Disneyland - Day 1, Part 1

I have to start by saying that Disneyland is magical. I know I'm not the first to use this term to describe it, but that's because it's the perfect word. I'll get to the magic in a minute. We and the Ridgells took a short walk with our four kids from our condo to the front gates. Well, it would have been short, had either of our husbands, who were leading the way, looked at the map that was in our check-in material and posted on the inside of the front door. However, this is not a post to bag on our husbands. They are wonderful, perfect for each of us and only mildly irritating on vacations. They were also rock stars at Disneyland, being superdads with meals, diapers and various other undesirable tasks. We couldn't have managed without them. I digress. We made it, and took the correct path back. We grabbed some "1st visit" buttons for the kids, took our obligatory pics in front of a big Mickey face, and walked in to see Goofy right in the entrance. Garrett desperately wanted to meet him, so we waited behind a few other kids. G was so excited, I think every muscle in his body was flexed. He ran into Goofy's arms, and couldn't relax his smiling face. It was so precious. I think all the money we spent was worth that moment, which was magical!

We then headed straight for Fantasyland, where we could catch the classics and some easy rides for the babies. Ryan and G rode the carousel, while Anna walked through Sleeping Beauty's castle, and then it was off to Dumbo. This was our first experience waiting in line (though it wasn't long at all), and G learned why it's dangerous to climb on the rails. He and Anna were really sweet to each other, though, which was pleasant. They got along really well the whole trip, actually. G and Anna had a great time making their Dumbos fly up and down, though it made it hard to get good pictures.

From there we headed to the Tea Cups, which I was unfortunate enough to have to ride with the kids. I had to take a moment to collect myself when it stopped before getting up with Scout, but I survived. Garrett, of course, kept wanting to spin faster, and Scout just looked at her feet and kept repeating "whoa". We were wise at this point, and grabbed our sack lunches before heading onto the Small World boats. We got to sit down to eat, and my kids were distracted enough to keep shoveling food in their mouths. Scout really liked this ride and kept pointing at everything around her. She even gave her princess wave to a few animals.

We moved from Fantasyland to Mickey's Toontown, where we walked through Mickey's house and met him at the end. Garrett was just so excited to actually meet the real Mickey, I can't really describe it. He's at this perfect age, where the lines between reality and make-believe are blurred, making all of these experiences so sweet for him. Next, we walked to Minnie's house next door with Anna. G gave her a hug, but Scout shook her head vigorously at the open-arms offer from Minnie. She was standing out front, so we got to explore her house after that. The kids walked around a little, but Scout finally made it known that she'd had enough and found a nice nap spot right on the ground. That was the sign we needed, and Ryan and Joe Don took the babies home for naps, while Jamie and I braved an afternoon at Disney with two three-year olds.