Disneyland

I love going to Disneyland on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. It's never too hot. It's never too crowded. But this year, someone has to work (and it's not me). So we decided to head up for the weekend before the holiday. This ended up working out well (especially because it's now raining and we got to enjoy the Magic of Disney in sunshine).

We went last year at the same time, but it's been a whole year, so the kids were pretty excited. Though they did inform us that they would not being going on Pirates of the Caribbean (too scary, they claimed).

We stayed at a very conveniently-located hotel, in a family suite. We started our day yesterday in California Adventure at Soarin' Over California, which we've always wanted to ride. Marcie is well over the 40" mark now, so she got to enjoy the experience, too. (As a side note, I just found Casey's 5-year check-up paperwork when I was cleaning and he was more than an inch and probably two pounds lighter than Marcie currently measures at age 4!) After we finished up in California Adventure and headed over to Disneyland for lunch, we headed to the hotel for an afternoon nap. Then we let the kids stay up for the fireworks last night.

This morning we nibbled on our continental breakfast before we hit the park (just in time for the gates to open). We went straight for Indiana Jones, which was broken. I waited while Jason and the kids rode the Jungle Boat and climbed Tarzan's tree. They returned just in time for the ride to open, and for Jason to take Casey on it for the first time. Marcie and I snuck off to ride the Pirates ride (which she rode again with Jason, though Casey vehemently refused). We ended our trip back at California Adventure, watching Turtle Talk with Crush and riding all the rides in Bug's Land. We even managed to catch the High School Musical 3 show three times (twice just the tail end, though).

I didn't take a lot of pictures, but the ones I took actually came out pretty nicely. Here are a few of my favorites:

Casey carried this journal with him, copying down words and drawing pictures of things he liked in the park. Sometimes his writing-while-walking slowed as down a bit. But who wants to discourage that? So we went with it. This is arriving at the Park.

A nice couple visiting for their anniversary snapped this one of us at Toy Story. I convinced Jason to wear the 3-D glasses. But not Marcie. She's one tough negotiator. And I'm not kidding.

There is no significance to the letter "A" except that it was empty and the kids wanted to climb on it this morning.

One of our favorite things about Bug's Land is the repeated reference to Casey's name. But Disneyland isn't selling paraphernalia with "Casey" on it anymore. We got some at Disneyworld before he was born, but we couldn't find mugs or key chains or anything with "Casey" on it this time. What's up with that?