Disneyland day 3 and 4

Here's the 3rd and 4th days we spent at Disneyland. I really can't say enough times how much fun I had. It was awesome to be with my entire family, and to realize what a big group we are! I'll brag a little and say I don't know any family as funny as mine, and we are just a weird bunch! On day three, we started the day in Disneyland, but we hadn't experienced California Adventure yet, so at 10 when it opened we ran over there. I also went at this point to rescue my phone that I had lost the day before. Disneyland has an awesome lost and found, and gave me my phone even though I couldn't tell them what brand it was :) (Just my quick kudos to them...)

But I'll start at the beginning. I'm a couple months behind writing this, so I'm going to try my best to document everything that I can remember. That morning we used our early morning pass, and most of the family went at 8 in the morning. Alex and I were not that ambitious, but did go at about 9, when the park was opening for real. We were feeling the lack of sleep at that point, so we just took our time getting everything together. However, when we got there we didn't waste any time, and left Olivia with my mom so we could go on Astroblasters. After I WHOOPED Alex at that video-game ride (I'll just throw in that I have played Alex in video games exactly 2 times, and have beat him both times! - the other was ncaa football...patting myself on the back) we came out to realize that the entire family had gone on to California Adventure without us! That was totally fine, but it was the first time Olivia spent any time with someone else ... nervous mommy moment! We had left her while going on other rides, but I don't count that.

So back to California Adventure. Our very first ride was Grizzly River Run, which was a blast, but meant that we all had wet feet, hair, and bodies in general for a better part of the day. Amber was smart and brought ponchos for all of us to wear, but some members of our family (Alex and Ben) had to prove their manliness, so they declined the offered ponchos and regretted it :). I'm not going to go into detail about every ride we did, but we had a very fun morning that included our first complete family picture in a very long time! (I don't have that picture and forgot to get it...oops!) Just after lunch, the most brave of our family members decided to ride the Tower of Terror. I'm included in this group, and surprised myself with my courageous spirit! However, I had a great time, and this is a pic of a pic that they try to sell you...I'm cheap! My favorite part of that picture - Kade NOT having a good time and half of our group trying to console him! He was a good sport, but is not quite the adventurous child that Maely is!

Sometime that afternoon we were all standing around and Teagen was having very thought-provoking dreams. I just love these pictures of my super cute nephew, and am so excited to see him and all of my siblings again this fall. What a cutie!

Our family took advantage of the fast pass to go on Soarin' Over California, and Alex and I took our turn hanging out with the kids that were too little to ride this ride. This included Elli, Teag, and Olivia, and everyone was great, but Elli got a little bored. She loved playing on Alex's phone, and I love her concentrated gaze in this picture (she was playing a balloon popping game - supposed to be a speed game but she had to make sure she picked all the right ones! :) )

Soarin' was my favorite ride in CA Adventure (Indiana Jones takes that award in Disneyland). It's such an awesome feeling to be flying, and is very realistic. I'm not super thrilled with heights, so this was a stretch for me, but well worth it.

I know I'm missing things, but the next thing I remember that afternoon was going through this adventure-beaver-camping area (forget the name) that had trails, and obstacle course for kids, and this little zipline that Maely and Kade went on. Alex waited in this netted area for about 20 minutes so they could see him while they went...he looked very lonely up there

Here's just a funny picture...I don't know why but I totally love it. Nobody looks real great, but I thnk it shows the emotions of that day...total exhaustion from Elli, exhuberance and excitement from dad, confusion about surroundings from Olivia, and total suaveness from Alex (jk...i don't know what that face is)

The last few pictures from this day were taken in Paradise Pier, right after my near-break-down-crying-in-public moment. I later learned that it was almost the same time as Amber's moment of the same style, but at the time I was just beyond words. No real reason, just a combination of things that created a very bad moment. But Alex had just the right words and rushed me to a ride where I was able to have a blast and forget the whole thing! We went to the ferris wheel, which is the tallest I've ever been on, and was awesome! First comes our last attempt at a family picture at Disneyland. We never really got a good one, but I give us an A for effort...better luck next time I suppose!

We were riding with Elli and my dad, and as we got higher, Elli got more and more nervous. She kept asking how long til we went down, and didn't actually say she was scared, but did have a nervous habit of twirling her hair. It got faster and faster as we got higher, and I just missed getting it on film, but here's a cute pic of it!

That was the end of my day three pictures. We had dinner at Paradise Pier and then waited for the World of Color Presentation. Anyone planning a trip to Disneyland, World of Color is worth the hour long wait and standing for another hour. It's worth whatever it takes, it's truly impressive. I was ready to go home by the time it started, but I'm so glad my mom pushed for everyone to see it!

That also concludes my experience at Disneyland. I got pretty sick that night, and wasn't able to go the next day. Alex and Olivia went for part of the day, and my parents were able to get their grandkids picture...I wasn't there to get a blanket or a hair bow for Olivia, but oh well...Alex was awesome to take her with him, I really don't know if I could have taken care of her, and was glad to let him take her for part of the day while I recovered enough to fly home the next day!