Disneyland!

I don't love all things Disney, but I am pretty crazy for Disneyland. I was so excited for our first visit with the boys at the end of January that I was having dreams about it, obsessing over the Anaheim weather, and constantly running through FastPass strategies and "how to make the most of your visit"-type tips I'd learned from several hours of research.

I didn't need to get so worked up: the crowds were very light during our 4 days at the parks (Jan 28-Feb 1), and the weather was great. It took 8 hours to drive down to Marriott TownePlace Suites where my parents had so graciously booked us a room. Right before we hit the road, 2nd Brother had the biggest poop ever, requiring me to go back into 1st Brother's preschool to change him and ending in me throwing his clothes away (a couple of my favorite items! I'm still sad about that, but I wasn't going to haul soiled clothes on a road trip or go home and risk getting into traffic).

We got a great deal on tickets through AAA--$161/each for a 4-day park hopper pass that included free parking. 2nd Brother did well and could ride basically everything that 1st Brother wanted to ride (he's a pretty cautious guy, thus the wait until he was 4 1/2 to take this trip. No thrill rides for him; Pirates of the Caribbean was the extent of it).

My parents, 2 sisters and a brother-in-law were able to join us:

1st Brother's favorite ride: Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters. Even though he had 5 Buzz toys at home, he choose a Buzz figure with spinning lights for his souvenir. He also got a pirate gun because I'm a sucker.

Our 1st ride was Dumbo, where 2nd Brother had another blowout while on Gramps' lap (how he had anything left in there was beyond me). He spent the rest of the day in his wiped-off onesie and a blanket, no pants.

Dining at Cafe Orleans. We got Monte Cristos, which were mediocre at best since we've known the goodness of the ones at Mama's.

Eating a Mickey ice cream sandwich. You can't skip those or the churros, right? We were disappointed that the McDonald's fry cart in Frontierland wasn't there any more (and yes, 1st Brother got a haircut halfway through the trip from my sister at the hotel thus the longer hair).

The new 3-D Toy Story ride in California Adventure was fabulous:

My only complaint: several of the rides were WAY TOO LOUD! My sweet baby's ears!

We walked on to Space Mountain 3 times in a row--awesome!

1st Brother was excited about the Star Tours ride before the trip but was pretty "meeh" about it afterward:

I thought for sure he would love the Jedi Training Academy show. He was one of the many kids chosen to go on stage and train:

and then this happened--holy crap!!!

An adult-sized, movie-quality Darth Vader and Darth Maul rising from the ground in a large cloud of smoke proved to be too much for my Jedi. He broke away from the group of kids, but a Disney worker rounded him up again, not understanding from the very concerned, "I don't think so" look on his face that he was done. When he broke away again, this time while removing the brown Jedi robe as fast as he could, the worker returned him to me. Poor guy! It was so sad and so hilarious too.

We saw the blind guy from last season's American Idol at the park! Isn't it so weird that I mentioned him in the post about the birthday CD and then saw him in real life?

-1st Brother was so excited/scared about the Haunted Mansion and didn't end up going but is still asking me questions about it. I bought a CD that has the music from the ride and all the words too (super cool for Halloween, yes?). We listened to it in the hotel room on the laptop, and 1st Brother sat motionless with a serious look on his face the whole time it was playing--hee hee! I knew the exact feeling he was having; I love remembering things from my childhood through him.

-Captain EO re-opened on February 23rd, so obviously we didn't see it. I know I acted all dedicated to taking this trip when it was back, but there could have been complications with my husband's job if we waited. Hopefully EO will stay at Disneyland long enough for us to see it some other time.