up and his family, staying at the same hotel as us. What a fun surprise! The next morning we woke up bright and early and for the first time in my history as a parent, I actually WOKE my children up. Hopefully it never happens again, it felt wrong on so many levels. We were at the entrance gate like an hour early, we honestly were some of the first in line. YAH baby!

Once in the park, we made a beeline for all the popular and non-fast pass attractions. Our very first ride was Finding Nemo, an underwater sub ride. Reagan HATED it and cried most of the time. I honestly held my breath and thought, "oh boy, this is gonna be a long day." Luckily that was one of the only ones she didn't like.

Matt did take her on Pirates while I watched Nolan sleeping and she walked off that ride with her arms folded across her chest and a big scowl on her face. I guess she was scared of that one.

I also made the mistake of taking her on Splash Mountain. She hated it and screamed the whole time. I had to hold her down in my lap to keep her from leaping out of the boat. After a couple of small slides, she knew what was coming on the last big drop. As we went up the river, I could feel that heart thumping from her chest big time and she was crying like no other. I wish I had my wallet on me, I would have bought that priceless picture of her look of horror as we started the descent and me holding her so tight. She screamed about getting wet and then was a little reluctant to trust us after that. I think we headed for Fantasyland soon after :)

We saw Pixie Hollow and met Silvermist and Tinkerbell.

This was the first "real character" we encountered and Reagan didn't know how to react. She wanted nothing to do with Silvermist.

Tink made her a bit more comfortable. We started out as this.

But she eventually looked at her and even smiled. It was really cute!

Saw these three at some royal celebration thing.

Met Tiana, southern accent and all!Reagan didn't care for this one, guess she expected Ariel to be in flippers.

Cinderella was so great. She came up to her, held her hand and walked her back to the bench, talking sweetly to her the whole time. R was smiling ear to ear and so was I.

We saw Minnie.

The kids loved Toon Town. They walked through an *air-conditioned* Mickey's house. That seemed to suffice since the line to see him was way too long.

Reagan rode the roller coaster in Toon Town and she actually liked it. As Nolan and I sat waiting for them, I saw a mom trying to convince her teenager to go on it. She was too scared. I wish Reagan would have seen it. Actually it reminded me of my sister Lindsey, who's claim to fame is waiting for almost 4 hours to ride the new X at Magic Mountain and chickening out when it was our turn. LOVE YA LINDS!

The kids enjoying some good treats.

I was shocked at how much Nolan loved this place. He was grinning from ear to ear the whole time and could ride most of the rides! He loved Dumbo and the fact that he was sandwiched in between Reagan and I.

We let Reagan pick out one thing for her and one for Nolan. Luckily she chose really inexpensive items :) Something that is hard to find there, let me tell you.

We had front row seats to the fire works and the kids slept through the whole thing. It was too bad because Tink flew through the air a few times. It was a great show, set to music and everything.

We wheeled the kids right across the street and up into the room. We transfered them to bed in their street clothes and those tired ones slept till about 7am. (which is late for them). It was one of the best nights sleep all of us had in a while.

The next day we had breakfast at IHOP with Matt's friend Chris and his family. After, we headed west to Huntington Beach. It was a beautiful beach and a great day, but windy. I really could enjoy that beach a lot if we lived closer! I love taking beach photos of my family. You probably can't tell.

Nolan face planted right in the waves, so he came and snuggled me a bit. He looks like he has huge nostrils here, I promise he doesn't.

We cleaned up at the hotel and headed to Pasadena to see Jeff and Selly. They were so kind to play with the kids and let them mess up their house. We went to Islands for dinner, then we headed home. Reagan talked to Grandpa and Grandma on the phone for like 20 minutes, setting a record for her ever. We may never get a repeat performance of that, I think she was high on chocolate shake and fries.

We headed back North the next day. What a fun trip. We sure love our trips to see family in Utah, but nothing beats a simple vacation with just the 4 of us. I will always treasure these memories.