The Happiest Place on Earth

We spent three awesome days at Disneyland (from sunup to sundown).  The weather was HOT! We have yet to hit Disneyland during perfect weather.  But, the good news is that we didn't need jackets… not even at night.  As far as crowds, we heard that the second and third weeks of September were the very best time to go.  So, we were kind of expecting to be able to walk on every ride.  It definitely wasn't that empty, but it wasn't crowded either- until Friday night.  Friday night was crazy.  

Here are some of the pictures of the fun…

 Ashlyn is our one kid that doesn't mind being the center of attention.  So, when they asked for dancing volunteers at the Phineas and Ferb show, her hand went right up.

 Here are all of the dancers posing for a photo shoot after the show.  Notice Ashlyn's face :)

 It was so fun having kids that could all go on almost all of the rides.  We actually went on most of the rides together.  So, so, fun!

I think this was the only ride that Ashlyn was too short for.  She was bummed.  But, I actually didn't mind waiting with her.  Ever since I passed out on the Colossus at Lagoon, I'm not a fan of roller coasters that go upside down.

 Waiting for the bug show.  Always a riot!

 We found these piston cups at Car's Land.  By the way, Car's Land was awesome!

 That random guy behind totally cracks me up every time I look at this picture.

We ran to get in line for Peter Pan on our early entry day.  However, we still had to wait 45 minutes.  The line for that ride is always so crazy.  I think everyone must love it as much as I do.

It was so fun to be there when all of the Halloween decorations were up!

 Ashlyn loved the petting zoo.  I think she could have stayed there all day.  This goat started eating Ashlyn's shirt as she was petting it.  It was hilarious.

Boyd always had his harmonica in his pocket.  When we came across a street band, he would play along.  This band at Pirates actually had Boyd choose a song and they played along with him.

                                     
This guy in Frontier Land also had Boyd play along.

 Then, when Boyd mentioned that Baylen plays the fiddle, the guy handed his fiddle over to him.  I think Baylen was a little nervous to play there, but he did great.  By the end, he had a bunch of people standing around listening to him.  He got several cheers from the crowd :)

Waiting for the parade to start.  We were able to see all of the parades and most of the shows.

 On Friday, we were able to be part of the historic space shuttle fly over.  It was really cool to see!  I think that's the reason that it was so crowded there that day.

One of the few breaks we took in the three days to actually eat. 

 One of the main things that Ashlyn wanted to do while at Disneyland was be part of the Jedi Training.  We told her that when the guy asked for volunteers that she had to wave her hand high and dance around so that he would see her.  She totally did it except for when he would turn her direction.  Then she got shy.  However, miraculously, she still got chosen.  She fought against Darth Vader and did awesome!!!

Baylen had made plans to meet his best friend, Eric, at Disneyland on Friday evening.  The plan was that Eric would call when he got there.  However, when it got to Friday evening all four of our cell phones had died (what are the odds).  Baylen was beside himself that he couldn't get ahold of Eric.  He couldn't remember Eric's number (it was on our phones).  He even tried using a pay phone to call Broman to have him call Eric; however, Broman didn't answer. (never call long distance from Disneyland. That 30 second phone which only went to an answering machine cost us $25.00)  Anyways, we finally decided that there was no way that we would find Eric.  By Friday evening, Disneyland was so crowded that you couldn't even move.  It really would have been like finding a needle in a haystack to find them.  We went over to get places for the fireworks (which were amazing!!!) and then I went to take the kids to Autotopia.  On my way over, I heard someone yell my name.  It was Eric.  So crazy that with the thousands of people that were stretched out over miles and miles at the two parks, he found us.  What a tender mercy!!!  They ended up watching the fireworks with us and then I sat with Rosa and her baby while the guys took the kids on some rides.  I was so glad that Baylen was able to meet up with them!

This trip went by sooo fast.  Here are a few pics from the plane ride on the way home.

I asked the kids their favorites from this trip and here is what they said…

Mickell: Radiator Springs and Tower of Terror
Tanner:
Hailey:  Screamin and Splash Mountain
Ashlyn: Tower of Terror, Radiator Springs, and The Little Mermaid Ride