The Happiest Place on Earth

For years and years the boys have wanted to go to Disneyland, and to pacify their cries, I told them they could go when Daddy graduated. Well, as luck would have it, Daddy graduated the same year that Disney let us earn 4 free tickets. We went to Disneyland in the midst of our chaotic lives, just after Ken turned in his dissertation, after he decided where to take a job, and right before his defense. We took the boys out of school for a day, and we drove out to California and made a quick, yet fun-filled, event out of the trip.


See, it is the happiest place on earth. Don't we look so happy? We took hundreds of pictures, so I condensed everything into collages so this blog wouldn't be a million pages long.


The first thing we did when we passed through the gates of Disneyland was go to Space Mountain. Now here is my little Ellie girl who is precisely 40 inches, which is the height you must be to ride Space Mountain. Bad idea starting such a little girl on such a big scary ride for her first roller coaster. She hated it. She clung to her father like the world was going to end, and when she got off the ride she declared she never wanted to go on again. Granted, an hour later she had forgotten that declaration, only to insist on going on the ride again. I think she learned her lesson the second time. Now I wish I could have gotten a picture of the kids on the ride, but I couldn't...so I tried to get them in front of this cool sun picture (since we are so fascinated with the solar system right now). Why is it impossible to get my kiddos to sit still for a photo? Or at least Ri. Really?


After we did more family fun rides in Tomorrowland, we split up. The boys headed over to Indiana Jones (so not as cool as I remembered it...and not just because of the crappy 4th movie), and the girls and I enjoyed Fantasyland. The girls loved the carousal, as you can see. Ri kept saying "horthy" because she knows her animals (and how to talk) finally. The funnest ride in Fantasyland had to be the tea cups. Riley, being the thrill seeker that she is, had to spin faster and faster, and she giggled more and more until her eyeballs rolled around in her head and she had enough. Oh, boy, it was FUNNY.


We met up again and went on Jungle Cruise as a family. We had fun taking pictures of our family while waiting in line.


Grandma and Grandpa Carlsruh gave the boys an old digital camera and they had fun learning how to be photographers on this trip. Abe tried his hand during the jungle cruise, and these are the pictures he took. He's fairly good (after his mom edits them, of course).


One of the highlights of the day is when we went to the Jedi Training. Both kids were picked to become Jedi Masters. When Ken saw that they got to fight Darth Maul he was green with envy. He loves Darth Maul (as many of you know who have seen him at Halloween). These are pictures of Otho fighting Darth Maul.


And Abe says he actually hit Darth Maul (although they weren't supposed to). Look at his fighting skills. Both boys were on cloud 9 for the rest of the day after this experience. Probably one of the best moments at Disneyland, hands down.


Me and the boys about to go on It's a Small World. They love me, they do, even if they don't show it when we try and take pictures.


Otho had fun on It's a Small World taking his pictures. He really loved It's a Small World because he loves different cultures, especially Egypt, China, and Russia.


All day long Ellie kept asking to see the princesses. She's obsessed, and she knows that princesses live at Disneyland. We went to go meet them, but the line was over and hour long. Are you kidding me Disneyland? But, the nice lady at the front of the line told me that they would have a shift change coming up, so we ran over to see three princesses walk out: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Jasmine. Oh, Ellie's face was wide-eyed, and Sleeping Beauty (her favorite) even blew a kiss her way. It made my three-year-olds day, I tell you.


See, can't you see how happy she is now?

Wish I had pictures of, but I don't:
-The magic that is Pirates of the Caribbean. The boys couldn't get enough of all that treasure.

-During Haunted Mansion Riley was so scared she covered her eyes the entire time. How does a 1 1/2 year old know to be scared at ghosts?

-Riding Thunder Mountain Railroad so many times, and feeling like Ellie would fly out of the seat each time we went.

-The kids tired, happy faces at the end of the night when we watched the fireworks explode over the park.

Disneyland was fun, and Ellie hasn't stopped asking about it since. Can't wait to go again.