Day 5, April 22

This was our first day at Disneyland!! We didn’t tell the kids where we were going, just that we were going to do something special. We all loaded up in Mom & Dad’s motor home, because motor homes can park way up close to the tram, by the busses. We teased the kids that we were just going to drive around in the motor home all day—and wouldn’t that be fun? :)

When we were on the tram, Kaleb heard the announcer guy say “welcome to Disneyland Park.” Kaleb kept emphasizing the word “PARK” and thought we were at a Disney PARK and was super excited about that. :) He didn’t know we were at DISNEYLAND! I think they were a little shocked but super excited when they all found out!

I spiked up the boys’ hair this morning—mostly so that Noah would be tall enough to make it on the rides. It worked for the first one—Thunder Mountain Railroad! So maybe we’re mean parents, but we figured that the boys (especially Isaac) would THINK they were scared of the big rides, but if they actually tried them, they would love them….So before showing them too much of the park, we were determined to bring them on a fast ride, to show them how fun they were. Kaleb liked it….Isaac and Noah did not.

They all sort of liked Pirates of the Caribbean, but it was a little scary for them (it’s a pretty creepy ride, if you think about it! We’ve got sensitive lads, you know!). :) Ruby did not like Pirates, she gripped on to Karry so tight and kept trying to crawl up him to get away!

The boys liked Star Tours—all but Isaac, that is. I lost my Oaklies on that ride, but went back and the cast members used a flashlight and found them right under my seat. I was so glad!!

The boys watched a Jedi Training show, and kids could raise their hands if they wanted to participate and learn how to use a light saber. Our boys enjoyed watching, but they were scared to go on the stage. When Darth Vader came out, Kaleb was totally freaked out, and I had to take him away from the stage. All of the kids who were on the stage got to fight Darth Vader with a light saber—pretty cool! I think Karry wished he was a little shorter so he could’ve been up there too. ;)

We ate lunch in the motor home—it took us about 20 minutes to get there, from the Pirates ride, which isn’t bad! We had sandwich stuff & pasta salad there.

The boys (and Karry) loved the Buzz Lightyear ride!! We got to shoot Zorg, which was pretty fun. Everyone was a fan of Autopia, we’ll be riding that one again, for sure!

We didn’t see any characters up close, but Kaleb saw Goofy from the top of the double decker bus.

Isaac was too scared to go on Space Mountain, so he hung out with Grandpa and Ruby. Karry, Kaleb, Noah, my mom and I all stood in line. When we got up to the ride, the man working there wanted to check Noah’s height. He wasn’t fooled by the spiked hair—he stuck his finger through it and said “nope, he’s not tall enough.” Bummmmmer….He gave us a pass so that the adult with him could come back on quickly. My mom stood out with Noah while I rode with Kaleb, and Karry rode alone. I think Noah was actually relieved, he was a bit scared of the ride but didn’t want to admit it. Later, he was saying “I wasn’t scared, I was just too little.” :) Kaleb loved the ride! It was darker and faster than I remembered it. When the ride was over, I went back on with my mom, and we sat in the very front row. That was creepy, and even faster! My contacts felt like they were going to fly out of my eyes!

The lines haven’t been too long—usually about 15 minutes (Nemo was 45 minutes though, we didn't attempt that one yet).

We saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience, which got a bit intense. Mom and dad sat out with Ruby as she napped in the carseat. Noah and Kaleb both cried when the cat turned into a lion and appeared to come out into the audience (3D) and we covered their eyes when the python came towards everyone.

The kids all worked to earn money the week before we left (my motivation to get them to be my worker bees, beyond their normal chores). Their money is burning holes in their pockets (though they didn’t bring it with them Day 1 at Disney). They’re looking at everything they can see (whenever a ride exit goes through a store) and saying “oh, maybe I’ll buy THAT!” I think the most any kid has is $7, and that’s Isaac, and that includes his $1 from the Tooth Fairy. They’re going to find out soon that toys at Disneyland are expensive!! They don’t know that I’m planning to do some Christmas shopping here, later. They have a lot of fun costume things—pirate eye patches and swords, etc. I saw them last time I was here and wished I had more packing room & could grab some things for Christmas (I did get 3 stocking stuffer items last time). This time we have storage under our bed in the trailer. Ha! They’ll never know!

I am so glad I picked up some things at the Disney Store back home. I got some light up spinny things for $2.99, $3.99 and $4.99, and the same sorts of things are $15 here! I am going to hide them in the backpack and pull them out during the evening parade when all of the other kids have them. Tricky momma! :)


This is Noah's spiked hair: Here we are on the tram:

And here's Karry with Ruby:

Isaac was being Grandma's boy all day, clinging to her constantly. A couple of times, my parents did a bait & switch, and this was one of them. :) Grandma was holding on to Isaac, and they very cleverly switched Grandpa into her place. We shot a photo and showed Isaac. We asked "who's holding you?" and he said "Grandma." He looked at the picture and said "Grandpa???" and turned around and started laughing! It was quite funny!

Ruby was starting to warm up to Grandma, and even smiled at Grandpa once and didn't cry around him at all. She cried over a woman talking to her in the restroom when I was changing her. She's not really crazy about strangers, but Grandma & Grandpa are not as strange to her anymore. :)

Here we are at the front of the park. This was at the beginning, and it was hard to get the kids to look forward for a picture, they were so interested in looking around and seeing everything!

The boys were exhausted by the end of the day!! This is them in the motorhome on the way back. No carseats, yes--I guess we don't technically have to in a motorhome (like a bus), but they do have seatbelts. It's a very short drive to the park, and we don't pick up much speed, so it was ok...Sleeeppy boys.... :)

We thought they might sleep in on Day 6, after that long day. It is now the morning of Day 6, as I write, and we'd hoped to make it a lazy morning (& sleep in) and we're going to the park after lunch today. 7:30 is about as late as they'll sleep in, I guess!!! Ruby was standing at her baby gate and babbling, and the boys were all awake, saying things like "I have to go potty" and "I'm hungry mommy!" Time to start another crazy day! :)