Disneyland Part 2!!!!

Waking up over and over again, each time returning again to the happiest place on earth was like a dream come true.  That's how it felt!  We had such a great time with my sister in law, her husband and his sister and her whole family.  I feel so blessed to be such good friends with my family and to have spent this time with them.  Such great memories.  

One thing I never did growing up was spend a lot of time on Tom Sawyer's Island.  Luckily we got over there about an hour before they closed it.  The kids did as much as they could in that time and I would say one hour covered it just fine.  ;) 

The kids could have just spun that thing around for the entire hour.  As you spin it- a skeleton comes up out of the boat.  So creepy and cool!

Coca Cola, does a body good!  Oh, it's supposed to be milk?  Well, at Disneyland, it's Coke.  Also, at Disneyland Coke isn't bad for you.  Ha!

I don't look that tired do I?  Man, I was, but the best kind of tired for sure.  Staying at the park until close, which was midnight and waking up to get breakfast and be at the park by 9am.  We were getting our moneys worth, that is for sure!

The whole crew, minus me.  :)

Okay, if your kids haven't done the Jedi Training, it's a must.  It use to be that your kid would get picked out of the audience if they yelled loud enough, or they were dressed in head to toe Star Wars Garb, but now they've "refined" the process and you find this little secret area and sign your kids up!  They show up at the meeting spot and the Jedi's take them all and train them!  Here they are....

They bring them all out to make a grand entrance.  Summer is on the left by the railing and that's Georgia waving.

Summer may have been the cutest Jedi out there, I don't know, it could just be me.  ;)

Yes, that is Shane fighting Darth Vader himself and taking it very seriously...just like his dad told him to.  :):):):)

Overall, Summer gave it a thumbs up.  :)

Thunder Mountain Railroad, may be my favorite ride at Disney.  It's a toss up.

Mary, Mary, Mary...I swear that's really her.  I mean she's a perfect match!

Burt picked Summer to be a "chimney sweaper."  I must say, we were very proud parents.  ;);)

That Frozen show was so dang funny I couldn't even stand it!  When you go make sure you see it!

Can you guess what ride they are about to embark upon?  Yep, Star Tours.

I am a Disneyland fan through and through.  When I hear people say they prefer California Adventure, I'm not even quite sure what they're talking about, but, I LOVED Cars Land...so I will give them that.  :)

Here we are below waiting in line for Cars Land which was the longest line we waited in, out of both parks, but so worth it!  I love how it looks like you're in Arizona.  I was going to Instagram this picture and say, "we took an impromptu trip to Arizona," with a big "JUST KIDDING, we're in Cars Land!"  But, I never got around to it.  ;)

I love how the car race isn't until the end of the actual ride, so much to look forward to!

William could only handle so much and he was out and Kirk was carrying him around just like that while he napped.  No biggy.  

I loved seeing the employees outside of the park waiting for various transportation to get home.  It was just as magical seeing them waiting on those benches as it was seeing them in the park, okay maybe not quite as magical, but the outfits, it's got to be the outfits.

So lucky to see the special 60th anniversary "Light the Night" parade.  It was unbelievable, of course.

Okay, seriously, I came around the corner and saw this.  Alright, I may have asked my sister in law to lean up against the wall, but other than that, this is FO REALS!  Pure, exhilarating, happy, Disney exhaustion, at it's best.  

We honestly had the best time ever.  You can't beat being at Disneyland at Christmastime with best friends, family and the best of people.  I will never forget our time and I will cherish these memories we all got to have together.  It's going down in the books for sure, or I guess the blog.  ;)  

Disneyland is for sure the happiest place on earth.  Happy New Year!

Disneyland Part 1....!

We decided back in the beginning of summer to take our kids to Disneyland for Christmas this year.  When we told them, they jumped for joy.  Kirk and I were jumping for joy too because we LOOOOVE Disneyland.  

But...I can't believe I'm sitting here writing this, with Disneyland done and gone and Christmas Day done and over.  We had such a great time and we exhausted our kids everyday.  By day 3 we went on just about everything except for anything in Toon Town.  We started our first day in my favorite place, Fantasy Land.  But first, I took some documentation of our car ride to Disney.  The kids have this book for years and they love to read it, filled with coveted information about "hidden Mickeys" and trivia about the park itself.

Gwyneth chose to sleep on her way there.  

Once we got there Will was obsessed with the park map.  I think because it was so colorful.  

A couple of days before we left I went to Savers, the thrift store, and I purchased a used Disney themed shirt for every single member of our family.  I got 9 shirts for about $20.  And they are so cute!  Look at the one Will is wearing, it looks so vintage! 

So cute, the employees at Disney are like angels, I'm telling you.  They were laying down tape to form some line and of course my kids forced their way in to help and the sweet Disney angel employees were happy to let the kids help.  

They were going sooooo fast.  ;)

In the book that Georgia is reading at the beginning of this post, it says that there is a hidden Mickey in his eye, sure enough, it was there!

Peter Pan!  He was hilarious, not grown up at all.  ;) ;);)  How he managed to get Will to make the same face and stick out his little tongue as well, I will never know.  :)

Our hotel room was two blocks away about 10 minutes walking distance.  Not bad at all.  It was cozy and big enough for our families.  We had such a great time the first day, I felt like it was a dream come true that I would wake up to go yet again!...To be continued...