Disneyland vacation - 2010

(Note to future self who might make a blog-book someday: Our trip to California happened a month ago, the last week of October.)

The week of Halloween we took Sam and Tyler to Disneyland, about 2 years ago to the day from when we went the first time! It is a fabulous time of year to go - great weather, no crowds, and fun Halloween decorations everywhere! We decided to leave Lilly home, since she is just not a great age to take somewhere like that. Grandma and Papa were kind enough to take care of her while we were gone....for an entire week! (THANK YOU! THANK YOU! We are forever in your debt!) I think they secretly liked having her to themselves for that long....and I think she secretly liked having their one-on-one attention for that long! :) So it worked out for everyone!

The boys planned out their matching Toy Story outfits for our first day at the park(s). We bought 3-day park hopper passes, so we went to Disneyland for the first full day and then went back and forth between D-land and California Adventure for the second and third days. When we went to the ticket booth the lady asked us if we were celebrating anything special. Matt mentioned that it was Tyler's birthday the next week, and she exclaimed, "Great! Let's get him a birthday badge and everyone else can have a special badge too!" Tyler thought his b-day badge was pretty sweet and he eventually got used to everyone saying "Happy Birthday Tyler!" wherever we went!

A huge big thank you to the wonderful people at Disney for coming up with a special pass to help families with special needs kids to enjoy the parks a little easier! There are not a whole lot of "special perks" to having a child with disabilities, but the special pass at Disneyland is definitely one of the BEST!

Ahoy there, mee hearties!

We were pleasantly surprised by all of the fun things to do on Tom Sawyer's Island! We didn't ever get over there the last time we went to D-land...and boy were we missing out. The boys (big and small) loved the trails, treehouse, pirate activities, and this great pile of pirate loot!

I was excited to go on all of the rides that I didn't get to go on last time (because I was pregnant with Lilly). Autotopia was one of those rides that I missed out on....but to be honest, I didn't get why there was such a huge line for this silly little "ride." Sam and Tyler liked it though, so that's all that matters!

Tyler was so excited to get his picture taken with the characters. Eeyore was surprisingly cheerful and playful! Not his usual grumpy self.

The boys were aware of what Excaliber was all about this year. (Thanks to some random cartoon they borrowed from the library.) I love Tyler's expression in this one...

We were ALL brave and went on the Matterhorn. Matt and I took turns switching off which boy we sat by on the rides...and when we went to the Matterhorn it was my turn to be with Sam. Well, let me tell ya....it was NOT easy to keep Mr. Floppy-Low-Tone-Pile-Of-Bricks safe and secure on such a fast and jerky ride. I seriously was worried...but we made it out alive.

Sam loves the Winnie The Pooh ride....so we went on it quite a few times. He got shy when we went to meet Pooh-bear, but I think he'll thank me in the long run for having him join us for a picture. In fact, I just showed him this picture as I'm blogging about it and he did the "jaw-drop and wide-eyes" reaction. So that's a good sign.

The Finding Nemo ride totally put Sammy into a trance! He has loved Nemo ever since he was a baby. He stared out the window like that (see below) the entire ride....totally in awe and loving it!

Matty is not the biggest fan of rides that spin, so he volunteered himself to video and take pictures of me and the boys on the teacups. We whirled and twirled like crazy people - good times!

I was bummed to find out that the Woody & Jessie show at Frontier Land was no longer there (the boys loved it last time). But the characters were still out and about for pictures, so Tyler and I jumped at the chance to meet two of our favorites. I have to admit, though, that it will be fun someday to get to do the whole "princess thing" with Lilly when she's old enough to come with us next time! I think the fact that she yells "PRINCESS!" when she sees anything with a Disney Princess on it, is a good sign that we'll be going to the princess show next time!

Tyler was extremely disappointed the first day when we went to the Star Wars Jedi Training show, because he didn't get picked to be one of the kids to be trained as a Jedi. So we went back the next day with a plan - we made a little sign (Robyn, I thought of you and your signs at the baseball games!) and took it with us. How could they NOT pick this handsome fella?

Well, good news...it worked! He was ecstatic!!!! It was so fun for Matt and I to watch him get so into it!

After all the kids were trained to be Jedis, they got to have turns fighting either Darth Vader or Darth Maul. Tyler did such a great job at defeating Darth Vader that the Jedi trainer asked him to "use the force" to defeat the two Storm Troopers too!

I wish our video had turned out better of this little moment, or else I would have figured out a way to put it on the blog. It was hilarious and so stinkin' cute at the same time! There was our little Tyler making the Storm Troopers fall over! I couldn't tell what Sam thought about the entire thing, but I know my cheeks hurt afterward from smiling the whole time!

We really had a magical time at the Happiest Place on Earth. It was a great vacation from the daily routine of life in Utah. Although it sure was nice to get back to my own bed and toilet seat! :)