The Greatest Place on Earth

Well, we just got back from one heck of a trip to Disneyland! We got up at 6am on Saturday, packed the kids int he car and hustled up to Anaheim to visit Mikey's Magic Kingdom. We seem to have really good luck on these Disney Trips (this is our second with the year) and when I say "good luck" it's because the success of our trips is largely based on the number of Princesses that we are able to find for Katie to meet. Last time we went to a special restaurant (Ariel's Grotto) where ALL the princesses come up and talk to you at your table, so we had a lot to live up to on this trip.

We got into the park just about 8am. We hit the new-ish 'Buzz-Lightyear" ride and also the rocket-ship ride before we headed back into Fantasyland for the story-book stuff. The lines were super short at the early hour and we were rollin. (Daddy was bummin that the kids were still to small for Space Mountain and Star Tours. Only 2 more inches!!!!) We quickly rode about 6 more rides before the rest of the crowds started to file into the park. We had less than 5 minute waits on most stuff, and walked right on to "It's a Small World" which turned out to be Andy's favorite. I think that's because he was a little traumatized by Pinnochio and Snow White's rides. Those things are pretty dark, with lots of loud noises!

We then headed to a new section called "Princess Fantasy Faire". You can imagine that Katie liked this section very much. It was a kid friendly area that had Princesses to visit, and a show with kid-interactive events, coloring, eating, etc. We stood in line for about an hour for this and daddy and mommy were highly questioning the potential value. Once we got inside, were were grateful that we had, as Katie got to spend quality time with Belle, Jasmine, Mulan and Cinderella. She was really lovin it. Daddy took about 300 pictures.

We then met Mikey in toontown, rode Pirates of the Carribean, met Pooh in Frontierland, and of course, met Ariel at Triton's Grotto. While we were standing in line for most of the rids, Andy could see the train going around the park. At first he was fascinated by the train, and then after a while it became an obsession. We finally rode the train as he was unable to focus on anything else. Oh yeah, and we went to this special Halloween event called "Woody's Halloween Roundup" where we met Woody and Jessie and got to do some singing and Dancing. There was a game with about 20 kids called "Pass the Pumpkin" which was a lot like musical chairs. Katie played while Andy colored. Katie was the first kid stuck with the pumkin and was knocked out in round 1. It was pretty funny.

It was an action packed day and the kids seemed to have a great time. We were all wiped out by the time we got to the hotel. I had to share a bed with Andy so while Jen and Katie slept like rocks, I spent most of the night taking kung-fu kicks to the ribs from my son. Andy actualy kicked me so hard during the night that he shot himself off the bed and smacked his face on a table! I'm tellin ya, they are big kicks. We went swimming this morning and then headed home where the kids took some long naps. Whew, were beat now!

Steve

PS - On a side note, my brother-in-law Woody ran a half-marathon today in Colorado. Hope it went well Woody! We were rooting for you from Cali!