First Timer

Over Thanksgiving break I took my husband to the Happiest Place on Earth for his 1st time. My parents and siblings bought an annual pass last March and so we decided to tag along on this trip. I was nervous about taking Nathan because his family trips usually consist of something involving the outdoors. And he loves that. Our family vacations however consist of pretty much just Disneyland. So I had been counting down the days until I got to go back to my very favorite place for months. I told Nathan that whether or not he liked Disneyland would basically determine the future of our marriage  Haha no, I was just kidding....but maybe not entirely ;)

BUT the verdict is....Nathan loved it! He said we can definitely go back so I'm looking forward to many more Disneyland vacations with my hubby and family :)

This trip was full of fun memories. The biggest being that Disneyland during the holidays is absolutely beautiful! The place is magical enough on a regular basis but when you add in all the lights, fireworks, and fake Disneyland snow, you just can't help but feel that Disney magic.

Rather than bore anyone with details of waiting in massive lines, (because that's pretty much all we did. I've never seen that place so crowded!) I'll just tell you the highlights and post pics. You can imagine the rest.

• Nathan cried on Tower of Terror. Okay, not really. I've gotten in trouble for telling this lie. But he might as well have. I thought he was going to die when I made him ride it a second time. Who would have thought that he would be scared of my favorite ride. I consider it payback for all the terrifyingly scary movies he makes me watch.

• Cars Land is my new favorite part of California Adventure. It looks just like the movie!
• Nathan, who was completely convinced before we left that he wouldn't want any stupid Disneyland souvenirs spend a hefty sum on a freakishly real looking Yoda backpack. Everyone kept staring and asking to take pictures. It looks like a baby is riding on his back...an ugly baby anyway.

• This is the first time EVER that we have left every night before the park completely closed. In fact, we were outta their by about 9 or 10 every night. I'll blame it on the little kids but in reality, none of us could handle the park the whole day. We just don't have the Disneyland energy we used to have.
• I cried during the Pocahontas part of World of Color. I LOVE THAT MOVIE! And I love being reminded of my childhood Disney memories. 
• My dad laughed so hard he cried when my mom got soaking wet on Grizzly River Run. I have honestly never seen him laugh so hard in my entire life. Crying, red faced laughter. Best moment hands down.

• I popped my jaw out of its socket while eating a caramel apple. Caramel apples are one of my favorite past times of Disneyland. I will probably never eat another one again because I get chills just thinking about how gross it felt to have my jaw move somewhere it should not be.
• Danika is the bravest little girl I know. She rides everything! Her favorite is California Screamin. We probably rode it more than all the other rides combined.

• Chance is more conniving than I would have ever thought. He told me he was scared to go on the swings so I bribed him with an ice cream sandwich. Come to find out from my dad, the swings are actually his favorite ride. The little turd conned me!
• Blaine became dubbed "Insane Blaine" by Crush the talking sea turtle. But then Crush later told him his name should be not-insane Blaine because he swims too slow. Haha
• Nathan's favorite ride is Space Mountain. Chance...not so much. He pulls the best faces on rides

These two are becoming best buds. 

Enjoying the Tiki Room

The best part of our trip: getting home and hearing about how Erin locked herself our of the house with the dogs locked inside the house. I wish I had pictures of the results. If you have met our dog Akaya you know she still has all that happy, puppy energy. So when Erin didn't show up to yell at her for awhile she decided to have a party in my parent's house. She drank a leftover Pepsi (probably fueled her 5 hour rampage), ate an entire bag of dog treats, ate two cans of opened dog food from the kitchen counter, dug through the trash and splattered marinara sauce all over the kitchen, and Blaine's favorite part: left her business right in the middle of his bedroom. The only thing we could all think of the whole situation was, "Poor Charlie." Charlie is my family's more human than dog pet that never does anything bad in fear of my mother's wrath. I'm sure he was running around after Akaya for the whole 5 hours, begging her to stop before the humans got home.