The Happiest Place On Earth

We've been home for three weeks and I'm just now getting around to this post.  I think I kept putting it off because going through the hundreds of pictures we took was a bit overwhelming...So be warned, this is a lengthy post with lots of pictures (at least I put them in slideshows at the end).

Brian's family is made up of Disney fanatics.  Seriously.  I'm not even sure how many Disney vacations they've been on, but it's been quite a few.  Since I met Brian I've gone with them to Disneyland three times (counting this trip) and even Disney World once.  This vacation was sort of last minute.  Not exactly the day before or anything but only a few weeks of planning went into it.  That was a good thing, I didn't have enough time to think about how hard it would be to be there so pregnant, with a very energetic toddler.  All in all, we had a great time with family and really enjoyed seeing Bryce take it all in.  Experiencing Disneyland with your child is just a whole new level of awesome.  Thanks so much to Auntie Jane for thinking of the trip and getting us all to go :)  We're so happy Bryce was able to spend more time with his Pasero side of the family and his great-grandparents Bonnie and Dick.  We're just sad Grandpa John wasn't able to make it, but we understand.  There's always next time, right?!?!?!

So, here are some details of our adventure.  After a super long drive (hello pregnant pee breaks and diaper changing breaks) we made it to Anaheim around 5ish and headed to the park for dinner and a few rides.  I just stared at Bryce looking all around Main Street.  I wish I knew what was going through his head at the time.  I can't imagine what Disneyland looks like through a 2 year old's eyes.  I still remember the first time I saw it as a teenager and was in awe...

We were so eager to get Bryce on a ride we just looked for anything with a short line. Silly us.  We ended up on the Mr. Toad ride.  Needless to say, Bryce hated it.  Of course he did.  It was scary. And dark. And loud.  We didn't do much better on the next one.  Again, we made a bad call and took him on Pinocchio. Seriously, we weren't thinking.  Another dark, loud, scary ride.  Way to introduce your toddler to Disneyland folks.  He talked about those two rides the rest of vacation.  Even now he'll mutter out a "I didn't like the Pinocchio ride mommy," or "The cars (you ride in little buggies on Mr. Toad) ride was too scary for me, mommy."  I feel terrible every time he mentions them.  After that things got better- we got on the Dumbo ride and he was happy at last.  If I talked about every ride we went on for the week, this would be an insanely long blog post.  I'll spare you all the details and just mention some of the highlights.  

Pirates- A classic.  He was a bit scared during the two drops, but seemed to enjoy the rest.  He even sang along with the "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me."  That song followed us around for the rest of the vacation. He would break it out randomly while walking around the park.  Heck, the other day he busted it out during story time at the library.  That was fun.

The train-  You know, the one that goes around the park.  Of course he would love the train.  

Toy Story Mania- I don't think he loved it, but Brian and I sure did.  It's too bad there's no fast pass.  We waited in line for it once for 40 minutes and couldn't bear to put Bryce through that kind of wait again.  It was super fun though- even better than Buzz.

The Fireworks- Ok, not a ride, but Bryce loved them.  They had a fireworks show each night, so we caught bits and pieces each time.  I'm pretty sure this is what got him hooked on Dumbo.  At one point in the show Dumbo flies on the same line Tinkerbell flies on between the castle and the Matterhorn.  He fell so hard for Dumbo it was the one stuffed animal he really wanted us to buy.  We had to borrow the movie from my sister when we got home so he could actually watch it.  It's the first movie he has sat through beginning to end.  I find it all funny because I never liked Dumbo as a kid.  In fact, the first time I watched it all the way through was with Bryce...

Nemo- The first part of the ride is pretty lame but then it gets better.  Bryce loved seeing the Nemo characters.  The first time Dory appeared he said, "Look, it's mommy." (not because I have short term memory loss, but because I share a nickname with the adorable fish- though she spells it wrong).

Small World- This one surprised me.  Mostly because I've never been a fan of the ride but I guess it's pretty cool to a toddler.  There's definitely a lot to look at and nothing even remotely scary.  It's also not as loud as some of the rides.  Am I getting old or what?  Some of the rides seriously made my head hurt they were so loud.

The Carousel- He loved them both.  I think he preferred the aquatic theme in California Adventure, though :)

My favorite part of the trip was brunch at Goofy's Kitchen.  You'll be hard pressed to find a meal in Disneyland that isn't overpriced with decent a menu.  This is different.  It's expensive, but it's worth it.  Bryce loved meeting all the characters and meeting them while eating is so much better than standing in lines!  He even got to get up and dance with Goofy a couple of times.  Plus, it's all-you-can-eat, which made this preggo momma super happy.  It was also great to be able to pick things I thought Bryce would actually eat and then be able to choose something else if he didn't, without worrying about wasting money.

Another memorable moment took place during dinner at Hook's Pointe.  If you've been there, you know that it's a nice, quiet restaurant.  We were enjoying ourselves with Brian's grandparents and mom when suddenly Bryce began making some weird noises in his high chair.  Those weird noises suddenly morphed into blood curdling screams.  Our kid got stuck.  So impressive.  You know those wooden restaurant high chairs that have the bar across the front?  He wedged his bent legs up behind them.  Brian couldn't pull him out or push him back in.  After a few seconds of the entire restaurant looking at us, Bryce screaming, two waiters offering assistance, I just pushed his legs down.  Hard.  It was that or try to saw him out of the highchair.  Unfortunately, no one had a saw on them so pushing was my only option.  Of course, it hurt.  Our waiter was really, really nice and brought a napkin full of ice for Bryce's legs.  He also gave Bryce a small Buzz Lightyear toy that lights up to help take his mind off of what just happened.  

I think that pretty much sums it up.  If you  made it this far, good job.  If you skimmed through it, nice- that's what I would have done :)  I've created three albums for your viewing pleasure.  I figured that was better than having 100+ together?  Dunno.  It's still a lot of photos.  Oh, and don't forget you can click on them to see the big versions :)

These are random Disneyland shots.  It includes some family photos:

These are shots of Bryce meeting various Disney characters:

This one's short.  Just a couple of belly shots for those of you who want to see me looking like a whale...