Disneyland Days 3 & 4

Thursday, September 23

Today we got a late start due to Ethan and I sitting through a sales pitch for the condos we were staying in... I guess it was convincing. We can't wait to own our own timeshare!

When we finally got to Disneyland (we bought the shuttle pass for the remainder of the trip) we started out enjoying Fantasyland! The kids' dream come true. We went on Peter Pan's Flight, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Mad Tea Party, Dumbo the Flying Elephant...

... then off we sailed to "it's a small world."
It was a favorite for many in our group. I was just amazed at the exquisite detail the put into each costume on each puppet. It was fun to all be on the same boat together to be able to hear the kids get excited about something.
Next we went to Critter Country where we found the briar patch. My question is why would they build something that so clearly begs to be climbed if they don't want kids to climb on it? While in Critter Country we went on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and tried to ride Splash Mountain, but it was broken down. We were all very disappointed and very happy we had more chances to hit it.
Each day we walked into the park, the kids would grab a map. I love how seriously they took their responsibility of keeping us on track. Here they're figuring out that we need to head Pirates of the Caribbean, which was possibly Jonas' favorite ride. I think it was Bolton's favorite too, nothing like a nice, private boat ride in the dark to make feeding baby boy super convenient. We also rode through the Haunted Mansion which was decorated as Nightmare Before Christmas. It was pretty cool and even less scary than usual, so most of the kids enjoyed it.
Friday, September 24

We started the day by doing some of our favorites... in Tomorrowland: Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (seriously, how could anyone not love this one?), and Astro Orbiter. Ethan headed over to Splash Mountain to get Fast Passes and then we headed back to "it's a small world." That is where the boys wanted to buy the rest of their souvenirs (swords, they'd been talking about since we went to Disney World 2 years ago and a lightsaber Bryant had been talking about since Jedi Training Academy). When Ethan got back to wait for us, he snapped a picture of the stroller parking....
We headed in the direction of Splash Mountain but stopped to get some lunch. By this point in the trip the kids were getting pretty tired...

Of course, they were ready for action after a moment's rest. Here's Jonas, our fierce pirate!
And Levi our not quite so fierce pirate. eta: At our lunch break, here, Ethan took Jonas and Levi to the potty and after a few minutes I got a phone call from Ethan asking if Levi was with me... because he was no longer with him! So we went on a hunt for Levi. Ethan found him about 100 feet away from him, he was standing with a Disney worker who had come to see why he was crying. When he said he was lost, the worker wanted him to come with her, but he wouldn't. So she just stayed with him and luckily he was found within a few minutes. And even luckier, that was the only lost child incident of the trip.
And the ever so serious Padawan, Bryant.
We finally went on Splash Mountain! It was awesome! It was Levi's favorite ride and he was one of the lucky few who got to ride it more than once! He is still talking about it.

After Splash Mountain, we headed back over to California Adventure. We hit the Grizzly River Run and Soarin' Over California. Then ended the night with playing in a bug's land again. It was a great way to end the day!
As we were walking from Disneyland to California Adventure, Bryant wanted me to take his picture in the A... then, of course, Levi did too. What cute boys I have!